Newport County's defeat to play-off hopefuls Colchester United was overshadowed by controversy, with manager Christian Fuchs left furious at a refereeing display he felt played a decisive role in the outcome.
While much of the attention centred on the serious injury to Colchester's on loan forward Micah Mbick, the frustration inside Rodney Parade was directed at referee Steven Copeland, who angered the home side who felt he was unwilling to intervene in a series of physical collisions by failing to produce a single yellow card.
For Newport, the key grievance came shortly before the hour mark.
Defender Cameron Evans appeared to be tripped by goal-scorer Harry Anderson in the build up to Colchester's opener, but Copeland waved play on, allowing Anderson to unleash an unnerving finish from outside the box.
Fuchs later said he could not understand "how the foul on Cam Evans cannot be called," feeling such decisions repeatedly disrupted his side's rhythm and contributed directly to the pivotal moments of the match.
Evans was earlier involved in the incident that led to Colchester forward Mbick being taken off on a stretcher following a crunching challenge in the 29th minute by the Newport full-back. Copeland waved play on.
Fuchs said: "Maybe the ref was affected by what happened in the first half (between Evans and MbIck) but nevertheless it's like every week I get different excuses why fouls are not being called and those excuses are completely invalid."
Though Copeland felt Evans had cleanly won the ball off Mbick, the trailing leg appeared to catch the forward, leaving Colchester's medical team immediately concerned with the forward was subsequently taken to hospital.
This inciden meantt it was not only the Exiles who walked away disappointed by the officiating as Colchester manager Danny Cowley was also “sick and tired of officials”.
Cowley labelled Evans' tackle as "ridiculous" and claimed it was "so clear" that "excessive force" had been used with the Evans "out of control".
He added: "The second foot, it's just knee high, it's a horrible tackle from the boy. I'm so angry with him [the referee]. I don't understand it. I don't understand it when their first job is player safety."
Colchester left south Wales with three crucial points to keep their promotion chase on track just four points behind seventh-placed Grimsby, but with Mbick, who had been one of the game's brightest threats before the injury, facing a spell on the sidelines, the victory came at a significant cost.
Whether Newport or Colchester United escalate their complaints remains to be seen, but the afternoon at Rodney Parade ended with widespread frustration and, for County fans, not just because of a disappointing scoreline that saw them drop back into the relegation zone.
