A controversial refereeing decision denied Herne Bay a vital three points on Tuesday night.

Bay manager Kevin Watson was left feeling confused after Mason Saunders-Henry’s stoppage-time goal was initially awarded and then ruled out as their game with 10-man Margate ended 1-1.

Watson’s men - 20th in the Isthmian Premier - were hoping to make it two wins on the bounce after beating Brightlingsea 2-1 last Saturday thanks to an early own goal and Marcel Barrington’s penalty.

Dan Johnson hit an opening goal for Bay on Tuesday and they looked odds-on for another win after Margate’s Emmanuel Oke was shown a straight red card for a foul. But Bay were left frustrated as Nathan Wood levelled in the second half and the officials scrubbed off the late winner.

Controversy erupted at Winch’s Field when the flag went up for offside with five minutes of injury time played. Referee Daniel Blades didn’t whistle, instead playing advantage, but when the Margate goalkeeper rolled the ball outside of his area, ready to resume play, Saunders-Henry nipped in and scored.

Watson said: “The referee and linesman have given a goal and then their bench were up in arms about it, so then he reversed the decision. His explanation was that it is not in the spirit of the game, which I questioned.

“There is a spirit of the game but for an official to make a decision, based on a subjective judgement about the spirit of the game, that is something I am not sure about.

“The goalkeeper rolled the ball out, assuming it was offside, but because the referee didn’t give it, one of our players ran up, shot and scored. The referee said the keeper didn’t hear a whistle and I said because there wasn’t a whistle.

“I was left confused. I don’t think the referee had a bad game and he was willing to give me an explanation, although I don’t think he was still convinced in his mind, and it is a little frustrating.

“All credit to the referee for trying to explain it to me, I felt he was a decent guy. It’s hard to have a grievance against nice people but sadly it’s a results business and if you feel that decision has potentially prevented you from getting two more points, which are much needed in our position, then it is frustrating.”

Watson admitted his Bay side had found it harder against 10 men than they did 11.

“I put that down to them sitting in a bit more with 10 men,” he said. “There was less space to exploit between the lines.

“We had a lot of possession second half and created opportunities and had our finishing been better then it could have been a different story.

“Their lad scored a great goal to equalise and then we were trying to push on for the final 20 minutes to get the winning goal, which we managed to do, but it was ruled out.

“You have to be pragmatic, the draw against Margate is not a bad result. We were reminded by them on social media that the reverse fixture earlier in the season was 4-0, so if you look at it like that it is a point gained.

“But the nature of the game and how it went, going down to 10 and the goal disallowed, you feel slightly aggrieved that we didn’t get three points.”

A tough Saturday awaits Bay as they head to promotion-chasing Hornchurch. The league’s top scorers have snapped up striker Ade Yusuff for an undisclosed fee from Folkestone and have an abundance of talent in their squad.

But Watson said: “You just have to see these games as a test. We will respect them but not fear them. We know that if we perform like we did on Saturday then the likelihood is I don’t think we will win, I don’t think we were good Saturday.

“We need to collectively and individually perform well to have a chance, and there will be a lot of games like that, but they are in the same league and they are only human.”

Watson, who has been dealing with numerous injuries, illnesses and suspensions of late, was grateful to have Jack Parter and newcomer Jack Sammoutis available, but wary of overdoing their minutes after back-to-back games. It could mean more additions before the weekend.

He added: “I signed four players before Saturday’s game and then we still were depleted and Tuesday we had players missing. When you are trying to build a bit of continuity and momentum, team selection can play a role in that.

“Ideally you want to be in a position to change things up but we don’t have that luxury. It could be that we bring some additions in because we have eight games coming up in four weeks.”

Herne Bay make the trip to Kingstonian on Wednesday.