Thread by @ErfinderRotwang

Just watched all the #NFFC #HTFC #PlayOff highlights on #Quest and wanted to cover the penalties (again). I don’t think the referee was wrong on either occasion but having had several more close looks and taken into account what Colback said post match. (1/n)

I think in each case the decision would go either way 50% of the time leaving one team massively aggrieved no matter what.
The first: Colback / Toffolo.
Toffolo gets a touch goes to pass Colback but immediately is leaping into the air rather than commuting to get the ball (2/n)

If he’d simply gone for the ball Colback would probably have fouled him and it would rightly have been a penalty.
What happened was Toffolo saw an opportunity, didn’t go for the ball but went for the dive, the contact with Colback was as he was already diving.
He and many (3/n)

assumed that contact = penalty. That’s not the case. Foul = penalty. So while there was contact, initiated by Toffolo, there was no foul.
But I’ve seen them given.
The second: Lowe / O’Brien. Again, seen them given but when you look logically you can see why it wasn’t. (4/n)

O’Brien receives the ball and his first touch is poor. He loses co trip of the ball which puts it right in Lowe’s path. One angle of the replays clearly shows this, it’s Lowe’s ball to win at this point. O’Brien makes no attempt to get the ball but only to get his leg in (5/ n)

to Lowe’s path. It’s a good tactic to win free kicks and penalties. Surridge is very good at it. I’ve had to learn to do it myself because there’s no tackling from behind in Walking Football, so get your foot in the right position and it’s a tackle from behind: free kick (6/n)

So, O’Brien attempts to get his leg in front of Lowe, succeeds, their legs tangle and Huddersfield claim a penalty. It isn’t. And I’m surprised more pundits don’t see it. Maybe they know they’d be giving a trade secret up if they did, showing they do indeed try to con refs (7/n)

You could argue that O’Brien actually fouled Lowe as he wasn’t putting his foot in to win the ball. This happens in the centre circle and it could be a free kick either way or play waved on, no controversy at all. But in the box there’s huge onus on the ref to give a pen. (8/n)

So there you go. Neither was a penalty because neither was given. In another game they’ll be given and people will argue they were given wrongly. The ref, and VAR can’t win.
But Forest did 😉
Youuuuuuredddddssssssss!!!!!

@threadreaderapp unroll please

Gah!! Bloody typos!!