REF JUSTICE CLAIMS ARE CONTINUING

IN a week when the man in the middle has been public enemy number one, referees were a major talking point in the Amateur League after another two horror shows on Saturday. In the wake of Uefa whistler Ovidiu Hategan’s howler at Windsor Park last Thursday night, when his erroneous decision to award a penalty against Corry Evans was to prove the crucial moment in Northern Ireland’s play-off against Switzerland, officialdom was a major talking point a few days later with some controversial decisions in the Amateur League. Over in Paisley Park, Albert Foundry chairman Stephen Young feared a player could have got badly injured in a full-blooded top flight clash between his team and East Belfast, with the referee too weak in his opinion to keep the game under control. “I think I can honestly say the referee that was doing our first team game yesterday is the worst I have seen in a very long time, absolutely abysmal,” lamented Young. “He was letting too many tackles go. “It was always going to be a hotly-contested game because of where the two teams are from and I have no problem with that, I’m not complaining, but someone out of their team or someone out of our team could have got seriously hurt. “I think the league should have known better and sent us a stronger referee for a game like that. “The assessors need to see that a lot of teams aren’t happy with the standard. It seems to me that as long as you are fit, you are going to get passed for Intermediate football. It’s not about the quality of your decisions, it’s more about fitness than ability.” Meanwhile at The Cliff, in Abbey Villa’s league game against St Pat’s, Gary Mcdermott was wheeling away in delight in injury-time after grabbing what he thought was a last-gasp winner, only for the referee to adjudge the ball hadn’t crossed the line, even though it appeared to have hit the back stanchion holding the nets in place before rolling back out again. “Words fail me,” Mcdermott said. “Down to 10 men again and I score a last minute winner which the referee doesn’t give because it hit the post at the back of the net, in the bottom corner and comes out. “Four points robbed this season from goals like that. The standard of referees would need looked at.”