Officials need to communicate to get right decision
Referee Damien MacGraith has apologised after failing to caution the correct player during Friday's game between Shamrock Rovers and Waterford FC.
Last Friday night we had the tough assignment of going to Tallaght to play Shamrock Rovers and we came away from there empty handed losing 2-0. Again, the two goals that we conceded were very preventable and we need to cut out the easy goals going forward and be more clinical at the other end of the pitch.
Rovers were good on the night to be fair to them but when the game was at 1-0 there was a big moment which surprisingly a lot of the media outlets have seemed to miss. Dan Cleary was wrongly booked for Shamrock Rovers when it should have been Matt Healy as he made the foul. Cleary told the referee on the pitch as did I and I said to check with his other officials, but I was ignored and told it was the right decision.
Two minutes later Matt Healy made another foul and was booked which should have been his second yellow and a red card but because of the officials mistake he was only booked. After the game I was obviously still frustrated about it when I went to shake hands with the officials. They then apologised for the mistake saying they only realised a few minutes after the initial foul but there was nothing that they could do about it then.
I understand it is a hard job for referees on the pitch at the best of times but even more so when they are playing advantage for a prolonged period before having to go back and book a player. This is where the assistant referees and fourth official should come in though and between the four of them communicating, they can get the right decision.
There was twenty minutes left in the game and I’m not saying that Rovers wouldn’t have won the game as they were good, but we would have had a better chance playing against the ten men for that period.
The last five weeks have been very tough for us on the pitch at Waterford. Results haven’t been good enough and we know that, and we are working as hard as we can on the training ground to turn things around. We have played well in that five week stretch in patches most notably the St Patricks Athletic game where we led from the majority of the game only to conceded two very late goals to ultimately lose the game, but we have been too easy to score against which has hurt us the most.
We have a huge week ahead of us this week with two games one on good Friday and the second on Easter Monday. On Friday we are at home to Sligo Rovers while on Monday we are away in a Munster Derby at Turners Cross against Cork City. While every game is tough in this league the two games probably hold a lot more significance because of the positions of the three sides in the league table. We sit 8th while Cork and Sligo sit 9th and 10th respectively. Two wins for us could jump us right up the table and also create a little gap to those below us which is important to have. It won’t decide anything as there is still a long way to go in the league but to have that little cushion would be nice.
Sligo like us are a struggling at the moment after a busy off season where there was a big turn over in players at the club. They have a very good manager in John Russell who is an ex-teammate of mine, and he has done a good job at Sligo Rovers in difficult circumstances. We beat Sligo away from home on the opening day of the season in a 3-2 thriller at the Showgrounds and this is going to be another tough game for us.
For any team when results have been poor for a few games in a row there usually seems to be a couple of hundred home fans missing from the attendance and I understand why. One thing I have noticed since I have joined Waterford is no matter what is happening good or bad the supporters always come out to home games in huge numbers and the same with the away games where they travel very well. We owe it to our supporters this week to put on a good performance, one that they can be very proud of and get the three points for them. Thay have been excellent supporters, and I understand it can be frustrating at times for them but I hope they can continue to support us as well as they have as I am confident that we can turn things around and we will leave no stone unturned in our attempt to do so.
On Monday we travel down to Cork for the second Munster Derby of the season. We won the first game at the RSC 2-1, and we are hoping we can make it two from two against Cork this season. Cork have been unlucky so far this season when it comes to injuries with their two main players Seani Maguire and Ruairi Keating both suffering bad injuries this season. Maguire tore his hamstring in the game at the RSC and is expected to be out until after the league break in June while Keating suffered a season-ending torn Achillies injury up in Derry on the controversial astroturf pitch which has seen a number of serious injuries since Derry installed it there. They are very important players for Cork and would be big blows for any side to lose. We must not take them for granted though because they have some excellent players in their squad especially some of the younger ones like Cathal O’Sullivan who has every club in England and Europe after his signature. We need to get back on track as soon as possible and hopefully this weekend will be the turning point for us.
