BURY’S four-match winning run was ended by what manager David Flitcroft described as an “injustice” at the JD Stadium after referee Kevin Johnson took centre stage with a flurry of cards.

The Somerset official dished out nine cautions -five to Bury players, including two to centre-back Adam El-Abd, who was sent off midway through the second half.

He also awarded Oxford a soft penalty, which was expertly saved by Nick Pope.

But the Shakers stopper was denied a fourth consecutive clean sheet when Callum O’Dowda broke free to slot home a winner five minutes from time, condemning Flitcroft’s promotion-chasers to their first defeat in eight matches.

The referee set the tone with two early yellow cards – the first for El-Abd in only the sixth minute for a foul on former Bury striker Danny Hylton, and the other for Oxford winger Alex MacDonald after 13 minutes.

MacDonald then escaped with a warning for a strong tackle on Bury full-back Joe Riley when he looked certain to be given his marching orders.

“The first two cautions did not help the referee - once you have cautioned someone in the first 10 minutes then you are setting yourself up,” said Flitcroft.

“After that it just became a balancing act: ‘I have given him one, so I am going to give you one too.’ “That’s what it felt like.

“I don’t usually hide behind the referee by blaming them but certainly there hasn’t been a real high level of professionalism shown and that disappoints me.”

Flitcroft claimed MacDonald escaped a deserved red card while Hylton went down without any contact to win the penalty.

“All managers ever want is consistency – for referees to apply the letter of the law with consistency,” he added.

“The lads have given everything for each other and the club. They have not left a breath out there.

“The referee can go home, enjoy his night and just get on with it.

“The players feel as though there has been an injustice.”

Bury did not reach the heights of recent victories against promotion rivals Plymouth and Luton, but did at least 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 and showed real bravery to dive at the feet of Kelvin Etuhu shortly after the break, before tipping over a glancing header from Danny Rose.

But just as Bury were building up a head of steam, El-Abd committed a reckless challenge on Oxford winger Kemar Roofe and the home side were forced to see out the remaining 26 minutes with only 10 men.

Riley was possibly lucky to stay on the pitch after the full-back man-handled the referee after he brandished the red card for El-Abd, only seeing a yellow for his hot-headed intervention.

Two minutes later, former Bury striker Danny Hylton, who had himself been walking a tightrope with the referee, went down in the box under minimal contact from substitute defender Jim McNulty.

Pope, however, produced a superb stop to palm away Hylton’s resulting spot-kick, prompting wild celebrations and a booking for McNulty.

“He looks massive when he is in goal – he is such an imposing, dominant figure,” said Flitcroft of his on-loan keeper, who had kept five clean sheets in 10 appearances before Saturday’s defeat.

“He does it in training. We do shooting sessions and he does put that fear in you because he is a big unit and he is athletic with it.

“It was a fantastic save and really that should have been a springboard to at least a clean sheet and a point.”

The Bury keeper produced another good stop to keep out a low shot from Patrick Hoban, but was unable to hang on, conceding for the first time in 418 minutes of football when O’Dowda got in behind Riley to dispatch a late winner.

Tempers then frayed as the clock ticked down, with the red mist descending on Bury winger Danny Mayor, who had to be hauled away from a late melee that followed a Roofe foul on Andrew Tutte. All three – Mayor, Tutte and Roofe – were booked.

There was still enough time for Hylton to pick up a booking, before he was wisely substituted, while Shakers captain Nathan Cameron headed a stoppage-time chance over the bar.

“There’s potentially a mass confrontation situation that the club is going to have to deal with now,” added Flitcroft, alluding to a possible fine for the club.

“That’s a build up of frustration, that’s a build up of people not doing their jobs.

“You could feel it in the whole stadium.

“Danny at one point got the red mist and we lost him for five seconds there. I said to him ‘there’s a bigger picture Dan’. I got him calm and said ‘I want you on this pitch. I have already lost Adam’.

“Now we have got to concentrate on lifting this group, who have been different class in the last three months.”

Justly or not, 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.

BURY: Pope 8; Riley 6, Cameron 7, El-Abd 4, Hussey 6; Etuhu 7 (Lowe 6 63); Adams 6 (Jones 6 72), Soares 6, Tutte 6, Mayor 5; Rose 7 (McNulty 5 65).

Not used: Sedgwick, O'Brien, Lainton, Dudley.

OXFORD UNITED: Clarke; Baldock, Mullins, Wright, Skarz; Roofe, Collins, Ruffels, MacDonald (O'Dowda 46); Hylton (Roberts 90), Hoban.

Not used: Rose, Ashdown, Long, Gnanduillet, Dunkley.

Goals: Bury 0 Oxford United 1 (O’Dowda 85).

Yellow cards: Bury – El-Abd 6 & 64, Riley 64, McNulty 71, Tutte 88, Mayor 88. Oxford United: MacDonald 11, Baldock 77, Hylton 87, Roofe 88.

Referee: Kevin Johnson (Somerset).

Attendance: 3,645 (316 visiting).

Star man: Nick Pope – The young Charlton goalkeeper did not deserve to be on the losing side. He looked to have done enough to claim a fourth straight clean sheet after saving Danny Hylton’s penalty. Pope was also a commanding presence at set pieces, taking the pressure off his defence by claiming every high ball into the Bury box. His only error in judgement came for the Oxford goal, rushing out when Callum O’Dowda took a heavy touch as he ran clear of Bury full-back Joe Riley. His gamble did not pay off as O’Dowda took the ball around him to roll it into an empty net.