Richard Styles questioned the referee’s level of performance after Whitstable lost at Deal.

The Oystermen were beaten in the big Southern Counties East Premier Division encounter 2-1 on Tuesday despite Matt Gething’s first-half strike.

Whitstable’s Tom Mills was sent off late on to compound their misery, with another red card being brandished in the direction of the away dugout.

Styles, Whitstable's manager, said: “I have got my own opinion of the referee’s performance.

“It was two fouls. Second one, it is a foul but I don’t think it’s a booking, I don’t think it needs a booking.

“But - like I said to the referee at half-time - not every foul has to be a booking. It is what it is. But having said that, with the game I thought the referee had, it didn’t surprise me that, when he made that tackle, he was going to send him off. It is what it is, we have got to deal with it.

“I question the level of the referee’s performance and ability for such a high game - such a top-end game if you like.

“There was always going to be tackles, there was always going to be passion, and I don’t think he managed it very well.”

Gething’s third goal of the season gave the visitors, now sixth, a 1-0 half-time lead but Deal skipper Kane Smith levelled before Jack Penny made it two goals in two minutes for Steve King's Hoops to flip the game on its head.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to lose, we don’t want to lose any game,” said Styles, who hinted he could look to make some new signings this week.

“Performance-wise, I thought we were very good, first half. But second half, we didn’t reach the level of expectation that we have for our performances and, ultimately through not doing that, it allowed Deal to sort of smash-and-grab if you like and win the game.

“First half, we probably should have scored two or three, at least. We dominated the first half.

“Second half, like I say, we didn’t do the things we needed to. Ultimately, [from] a goal from a set-piece and a counter-attack, they have got two goals.

“We are very frustrated but we’ll regroup and go again.”

When asked if he felt his team’s concentration levels may have slipped towards the end of the game or if they simply got sucker-punched, he replied: “A mixture of both because they didn’t create an awful lot throughout the game.

“They didn’t create chance after chance after chance, and I don’t really remember them being in our box or Dan Eason having to make a save, really.

“But that being said, our levels, our standards and our game-plan, we didn’t uphold that in the second half. Ultimately, that's what let us down and that’s why we lost the game because we didn’t continue doing the things that worked so well in the first half.”

Things don’t get any easier for Whitstable, either. They visit fourth-placed Erith this Saturday and host Kennington on Tuesday.

Styles said: “There’s no easy games at this level. Some teams have started well, some teams haven’t. But it is still wide open.

“There’s still a number of points to be played for and games to be played. It’s still early days. We have played seven games, we have got 31 left.

“Erith Town is a tough place to go, they are a tough team to play against, and we’ll have to come up with a plan and be at our best to get anything out of the game, that’s for sure.”

Midfielder Joe Nelder comes back into contention after a slight injury but defender Mills is due to be banned for their match against Kennington.