A very satisfying win over Edo’s Squid today feels like cause for a quick update. Edo’s was a little off their game today and we took advantage of it.
While we were missing some of our top players, The Blast still put together a great first half to go up 3-0, while enjoying the sun and the wind at our backs, and even a downhill field. The second half flipped the table on us, but the big lead probably had Edo’s a bit shocked and we were able to nurse it through the second half, with a bonus goal to stretch it out to an unexpected 4-0 win. Edo’s is usually a very solid team, and an even matchup for us, but we seemed to catch them on an off day.
Also of note in this game, the refs had a poor day as well. We were using red lines, on a field that also had some scattered white lines, leading to some terrible confusion for the refs. It was fine for me, but they just couldn’t remember the red lines. They also apparently couldn’t remember the rules:
At 3-0 in the second half, an Edo’s player took a dramatic dive well inside the box and earned a penalty kick. The ref initially signaled a free kick outside the box, but the line judge corrected that. The kick was made, but another Edo’s player entered the box early on the try. The referee disallowed the goal and gave us a free kick coming back out, but there was much confusion over that odd decision.
Here’s a great link — 2008/2009 FIFA Rules
See page 42. By my interpretation — and the rule is quite clear — the penalty kick should have been retaken, as Steve actually pointed out to the ref. The call was terrible to begin with, so its a wash. It certainly seems unlikely that Edo’s sees it that way, rightly so.
Blast HC has a win and a tie, two games into Spring 2009.
