SAMMY Donnelly was left fuming after unfortunate Worthing had Guy Rutherford and Marc Rice sent off in their 2-0 division one home defeat against Bromley.

Rebels, without the injured Paul Kennett and with Simon Funnell and Ben Carrington on the bench, had Rutherford dismissed after only 26 minutes and Rice saw red a minute from time.

Winchester referee John Keegan upset Rebels' fans with an inconsistent display and to make matters worse he is to report the club to the league after sandwiches were thrown at him at the end of the match.

Said Donnelly: "It's hard to talk about a referee's performance when you've lost, but he didn't help the cause for booking Rutherford in the first ten minutes for a challenge where he won the ball."

Donnelly felt Rutherford was hard done by for his second booking, when he went for a challenge on Kirk Watts with Worthing players behind the ball, and reckoned Rice was needlessly dismissed.

Insisted the Worthing boss: "The Bromley player actually came up finger wagging to Rice, but my player did not bring his head forward or anything else.

"That's a mugging. We not only got mugged for the result but also for the sending off. The referee showed no consistency whatsoever and in fact I asked him not to give up his day job!.

"I can only echo the words of the professional managers about the standard of refereeing. It leaves a lot to be desired and no man management comes into it now".

Goals from strikers Joe Odegbami and Mark Tompkins midway through the second half condemned Rebels to their third successive league defeat and Donnelly admitted: "We've got to be a lot more disciplined and resolute".

A representative from Rotherham was present to run the rule over Worthing ahead of Saturday's FA Cup clash at Millmoor, and Kennett is Rebels' main injury worry with a foot problem suffered in the win at Dover.

Funnell, who came on as substitute for the last 23 minutes, limped off with an ankle injury late on but expects to be fit. Said Donnelly: "Both Kennett and Funnell will train on Tuesday night but we might have to leave it as late as Saturday.

"We're hoping Kennett hasn't broken a bone in his foot. But it's very badly bruised".

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