IF EVER a referee epitomised the falling standards of the men in black then you need look no further than Andy Williams, writes Mervyn Collins.

It's ironic that Tuesday's official should hail from Hereford as some of his decisions were a "load of bull!"

Evesham were denied a blatant penalty but Williams was just as bad for both sides and, worst of all, had that arrogant demeanour that said "I'm in charge and I don't care about anyone else".

Williams was faced with an angry Dave Busst at the final whistle when the United manager just couldn't contain his anger.

"He was very flippant and arrogant and didn't want to discuss the handball," the Common Road chief recalled yesterday morning.

"He's mixing it with the guys in the Premiership every week, that's where that kind of attitude comes from. Referees have just got to make the decisions that count and even Halesowen's players and management knew what had happened and it's cost us two points."

"Had we scored from the spot then there was no way that they would have come back from 2-0 and we might even had gone on to win by three or four.

"We just want our fair share of decisions to go our way and that's not happening at the moment and it's costing us. It wasn't even half a decision last night yet he's managed to get it wrong."

Williams, an assistant referee in the Premiership, has angered Evesham officials before with some unnecessary carding but he only managed to issue a solitary yellow on Tuesday.

However, that again illustrated his stubborn attitude and unwillingness to explain his actions.

When Richard Ball asked the official during a break in play, "what about the handball," he was ushered away.

"Can't I talk to you about it" the striker questioned politely, only to be shown a yellow card!

"Talk again and you're over there," were the final words of a man, pointing in the direction of the changing rooms, who needs to take a long, hard look at his manner of officiating. Unfortunately, it's far too late for that!

Busst, meanwhile, is getting fed up with talking about officials when it's the football he should be discussing.

"It's like a non-stop record talking about them but there's a fine line between success and failure and they are playing such a major role in the destiny of most clubs," the United boss admitted.

When it came to discussing the game, Busst was delighted with the way his side had played.

"We defended well and having Gavin (O'Toole) in midfield helped us keep the ball better than of late," he recalled. "Unfortunately, our defence didn't drop off as deep as I would have liked in the second half and their goalkeeper's long kicks caused us problems and that led to the goal."

Busst is likely to stick with the same starting line-up for Saturday's long trip to Kings Lynn. Banbury United's FA Cup replay win on Tuesday means Evesham's next Premier Division game will be at home to Gloucester City on Tuesday, October 11 with the trip to Banbury now on November 8.