Neilston co-manager Chris Cameron branded their referee’s performance “pathetic” as their title hopes were extinguished by Wishaw’s late leveller.
The Farmer’s Boys knew only a win would do as they continued to chase after the Conference C title despite losing to rivals Petershill the weekend before.
They were seconds away from coming away with all three points before the home side dramatically equalised deep into injury-time.
Cameron and his squad were left gutted and he firmly believes they were let down by an incompetent man in the middle.
He told Express Sport: “I genuinely hate talking about referees, but this was like watching someone that had never been on a football pitch before.
“I never say stuff about refs, but this is the first time I’d have to say he got Wishaw a point.
“For their first goal, there was a foul in the middle of the park on us and the striker was coming back from an offside position.
“We got back to 2-1 and then he missed a stonewall penalty. He said it was an accidental trip, but the boy still wiped our striker clean out.
“Then for their equaliser he gives them a corner when there was a blatant foul on us in the middle of the park. Our boys were still arguing about that when Wishaw put the ball in and scored.
“I actually need to apologise to our players for being so hard on them after the game, because the refereeing was pathetic.
“It’s the first time in my career that I’ve felt uncomfortable for the whole game, because you just didn’t know what the ref was going to do.
“We still had chances to score four or five, but we’d have still won the game if the referee had been competent. We absolutely shouldn’t have referees of that standard at our level for games that could define a team’s entire season.”
Despite all but admitting defeat in their race for the title, Cameron insists it’s still been a decent campaign for the Farmer’s Boys who have already sealed a spot in the Championship next season via a top four finish.
And Cameron wants his squad to finish the season strongly as they prepare for life back in the second tier.
Cameron said: “The Petershill game was like a cup final for us. We knew it would be hard to life the boys for the Wishaw game but we still almost won it on an absolute cowp of a park.
“It’s been a very decent season and top four was always our target. The shot at the Premier Division was a bonus and we were very close to it. The Petershill game was our chance and we just came up short.
“We still feel on our day we’re the best side in the league, it’s just consistency that’s cost us.
“Now we’ve challenged the boys to push on and finish the season strongly.
“We need to prove we’re ready for the Championship.”
