A LATE goal from Oxford United substitute Callum O’Dowda condemned 10-man Bury to a first defeat in eight matches.

The Shakers’ run of four straight victories going into the game looked in serious jeopardy when Adam El-Abd was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 64th minute.

But it looked as if they would at least maintain a fourth consecutive clean sheet after on-loan goalkeeper Nick Pope dived full-length to palm away a Danny Hylton penalty in the 70th minute.

Yet it was not to be as Pope conceded his first goal in 418 minutes of football when O’Dowda ran clear five minutes from time to slot home the winner.

Bury certainly did not reach the heights of recent victories against promotion rivals Plymouth and Luton, but they did have the majority of the chances before going down to 10 men.

Oxford keeper Ryan Clarke turned away a fierce drive from Nicky Adams in the first half before tipping over a Danny Rose header shortly after the break.

He then showed real bravery to dive at the feet of Kelvin Etuhu as the midfielder drove into the box to get on the end of a Rose knockdown.

The game will most be remembered, however, for the performance of Somerset-based referee Kevin Johnson, who dished out 10 cards in total – three yellows to Oxford and six to Bury, including two for El-Abd before he was shown red.

It was a display that prompted Bury boss David Flitcroft to call for professional referees at all levels of the Football League.

He said Johnson was inconsistent throughout after booking two players – El-Abd and Oxford winger Alex MacDonald – in the opening 10 minutes.

Flitcroft highlighted a strong challenge from MacDonald on Joe Riley in the first half that he believed should have seen the player pick up a second yellow card but went unpunished.

And the Bury boss also said there was no contact on Hylton before he went down to win Oxford’s second-half penalty.

“I certainly feel, and the players do too, that there has been an injustice here today,” Flitcroft concluded.

Whatever the injustice, the defeat saw Bury drop one place to sixth in the League Two table as they ended the day six points adrift of the top three.