FUMING Barrow boss Pete Wild hit out at the referee after his side’s 1-1 draw at play-off rivals Crawley.

The Bluebirds ended a sorry spell of three successive defeats with a point on the road.

Emile Acquah headed the visitors in front, but Danilo Orsi’s second-half penalty rescued the Sussex club a point. 

But seething Wild was left dumbfounded by the penalty decision and the call to rule out Elliott Newby’s goal for a foul in the build up. 

“The whole night’s been ruined by an outrageous, ludicrous decision,” insisted Wild. 

“It’s, in my opinion, been made with no thought.

“How can we have a 20 second delay to make the decision? There have been two crosses put into the box before the decision is made. How can that be?

“You watch it back, his arm’s in a natural position. There’s no way it’s hand ball. 

“There’s a 20 second delay. There are so many things wrong with it.

“This is what frustrates me. We’re told to lay off referees and let them develop and then in such a crucial game, in such a big moment…if that was a player they would be getting criticised for it. 

“The officials need to take responsibility for what happened there.

“They will be out again Saturday refereeing and they could be the difference between me keeping a job and not. 

"There margin for error is so small and we are in the lap of the gods with decisions like that.

“It just spoils what was a good football match.

“There’s no clarity in situations. What’s the foul for? Newbs rolls him, gets around him and scores a goal. Where’s the foul?

“I just don’t understand the decision-making process, there’s just nothing there that says foul.”

After a run of three straight defeats, it was vital the Bluebirds halted that slide in momentum. 

They are three points clear in the play-off race with a game in hand over their rivals.

And Wild was delighted with his side’s performance despite being left with a sour taste in his mouth over the officiating.

“First of all, that’s as good as we’ve played for four to six weeks,” praised Wild. 

“We knew we had to frustrate Crawley. We’re not fussed about having the ball, it’s more about what we do with the ball.

“That was a classic Barrow performance. That’s as solid as I’ve seen us in months. 

“We created some good chances and played on the counter, could have had some more goals.

“It stops the rot. I’m not daft. This week was always going to be tough with three away games.

“The minimum we wanted was a point because that takes us into the final week and getting back to Holker Street where we’ve been so good.”