Leeds Utd 0 Brentford 1: Redfearn blows the whistle on Salisbury

Rodolph Austin is taken down just in the penalty box by Mose Odubajo but no penalty was given by referee Graham Salisbury (Picture: Bruce Rollinson).

The Lancastrian official was the villain of the piece, not for the first time at Leeds, with his erratic performance the main talking point as United’s mini-revival came to a frustrating end.

Salisbury, who awarded a controversial penalty late on for Charlton in their 2-2 draw at Leeds in November, snubbed several spot-kick appeals for the hosts, most notably one late on in the first half when Moses Odubajo’s clumsy foul on Rudy Austin somehow went unpunished.

An indiscretion by the same player on Austin early on in the second half also fell on deaf ears, with matters compounded by a foul and a perceived handball offence in the build-up to the only goal of the game on 65 minutes from Alex Pritchard to rub salt into the wounds.

It made for the most frustrating of afternoons for Neil Redfearn. He said: “You are looking for parity in decisions and we did not have them.

“Definitely the decision for the goal went against us and should have been in our favour – no two ways about it.

“The referee gave the decision and got the decision wrong and obviously Brentford go and score and that’s the difference in the game.”

Controversy aside, Brentford – fresh from away victories at Carrow Road and the Amex Stadium – were good value for their win, their first at Elland Road since 1947.

In Pritchard, they arguably had the best player on the pitch with the Spurs loanee tucking the ball home from close range after a cross from Toumani Diagouraga.

Alert ‘keeping from Marco Silvestri denied Andre Gray and Jota in the first period, with substitute Jon Toral going close to settling it for the Bees when he hit the post.

Leeds’ best moment of the first-half saw Liam Cooper see a header flash across a goal, and late on, a crazy goalmouth scramble almost led to a leveller for Billy Sharp, but the Bees survived to secure their eighth away success of a flourishing campaign.

Leeds United: Silvestri; Wootton, Bamba, Cooper, C Taylor; Byram, Austin, Murphy (Cani 85), Cook; Sharp, Morison (Antenucci 73). Unused substitutes: S Taylor, Berardi, Bianchi, Sloth, Mowatt.

Brentford: Button, Obubajo, Dean, Tarkowski, Bidwell; Douglas, Diagouraga; Jota (Toral 58), Pritchard (Smith 83), Dallas; Gray (Long 67). Unused substitutes: Bonham, Craig, Saunders, Yennaris.

Referee: G Salisbury (Lancashire).

Man of the match: Alex Pritchard