Recent Alliance games have shown time and time again how much confusion this law is causing.
Yesterday's game saw Tom Lu**** run through past a defender, hit the keeper with his shot and then score from the rebound. The linesman's flag was raised to general disbelief. It took questions to be asked of the assistant before realising he had flagged Ricky James on the far side of the field, nowhere near play and never remotely near touching the ball.
It also begs the question of whether the referee knew who the flag was raised against- he never appeared to find out.
Have assistants who qualified years ago been given a refresher on the laws? Or are we playing two different games depending on the assistants?
From what you have described, Brian, it seems that an error has been made here. The offside law is, theoretically, very simple. The application, however is bl***y tricky. A player can stand in an offside position all day long and he commits no offence.
Only when a player touches the ball, interferes with an opponent or seeks to gain an advantage from being in an offside position does he commit an offence.
Lining is often harder than refereeing but basic errors such as this do happen.
More than happy to, Brian. Having run the line on several of City's and Harraby's games this year, I can safely say that offside decisions are the most contentious-either way!
In the end, those watching can rest assured that the vast majority of flags raised at Alliance level are correct. But, as a player can make a mistake in a game, so can officials-we are, after all, only human!
