Referee's performance raises questions
I believe that Cork City were robbed last night at Tolka Park. If clubs like Cork City invest in excellence the way that they have, it is a savage blow to see their league title chances hit so badly by the performance by the ref, who appeared to favour Shelbourne incorrectly in a string of decisions. What I saw last night sickened me. Shelbourne were worth their point on the balance of play, IMO. But that was after City started much the stronger and played in the Shels half for almost all of the opening ten minutes. Then the abuse of the ref by Shelbourne players started. From about 20 minutes into the game, the Cork players seemed rattled by a series of crucial decisions that should have gone their way. I have NEVER seen Cork City captain Dan Murray so angry with a ref, or with anybody for that matter. It appeared that none of the 50-50 decisions were going to go the way of City. As things happened, some pretty obvious 60-40 decisions went against them. I did not have a clear view of the penalty claim, but I saw plenty of stuff in the middle of the park that suggests this pattern. A letter is on its way to the club management of CCFC with suggestions for the next referees policy discussion within the FAI. The gist of it is that if the FAI wants to develop standards in the EL, they have to appoint non-Dublin refs when one team is from outside the Pale. The same should apply across the board: no ref should be involved in a game where his or her home town team is involved. If there are not enough refs of the standard (holding back a laugh here), then the FAI should look at innovative ways of overcoming the problem, like swapping Dublin refs with refs from across the pond. If that does not work, then I see justification in hiring refs from abroad. Meanwhile, the FAI should invest serious thinking and resources in developing the standard of home-grown referees over the next ten years.
