Red-faced ref loses the plot

THE new season is barely a week old but one man is already staring relegation from the Premiership squarely in the face.

Hapless referee Andy D'Urso left the St Mary's Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a face as crimson as the card he should have shown Barry Ferguson after this frenetic contest descended into total anarchy.

As the fourth official indicated there was to be three minutes of stoppage time at the end of a match, which was delicately poised at 2-2, D'Urso suddenly lost the plot in the most calamitous circumstances imaginable.

The chaos started when the bungling Billericay official awarded a dubious penalty to Southampton for what he interpreted as a push by Craig Short on James Beattie in the area.

To say it was harsh is an understatement and in the melee that followed, D'Urso then brandished a yellow card in Ferguson's direction after the Blackburn skipper had belted the ball into orbit in protest.

As Ferguson had already been booked for a late challenge on Fabrice Fernandes just 10 minutes earlier, everyone expected a red card to follow but amazingly Mr D'Urso allowed the Scot to continue, completely oblivious to his oversight.

Now the red-faced official faces an FA investigation and almost certain expulsion from the elite list of referees following one of the most bizarre gaffes in Premiership history.

Just how Mr D'Urso will attempt to explain away his actions is anyone's guess but imagine the embarrassment that would have been caused had Ferguson popped up to grab a last-gasp equaliser.

In truth, D'Urso's incompetence had not been confined to that one mad minute.

Both sides had reasons to feel aggrieved after the official made a series of blunders during the course of this breathless encounter.

Rovers had two strong shouts for a penalty turned down - one an absolute stone-waller when Danny Higginbotham wrestled Paul Dickov to the floor in the dying seconds.

On the flip-side, Dickov was then lucky to stay on the pitch when he tried to grab Beattie by the throat as his sense of injustice turned into boiling rage at one point in the second half.

From Graeme Souness's point of view, however, D'Urso's most costly error of the day was his decision to award a spot-kick when Short challenged Beattie in the air as the game entered the 91st minute.

There was definite contact but not enough to warrant a penalty when clearer shouts had already been turned down at the other end and Souness had every right to feel hard done by.

Rovers played well enough to take at least a point - if not all three - but aside from D'Urso's intervention, they ultimately paid the price for sloppy defending against a team who looked there for the taking.

Rovers controlled the opening 25 minutes but then a breakdown in communication between Short and Nissa Johansson led to both men challenging for the same ball and Kevin Phillips gleefully swept home the opener.

Ferguson then dragged his side back into the game with a sweetly taken goal in the 50th minute and an assured finish from the excellent Dickov put Rovers back in command.

But a collective inability to defend a lead still continues to haunt this team and in an echo of last season, Anders Svensson was allowed to riffle home an equaliser before the Saints grabbed the spoils in the cruellest fashion.

One point from two winnable games represents a disappointing start and perhaps even more crucially the mistakes of last season have yet to be ironed out. Southampton were average at best but every time they put the ball in the box, Rovers looked vulnerable.

Fernandes, in particular, was allowed to fire in too many crosses and no-one seemed capable of taking command in the penalty area.

But Dickov's second half display underlined just why the Scot became the most wanted man in the Premiership in the summer.

The former Leicester striker reminds me of David Speedie in the way he puts the wind up defenders and his energy was instrumental in dragging Rovers back into this game.

The midfield also looked more solid with Dominic Matteo and Garry Flitcroft in it to complement the craft and guile of Tugay and Ferguson but in the end Rovers' old failings came back to haunt them...with a help little from the referee!

The visitors dominated the opening 20 minutes and Jonathan Stead was only denied by a great save from Antti Niemi.

But then the Saints were gifted a soft goal in the 32nd minute when Short and Johansson both challenged for a ball. When neither of them won it, Phillips stole in to guide home the opener.

Dickov's introduction as a half-time substitute had an immediate effect and within five minutes Rovers were level.

Ferguson found the striker with a clever ball down the right and Dickov cut inside before playing a perfectly weighted return pass into the path of the galloping Rovers skipper who buried a low shot beyond Niemi.

Dickov then made it 2-1 in the 68th minute when he pulled down Emerton's cross and smashed the ball past Niemi from six yards.

All Rovers had to do from there was see the game out but they couldn't.

Brad Friedel made a stunning save to deny Phillips but 30 seconds later Beattie's cross flashed across the face of goal to Fernandes who was lurking beyond the far post and he cut the ball back for Svensson to thunder a shot into the far corner.

In a gripping finale, Dickov felt he should have had a penalty when he clashed with Beattie and he was then lucky to escape with a booking for retaliating.

But Mr D'Urso did point to the spot in injury time when Beattie buckled under Short's challenge and the former Blackburn player brushed himself down before bagging the winner.

Even then there was still time for more controversy when Dickov appeared to be fouled by Higginbotham in the area but nothing was given which rather summed up the day.