Shoot-out farce raises questions

Comment
John Corless

THE penalty shoot-out in Ballinasloe on Sunday was a farce.
Firstly, as the picture on page one of the sports supplement shows, there was no visibly marked goal line between the posts.
Law One of the laws of the game, (The Field of Play) states: “The field of play must be rectangular and marked with continuous lines which must not be dangerous…”
And, “…All lines must be of the same width, which must not be more than 12cm (5ins). The goal lines must be of the same width as the goalposts and the crossbar…”
What official or officials would put themselves in the position of using an unmarked goal for a penalty shoot-out in an FAI Cup match? Officials can say that they could see “the line” in a shoot-out by deploying the linesman at the corner flag to see if the ball crossed between the posts. But what if the keeper is obscuring the line of vision? And what if the ball came off the crossbar?
Allowing a penalty-shoot out to take place in an unmarked goal was asking for trouble, in my view.
Secondly, how can you tell a keeper to stay on his line until the ball is kicked, if there is no line present? How can the referee or the keeper know that the player is on, or behind the line, as the law requires?
Thirdly, how can a referee call back a penalty, for an alleged infringement, when there is no line on the pitch.
Fourthly, the penalty in question went wide. Wide, on the opposite side to the one the ‘keeper chose.
Law 14, (Laws of The Game) states: “…if the ball misses the goal or rebounds from the crossbar or goalpost(s), the kick is only retaken if the goalkeeper’s offence clearly impacted on the kicker…”
It’s hard to see how a referee could decide that a penalty-kicker was impacted by a goalkeeper diving to one side, when he (the kicker) put the ball wide on the other side.
Ballyheane also picked up a number of harsh yellow cards on Sunday.
In one incident, Ben Edah was carded for an alleged foul on a Ballinasloe player, whose screams when he hit the deck were pitiful. The incident happened right in front of where this reporter was standing and we could see no contact.
Perhaps this writer had a clearer view than that of the referee. Perhaps his view was obscured. We don’t know. Either way it one of a series of hard luck calls that went against the Mayo champions on the day.
Football can be cruel sometimes, and Ballyheane will learn from this experience.
It was particularly harsh on 16-year-old Luca Meldrum in the Ballyheane goal. Along with having to face a shoot-out decider, he was punished for coming off the “non-line” early.  He too collected a yellow card in the confusion, but not for this incident.
At the end of it all, it is not unjust that Ballinasloe advance and Ballyheane are out. The homeside were probably slightly better on the day. But the manner of Ballyheane’s exit is hard for them to take.  
They must put that behind them quickly as they have two cup finals to prepare for.