ALAN Dyton blamed the officials as Shrivenham failed to take top spot in Division One West.

Victory at home against Tytherington would have taken Shrivvy to the summit but "inept" refereeing contributed to a 3-2 defeat and allowed the visitors to climb into first place instead.

Tytherington took the lead through Travis Carter but Steve Avenell hit back with a deflected effort.

The turning point arrived before the break when Leon Simpson's goal-bound effort ricocheted onto the hand of Jon Peters who was stood on the line. The ball appeared to have crossed the line already but the referee awarded a penalty scored by Jim Potts and crucially dismissed Peters.

Nathan White, Alex Green and Liam Thompson all squandered opportunities to level after the interval before Simpson made it 3-1. Michael Silvanus pulled one back with a fine strike late on, but the 10 men were unable to rescue a point.

"The contest was ruined by a completely inept official," said Dyton.

"The red card was the turning point of the game and some common sense and a discussion with his linesman would have avoided the sending off.

"This is not the first time this season that poor officials have robbed us.

"Our players gave everything and deserved to get something from the game."

Malmesbury were unlucky to return from the Forest of Dean without a share of the spoils.

Graham Learmonth's men missed a succession of chances before going down 2-0 at Harrow Hill courtesy of goals from Tom Burford and Eddie Weyman. Purton's good mid-season form continued with a 2-0 win at Adderbury, Darren Brown and Simon Pugh on target.

Cirencester United's clash with Quarry Nomads fell foul of the weather.