“How far do you wind it back?”
That was the question put forward by Network 10 analyst and co-commentator Andy Harper after Central Coast Mariners were denied a equaliser in their 2-1 loss to Newcastle Jets in F3 Derby.
Match report: Jets claim F3 Derby honours
Central Coast’s Josh Nisbet thought he had equalised in the 74th minute, only for VAR to intervene for a handball, with the referee visiting the pitch-side monitor and penalising a Michael Ruhs handball in the build up to the goal.
Mariners team-mate Ruhs had tussled with Jets captain Matthew Jurman, who had a high boot on the half-way line.
Returning Socceroo Jason Cummings, who had cancelled out Trent Buhagiar’s opener before Beka Mikeltadze scored the match-winning goal in the second half, cut a frustrated figure post-game.
“He brings it all the way back for a handball but for me it’s a foul. He barges into him. There’s no way he can move his arm,” Cummings told Network 10 post-game.
“I don’t know. There’s too much looking into things and bringing it all the way back. Just let the game flow a wee bit.”
As VAR discussion dominated the fallout from the match, Harper weighed in.
“I’m not saying the officials with the rules and method of implementation that they’ve been given that they’ve made a mistake,” Harper said.
It was a clear handball. But how far do you wind it back?
“And when is the line crossed between re-referring the match and these glaring errors because VAR wasn’t brought into re-referee matches. I’m not saying this is a hangable offence but I’m a little confused as to what point of an attack is a clear foul or a handball, or do they only rule on handballs?
“This is all part of the confusion, still… these three years into VAR. It’s part of the journey, I get that. I’m comfortable with the goal being ruled out but it’s getting close to a line for me.
How far do you wind things back and re-referee the match and you mustn’t be re-refereeing games.
Montgomery: I’ve never seen an incident like it
Central Coast Mariners head coach Nick Montgomery, like his star forward Jason Cummings, made it clear how he felt about the decision to chalk off Nisbet’s equaliser with 16 minutes remaining.
After the Mariners crashed to back-to-back home losses, Montgomery told Network 10: “We have another goal disallowed.
“We must have more goals disallowed than any other team this season.
“The VAR, I don’t know if anyone watches the World Cup because I know everyone has. I’ve never seen an incident pulled back 30 seconds after it happened just because there was an incident in the middle of the pitch.
“It’s me this week and probably someone else next week.
“I just find it very hard it gets pulled back all that way and no one saw anything or complained about anything. There was a high foot and a hand and 30 seconds later and it’s pulled back.”
Montgomery, meanwhile, said it will take some time for his Socceroos contingent to return to their best following the World Cup.
The Mariners had more than one reason to get up for Sunday’s game: They were hosting an F3 Derby for their first game since mid-November and had repatriated World Cup stars Cummings, Garang Kuol and Danny Vukovic.
But Central Coast looked worryingly flat for key periods of the game and were made to pay by a Newcastle side that surged to fifth in the standings.
Aside from a Cummings goal that drew the scores level in the second half, the Socceroos had limited impact on the contest.
“No excuses but they all came back pretty jet-lagged and all seemed to have a bit of a stomach bug,” said Montgomery.
“Jason said then running, he felt his stomach was going to go.
“It’s going to take them a while to get back. None of them played much game time (at the World Cup) so it was really just three weeks of training.
“We had three or four games in that time so we’ve got to get them up to speed now for a big season ahead.”
