Robinson frustrated as nine-man Hungerford lose first game of 2025

Hungerford Town manager Danny Robinson was left exasperated after his side were reduced to nine men on Saturday.

The Crusaders lost 4-0 to fellow play-off hopefuls Sholing, with Hungerford suffering through a tough first-half.

Hungerford had the better of the chances in the opening ten minutes, but were caught out with twenty on the clock.

A handball in the box gave Sholing a penalty which they swiftly converted for 1-0.

Kyle Tooze and George Smith both went close in the minutes which followed, the former hitting the bar as Hungerford looked to fight back into the contest.

Tooze saw another chance deflected wide as half-time loomed, but his side were caught on the break just before the referee’s whistle as Sholing doubled their lead against the run of play.

Ex-Liverpool winger Jordon Ibe and new signing Rafa Ramos arrived for the second-half, but could do little to change the game’s momentum.

Sholing made it 3-0 just a few minutes into the second period to wrap things up, providing a lesson in taking chances when they come.

From here the game descended into something slightly more farcical, as Ramarni Medford-Smith was dismissed in the 55th minute.

Nine minutes later Curtis Angell was also sent off, meaning the entirety of Hungerford’s left-flank had now been sent off.

Sholing scored a fourth with fifteen left to play to end a messy afternoon for Hungerford.

“If I really say how I feel publicly then I’ll get in a lot of trouble,” said manager Danny Robinson.

“Referees are there to be scrutinised, they have the hardest job in football.

“The standard across the whole season just hasn’t been good enough.

“A lot of managers feel the same, we feel officials are getting fast-tracked.

“The game in non-league is not like it used to be, it’s faster, more athletic, played at a higher tempo.

“It’s becoming more professional. We need the refereeing standard to go up with that.

Hungerford were 3-0 down before any players saw red, with Robinson acknowledging that the performance wasn’t good enough regardless.

“They were better than us,” he said.

“All four goals were down to our mistakes.

“But Sholing have definitely turned a corner.”

Hungerford have turned a corner of their own, something Robinson will be keen to keep going.

“Our first defeat in eleven games, first defeat this year,” he said.

“We’ve just gone from nineteenth to seventh place.

“We probably needed a bit of a slap across the chops.

“And it’s fair to say there’s a little bit of a discipline problem.

“We ask the players to play in an intense way.

“On Saturday they just blew a gasket.”