Question Number: 25419

Law 10 - Method of Scoring 9/12/2011

RE: rec Under 14

Cecil Chapman of Lisburn, county antrim Northern Ireland asks...

I awarded a free kick on edge of box to attacking team the wall broke a split second before ball was struck, at the same time i blew for a retake as the ball entered the goal i allowed the goal to stand was i right to do this or should i have disallowed the goal and got the attacking team to retake the freekick.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Cecil
Unfortunately you made an error in judgement here. As you blew the whistle to stop play the goal should have disallowed and the kick retaken with probably a caution for a defender who encroached.
Now why did this happen. You had a focus on the defensive wall and when it charged you made an instant call. The advice here is to give yourself some thinking time by delaying your whistle to see what happens. Clearly if the ball hits the wall then it a retake and disciplnary action is taken. If the encroachment had no effect on play as in this case you allow play to continue.
I suspect the conceding team was none too happy when you awarded the goal after blowing the whistle. Perhaps with the whistle sounding the GK just stopped his movement towards the ball which would be patently unfair even despite his team mates' breach of the laws. If you did not award the goal the attacking team is none to pleased either as a perfectly good goal is chalked off throught no fault to the team.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Unless all of the ball was already in the goal when you blew the whistle, the goal cannot stand. The best thing to do in these situations is to wait. It takes less than a second to observe what happens to the kick. If the ball touches the wall or the misses the goal, blow the whistle, caution a defender, and order the kick retaken. If the ball goes into the goal, allow the goal and give a harsh warning to the defender.

Answer provided by Referee Nathan Lacy

This reminds me of an adage I heard years ago - 'don't just do something, stand there'. Some good advice about waiting and not having a 'hair trigger' is given above. Work on the discipline of waiting just a split second and seeing what is developing before 'pulling the trigger'.