ON the night that Stourport Swifts secured an excellent 1-0 victory over third-placed Weston-super-Mare, it was a pity that all the talk was of referee Hardip Singh and his hapless assistants.

The 'men in black' infuriated the home crowd by allowing Weston goalkeeper Mark Bryant to stay on the pitch after he had taken out Swifts striker Kerry Giddings who had left the visitors' defence trailing in his wake.

And worse was to follow when former Southampton and Bristol Rovers midfielder Frankie Bennett kicked out at Stourport's Adam Nicholls - an attack that appeared to have been seen by everyone apart from the three who mattered.

To cap a miserable night for Singh, Giddings was then sent off in the closing minutes after collecting a second booking for kicking the ball away.

After an early scare when the unmarked Tansel Tezel managed to scoop his shot over the bar from the edge of the area, Swifts dominated the early part of the game - a period that resulted in the goal.

Jan Mulders had a header cleared off the line on seven minutes before Andy Wright volleyed just wide eight minutes later.

Giddings was denied by a fine Bryant save on 20 minutes but three minutes later the Swifts were ahead.

A Mike Gilgour clearance was punted straight back by Asa Charlton and Wright out-paced the defence before firing home.

Another good stop from Bryant stopped Matt Beard from adding a second on the half-hour and the closest Weston came to troubling home keeper Rob Clarke was from a corner three minutes later when Simon Marsh headed just over his own crossbar.

Bryant's reckless challenge stopped Giddings from adding number two ten minutes after the break but while the visitors seemed more intent on matters off the ball, Swifts concentrated on the matter in hand and Wright crashed a volley against the upright with 13 minutes to go.

SWIFTS: Clarke 7, MULDERS 8, S Wright 6, Marsh 6, Davies 8, T Nicholls 6, Beard 6 (Bradley 69, 6), A Nicholls 6, Giddings 6, A Wright 7 (Edwards 90), Charlton 7. Sub (not used): Laker.

ATTENDANCE: 89.

STAR MAN: Jan Mulders.