DARWEN boss Steve Wilkes cut an angry figure as his side crashed to a 5-1 defeat at Leek - yet his rage was directed at the officials rather than his players.

In a bad-tempered NWCL Division Two clash, the visitors had four men sent off, much to Wilkes's disbelief.

"I've been involved in both amateur and professional football for 25 years and that has to be the worst display of refereeing I have ever seen," he fumed.

"How we've ended up with only seven men on the field remains a mystery.

"Some of the decisions were quite staggering - my players are distraught over what's happened.

"We will be making a complaint to the FA about the standard of refereeing because I believe the referee sent players off for things that never happened."

The game started brightly for Darwen as they took the lead inside the first 15 minutes - Gareth Woods slotting the ball home after a wicked left wing cross from Mark Westwood.

From then on the game deteriorated into farce as Dennis Hill and Leek's Darren Bailey saw red after an ugly first-half incident that also led to the seemingly innocent Lee Webb being dismissed in the aftermath.

Matt Anderton was then given his marching orders for a second bookable offence 'the only sending off of the night that was deserved', said Wilkes.

Inevitably Leek exploited Darwen's dwindling personnel and drew level via a free kick.

Andrew Smith, who Wilkes declared has 'never been booked in his life', became the fourth and final Darwen player to see red following two yellow cards.

The first was for not retreating from a free kick, despite appearing to walk away prior to the Leek player kicking the ball against him, and the second for a clumsy challenge on the same player, made to look worse by the slippery surface.

The visitors battled well in spite of their numerical disadvantage, yet in the final 15 minutes the Staffordshire side found space easy to come by and ran riot to win a game that is sure to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

LEEK CSOB...5

DARWEN...1