EASTWOOD and Inspiral Carpets keyboardist Boon might be heroes to many but, on this showing, Sharrad isn’t likely to join them on the list of popular Clints.

The Mancunian referee was who most people were talking about at the end of York City Knights’ 27-14 loss at Blackpool, after a display so questionable it must have had even himself bemused.

York came out tops in the penalty count, but dodgy decisions for knock-ons, forward passes and non-penalties played a huge part in the outcome. And that’s without mentioning two disallowed Danny Ratcliffe tries.

However, while accusing fingers could point Sharrad’s way, the Knights, too, were at fault for leaving the Woodlands Memorial Ground with nothing.

Firstly, James Ratcliffe’s men, who had shaded the first half, stopped playing for percentages, whereas Blackpool continued their solid rugby, going on to grind York down and pick off their weaknesses.

Secondly, there were those weaknesses, Blackpool scoring four second-half tries all down York’s right side, where they seemed to have an extra man, where Mike Mitchell’s defensive frailties which blighted his performance in the March 14 defeat at Workington resurfaced on his first recall since, and where young winger Tom Lineham’s positional naivety prevented him from digging his mate out of a hole.

Furthermore, three rushes to the head meant the Knights failed to even scrape a bonus point.

Firstly, Lee Waterman – heralded three days earlier for his goal-kicking, having hit a Knights joint-record 12 in Good Friday’s win over Gateshead – hit an upright with a simple late conversion.

Then Schofield dropped the restart and Leather booted a last-minute drop goal to increase the gap to 13 points.

Then, when York had a last-ditch 35-metre penalty chance to take them back within 12 and bag that bonus, they ran it and the hooter sounded.

Back in the pack yesterday were Mark Applegarth and Jordan Ross in place of the in-form Jon Fallon, whose knee cannot take two games in four days, and Danny Hill, who was unavailable due to work.

Luke Hardbottle, as expected, replaced Mark Falkingham on the bench to complete a forward crew which – without Fallon and, in particular, Brett Waller, who like playmaker Chris Thorman was not risked after injury – was short on size but high on mobility. Alex Benson, also on the bench, was the pick of them.

Centre Mitchell had replaced Matty Duckworth, while coach James Ratcliffe kept the half-back combination of Joe McLocklan and Jonathan Schofield that had terrorised Gateshead, but brought Casey Bromilow back, as replacement hooker in place of young Jy-Mel Coleman. The Aussie again struggled to make a positive impact.

Early penalties went Blackpool’s way but good defence held out before two free-kicks the other way gave York their first real opportunity. However, when Paul Stamp had the ball knocked out of his hands close to the line by a defender who was offside, Sharrad gave a scrum to Blackpool to begin his bout of puzzling officialdom.

York then forced a dropout, but Sharrard said they were offside from the kick. He also gave a knock-on against Stamp when the ball was again knocked forward by a Blackpool hand – and, with penalties thrown in, it was only a matter of time before the Panthers benefited from his piggy-backs.

Still, when home winger Paul Ballard was given an easy run-in, Sharrad ruled a forward pass.

A couple of other dodgy decisions went York’s way – but the worst of the lot denied them the opener.

Schofield put Danny Ratcliffe in but Sharrad inexplicably penalised them for obstruction.

Moments later, Ballard touched down a Tom Hemmingway kick to give the hosts the lead.

York needed something from a period of pressure at the end of the half – and got it.

Quick hands by Richard Blakeway and Lee Waterman gave Dennis Tuffour a half-chance and the winger somehow twisted out of two tackles and stayed in touch to score.

Waterman goaled from the touchline but, while that meant York ended the first half on top, he had no more joy with the boot and his side little more joy in building pressure.

Instead, Damien Munro and Dave Llewellyn scored at the other end, and Blackpool missed another chance, all after Mitchell had been caught out. Llewellyn appeared to be tackled into touch but the try stood.

Ratcliffe immediately hit back but Sharrad returned to the spotlight in ruling Blakeway’s reverse pass forward. Fortunately, the referee found nothing wrong when Tuffour flew in for his second try following fierce passes from Schofield and Waterman.

However, he said Schofield knocked-on the restart when he patted it backwards and, from the scrum, ace full-back Leather sent in Llewellyn and added his second of three goals. Then, after York’s short restart did not come off, Llewellyn completed a nine-minute hat-trick.

McLocklan replied late on to get York within 12 points – but the bonus point eluded them.

Match facts

Blackpool: Leather, Munro, Ainscough, Llewellyn, Ballard, Forber, Hemmingway, Holland, J Clough, Hobson, Walker, Halliwell, Haggerty. Subs (all used): Keavney, Anderson, McCully, K Ratcliffe.

Tries: Ballard 28; Munro 47; Llewellyn 57, 66, 68.

Conversions: Leather 57, 66, 68.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: Leather 80.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Knights: D Ratcliffe 6, Tuffour 8, Mitchell 5, Waterman 6, Lineham 5, McLocklan 7, Schofield 6, Applegarth 6, Stamp 7, Freer 6, Ross 7, Peacock 6, Blakeway 7. Subs (all used): Bromilow 5, Hardbottle 6, C Clough 6, Benson 7.

Tries: Tuffour 39, 63; McLocklan 79.

Conversions: Waterman 39.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match: Dennis Tuffour – the winger was always looking to get involved and scored both of York’s tries.

Referee: Clint Sharrad (Manchester) – having him in the middle was at best a lottery.

Penalty count: 9-13.

Weather watch: breezy, some sun; pitch was heavy in places.

Half-time: 4-6.

Attendance: 400 approx.

Moment of the match: Dennis Tuffour’s first-half try was a superb finish under pressure. The best moment of the second half was probably when Chris Clough flattened John Walker.

Gaffe of the match: Waterman’s easy conversion attempt which rebounded off an upright and denied York a bonus point.

Game-breaker: Blackpool centre Dave Llewellyn’s nine-minute hat-trick either side of the hour-mark made it 26-10.

Match Rating: a fine first half of rugby league set the match up for a belting second half, but while Blackpool pressed on, York pressed off.