Folkestone manager Andy Drury blasted referee Steve Goldup after their derby defeat to Dover - saying he hopes he never referees his side again.

Mr Goldup, a late replacement for injured referee Kane Dempster, was at the centre of the controversial moment of Invicta’s 1-0 Isthmian Premier loss to the leaders as he red-carded forward Dan Smith for a meaty challenge on Whites’ Alfie Matthews on Tuesday.

It was a sixth red card of the campaign for Folkestone, including last month’s “piggy in the middle” incident, which resulted in striker Tom Derry kicking the opposition goalkeeper in frustration.

Drury said: “I’ve just seen it and it’s probably one of the worst decisions that I’ve ever seen in my whole life! It was never a red card.

“He’s not touched him, he’s not near him and I’ve just seen that very clearly. For a referee to give that in a derby game especially, it’s unforgivable, really.”

Drury revealed it was not the first time his team had been on the wrong end of key decisions in matches made by Mr Goldup in the past couple of seasons.

“I’m proud of the boys,” said the boss, who confirmed he expects Folkestone to appeal 10-goal Smith’s sending-off.

“We have been done over again by another referee - and that’s the third time he has done it to us since he’s been refereeing.

Report: Folkestone 0-1 Dover

“He did it to us against Cray Wanderers last year (in a 2-2 draw), which he’s just admitted to me, and gave Hastings a penalty when it wasn’t a penalty on Bank Holiday Monday (despite Invicta still winning that game 2-1). He’s just done that to us.

“I hope he never referees us ever again!”

Even with 10 men, the home team put Dover under a lot of late pressure in their search for a leveller.

Drury reflected: “We dominated from start to finish, even with 10 men, for 30 or 40 minutes.

“I thought we were, by far, the better team for pretty much the whole game, and I don’t really think anyone can argue with that.”

The result leaves 13th-placed Folkestone seven points adrift of the play-off positions.

Asked if he felt he was under pressure in his position, Drury replied: “I’m not really bothered. I’ll just do the best that I can.

“I feel like we have got a very good squad. I think anyone who saw that can see that. We haven’t had one game where we haven’t competed and we haven’t had one game where we have been second-best at all.

“We lost 3-0 at home to Billericay and, in the first half, we were, by far, the better team. They were better than us in the second half, and the second half on Saturday at Carshalton (in a 2-1 loss) was probably the only time we have dropped our performances for longer than a half.

“But I get that football is a results industry.

“Josh Healey, the chairman, I cannot thank him enough for giving me the opportunity and all the backing. He has been brilliant.

“It’s up to him.”

A record crowd of 2,906 watched the match at Cheriton Road as Invicta started a run of five home games in a row in all competitions.

Drury said: “Josh, the chairman, has got good plans here and he puts his money where his mouth is. He’s been very good.

“At the same time, you need to get results.”

Folkestone had made three changes from the side which suffered a weekend defeat to Carshalton as captain Ian Gayle and midfielder Dean Rance, who Drury confirmed hadn’t been fully fit, came in alongside left-back Frankie Morgan.

“Everyone out there fought until the end,” said Drury, who saw Marvel Ekpiteta play much of the second period with a bandage on his head after he received lengthy treatment following a knock.

“I thought Frankie Morgan was different class, as well. We had a couple of players - Gayley and Rancey - that weren’t 100 percent.

“I think the fans at the end were singing and clapping the boys off because they can see how much effort the boys have put in and how well they’ve played.”

Invicta will aim to bounce back from successive losses at home to Cray Wanderers in the league on Saturday.