SIMON Davies blasted referee Steven Cook’s performance in Chester’s 2-0 defeat at Exeter City.
The Blues boss usually refrains from publicly criticising officials – but he made an exception for Surrey-based Cook on Saturday.
Davies said: “I thought the referee was so inconsistent.
“Jay Harris got booked for stopping one of their players in his tracks and rightly so. But 10 minutes later when Ellison was taken out down the wing, nothing was done.”
Davies thought Cook’s decision to award Exeter a penalty for an apparent handball by Kevin Roberts was harsh.
John Danby saved Richard Logan’s spot-kick but it was not enough to prevent City from slipping to their fifth away defeat of the season.
“The penalty decision, for me, was a disgraceful decision,” said the City manager. “Luckily we weathered that because John saved the penalty. But I thought we didn’t get an awful lot from the referee all afternoon.
“It might sound like an excuse and I don’t normally mention the officials, but I thought he was that bad he definitely deserved a mention.
“Our lads gave everything again and it was like we were playing against 12 rather than 11.”
Davies added: “He [Cook] was laughing at players when they were asking him about things. We have to give referees respect and we’re told that before every single game, and yet when they put performances in like that it is very hard to do so.”
