FALMOUTH Town boss Andrew Westgarth has written a letter of complaint to the league after a sensational finish to their SWPL Premier match against Bodmin Town last night.

With the home side winning 1-0 after a Jordan Annear goal in the 89th minute, the game became shrouded in controversy when a stand-in linesman from Bodmin flagged for a penalty after adjudging that keeper Ryan Barnes had committed a foul.

Referee Steve Annis gave the spot kick, which Adam Carter duly dispatched and to rub salt into the wounds, the champions scored a second goal six minutes into added time.

The referee's assistant was replaced at half time by the Bodmin official after suffering an injury.

The first Westgarth knew of the change was when he walked out for the second half and "saw a bloke in jeans and red trainers" running the line.

He said: "It's so frustrating, because I wasn't told about him and then he did Bodmin's back four, rather than ours. The referee should have told him to judge offsides and throw-ins only, but then he flagged for a penalty and the referee gave it.

"I'd like to know if he was a qualified linesman and whether or not it is a rule that an official from a club can run the line without both clubs agreeing to it."

Peninsula League secretary Phil Hiscox says he has received the referee's report, which states that he went into the Falmouth committee room at half time, asking club members if they had someone who could run the line.

When told that they did not have anybody, he asked Bodmin if they could provide one.

Phil said: "In an emergency such as this, whoever takes over automatically becomes the new match official. The referee should be aware of procedure in light on an injury."

Cornwall FA's Richard Pallot said he could not comment on the incident as he had not yet had chance to look at the details, but would issue a statement in due course.

The penalty, which was captured on film by the Cornwall Channel cameras, was hotly contested, as Barnes appeared to do little more than lift his leg as the Bodmin player ran across him.

Westgarth was also unhappy with the amount of stoppage time played. Mr Annis allowed seven minutes of added time and Bodmin scored the winning goal in the 97th minute.

Copy and paste the link below into your browser and click on the video after 52 minutes to view the penalty incident.

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