ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman was fighting back his anger after a poor refereeing decision cost his side their first away win of the season.

The Reds' chief was furious Stanley had been firstly reduced to 10 men, after Dean Calcutt was shown two yellow cards inside two first-half minutes, then his frustrations boiled over when Tamworth were awarded a controversial late penalty to equalise.

Coleman blasted: "You make a point of not trying to criticise referees because you don't want to get yourself into trouble.

"But when you have to deal with them, it's like being battered by a school bully and there's no one to go to. There's no one to complain to.

"Referees are bullet proof, you can't do a thing about them."

He continued: "You try, as a manager, to be professional and you try not to criticise referees for poor performances, and I don't want to start now.

"But, as far as I'm concerned, two absolutely ludicrous decisions cost us the game - there's no way of hiding it.

"Anyone who watched that game didn't see a fair game.

"At Forest Green Rovers, Rory Prendergast did exactly what their lad did to win a penalty but got booked for it, so you can't win.

"Dean Calcutt was booked for dissent, then the only thing I can think of for him being sent off for was not retreating 10 yards for a free kick."

"The only thing that happened in that incident was that Dean got punched in the face by one of their players.

"Initially there was a foul on Andy Gouck but the referee chose to let that go then gave a foul to them."

But Coleman stressed his admiration for his Stanley battlers, after being reduced to 10 men for the third time in their opening six games.

"You've got to praise the lads, they've worked tremendously hard. I thought Lutel (James) was outstanding in the second half, and he was fouled in the build-up to their penalty," he said.

"They're feeling a bit low because they know they've worked hard.

"If someone had given them a draw at half-time they'd have probably taken it but to get that close you're a bit upset.

"We told Robbie Williams not to blame himself for the penalty because it wasn't a foul, in fact it was his best piece of defending in the match."

And he admitted he wasn't overly concerned about his side's disciplinary record.

"As long as I've got committed players who want to win for the club, that's all I'm interested in," he said.

"I don't worry about what it looks like because you don't play on paper.

"It's unfortunate that we'll lose certain players but it gives other people a chance."

DEFENDER Jonathan Smith received stitches to his chin following a clash of heads late in the second half.