Other than watching a mostly sombre affair last night at the National Sports Centre (NSC), the only other thing on the minds of the 100 or so on hand might have been linesman Anthony Francis? 75th minute intervention.

Just when it began to look as though Dennis Brown?s charges would come away with a deserved share of the spoils, Francis made his presence felt by flagging a penalty many believed to have been unjustified.

Despite the fact referee George O?Brien waved play on, Francis insisted New England Revolution?s Felix Brillant had been sent crashing to the canvass following a last-ditch tackle by two local defenders.

As the sparse crowd present at the NSC berated the linesman from the stands, Shalrie Joseph wrong-footed Adrian Burrows to spare the visiting team?s blushes against a hastily-assembled local select.

And if looks were lethal weapons, then the expression on the face of coach Brown would have provided enough ammunition for an entire army.

?I really don?t want to get into bashing the referee. . . but I would say the decision at that stage of the match was unfortunate,? commented Brown, digging deep to keep emotions in check.

?The referee did have a clearer vision as to what happened but those things do occur in matches and overall I was pleased even though I thought the final decision was unfortunate.?

If there was one thing which seemed to please Brown, then it had to be watching his team hold their professional opponents at bay until the latter stages of the match.

Perhaps had it not been for Francis? persistence, the local boys just might have come away with a major upset against the visiting Major League Soccer (MLS) side.

?I thought we did well to go in at half time at one apiece,? he said. ?But I didn?t envision what was to come later. But I was very impressed with the team?s organisation and willingness to keep possession of the ball for long periods. And I think they should take something from that.?

While many questioned the coach?s decision to make multiple substitutions late in the match with the game on the line, Brown stuck to his guns.

?I wanted to give everybody an opportunity to go out there and play,? he explained. ?It?s not all about winning or losing all of the time. It?s about the development and giving the guys an opportunity to play.?

New England coach Steve Nicol would have also earned himself an Oscar for the manner in which he downplayed some questionable calls made by the ref.

?We were having a laugh,? the former Liverpool great chuckled. ?But I think we really caused our own down fall with the slack pass and after that I think our last man should have stuck his foot on the ball.?

?I couldn?t see if it was really a penalty or not and goalies are a real breed of people . . . a bit like referees.?

Nicol was referring to the local select?s first-half penalty which then saw insult added to injury when Burgess slammed the ball home past a completely flat-footed Revolution ?keeper Matt Reis who never reacted.

?He (Reis) wasn?t ready,? Nicol argued. ?He put his hands out but apparently the referee totally ignored him, blew his whistle and that was it.

?But I think the guy (Burgess) who kicked the penalty did the right thing.?

Overall Nicol seemed generally satisfied by his team?s performance in their opening tour match.

?This was our first game of the season and obviously there?s going to be a little rust,? he said. ?And when you are rusty you make bad decisions and your touch is not quite as good as could be.

?But the first game always gives you a good indication of how fit you are and always a tough one for players.?

While he might not have been pleased to see his team waste several good opportunities to score, the final scoreline, Nicol noted, ?wasn?t the main thing?.

?I was really interested in how we moved the ball and how we moved off the ball,? he added. ?If we can get those two things right, then we can put the ball into the back of the net.

?You can?t put the ball into the back of the net unless you have the passing and movement. But we?ll take it one step at a time. I think we had some good chances ? particularly in the second -half ? but we didn?t put the ball into the net.?