Hull City boss Phil Brown claimed to be bemused after being awarded then denied a late penalty in Tuesday night's defeat by Aston Villa.
Villa snatched what turned out to be the winner in the 88th minute when Kamil Zayatte turned Ashley Young's cross into his own net.
But there was still time for more drama as referee Steve Bennett pointed to the spot after ruling that Young had handled on his own line in injury-time.
Villa protested and Bennett changed his mind after consulting with his assistant, who correctly had seen the ball hit the bar and not Young's hand.
Brown conceded the ''harsh reality'' was that the final decision was correct but he was unhappy at the about-turn.
''People will end up talking about the penalty decision which wasn't,'' said Brown, who got into an argument over the matter with a journalist in his post-match press conference.
''It's beyond me whether it was a penalty or it wasn't - he's given it. A referee gives a penalty and then a linesman tells you it's not.
''Some days you get bad days at the office because of referees, other days you get bad days at the office because of players. Today was a good day at the office from the players and not so good from the ref.''
Brown was at least pleased with the performance of his players after their 5-1 thrashing at Manchester City on Boxing Day.
Brown, who made five changes following their Eastlands humiliation, said: ''What is relevant is that is a great performance from Hull City and one I am quite proud of.
''I'm quite pleased with the mentality, quite pleased with the response.''
Victory lifted Villa back into fourth and left them well-placed to launch a serious push for a Champions League place in 2009.
It also proved Villa's continued determination to fight for the full 90 minutes after a late win over West Ham and last-gasp draw against Arsenal.
Manager Martin O'Neill said: ''It's not like us to have a bit of drama at the end. We didn't play well in the match. We left a wee bit behind at Villa Park against Arsenal, and that's maybe understandable.
''We didn't play well enough, but suddenly when it looked like the game was maybe heading for stalemate, Ashley Young produces a piece of magic, absolutely brilliant.
''We get the goal, then we had the drama at the end. I've no idea why Ashley put his hand in the air. He is a very intelligent player, especially when we came up the corridor and said he knew it was going over the bar.
''He wouldn't have been on the bus coming home tonight! But the referee has been exceptionally courageous to change his mind. It is a very brave decision. It turns out it was right but it was delight turned to despair and despair back to delight for us.''
Young praised the decision of Bennett to reverse the penalty verdict.
''I didn't touch it with my hand, you can clearly see it was going over,'' Young told Sky Sports.
''The referee deserves a lot of credit. I was just seeing it out and we got our reward at the end of the day. It's clear, I think, that it's hit the bar and gone over. The referee has given the penalty then changed his mind and he deserves credit for that.''
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