STUDLEY pulled off a stunning 4-0 success at Coventry Copsewood this week to ease their relegation worries in Midland League Division One.

But the match was marred by a bizarre display from the referee who dished out no less than 15 yellow cards while sending off a Copsewood player off for good measure.

Although delighted with the result, Studley boss Keith Draper was left dumbfounded by the referee.

Draper said: "For the first 35 minutes, the ref was very good. But once he'd issued his first yellow card, there was no stopping him.

"I asked him after the game whether the Football Association were short of money this week as every yellow card results with a £10 fine.

"The club also get a hefty fine if there is more than six yellow cards issued against them during a game.

"In the ref's defence, he was fair to both sides when it came to giving out yellow cards. There was a referee's assessor present and I think that might have affected the ref's performance.

"It seemed that every foul was a yellow card and you cannot appeal against them."

But Draper was full of praise for his players and revealed: "We changed our playing system and bossed the game from start to finish. Our coach Kim Casey has been working with the players and it is clearly making a difference."

Gareth Evans netted twice for Studley while Josh Westwood added a third before being replaced by his brother Aaron Westwood who also netted.

Studley have no fixture this Saturday but were hoping to book their place in the Birmingham Floodlit Cup final as they were due to face Cadbury Athletic in the semi-final this week.