Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley seethed at the standard of refereeing in the League of Ireland following his side’s 1-1 draw with Derry City at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night.Rovers snatched a late draw through Aaron Greene’s goal after Derry took a first-half lead through Liam Boyce, but Bradley was aggrieved at the non-award of a penalty before half-time when James McClean appeared to bundle into the back of Dylan Watts. McClean had been booked earlier in the game for a foul on Graham Burke, so would likely have been sent off had referee Aidan O’Dowd pointed to the spot. “It’s an awful decision,” said Bradley. “It’s so bad. He is five yards away with nobody in his view, it’s horrendous. The standard has become worse, and that’s worrying. They are letting the players down. It’s not good enough. It’s not just me, everyone is talking about it throughout the league every week. It feels like the league is getting better in most areas, and I don’t think that [the standard of officiating] is. You can’t miss that.” The quality of officiating has not, in Bradley’s view, risen with the general standards across the league during his 10-year tenure at Rovers. “I saw a few pundits – pundits are gobshites, they don’t know what they are talking about – but I saw a few early on in the year having a go at the standard in the league”, said Bradley. “I thought that was a really lazy opinion, you just have to look at the games and see how competitive they are. There is no doubt in my mind the standard has gone up.”Derry City's James McClean gets above Shamrock Rovers' Graham Burke to win a header during the game at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho The draw sends Rovers six points clear at the top of the league, though second-placed St Patrick’s Athletic have two games in hand. The front-loaded nature of the fixture list means Rovers have only 13 league games remaining as they chase a sixth league title in seven years. “We have left a few points behind, no doubt,” reflected Bradley on Rovers’ season so far. “It’s June, I always say judge us November – hopefully the end of December – and see where we are. There have been moments we have been good and there have been moments where we have left points behind. I suppose they are the ebbs and flows of a season.” These ebbs and flows are nothing compared to the inconsistencies of Derry City. Last year’s runners-up, the Candystripes now lie sixth in the table with just five wins all season. “If you had offered me a point down here tonight, especially where we are at the moment and all that’s going on with us, I’d have snapped your arm off,” said Lynch. With forwards Kevin dos Santos and Darragh Markey forced off through injury against Rovers, Derry are depleted to such an extent they handed debuts to teenagers Terence Doherty and Liam Kelly off the bench. Asked if he hoped to reinforce his squad in the summer transfer window, Lynch replied, “I am hoping. I am praying.”