There were farcical scenes at England’s u-19 European Championship qualifier against Norway.
The English ladies were 2-1 down against the Norwegians in the 11th hour when they were handed a wondrous opportunity to salvage the game.
England were awarded a penalty in the 96th minute, and it was converted to level the score at 2-2. However, the referee didn’t see it that way.
The official disallowed the goal as she deemed that some English players were encroaching on the penalty box before the kick was taken. Rather than allowing the spot-kick to be re-taken, which is the official procedure stipulated in the rule book, the ref inexplicably awarded Norway a free-out.
After some heated words were exchanged with the ref, the game eventually re-started just in time for the final whistle.
The English FA formally complained about the official’s ridiculous blunder and were granted a replay. However, it’s not a traditional replay as only 19 seconds of the match will be played again, which was the time remaining when th penalty was given.
To add to the craziness of the situation the “kick-off” happened be at exactly 9:45 p.m., when the penalty was awarded in the initial match. Luckily for England, Williamson found the net again with her second attempt to end the insane replay saga.
Oddly enough, there wasn’t enough time left on the clock to grab another.
Hat-tip to Bleacher Report
