Oldham Athletic have questioned why a rookie referee was assigned to their trans-Pennine derby with Halifax Town, which they lost 1-0 and ended the game with 10 men.

It was the first time Rochdale Referees' Association member Dean Watson had officiated at National League level, having been promoted just last month.

And while Latics boss David Unsworth acknowledged that everyone had to have a starting point, the club feel that a game of such magnitude, in front of a crowd of over 7,000, was unsuitable for a refereeing debut, and have made their case known in an official report to the Football Association.

Social media posts from Watson, some of which were deleted after the full-time whistle, also suggested the headteacher is a supporter of rival club Rochdale. Although this is not something that would prevent the FA assigning him to an Oldham fixture, The Oldham Times understands that Latics feel it is another factor which should have been taken into consideration for his first game.

“There was a lot of stuff going on. There was a loss of control within the game,” said Unsworth in his post-match press conference following Saturday’s defeat, which was settled from the spot.

Mani Dieseruwve had his penalty for handball against Josef Yarney saved by Magnus Norman but converted the rebound, while at the other end both Yarney and Timmy Abraham were both denied clear penalties, and Abraham was farcically even booked for winning a 50-50 challenge.

“Everybody has to start somewhere but it was a game that probably needed someone else,” the Latics boss continued.

“It is a big game and there was all sorts going on. There were fouls, time wasting, decisions for them and for us, the fourth official was everywhere but nowhere, getting involved, not getting involved. It felt like a bizarre 95 minutes in that respect.”

Unsworth did not dispute the red card shown to Mike Fondop early in the second half, after he raised his arm towards left back Adam Senior when the game was still goalless, but questioned the penalty awarded to the visitors, among other incidents.

The Latics boss was also booked for retrieving the ball from the fourth official to allow play to resume.

“We didn’t have the ball on the pitch and he was holding on to the ball. We were 1-0 down so I tried to get the ball on as quickly as possible,” he explained.