Sydney FC v Adelaide United FFA Cup Final Match Day Jamboree!!!©

[Old Gregg]

yep - and it's not like we were robbed by the officials. Sydney should have had a pen for handball and Elsey should have seen red for his lunge. We were beaten fair & square.

Which incident do you think should have been a penalty for handball, Marrone or Gulum?

Marrone. It was ball to hand, completely unintentional of course, but those are usually given. If the shoe was on the other foot we would be furious.

[Old Gregg]

I predict no further suspension other than the 1 match ban for the (deserved) red.

Completely agree. It was a brain fade, deserved a red (irrespective of the actions of the ball boy, which were poor, but the level of hatred being thrown at him for something quite minor is ridiculous) - but anything more than that would be overkill.

[Ghost]

yep - and it's not like we were robbed by the officials. Sydney should have had a pen for handball and Elsey should have seen red for his lunge. We were beaten fair & square.

Which incident do you think should have been a penalty for handball, Marrone or Gulum?

Marrone. It was ball to hand, completely unintentional of course, but those are usually given. If the shoe was on the other foot we would be furious.

When they are given it is a huge error from the referee. It was clearly far too close to Marrone for him to able to do anything about it, either move hand/arm into the path of the ball or out of the path of the ball. When this is the case it should NEVER EVER be given as a handball.

It really makes me annoyed how even experienced members of the media get this totally wrong. In the coverage it was stated that his arm was away from his body as though it mattered. The rule says is the exact opposite.

"Handling the ball
Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with
the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into
consideration:
• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an
infringement
• touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shinguard, etc.)
counts as an infringement
• hitting the ball with a thrown object (boot, shinguard, etc.) counts as an
infringement"

The bold is mine and it quite clear the position of the arm away from the body does not matter if the ball comes at speed from a close distance. It is both ball to hand and an unexpected ball.

It is hand ball if a player either moves their hand/arm into the path of the ball or has time to move the hand/arm out of the path of the ball and fails to do so as it can be considered a deliberate act to make contact with the ball. Otherwise it is play on.

[Old Gregg]

that's good to know Ghost, as a defender I've had a couple of pens called against me in exactly this fashion in my time!

What does that mean if there's ball-to-hand on someone's outstretched arm on the goal line - i.e definitely a goal were it not for a defender's arm in the way?

[Old Gregg]

And there we go. This fucken league...

[otto62]

It's not as clear cut as "not moving your hand towards the ball - a otherwise a defender can just spread their arms like a goalkeeper as they go in for a blocking tackle - don't move your arm towards the ball, just make sure it's stuck out sideways in case the ball might accidentally hit it and be deflected away.

[ChillyPhilly]

Marrone gets four weeks. What a joke.

But, it's not that bad - two games are suspended and one of the two oustanding has already been served, meaning he misses only this Friday night from here.

[sevengoals]

4 games is a bit rich.

And that malaka Simon nichts?

[View From The Top]

Penalty out of all proportion to the offence. 1 Week would have been appropriate.

And really, nothing for Simon's violent "retaliation"?