Let's all work with refs '” Vic

Short said: "Lloyd Walker could have had his leg broken by a knee-high challenge in the first half. Luckily, he was wise to the tackle and tried to jump out of the way so was caught only on his ankle. Their guy got booked but it should have been a straight red.

"Then, in the second half, Mike Huckett was pulled down in the penalty area but the referee waved play on and Jason Wimbleton got sent off for swearing when it wasn't even him who swore. What's really frustrating is their dug-out and players had been swearing and shouting all through the match but nothing was said to them."

"You can do something about players' performances. Drop them or work with them in training but what can you do about a referee's performance? You can mark a referee down and send in a report on his performance but how many clubs take the time to do that? How many clubs give them the lowest mark possible without having to send in a report?"

Short added that he thinks the County League need to make it more appealing for people to become a referee. He's more than happy to help out by inviting referees to attend training sessions at Arundel '” a move he thinks will benefit players and the officials if they are all helping each other and working together.

He said: "We'd be more than happy, as I'm sure most managers would be, for three or four referees at a time to come training so they can see how hard we train and so we can see how hard they work."

For full report, see this week's Littlehampton Gazette.