‘One of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen’ – Officials are an issue for Horsham FC boss
Horsham FC manager Dominic Di Paola took aim at the standard of refereeing in the National League South after a series of contentious decisions.
The Hornets boss was given his marching orders in the 1-0 home loss to Tonbridge Angels on Saturday.
Di Paola was shown yellow for entering the pitch out of concern for captain Jack Brivio, who suffered a nasty head injury which required a trip to A&E. He was shown a second yellow after he continued to voice his opinion.
Di Paola said: “I spoke to the referee on Tuesday night and said he probably should have applied a bit of common sense.
“I don’t debate that I was on the pitch – but I was checking the welfare of a lad who was semi-unconscious with blood pouring out of his head just to make sure he was okay.
“I think the game’s gone in lots of ways. The trouble is these lads are young and they’ve got no life experience. If he [the referee] was on the floor, would he not want people to come over and make sure he’s alright?
“I was coming on to find out if we needed an ambulance and then potentially help Brivs [Brivio] off the pitch.
“I watched the video back and thought maybe I was being abusive – because in the heat of the moment I’m not perfect in those situations – but I listened to it back and he told me I needed to get off the pitch.
“I said, yep, I will do, I just need to make sure Brivs is alright and if we need an ambulance or help him get off the pitch – and his response was, what are you a doctor?
“I said I’m not a doctor, but I’m worried about our player who’s on the floor and wasn’t responding in any way at that stage.
“Then he booked me and I said, that’s fine, you can book me, but I’m reporting you – and the minute you say that they send you off.
“I checked it back and I wasn’t abusive towards him. I’ve got the video. There’s no shouting. At worst, I swore in a sentence as opposed to at the fourth official.
“We’ll see what happens. If I get banned for that it’s fine. I’d do it every time a hundred times over. I’m more interested in our player than the letter of the law.”
And Horsham were awarded a soft second half penalty in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Bath City. Rhys Murphy was deemed to have been fouled by Jack Batten in the box despite it looking like a perfect tackle.
Murphy saw his spot-kick saved, and in the aftermath Bath’s Joe Raynes was sent off for dissent.
The Romans then scored a penalty of their own to draw level after Shamir Fenelon was judged to have pushed Scott Wilson in the box.
Di Paola added: “The penalty against Bath that we were given was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen in football. He was awful for both teams.
“The penalty he gave against us was so soft. The ref was a nice lad but he was too young. They’re being rushed up the leagues and we’re being used as guinea pigs.
“If the referee watches the Bath game back he’ll go, I got the four biggest decisions wrong – our penalty, the penalty for them in the first half, the penalty for them in the second half that wasn’t a penalty, and our second one. The two he gave were because both teams moaned about the two he didn’t give in the first half.
“People seem to think I have an issue with refs, but I do feel for this current generation of refs. They’re being destroyed by being forced up the pyramid before they have any experience.
“These boys are 24, 25 with no football experience. They’re making a rod for their own backs whoever makes the decisions to do this stuff.
“I talk to the managers and they all say the same thing. The officiating is so poor in this league because we seem to be the guinea pigs for them [referees] to gain experience to go up through the leagues. It’s not good for them.”
You can read more from Di Paola about the Tonbridge and Bath games, and get all the latest team news ahead of the Hornets’ trip to Hampton & Richmond Borough, online tomorrow at sussexworld.co.uk/sport.