Walsall boss Michael Flynn branded referee Paul Howard “awful” after his 10-man side’s battling 1-1 draw at Sutton.

The Saddlers were forced to play almost three-quarters of the game a man light after Brandon Comley’s 26th-minute sending off at Gander Green Lane.

Comley saw red after two heavy challenges on Craig Eastmond within the space of 10 minutes — the second of which saw the Sutton skipper go off with a nasty facial injury.

Rob Milsom put the hosts in front from the penalty spot with 18 minutes left, but Walsall substitute Jacob Maddox came off the bench to net his first goal for almost four years to earn the Saddlers a point late on.

But Flynn was far from happy with the performance of the official and was left ‘disgusted’ by the penalty decision which cost his side dear.

“I’m not going to go into it too much, but the referee has spoilt the whole game,” said Flynn.

“Almost from the start, it was an awful performance from the referee.

“They need to look at whether he referees next week or not.

“It wasn’t a red card. Brandon is looking at the ball and the first one is not a yellow card either. Brandon pulls out [of the challenge].

“They have both gone in for the ball and he’s pulled out.

“And the other one, well he’s got his back to their player who is leant over his shoulder – and he’s looking completely at the ball.

“They will say our player has caught him in the face, but it just makes a mockery of the game.

“I’m not going to go on too much because I’ve probably said too much and I don’t want to get fined.”

Sutton took the lead from the penalty spot after Peter Clarke pulled down Coby Rowe as they contested a corner.

Flynn said: “For the penalty decision we’re lucky Donervon [Daniels] didn’t hit his head on the post, because we would have had a serious injury. It would have been a serious incident at the ground.

“He [the referee] is the only one that has given the penalty because the linesman and fourth official told me during the game,” he said.

“He’s the other side of the 18-yard box and, like I said, it’s a display, performance from the man in the middle – I’m not even going to label him as a ref – that absolutely disgusts me.”

Sutton boss Matt Gray was left bitterly disappointed after his side were forced to settle for a point after conceding late on.

“It’s very disappointing because we had taken the lead,” he said.

“We scored the goal, they had nothing to lose and threw bodies forward. We were comfortable and then one moment has cost us.

“At the moment it seems to keep being that one moment that’s costing us.

“Joe Kizzi doesn’t mean to slip over, of course he doesn’t. But they get down the side and then it’s 1-1.

“The second half was obviously pure domination in terms of possession and moving the ball.

“We got the moment and we looked very comfortable right up until the end.

“It’s difficult playing 10 men. It’s not a normal game, you’re not used to it in a competitive game. You’ve got to try and stay patient. We dealt with that reasonably well.”

He added of Eastmond’s injury: “Craig’s got a really nasty facial injury and we’ll see how he is in the next couple of days.”