Vast Ocean!

Believe or not there's no great distance in miles between Norn Iron and the U.K. mainland, in fact it's a short crossing over the Irish sea, but in referee terms it's more like a vast ocean. Our dear neighbours from Coleraine got away with 'murder' at the Oval last week, when their midfielder/winger, Carson, blatantly elbowed a Glens player and in his follow through stamped on him as well. The Glens player quite understandably kicked out at his opponent and for his 'sins' he got a red card, while Carson escaped with a caution. Referee Davey Malcolm, explained his 'miscarriage' of justice by saying that he sent the man off for retaliation, seemingly alluding that a deliberate elbow is no longer a sending-off offence, in his opinion anyway. In a high profile match in England at the weekend, Manchester United's Christian Ronaldo, deliberately kicked out at an opponent, the referee took no action whatsoever. Which was the correct action? In truth I think both are wrong, if you kick out or retaliate at an opponent, a mandatory yellow card should be given, while elbowing should still carry the mandatory red card. These are of course my opinions and they don't carry much weight, just like my pleadings against the ridiculous league format we find ourselves playing in this season. Depending on the results over the closing games Ballymena could face the prospect of having just one home game in the final five matches when the split occurs and no-one can convince me that that, is progress. Also depending on results and points gathered half a dozen teams could find themselves with nothing to play for, well out of the relegation zone and/or with no chance of progressing up the league table. They've tried it in Scotland and are not happy with the format, so why we have gone for it is beyond me. Surely this can not be good for football in Norn Iron and will in fact be the beginning of the end, killing the game off with apathy!