When it comes to important matches, the first thing you hope for is a fair referee. That certainly wasn't the case on Saturday!
The match seemed to start off innocently enough. Padiham, playing down the slope, were enjoying plenty of possession, with Nelson trying their best to soak it up without really getting into gear.
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Anyway, justice was done and Blues goalkeeper Billy Carrington - who easily claimed Nelson's man-of-the-match with a strong authoritative performance - dived low to his left to save the spot-kick.
Padiham continued to show the greater desire, and were awarded a series of free-kicks around the edge of the area for some niggly challenges. Then when a free-kick was given for one Padiham player cutting inside from the left and tumblng Greg Louganis style to the ground, the wonder if the referee was a bit of a 'homer' - or maybe even was something more sinister - started to take hold.
Nelson produced the passing move of the match on the half hour to go and take the lead, Paul Barrett applying the finish the build-up deserved. That goal brought Nelson to life, and they enjoyed a period of decent play where less haste and better decision making may have seen them double their lead.
That didn't happen however, but with Nelson ready to enjoy the advantage of the slope for the second half, hopes were high they could hold onto the lead they had carved out against the league leaders.
It didn't quite work out that way, as Padiham came out pressing again, and this time the referee decided he was going to dish out some yellow cards for the Nelson players to go with their constant 'fouling'.
The man in the middle awarded Padiham a penalty midway through the second half, although for this one there could be no complaints. A Padiham player burst past one defender to move into the area, where he was clumsily brought down by a mistimed Kevin Richardson lunge.
Richardson was quite rightly booked for the challenge, and Padiham got it right with their second spot kick, sending Carrington the wrong way to level the scores.
Five minutes later it was time for Richardson to take an early bath. He burst down the left wing but lost control of the ball. In attempting to poke it past the Padiham right back he clipped his heel. An innocuous challenge, but one the referee decided warranted a second yellow card and sending off.
A shocking decision, compounded by the referee's arrogance when speaking down to the player with a big fat grin on his face: "There's your first one (producing the yellow) ... and there's another one! (on receipt of the red)".
You just knew things were completely ridiculous when, close to the dugouts, a Padiham player decided to haul back a Nelson player who had played the ball past him by the top of the shirt, pulling him to the ground and almost strangling him in the process. The referee rushed over ... to oversee a substitution.
In the closing minutes, Padiham were awarded four free-kicks within shooting distance, with two of them once again no less than disgraceful decisions. The last one was when a home player was crowded out by three Nelson defenders, who between them managed to poke the ball away quite legitimately. Perhaps the official decided three against one simply wasn't fair?
Fortunately for the Blues, they held on for a vital point in what was the most biased performance I have seen from a referee in fifteen years. There is no complaint about the scoreline - both teams scoring one legitimate goal apiece - just the extraordinary lengths the referee appeared to go to to help out the home side.
Appalling would be the most polite word to use to describe the performance of the man in charge, who has generally officiated at several of our games previously without too much incident. But quite how Nelson managed to come away without a defeat was a mystery. One suspects he drove home thinking much the same.
