Hornchurch manager Mark Stimson knows exactly how to describe his feelings over a horrendous refereeing mistake at Horsham - robbed.

The much-viewed clip online came inside the final 10 minutes with Hornchurch leading the home side 2-1 in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

A back pass from the Horsham right by Lee Harding was woefully short and snaffled up by Sam Higgins, who put it into the back of the net.

The linesman on the far side though gave it as offside and as Hornchurch complained, Horsham first equalised and then grabbed a 3-2 win.

Stimson explained what happened next.

He said: "They made me wait 45 minutes but I went in and had the chat and they said it was a mistake. 

"We were robbed, that’s what we were. We were robbed of a goal, we were robbed of three massive points and come the end of the season, who knows how big that could be. 

"Only time will tell."

He went on to say that the three officials had all given reasons for the outcome, some of which left him baffled.

He said: "The linesman on the far side who gave the decision said my player was in an offside position but as I said to him ‘well, he's not in an offside position if the other team's got the ball'. That's basic and simple. 

"The linesman on this side, who was 10 yards near me and could clearly see it, his explanation was he's not allowed to get involved in anything in the other half of the pitch. 

"That can't be right. Does that mean if there was a violent action between two players in the other half of the pitch and they see it, they're not allowed to get involved? I don't get that. 

"And then the referee told me he wasn't watching the man on the ball. 

"I asked him who he was watching then? He said they have been trained not to watch the man on the ball but to look around and see if any other situations arise. 

"I've never heard that but I've not been on the referee’s course for a hell of a long while.

"But what I do know, or I think I know, is when the opposition pass a ball back, my player cannot be offside."

The boss knows they have to get over it quickly but with four games left, and having dropped below Bishop's Stortford at the top of the table, the potential magnitude of the decision was firmly in his mind.

He said: "Going [to Horsham] on Saturday, we knew if we won five games, we'd win the league. And at that time, we were 2-1 up and going to make it 3-1. 

"You could say they could have still come back and they could have, but they might not have. 

"We now have to do our utmost best, like we have done all season, to try and win as many games as possible. 

"It doesn't always go to plan but there are not many times it is due to instants like that, which are out of our control."

Attention now has to turn quickly to two even more vital contests over the Easter weekend, starting with a home game with Billericay before a trip to Carshalton.

"We’re expecting two tough games," said Stimson, "and we have to get at them and hopefully get six points. 

"That will make it a really interesting last two games of the season because there's a few teams playing each other. 

"I'm sure there's another twist in this exciting season still to come."