Bromley away

penalty was hugely debatable. must confess I can't work out what went on from the film - did he foul both of them?
Odd - even where a striker is hauled down off the ball the ref rarely gives it, add the fact the cross wasn't in the least bit dangerous and it was a very strange one.
Yes I'd take some shockers in our favour this Saturday and some for the Whitehawk away game!

Personally I'd rather have a referee who was competent throughout. A spoilt game is a spoilt game.

Looking at that video I can see why he didn't send the goalie off. McCootie wasn't going towards goal and the ref may have though that big defender would have got back in time. (I don't think he would but it sows a seed of doubt.) It's not the worst decision I've ever seen.

And there is no way anyone can see what happened on their penalty from the video. If the attacker was brought down because of something the defender did then its a pen. But the video doesn't illuminate the incident.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the referee's decision, I think a review of this law concerning 'denying a goal scoring opportunity' is long overdue. If the foul is a cynical or violent attempt to stop a goal being scored, fair enough. But we all know many players are resorting to cheating to gain the maximum benefit - award of a penalty and probable goal, red card, playing against 10 men and a suspension for the player committing the 'foul'. Welbeck's dreadful lunge in the recent Chelsea match earnt him a mere yellow card in contrast, while the odious Rafael of United will seemingly resort to anything to influence a referee or get an opponent in trouble. This is the sort of thing that the authorities should be concentrating on rather than throwing the book at a player who is guilty of the slightest contact on an opponent which causes him to collapse in a heap.

some say that Franny Lee used to throw himself to the ground for a penalty so cheating has been going on for some time. But I've never been convinced players should be sent off for giving away a penalty.

The penalty is the penalty for denying the goal-scoring opportunity. The red card should be for violent conduct and cynicism should only warrant a yellow. There is far too much emphasis on punishment.

It's about time football introduced the sin bin. It works in other sports perfectly well and does not rely on any technology other than a watch. (I may have just given the reason why it isn't addressed).

Agree with you re a sin bin re certain offences - and it would give the 4th official something to do!