Westbury United 2, Weston St Johns 2 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Westbury United 2, Weston St Johns 2

A BIZARRE refereeing decision was the main talking point on Wednesday night as Westbury United recovered from going 2-0 down after just 13 minutes.

Goals from Pete Ayton and Wayne Wheeler levelled the score by the 23rd minute but the hosts were still bemused over Weston's opening goal.

On 10 minutes the visitors were awarded a penalty that neither side knew what it was for but Jamie Crandon took advantage of the gift and scored the opener.

Mark Burland then nudged the ball over the line for his side's second but Westbury rallied and quickly got themselves back on level terms.

Manager Paul Brickley said: "It was quite strange. I spoke to the referee afterwards and he said our defender collided with their forward.

"But even their manager admitted he did not have a clue what the penalty was for. We also should have had a penalty when Wayne Wheeler was brought down."

Trailing 2-0, Ayton gave Westbury a lifeline when he latched on to Matty Bown's lay off to send a crisp shot into the net.

Paul Beavers almost equalised on 19 minutes with a lob that struck the bar while at the other end Ryan Havard was denied by Lewis Porter.

Wheeler then equalised on 23 minutes with a stunning 30 yard strike for his sixth goal of the season.

After this dramatic start the remainder of the match was fairly uneventful as both sides struggled to break each other down.

Before the break, Ayton went close with an audacious 40-yard lob while Matt Windsor was denied by some brave keeping from Graham Court.

In the second half, Westbury keeper Porter produced three saves to keep his side in the match while Bown almost snatched the lead for the hosts with a chip that just went over.

On 67 minutes, Wheeler was brought down from behind by Gary Dunn in the penalty area but play was waved on.