Robinson feels Hungerford hard done by following Worthing defeat

Hungerford Town boss Danny Robinson felt his side were let down by a refereeing decision in their 2-1 National League South defeat to promotion contenders Worthing on Saturday.

Joel Rollinson’s 21st minute strike was cancelled out 15 minutes later by Reece Meekums and the sides were still level on the hour when the referee awarded Worthing a penalty, which Ollie Pearce converted to ensure the three points stayed at the seaside.

Jed Ward appeared to collide with Meekums in the incident, however Robinson felt his goalkeeper had got a touch on the ball and that the referee made a mistake.

“We should’ve got something, the penalty’s never a penalty,” he said.

“Jed’s actually come out and made a save and his momentum’s carried him into the player, it’s soft.

“It seems to be trendy to give penalties for contact after a tackle and referees are giving them all the time, I thought it was very harsh.

“I think she was the only person that thought it was a penalty in the entire ground.”

While Robinson was disappointed with that decision and the result, he was delighted with how his side acquitted themselves against a team that have an excellent record on their 4G pitch and beat Dulwich Hamlet 6-0 on Tuesday night.

“I thought we were excellent, especially second half,” he said.

“After the first 10 minutes I thought we were the better side and fully deserved to go 1-0 up.

“We switched off for the goal and Jed made a couple of fantastic saves at the start of the second half, but I thought other than that Worthing didn’t cause us too many problems.

“We should’ve got something out of the game.”

Robinson confirmed that the Crusaders are in the market for a new striker following the news that David Bremang, who scored four goals in his first four games and was instrumental in Hungerford’s recent resurgence, will miss the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained at the beginning of Tuesday night’s win over Cheshunt.

That leaves Dan Roberts, who himself started for the first time since the end of January following a hamstring strain, as the Crusaders’ only recognised striker ahead of the relegation run- in.

“David’s a massive loss,” Robinson said.

“He’s out for the rest of the season which is absolutely heart-breaking because we think he’s a real gem.

“These things are here to test us, that’s why you manage at this level and we want to try and get another centre-forward through the door if we can.

“Dan’s still not 100 per cent fit, he’s probably only about 75 per cent there.

“I thought he showed real character to stand up and be counted for us today and the physio, Robyn, did brilliantly to get him to where he is.

“He was brilliant bearing in mind he had half a hamstring.”

Hungerford’s attention now temporarily turns to Tuesday night’s Berks and Bucks Senior Cup quarter-final clash with Isthmian League side Marlow, when Robinson might be tempted to get some minutes into the legs of his squad players, before the visit of 14th placed Welling United in the league on Saturday.

It’s the start of another massive period for the Crusaders that sees them take on direct relegation rivals Slough, Weymouth and Concord Rangers before the end of the month.

“Every game at Hungerford is massive,” Robinson said.

“We’ve got a lot to look forward to, we’ll put today to bed and keep fighting like we have done all season.”