Al Jazira and Sharjah vie for the ball during the first division league match. ©Gulf News
Referee Mohammed Abdul Karim ruined Mohammed Salim Al Enazy's special day as he awarded Sharjah two controversial penalties to help them tie Al Jazira 3-3 yesterday at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

However, Al Jazira consolidated their position at the top of Group A with 11 points while visitors earned their third poin in 6 matches.

Al Enazy, nicknamed 'Mr Hat-trick' while playing with Al Wahda two seasons ago because of his habit of scoring hat-tricks which saw him the top scorer for two successive seasons, yesterday scored his first hat-trick since he joined Al Jazira this season.

But the referee's controversial rulings deprived him of a well-deserved celebrationn as his team lost two valuable points in the fourth minute of injury time.

Sharjah began the match attacking as Saeed Al Kass's fierce shot in the 5th minute rebounded from the cross bar providing an early warning to the home team that their visitors meant business as they have yet to win a single match in the league despite leading their group in the Asian Champions League.

Al Kass repeated his attempt 11 minutes latet following a pass from Al Anbary and this time he was on target with a first time volley that beat the home custodian Saeed Jumaa.

The home team reorganised their lines and pressed for the equalizer that came 13 minutes before the break when Salih Obaid lobbed a high ball behind the defenders for Al Enazy to head home.

With the sweet taste of his first goal still lingering, Al Enazy resumed his scoring four minutes after the breather when he headed home a cross from Ridha Abdul Hadi.

Then only two minutes later, Tarig Musabbah, the visiting custodian made a fatal blunder as he passed a free kick directly to Al Enazy who shot into the empty net to complete his hat-trick.

The referee awarded Sharjah their first controversial penalty, 19 minutes after the break, when Ahmed Saeed collided with Al Kass and Othman Al Assass, Sharjah's Moroccan import, was on target.

The second penalty came four minutes into injury time when the referee awarded the visitors the chance to level the score when Al Assass himself dived into the box from a joint ball with Adil Nasseeb. Al Assass converted correctly for his personal second and his team's third amidst protests from Al Jazira's players and supporters.

It was only natural that Al Enazy felt that he was robbed.