Stenhousemuir 1-1 Forfar Athletic

Oct 5 2008 Kristian Truelsen at Ochilview

RAGING Stenny gaffer John Coughlin ripped in to ref Neil Watters for an error-strewn display - and claimed Forfar's dramatic leveller should never have stood because the whistler played too much injury time.

Scott Dalziel's headed opener on the hour was wiped out by a brilliant free-kick from super sub Sean Kilgannon in the 94th minute.

But that was the final straw for Coughlin who vented his fury at the official for a string of poor decisions, including the refusal to award a penalty when Scott Dalziel was pulled back by a Forfar defender. The away team also felt aggrieved at having a spot-kick shout denied and ref Watters copped both barrels from the irate gaffers.

Coughlin raged: "There were two stonewall penalty decisions turned down.

"Some of the things that took place were infuriating. I know he is a young referee and I have never seen him before - whether I see him again is debatable.

"Refs have to start somewhere but he was nervous and got all the big decisions wrong.

"When we conceded the equaliser the game should already have been finished.

"It was well over the time allocated because we were told by the linesman there was just two minutes added. Butwe have to look at the positives and we are still top of the league."

Opposite number Dick Campbell also hit out after Warriors keeper Kieron Renton seemed to haul down Derek Lilley in the second half.

The Forfar manager said: "I have never seen a more blatant penalty. And then a minute later Stenhousemuir went up the park and scored."

Despite being league leaders Stenny started slowly and survived a scare in five minutes when Iain Thomson lost possession at the edge of the box and Jonathon Russell pounced to blast a shot over.

Martyn Fotheringham came close to giving the visitors the lead in 16 minutes when he curled a free-kick just too high.

Forfar continued to press and Kevin Gordon darted past the Stenny defence before steering a low shot wide.

Coughlin's men finally upped the ante midway through the half and Andrew Brand could have scored from Kevin Motion's brilliant cross but his bullet header cannoned off the bar.

Stenny kept up the momentum after the break and Forfar keeper Ally Brown brilliantly blocked Iain Thompson's drive with his leg.

The Warriors looked certain to break the deadlock so it was no surprise their dominance paid off on the hour, Dalziel nodding past Brown after Brand's menacing cross caught out the Forfar defence.

David Dunn almost levelled two minutes later when he tried to flick the ball home from close range but Stenny cleared after a goalmouth scramble.

However, there was still time for Kilgannon to net a disputed equaliser deep in injury time with a stunning free-kick from 25 yards.