STEVE Wilkes believes his Northwich Victoria side “never got started” as Rylands ended their recent resurgence yesterday.

The Warrington side won 2-0 at Wincham Park in a game that saw Vics keeper Mike Hale sin-binned for dissent.

Hale disputed the award of a penalty after he was adjudged to have brought down Andy Scarisbrick and was sent for 10 minutes off the field for his protests.

Matty Clarke went in goal for Vics but could not stop Freddie Potter’s spot kick, which doubled the lead given to the visitors by Elliot Morris.

Wilkes was critical of both the decision to award the penalty and the confusion the sin-bin created.

“It’s not a penalty, Mike gets a good hand on the ball,” he said.

“The referee’s given it and Mike knows he shouldn’t give dissent like that.

“He goes and sits in the dugout after being sin-binned and the linesman tells him he has to leave – nobody knows what the rules are.

“I didn’t know Mike had been sin-binned. I thought he’d been sent off.

“There’s got to be some kind of communication or a different colour card to indicate a sin bin.”

Defeat for Vics ended a three-match winning sequence – they had also not conceded a goal during this run.

However, Wilkes says his side got what they deserved from this encounter.

“I don’t think we played well. We never got started,” he said.

“Fair play to Rylands – they are a well-organised side and their players did their jobs.

“We didn’t do that – you only have to look amount of times Mike Hale has pulled us out of the mire with one-on-one saves.

“The penalty has come from our corner. It’s happening too many times and we need to address that.”