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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Soccer: Terrible decisions hung Nix out to dry

By Anendra Singh
Hawkes Bay Today·
19 Mar, 2014 04:00 PM6 mins to read

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Roy Krishna
Roy Krishna

Roy Krishna

I've played, replayed in slow motion and freeze-framed shots on TV to reach a pretty sound, if not conclusive, verdict.

Without doubt the Wellington Phoenix were up against it last Sunday in their A-League soccer match in Melbourne.

Conversely, Melbourne Heart got away with it in broad daylight and so did their centreback, Patrick Kisnorbo, in the 17th minute.

The defender, after gifting the ball cold to the opposition about 35m out, ran back to make amends.

Phoenix striker Roy Krishna squared the ball to Tyler Boyd who smashed the ball towards the net but Kisnorbo deliberately hung out his right arm to deflect it.

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If Boyd and Krishna's howls of protest weren't enough, the TV replay shows the defender's actions were premeditated.

Referee Ben Williams may well have been unsighted but Kisnorbo's collision with his goalkeeper following the deliberate handball was the perfect red herring.

Should there be fifth officials behind the goalmouths?

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No, not necessarily. All the game needs is a TMO referral system, just as rugby, rugby league and cricket do with some success.

While the ref stopped the game to attend to Kisnorbo (Was he injured or was it simply Hollywood?), he could have easily asked the TMO for a check on infringements.

Even better is having the TMO whisper it in the ref's earpiece during the game.

How different that 2-2 stalemate could have been had Kisnorbo had an early shower for the red-card offence.

But that game also raises some great points for brainstorming.

How can midfielder Jonatan Germano claim a goal in the 28th minute, even if there was a faint touch off his leg, for a ball that right winger Mate Dugandzic drove with conviction from about 20m out?

In keeping with the own-goal interpretation, the benefit of doubt should go to the player driving the ball towards the net.

How can Heart captain Harry Kewell abusively yell "Wake up!" three times at the ref's assistant, in total defiance and in full view of the whistleblower, and not be reprimanded?

Quite easily, it seems.

But that is tested even more when in the 46th minute a frustrated Germano grabs the shirt of Michael Boxall from behind while running about 5m after coming off second best in the physicality stakes.

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In the 29th minute, Nix centreback Ben Sigmund collected his first yellow card for clipping Hearts left winger David Williams in full cry of the goal.

Was it a foul?

I don't think so because all Sigmund did was shadow him but Williams cutting across his path resulted in a faint clip of the heels.

It didn't appear to be intentional for a defender who has made a career out of mind explosions even on the international stage.

Coach John Van't Schip, remonstrating with the fourth official, was implying the All White had tugged Williams' shirt. Wrong again.

However, 3m 50s later, Sigmund deserved his second yellow card for what was a blatant foul on Kewell, making the job of his teammates harder. Not only did Sigmund drive his knee into the former Socceroo striker but he also elbowed him out of the way well after he had cleared the ball.

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Amazingly TV commentators felt Sigmund was less cupable in the second offence .

What kind of player even risks a dumb challenge well outside the danger zone when he's already sitting on a yellow card?

I have previously put the boot into Sigmund for his mindless acts (and I blame Ricki Herbert for that mindset) but in the Heart game he had started commendably with a couple of goal-saving tackles.

That Australia's soccer- governing body has hung out referee Williams to dry is appalling and spineless.

As an authority, what does it intend to do in the face of overwhelming evidence of the indiscretions? To blame the ref is unreasonable simply because he makes a decision in a split second, based on the body language of players.

With the likes of Kewell diving, his job becomes harder.

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Nevertheless, Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick has his share of domestic plumbing to do.

Import midfielder Kenny Cunningham needs to cut out his theatrics every time he loses possession.

Also, it's no secret that the media had overplayed the role of Cunningham and fellow Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez.

Sure, they have a rapport that can turn a match but two players don't constitute a team.

Hernandez's behaviour after his substitution against Perth Glory in the previous round was infantile.

He was playing badly and the injection of Jason Hicks certainly made a huge difference.

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Cunningham also was average, even last Sunday.

Ditto Belgian import Stein Huysegems, even though he is the franchise's leading goal scorer.

Good players have bad days and Merrick should always reserve the right to sub the prima donnas.

When I last saw Huysegems in Napier early this year, he was lost in positional play but as the season wore on he adapted as a finisher.

Regrettably he was again all out to sea the entire first half against Perth but Merrick failed to replace him.

Trying to push for a better contract is pretty poor timing from the import when Krishna shows what a pedigree player is all about.

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The Auckland-based Fiji international, who has unbelievably come in as injury cover, is beginning to stamp his class after just his second A-League start last Sunday.

Goal aside, how refreshing is it to watch an attacker unselfishly cross the ball to a teammate in the best position to score, even though Boyd is still an apprentice.

If the Phoenix coaching stable rewinds the videotape of previous matches when Krishna came off the bench, they'll note Hernandez didn't always make the best decisions to feed the ball to subs when Cunningham was off the field.

Are the highly paid Costa Ricans guilty of feathering their own nests?

Why pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for imports when you can nurture home-grown talent such as Krishna, Jeremy Brockie, Boyd, Tom Biss and Hamish Watson.

Oh, for the record, Krishna isn't the first Fijian to play in an Australian national league.

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Midfielder Esala Masi has that honour, plying his trade for Sydney Olympic and Newcastle at the turn of the century.

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