THE agony is over as Blackpool crashed out of Division Two -- but manager Steve McMahon had harsh words over the refereeing of the 1-1 draw against Oldham.

Following the dismissal of Richard Wellens for a reckless challenge on 74 minutes, Macca fumed: "If that was violent conduct. I'll eat my hat.

"The Oldham player has skipped past a couple of players and Richard Wellens has brought him down.

"There were still five or six players to get past -- I think it's a cop out. It disappoints me and it's our livelyhood.

"He could have stopped and paused but the red card was out before he moved."

Blackpool's relegation is even harder to take with the equaliser coming deep into injury time.

But Pool put in a stern performance and the fans backed them all the way, until the killer blow.

Wellens was a powerhouse in midfield, blasting wide on 12 minutes after some lovely play with Coid.

And James Thomas fired a free-kick inches over the bar on 35 minutes. Oldham were never going to lie down and die though.

Shaun Garnett went close just three minutes into the match with a wide header Steve Whitehall burst through on 26 minutes, only to be denied by Phil Barnes.

And what a display it was from the keeper, who is currently discussing a new contract with the Seasiders.

Barnes was in inspired form in the second-half, turning over a Boshell free kick, blocking a shot from Thom, and tipping over on numerous ocassions,

And it looked like his hard work wasn't in vain when Clark Carlisle smashed the ball in on 63 minutes to give the supporters hope of escaping the drop.

Tommy Jaszczun headed Thom's shot from the line on 90 minutes in a nailbiting finale.

But 19-year-old substitute Ryan Sugden was determined to score his first goal for Oldham -- and while his 93rd minute strike sent him into raptures, the 2,000-strong crowd of travelling Tangerine fans, along with the players, knew that the dream was over.

Sugden found himself in plenty of space to slide the ball under Barnes to equalise for the home side.

After the match, manager McMahon said: "I am speechless. I don't know what to say.

"It's difficult and the lads are heartbroken after the amount of work we have put in."