We can all agree this sort of thing should not happen in 2015
Do you remember how we used to argue for video technology on the goal line and now that it exists our football watching lives are immeasurably better?
Well we are long overdue bringing in the use of video to make sure that the correct player gets sent off. While there was confusion the other week about a John O’Shea/Wes Brown dismissal against Manchester United that the referee Roger East later claimed was correct, Neil Swarbrick will have no such get out.
A clear foul after just 80 seconds by Craig Dawson on Wilfried Bony was correctly penalised with a red card but Swarbrick issued it to Gareth McAuley. As the players don’t look that alike, perhaps it was the numbers (Dawson is 25, McAuley is 23) that confused the ref.
Despite McAuley insisting ‘It wasn’t me’ repeatedly to the ref, the Northern Ireland international had to walk.
