Tudors boss blasts '˜terrible' refereeing display after Maidstone defeat

Hemel Town boss Dean Brennan felt that a '˜diabolical' refereeing display cost his side as they were beaten 2-1 by Maidstone United on Saturday.
Adam Bailey-Dennis was sent off for the Tudors. Picture (c) Terry RickeardAdam Bailey-Dennis was sent off for the Tudors. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard
Adam Bailey-Dennis was sent off for the Tudors. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

Brennan was incensed that an alleged tug on Mat Mitchel-King went unpunished when the Hemel man was through on goal, with Maidstone eventually holding on to dent the Tudors’ playoff hopes.

“To be honest I thought that the referee had a diabolical game and I don’t think he’s up to this level,” said Brennan. “We’ve had him a few times and I thought he was absolutely terrible.

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“We had an absolutely blatant penalty when Mitchel-King was pulled down when he was through on goal and the referee hasn’t given anything. It should have been a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.”

Matty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry RickeardMatty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard
Matty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

Brennan had no complaints about Adam Bailey-Dennis’ red card for two bookable offences, but felt that there was a lack of consistency from the man in the middle.

“We haven’t got round the referee all day but their players have, and they influenced him,” said the Hemel manager. “I think that the big club got the key decision.

“We are just looking for consistency. It’s a tough job, I know that, but refereeing decisions and individual errors have cost us the game again.”

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Brennan was also upset by his team’s first half performance, and let his side know just what he thought at half-time.

Michael Richens in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry RickeardMichael Richens in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard
Michael Richens in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

“They scored a fantastic goal and we made a couple of individual errors,” he said. “I let my players know that at half-time because we didn’t stick to our gameplan in the second period of the first half.

“If you’re Maidstone you turn around and say it was good character to get back into the game, but if you’re Hemel you say you switched off and stopped doing what has brought you success and lost the game because of that.

“Attention to detail in tight games is what is going to be the difference for us, and I think that the players have to take responsibility for the defeat on Saturday. I think as a management team we got it right.

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“I got it wrong against Ebbsfleet at half-time last week and I admitted that; the players have admitted that against Maidstone they got it wrong.

Matty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry RickeardMatty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard
Matty Spring in action for the Tudors against Maidstone United. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

“I was proud of the response after half-time because I thought the players performed much better, and we just move on to the next game because it doesn’t change anything in our eyes.

“We move on together and we keep working hard. It’s like a marriage; you have an argument with your missus but you still love her – that’s the way it is in football with players and management staff. The key thing is that we are honest with each other.

“We’ve got seven games to go so we will just keep taking it one game at a time. It’s fantastic for the football club that we are still competing for something at this stage of the season.”