By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GOLD COAST, Australia -- Carl Hield's bid for a second medal at the XXI Commonwealth Games was ruined when he faced hometown favourite Terry Nickolas in the Round of 32 in the men's 69 kilo gram category yesterday at the Oxenford Studies.

Hield, 31, lost 5-0 to Nicholas as he felt female referee Nelka Shiromala from Sri Lanka didn't really allow him to display his skills in the three rounds.

All three judges scored it 10-9 in favour of Nickolas.

"First of all, I want to give God thanks for giving me the strength to get here and represent my country the second, but as everyone saw, the fight was already a buyout fight," he said.

"From the first round, the referee warned me about 20 times in the fight and I never get warned that much in no type of competition I was in - World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games,CAC Championships. "It's just that I couldn't get focused in the fight. If he ducks down and I throw a punch and he was ducking, she was telling me I was slapping. If I throw a shot to the body, she stopped me and say low blow. I was left hand and he right hand and if I trapped over him a little bit, she stopped me, saying I throwing a knee.

"Everyone after the fight told me that it wasn't in my favour because the guy was home. He's a favourite and it was their first fight for them, so everything what happen happened. I just have to get back to the drawing board and get prepared for the CAC games (in July in Barranquilla, Colombia)."

As a competitor, Hield said whenever he steps into the ring, he knows he has to accept whatever challenge that is ahead of him. But he felt it's not right when all of the attention is given to his opponent because he is at home. The referee wasn't on my side. Out of the 20 warnings that I got, he had none. Everything was blue, blue, blue (the colour that Hield wore)."

Despite the loss, Hield said he still went out there and performed as best as he could. It just wasn't enough to get to either match or surpass the bronze medal that he collected in 2010 in New Delhi, India. This was his third Commonwealth Games, having participated in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia, where he also lost out in the Round of 32.

"I was very disappointed," he insisted. "I didn't get to do what I had to do. She kept jumping in warning me. I had my plan and my plan was going right. But she stepped in and warned me. I just need to get back to the drawing board. There's nothing new that I have to add on or nothing new that I have to change. I just need to get back in training camp and train. I hope I can get one or two more fights before the competition and I will be ready."

Coach Valentino Knowles said the referee took him out of his game plan.

"He lost the fight fighting against the referee and the crowd," he said.

"He got about 30 warnings in one fight. I think that was a distraction for him. He came back into the corner in the second round frustrated. I tried to warn him and told him not to concentrate on the referee, but work on his fight. But it was hard for him to do that."