Sutton & Epsom head coach Jeff Parsons could not hide his disgust at a refereeing performance he described as “ridiculous”.

Parsons claimed Sutton had been on the wrong end of the referee’s judgment the weekend before last in a defeat at Chobham. Now, after a 11-24 defeat at home to Cobham on Saturday, Parsons was up in arms again.

“I would normally shake the ref’s hand at the end of a game, but I was fuming so much I had to give him a wide berth,” he said.

“There were two occasions when Cobham kicked the ball over the top for a run chase.

“On both occasions the ball was knocked on about five metres, the Cobham lad has picked it up and crossed the line, and the ref gave the try.

“The second one was ridiculous. The Cobham lad was laughing at himself as he crossed the line. He looked at the ref expecting the whistle, but he got the try.”

He added: “I know people make mistakes, but we played so well in terrible conditions that we deserved more.”

Parsons’ woes did not end there as they had to play the entire match without a recognised hooker after Ed Spackman’s calf injury resurfaced in the warm up.

Sutton have lost three hookers this season, and he is hopeful James Bennett will not be the fourth when they host winless Haywards Heath this weekend.

Sutton are ninth in the table, 14 points above Beckenham, who occupy the final relegation spot.

Parsons said: “Haywards Heath are probably relegated, but we’re hoping for decent weather so we can play our brand of rugby.

“Howling gales and torrential rain can be a real leveller in these kind of games.”

“The really big game is the weekend after at Beckenham. Such is our position it is a real double-pointer.

“It could open up a gap, or it could suck us down. It is that vital.”

He adde: "We need to make sure we take our second half performace against Cobham into the Haywards Heath martch, because that was some of the best rugby we have played this season."