Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb said that referee Kirsty Dowle wasn’t the reason they lost the Boxing Day derby to Dartford.

The Fleet were beaten 4-1 by their neighbours, who raced into a three-goal lead inside just 11 minutes at Stonebridge Road.

Dartford’s opener, scored by Luke Allen, proved controversial after the officials decided that there was no foul when Ebbsfleet captain Chris Solly and Alex Wall came together, the latter appearing to have a large chunk of the former’s shirt.

It was one of a number of decisions that Ebbsfleet feel have gone against them again this season.

Cheshunt’s penalty was disputed in their previous away game, and there were controversial calls in the 2-0 home defeat to Eastbourne.

“It’s not even worth talking about it,” said Kutrieb. “We’ve never had other experiences. We can’t say what if.

“We had a bad decision after seven minutes in the last game, we had a few bad decisions against Eastbourne, this won’t change. We know this is the case. It’s never gone in another direction, even last season, this was always the same.

“I said last season we as a club definitely did something massively wrong in the past that the referees wherever we go are never in our favour. We definitely did something wrong and we pay for it every single time.

“At the end of the day this is not finding excuses, this is exactly what it is. We don’t need to talk about it, we just need to get on, we need to focus on us and do it better.

“When we do it better, we’ll get our results. If we try to feel sorry for ourselves because we don’t get decisions or whatever, then we definitely lose games. We can’t get affected from it.

“I think today this was not the reason. This was a decision after one minute, the next two shots were two more goals and we were 3-0 down after 11 minutes. Regardless if the first decision was embarrassing, this was nothing to do with the outcome of the game.”

Kutrieb was more angered by the Fleet conceding a fourth goal just before half-time.

The Fleet boss felt that they could have got back into the game had they only trailed 3-1 at the break.

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side,” he added. “Maybe one time we’ll get a decision for us in the first five minutes of the game and not everything against us. You just need to get on with it.

“Over the whole season it should be slightly even with luck and bad luck but at the moment it’s more bad luck for us. We need to work hard and be honest, then we’ll see if we get a little bit of luck.

“It’s an easy decision for the referee to make, a free-kick to us and nothing happens and we’re not 2-0 or 3-0 down if we get a free-kick over there.

• Report: Ebbsfleet 1-4 Dartford

“You could see after the third goal they were still very careful in their approach as they knew if we scored a goal then we’re back in the game.

“The fourth goal really killed us there. It was a simple mistake where we should have done better, if we go 3-1 at half-time then I think it’s a different game. But at the end of the day, you can’t change it.

“If we scored another goal we were back in the game but it wasn’t happening. The good thing is we’re back in six days’ time so we can make it better.”