CINDERFORD director of rugby Andy Deacon says his team is not getting the rub of the green off referees.

The Foresters lost by a single score at Ealing, but the result hinged on two crucial decisions.

Deacon said: "If points were awarded for saying the best side lost we'd be in the Premiership.

"We proved again on Saturday that we're not a bad side but we're not getting the big decisions.

"The ref disallowed a try of ours for a forward pass that only went 5m, then awarded one to them at the end that could have gone either way. Their winger and Nev Codlin dived on the ball together and the ref gave the try. If it had been a Premiership game he would have gone upstairs for a decision."

Deacon was pleased with Cinderford' s overall performance. He said: "The forwards were excellent and I was delighted with our young hooker Tom Bozzard, especially as Sam Wilkes is likely to be out for another month.

"Rory Teague's kicking was immense and the way he and Mike Wilcox swap positions is a credit to the coaches.

"This is such a tight league this year.

"Fylde are top and we're bottom but we've both picked up the same number of bonus points. Work that one out!"