Never let it be said that following Dundalk in the eircom League of Ireland First Division is boring! Despite our opening match against Shelbourne at Tolka Park finishing scoreless it managed to pack in more than enough drama, excitement and righteous indignation to keep fans entertained, thrilled, frustrated, relieved, annoyed and exhilarated. Red Card Of course the game’s crucial turning point was the sending off of Chris Bennion. For Dundalk fans who had their own view of the incident firmly embedded in their minds it was fascinating to see Shelbourne’s excellent video of the match on the internet (www.vimeo.com/765714). While referee Neil Doyle has come in for criticism for his part in the incident, it is worth noting that Dundalk were the authors of their own misfortune. The ball was lost cheaply in midfield and Anto Flood was allowed to get goal side of the defence, forcing the unfortunate keeper into his covering charge. After watching the video at least a dozen times I would find it hard to deny that Bennion committed a foul. He raced out and lunged at Flood, and while he might have gotten a bit of the ball he certainly clobbered the man. (Though perhaps not to the extent that the man in question needed to go down and stay down quite so dramatically.) So it was a foul, and probably a yellow card for a rash tackle. However the rules on what is known as a ‘professional foul’ are clearly defined in the current FIFA 'Laws of the Game'.

It states that a player is sent off if he “denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick.” On two counts Chris Bennion’s sending off seems harsh. Firstly Anto Flood was not moving towards goal, but towards the corner flag on his attempt to circumnavigate the goalkeeper. Secondly Ben Whelehan had clearly recovered ground and was in position to force the striker out wide had he succeeded in bypassing Bennion, thus denying him “an obvious goalscoring opportunity”. Having said all that, I have no doubt that if Dean Delaney had charged out of his box to up-end Robbie Farrell in identical circumstances we’d have been howling for the red card! The referee’s decision has to be made in a split second, just after he has seen the incident just once, and from just one angle. It was a tough call. The angle of Flood’s run had changed to take him away from goal a fraction of a second before Chris Bennion’s intervention. The position and velocity of Whelehan’s recovery had to be judged against the position and velocity of Flood and the ball. That’s some complicated mathematics to work out in you head.
This all raises the question of video refereeing. Perhaps if the referee had the benefit of a fifth official watching on TV he could have made a more informed decision? It’s never a simple as that though. For video refereeing to work it requires numerous cameras at every game. This is completely impractical at League of Ireland level. Even if it were practical technically, video refereeing would impact terribly on one of the most wonderful aspects of football. Unlike most other sports football is a game moving with constant momentum. There are no time-outs. The clock is never stopped. Video refereeing would add unnatural, uncomfortable breaks to the beautiful game. Also, of course, refereeing controversies are an integral part of the game. We all know from experience that two people can watch the same penalty incident twenty times from ten different angles and still not agree with each other on the decision.
Hopefully these incidents will comply with the cliché that says they even themselves out over the course of the season. Doubtlessly we will remember the ‘injustice’ of Tolka Park, long after we’ve forgotten about another crucial marginal decision that goes our way. But that’s all part of the game too… if you couldn’t bask in a sense of indignation and moan about bias and injustice then following Dundalk FC just wouldn’t be the same.