BOSS Matty Holmes felt Wimborne Town had been on the wrong end of two contentious refereeing decisions during their 2-0 defeat by fellow high-fliers Salisbury today.

Goals early and late from Owen Howe and Stuart Green earned Whites victory in front of a crowd of 902 at Raymond McEnhill Stadium – the highest attendance of the season in Southern League West.

However, Magpies were convinced Salisbury substitute Kane O’Keefe should have seen red for a foul on Toby Holmes as the striker prepared to go clear in the second half.

And they also felt referee Michael Begley had been wrong to rule out a Jack Lovell effort for a foul on Whites goalkeeper Charlie Searle in the closing stages.

Wimborne went close to cancelling out Howe’s 11th-minute opener on several occasions before Green netted his 18th goal of the campaign to seal victory in stoppage time.

Holmes told the Daily Echo: “We couldn’t believe the lad wasn’t sent off for the first one.

“The ball was played through to Toby on the edge of box and the lad took him out.

“Toby has an horrendous gash on his knee and, although the referee rightly awarded a free-kick on the edge of box, their player should have been sent off because he was the last man.

“The referee only gave him a yellow card and we felt that was a pretty poor decision.

“We also felt the goal should have stood when Jack went up with the goalkeeper.

“There was a deep cross to the far post and you want your forward players to attack the ball when the goalkeeper comes out to catch it.

“Jack made good contact with the ball, put it in the back of the net and the goalkeeper went in with it.

“Goalkeepers get decisions like that all day long but we were aggrieved with that one as well and really disappointed because we dominated the game.”

Billy Maybury and Elliot Wheeler traded chances in the early stages before Howe drew first blood when he netted his sixth goal in seven games after touching home Danny Young’s low cross.

Stefan Penny and Lovell both went close to restoring parity as Wimborne went in search of an equaliser, while Searle pulled off a top-drawer save from Toby Holmes.

Further opportunities from Toby Holmes and James Stokoe went begging before Lovell thought he had levelled, only for his effort to be chalked off by referee Begley.

And as Wimborne piled forward during the closing stages, they were caught on the break when Green finished a sweeping move in added time.

Despite the defeat – only Wimborne’s second in their past 11 league games – they remained fourth in the table.

Holmes added: “The boys were fantastic from start to finish. Anyone who watched the game would have felt we deserved at least a draw and maybe should have won.”

Magpies: Benfield, Penny, Maybury, Oldring, Arnold, Kellaway, Stokes, L Holmes, T Holmes, Burbidge, Lovell. Unused subs: Francis, Cole, Okumu, Walker, Walsh (g/k).