BOSS Tom Killick was enraged after his side paid the penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Tiverton Town – during which two of his side were sent off.

Naming an unchanged starting XI from the team that thumped Farnborough in Southern League South on Saturday, Dolphins took the lead through Jamie Whisken at the end of the first half.

But goals from Jordan Dyer and a controversial River Allen penalty two minutes into stoppage time meant Tivvy, who also had a man sent off, earned all three points.

And Killick was left fuming with the late spot-kick awarded by referee James Robinson, describing as “a farce” the official’s decision.

He told the Daily Echo: “We haven’t lost the game, we’ve had the game taken away from us. There’s not one person in the ground, including those from Tiverton, that won’t accept that. But the difficulty is when I make comments is that it’s sour grapes, me moaning about referees again.

“Perhaps, I just have to accept the people that weren’t here won’t understand.”

He added: “The people that are in charge of and assess referees are ex-referees. As long as that is the case, standards won’t increase. I’m proud of my players because, despite everything, they just kept going and going. They didn’t play the best but we would have at least drawn a game.

“The penalty at the end was a farce.

“I understand referees are human and we all have bad days. But if a player has as bad day, there’s consequences. Referees don’t have that accountability.”

Dolphins started brightly, with Harry Baker flashing a header wide after five minutes.

However, the hosts’ grip on the game slowly faded away as the contest turned into a sluggish affair.

Jez Bedford received the contest’s first booking for clattering into a defender, producing one of the few memorable moments of a tame opening 45 minutes.

After a stoppage for a Tiverton injury led to two minutes added on, match official Robinson extended to five minutes the additional time – allowing Poole to open the scoring with the final kick of the half.

Captain Whisken powered home after a goalmouth bundle. But in the first two minutes of the second half Bedford received his marching orders for a second booking. Despite the man disadvantage, Dolphins remained largely unthreatened until the later stages of the contest.

The final 10 minutes then erupted with the referee levelling the player count with the dismissal of Tiverton’s George Nancekivell for a second booking. Player parity would only last two minutes however when man-in-the-middle Robinson again went for his top pocket, producing a red card for what seemed an innocuous challenge by Poole’s Ollie Dennett.

Tiverton eventually equalised through Dyer after piling on the pressure. The full-back poked home in a crowded box.

“There was one final sting in the tail, with a controversial penalty awarded to the visitors at the death.

Jordan Bastin took a tumble in the box and Robinson pointed to the spot – allowing Allen to finish the comeback.

“I’ve been involved in football for 35 years and that tops everything,” said Killick about Dennett’s dismissal.

“It was bewildering. Ollie Dennett was in tears. It’s a sending off the other way if at all but I don’t think it was anything.”

Dolphins: Cairney, Dickson, Leslie-Smith (Grange, 90+3), Spetch, Whisken, Carmichael, Bedford, Moore, Baker (House, 89), Brooks, Dennett. Unused subs: Smeeton, Jackson, Cope.