Hythe boss Steve Watt was sent off after player power saw a late equaliser controversially ruled out.

The Cannons thought they had secured a point at Erith & Belvedere on Saturday when Jack Steventon’s strike went in off Johan Caney-Bryan in the closing minutes.

The goal appeared to have been given only for the linesman to change his mind after being challenged by Deres players.

Watt’s reaction to the U-turn saw him sent to the stands by referee Redmond Egan and the match ended 1-0.

“The referee and the linesman are on their way back to the halfway line,” said Watt, whose side host Ashford in Isthmian South East tonight.

“The linesman then gets stopped and cornered by two of their players and I’m assuming the referee is going over to book them because you’re not allowed to surround officials.

“There’s been a big song and dance about that.

“The next thing I know, the linesman’s put his flag up and the goal is ruled out for offside.

“There’s a hundred ways that goal could have been disallowed, and you have to accept it, but the way it was done was extremely poor.

“I just said to the linesman we’ve been cheated out of a point and you can’t use that word, which I fully understand, but I wasn’t calling anyone a cheat, I was talking about the situation.

“The referee was excellent - he’s the best I’ve seen at this level.

“He was very good but that was just a mess at the end.

“It shouldn’t have mattered because we should have been four or five up but it’s really disappointing that with all the initiatives for respecting referees that two players getting in the linesman’s face should influence the result.

“I don’t blame the Erith & Belvedere players - that’s a natural reaction - but it’s led to a massive U-turn.

“It all happened so quick, so I don’t know whether it was offside or not, but I can’t understand how we got to that point where the officials are going back to the halfway line and then the goal is disallowed.”

The late controversy took the shine off an excellent Hythe performance - one Watt felt warranted three points.

They created numerous chances but were denied by a string of fine saves from Jordan Perrin before Chris Dickson’s 25-yard cracker settled the match.

“It’s the best we’ve played all season,” said Watt.

“But for a man-of-the-match performance from their keeper and a goal worthy of winning any game, we’d have had three points.

“It was a silly mistake on our part to give the ball away but Chris Dickson has still got a lot to do - it’s a brilliant finish.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys for the way they played against a team who have spent a lot of money and have some really big-name players.

“We’ve completely outplayed them but you can’t create that many chances and not score.

“You’ve got to score but the way we played was really pleasing.

“We looked like a team who should be doing something this season.”

Hythe are looking to bounce back against an Ashford side who were thrashed 6-0 by East Grinstead on Saturday.

Nuts & Bolts boss Kevin Watson apologised after the match and offered travelling fans their money back.

“It was a result I never saw coming,” said Hythe boss Watt.

“No disrespect to East Grinstead - I could see them beating many teams - but no one would have seen a 6-0 coming.

“That obviously means there’s going to be a reaction from Ashford, it’s as simple as that.

“We’re hurting a bit from Saturday after the way things ended, so it’ll be two wounded animals and a big three points at stake.”

The original meeting in August was abandoned after Nuts & Bolts midfielder Adem Ramadan suffered a broken leg.