Ebbsfleet requested a change of match official before Saturday’s National League South play-off final.

Referee Jason Richardson was the shock appointment for the game given he took charge of the corresponding league fixture between the two sides which saw Fleet reduced to 10 men inside the first 16 minutes of a 5-1 defeat.

It put the official in an awkward position and he had a major influence on the outcome with Dorking scoring a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser long after when Fleet felt the full-time whistle should have been blown.

“We made everyone aware from the league and they said no, it’s fine,” said Kutrieb.

“I told the boys during the week we need to get on with it, we just need to be better regardless of what the referee is doing. We were better and just the last seconds were missing.

“We tried to play it down, even with the boys. I didn’t tell them this was the referee, I just told them to get on with whatever happens on the pitch.

“We need to be ready just to get on with decisions and to be fair they were exceptional as no-one got a yellow card for moaning. I promise you if I was a player today, I would get a minimum yellow card, maybe a sending-off - 100 per cent.

“The boys did really well as no-one said anything, they just tried hard again and again.”

On top of the referee’s history with the Fleet, one assistant referee was on the line when Kutrieb saw red at Maidstone earlier this season while the other overturned a free-kick call by the referee to award Havant a penalty in the league clash in February.

There was no need to put the officials - or the clubs - in that position so it's no surprise, therefore, that it left a bitter taste for Kutrieb.

“It was definitely my worst fear,” added the Fleet boss, who kept his silence publicly about the appointment before the game. “It wasn’t just the referee.

“The linesman on my side was the one at Maidstone who could see what he did there to us. The other one was the one at Havant who decided it wasn’t a free-kick, it was a penalty. It was never a penalty but he decided it was a pen.

“For me, it’s very awkward but I can’t change it. I don’t want to be here (and people think) ‘oh, he can’t lose’ but it’s awkward for me to accept the two linesmen and then the referee who was here four months ago.

“The referee said there was three minutes (left) and after four minutes and 20 seconds it was a goal. It’s gone now, we can’t change it anyway. We can talk about it but we can’t change it. Now we need to suffer.

“He (the referee) told me before the game he didn’t want to have an influence. For me it’s unbelievable he was allowed to get the final, with the performance in the past.

“Everything was really awkward for me but I don’t want to sound that I am angry because we lost but you need to have better referees on this level, especially when it’s a final. For me it’s ridiculous.

“I’m really drained and disappointed. Everyone who was here knows what happened so I don’t want to talk too much about it but obviously when you’re so disappointed it’s not easy not to talk about it.”