MARINE put paid to our FA Trophy hopes on Saturday in a match overshadowed by Danny McDonnell's sending off.

It was a bitterly disappointing defeat for us but insult will be added to injury when Danny misses the Crawley Town match in 10 days time.

The likes of Marine are difficult enough places to visit at the best of times but even harder with decisions like that.

I spoke to the referee about the incident afterwards and he felt Danny clipped the player and had no choice but to send him off.

That I found even more frustrating because the player didn't have the ball under control (it went out of play) and I counted three people behind Danny so he wasn't even the last man. My beef with referees essentially comes down to consistency. I've gone on about not knowing what type of performances we are going to get from our players but referees seem to follow the same pattern.

All we want is consistency but some of the things they do makes you wonder.

Before one recent game I had an official say to me that he knew all about one of my players and what he was like - so he was pre-judging us before the game even started.

Putting the referee's intervention aside at Marine, I felt that on the balance of play, we didn't' deserve to lose, even though we were chasing the game following Danny's dismissal.

Sitting back and reflecting on the game I counted six good situations for us though overall I have to say I was disappointed with our play up front.

At the other end Shaun Hayes came in and did really well. He is obviously in the frame to replace Danny for the Crawley game.

Whatever happens we need to bring in another keeper so we have one for the bench.

In an effort to do that I've been busy making calls but finding experienced keepers for just a one off game is like finding a needle in a haystack.

We are currently waiting on a couple of calls back from clubs on the issue and hope to have it resolved soon.

Shaun has been waiting patiently for his chance, and I'm sure he would have been preferred playing in the reserves than sitting on the bench, but his attitude has been first class and I was pleased he came on and did well.

It will be a big decision on whether to play him against Crawley because starting games is a different kettle of fish to coming on as a substitute.

It's a decision I'm going to have to weigh up carefully.

Saturday sees us return to league action at Eastbourne Borough who are managed by Garry Wilson.

I know Garry well and they've adjusted quite well since their promotion. They've got a good work ethic and we need to match that at the very least.

On a bright note new signing Jai Stanley will make his debut and I'm going to have some interesting selection posers especially in midfield where I've got a few options.

As a manager it's much better to have a problem on who to leave out rather than have a team choose itself due to injuries.

And after Saturday's Trophy defeat I have to say it would be great to pick a winning team.