ALTRINCHAM manager Graham Heathcote hit out at the officials who are "killing the game" after his side's 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Crawley on Saturday.

The Robins grabbed a point after a Lewis Chalmers thunderbolt cancelled out Ryan Peters' debut strike within a hectic two-minute period just after half time.

But Heathcote was more concerned about the standard of refereeing on show after a string of poor decisions had hampered both sides and continually disrupted the flow of the game.

"I though the game was spoiled for everybody watching by a very pernickety official," he said.

"It was almost impossible to get any flowing football going, it was the perfect example of an official officiating for other officials.

"It could've been a good game of football between two decent sides but the players couldn't get any impetus going with the referee blowing his whistle every few minutes.

"You see this more and more nowadays and it's killing the game."

The game itself was a surprisingly open encounter between two teams currently battling to stave off relegation.

But, despite both sides' commendable endeavour, they were predictably short on genuine quality, particularly in front of goal.

Within the first 10 minutes alone, Crawley's forwards wasted two good opportunities to put their side in front. First loan star Peters shot tamely at Alty keeper Stuart Coburn and then Scott Rendell headed well wide from a dangerous Tony Scully free kick.

The usually reliable Colin Little was equally wasteful for the home side, still lacking sharpness after his return from long-term injury.

And when Robbie Lawton beat Ben Judge and crossed to the near post, the former Crewe striker blasted over the bar.

Generally, Crawley appeared sharper than their hosts throughout the first half and were again unlucky not to take the lead when Steve Aspinall gave the ball away 18 yards from goal. This time Lee Blackburn failed to capitalise on the opportunity, his shot blocked by the recovering defender.

And the best chance of the half actually fell to Altrincham, when Chalmers clipped a delightful through ball over the top of the visiting defence, only for Warren Peyton to under-hit his attempted chip, allowing Ben Hamer to get a hand to it.

After the disappointments of the first half, the game actually burst into life at the start of the second, Peters putting Crawley ahead with a deft flick from Blackburn's cross within four minutes of the restart.

But the jubilant visitors were caught cold just a minute later, as Chalmers picked up the ball on the halfway line and advanced before hitting a sensational 30-yard strike that levelled things up once more.

That was about as exciting as it got, however, and although Altrincham enjoyed the upper hand, they failed to make their dominance count.

Chalmers had another long-range effort saved by Hamer, while Colin Little blasted over the bar from inside the area.

And although Peters had the chance to put the icing on an impressive debut showing in injury time, he too fired wildly over after getting in behind the defence.

Altrincham player ratings: Coburn 6; Aspinall 6, Munroe 7, Rose 7, Peyton 7; Lawton 6, Bushell 8, Owen 6, Chalmers 7; Little 6 (Thornley 71), O'Neill 6 (Thomson 86). Subs not used: Acton, Scott, Potts.