BLACKFIELD & Langley pair Wayne Oakley and Terry Smith are chewing over their futures in the game in the wake of a frustrating 1-0 defeat at Downton which keeps the Watersiders second to bottom of the Wessex pile.

Skipper Oakley was one of two Blackfield players sent off in the second half, but both he and manager Smith were stunned that his so-called 'bookable offences' were deemed worthy of cautions.

Smith said: "I asked permission to speak to the referee afterwards which is something I'd never done before in 35 years of football.

"Usually I accept the referee's decision is final, but this one was totally lost.

"Every time Downton appealed for something, he blew his whistle and now I've got a player (Oakley) who is thinking seriously about his future - and, to be honest, I am too.

"I can't believe some of the things the referees are doing.

"Wayne's got a young family, his wife's expecting and he can't afford to pay the fines - and why should he? He was totally innocent.

"For the first one he was the victim of a two-footed tackle, and yet he was the player booked, and for the second he went sliding across the surface and matey from Downton went straight over the top of him.

"If anything, Wayne was trampled on."

Blackfield, who had earlier had Paul Guttridge rightly sent off for retaliation, had fallen behind after just four minutes when Russell James, Downton's star find from local football, beat a defender for pace and shot across the keeper into the far corner.

The Wiltshire side had little joy breaking down Blackfield's nine men in the second half and almost got caught at the end when Danny Robins' shot came out off the inside of the post.

"We played well for 45 minutes but we lost our skipper and sweeper Mark Savage with hamstring trouble and that, combined with Blackfield going down to nine men, upset the shape of the game," reflected Downton boss Mitch Blake.

"I'm really pleased, though. We haven't been beaten on a Saturday for about six weeks now and we're moving up the table nicely. It's time we started getting some recognition from the opposition.

"We've played a lot better than we did against Blackfield, but it was one of those days to roll up your sleeves and get on with it."