Loughgall boss Dean Smith: The Irish League is a fantastic product but officials have to improve and come along with us

During a feisty first-half in this Mid-Ulster derby, referee Tim Marshall handed out eight yellow cards – four to Loughgall players, three to Dungannon and a further one to a member of Smith’s backroom staff – while Matthew Lusty gave the visitors a 13th minute lead with a strike from distance which goalkeeper Daniel Devine should have saved.

Lusty doubled his tally in the second-half with a fine finish following superb work from Ben Gallagher before Benji Magee handed the hosts a glimmer of late hope with an injury time goal.

Smith was particularly incensed by the decision not to send Ethan McGee off for a tackle on Oran Brogan and also felt Dean Curry should have been given his marching orders after bringing down Caolan Loughran with the Loughgall defender seemingly running clear through on goal.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again, what we have in this country at the minute is a league that's getting better year on year, a product which is getting people through the gates, we've now got a product businesses want to sponsor and we have to get our officials to come along with us,” he said. “I thought they were below standard tonight and the big calls were not what I would expect at this level.

"When you speak to a referee at half-time about a two-footed challenge and he does say the two feet were off the ground and he does say he's booked him for being reckless and then you go to the rulebook and see what that means, for me an official can't take interpretation into his own hands and interpret it totally differently to what the rules say.

"Rules are rules and there's no grey area. We were on the wrong side of it too many times tonight."

Smith felt Curry was the last Dungannon defender when he dragged down Loughran and with no teammate in the immediate vicinity, the Villagers boss says there was only one decision Marshall could have made.

"We certainly thought so (that it was a red) but they must have had Red Rum playing for them because he told us they had a covering defender,” he added. “I think the free-kick was a couple of yards outside the box and the covering defender is maybe 10 yards from the ball at the time of the tackle and we're being told there's a defender that would have got a tackle in.

"Was he the last man, which the referee explained to me he was? Again we'll go to the rulebook and if you're the last man and taking down someone who is through on goal, which he was, then I don't understand only giving a yellow.

"We've a fantastic product and we have to get the officials to come along with us and improve because at the minute I don't think they've improved at the same level the Irish League has."

It marks a third consecutive Premiership defeat for Loughgall, who remain comfortable in eighth, and Smith says the main objective for his side is to preserve their top-flight status.

"First half-hour they were certainly better,” he reflected. “The goal comes down to an individual error which we're disappointed with, but they were better in the first half-hour.

"Then we got to grips with them and certainly in the second-half we dominate and have a few chances where that wee bit of luck we've had at the start of season has left us.

"This won't define our season - it'll be defined by our end goal of remaining in the league. We're disappointed with tonight but we remain confident that we can stay in this league."