Forest Green left South West London with a point at Sutton, but the final score barely scratched the surface of what unfolded throughout the afternoon.
A 1–1 draw on paper with 10 men will be filed away as satisfying for some, yet this was a game shaped – and ultimately warped – by officiating decisions that failed to match the contest unfolding on the pitch.
Rovers were ahead inside 21 minutes, converting from the spot before the match took its decisive turn.
Ricardo Rees was dismissed while Forest Green were leading 1-0, shown a second yellow for an alleged hand ball – a decision as baffling as it was damaging.
Reduced to 10 men, Rovers adjusted smartly from a 4-4-2 into a 4-4-1, preserving their structure and, remarkably, their control.
What followed was not a siege, but a show of discipline. Forest Green largely kept Sutton at bay, remained compact, and even created chances of their own.
It took a period of late pressure and an 89th-minute goal for Sutton to finally break through, rescuing a draw that felt like a gut punch for the travelling FGR fans.
By full-time, the score read 1–1. The bigger question was how a match Forest Green had managed so well ended up being defined by a whistle that never seemed to follow the same logic twice. Let’s dive in.
I’ve made a conscious effort to avoid being drawn into refereeing controversies, as a rule of thumb on Zone FGR. Though it would be disingenuous of me to suggest the referring didn’t have the pivotal say on proceedings on Saturday’s game.
The Penalty
The awarding of the penalty itself was correct, so credit where credit’s due for the man in the middle.
The issue comes with the lack of yellow card which followed. Some fans felt aggrieved that a red card wasn’t shown, though to those, I point to the double jeopardy rule change, implemented some years ago now.
The laws were officially changed in 2016, coming into effect for the 2016–17 season.
Specifically, IFAB amended Law 12 so that a defender who commits a foul inside the penalty area while genuinely attempting to play the ball would receive a yellow card instead of an automatic red, removing the “double jeopardy” of penalty + red card in those situations.
Of course, as with most things in football, it’s objective whether it was a genuine attempt for the ball, or whether the centre half intended to stop Rees at all costs. I think a yellow card & penalty was the correct decision in the instance, the refusal to brandish a booking was puzzling.
Zone FGR Verdict
Error from the officials? Yes.
The Bookings for Topallaj & Rees
The tackle on Ricardo was appalling – there’s no debate about that, except from the officiating team, who deemed it only worthy of a yellow. If that’s the standard for a yellow card, the threshold for sending a player off must have been outright GBH (or an accidental hand ball, more on that later)
Though here’s where I differ from many, I think the ref was plausibly justified in playing advantage in this situation. FGR were in a 3 on 1 counter situation, which given the quality of Jili down the left side, was a genuine opportunity for Rovers.
In the heat of the moment, there’s room for rash decisions from the Referee, Topalli & Ricardo. Ultimately, all three made errors in this phase of play.
Ricardo’s revenge tackle was equally reckless, I think it’s important for me to clarify that, both tackles in their own right were instant red cards. In my view, one of two things should have happened in that situation.
1) The Ref stops play & sends off Topallaj for the initial tackle. Avoiding the situation arising of a revenge tackle from Rovers.
2) The Ref plays advantage, then goes back and sends both players off .
The decision ultimately taken to play advantage & book both, left all parties perplexed & feasibly endangered the players for the rest of the game, due to the farcically high threshold required for a red.
Zone FGR Verdict
Error from the officials? Yes.
The Second Yellow for Ricardo
This is the one which will cause most frustration for the FGR staff. Whilst I do think Ricardo was lucky to be on the field at this point, two wrongs don’t make a right for the Officials.
We often see Ref’s taking decisions with an earlier error in mind, I can’t help thinking this is the case here.
My assumption is he must not have seen the initial tackle clearly on Ricardo, but did see the lunge from Rees that followed. Leaving a seed of doubt in his mind that maybe Ricardo shouldn’t have been on the pitch.
On first viewing, with a poor view of the incident, I thought there may have been a hand ball. Upon seeing the replay, I think Ricardo is right to feel aggrieved at the decision. The ball clearly hits his chest, & gravity does the rest of the work in bringing the ball down. There is no intentional movement of the hand which would warrant a yellow card.
The Assistant Referee doesn’t flag for a free kick, suggesting he was content with the goal, only to overruled by the Referee 40 yards away, with plenty of bodies between him & the incident.
Let’s say for arguments sake it is a handball – the rules are riddled with ambiguity as to what constitutes a yellow card in such instances, so I’ll leave it to the reader to form an opinion based on the wording below. I could have accepted the disallowed goal, but to compound the frustration with a second yellow was simply unacceptable.
When accidental handball is not punished
A player will not usually be penalised for accidental handball if:
- The ball touches the hand/arm without deliberate action, and
- It does not immediately lead to a goal or clear goal‑scoring opportunity, and
- The hand/arm is in a natural position relative to the player’s movement (not unnaturally bigger) - e.g., close to the body or used to support the player when falling.
When accidental handball can still be punished
Accidental contact can still be an offence if:
- It does lead immediately to a goal or a clear scoring opportunity – so even without intent, it can be penalised.
- The player’s hand/arm is in an unnatural position that makes their body bigger and thereby blocks the ball unnaturally – referees judge this case‑by‑case.
Key Law Points
- The upper boundary of what counts as a hand/arm is defined at the bottom of the armpit – contact above that is not handball.
- A goal scored directly off a hand/arm – even if unintentional – is still disallowed.
- Teams and competitions can interpret these guidelines slightly differently in domestic rules – but all follow the IFAB Law 12 structure.
Zone FGR Verdict
Error from the officials? Yes.
Looking Forward
As we now look ahead to Wednesday night’s game, the loss of Rees will be a bitter pill for the FGR camp to swallow.
Not only in terms of personnel, but in terms of shape. There are plenty of decisions for the Rovers boss to make, do they change to a 4-2-3-1 or stick with a 4-4-2 and find an alternate partner for Babalola?
For me, Rovers would be best placed to stick to the 4-4-2. Beyond the noise of the refereeing decision’s, Rovers were excellent on the day given the circumstances. They created double the xG of their opponents (1.41 – 0.70) & I never felt we were under sustained periods of pressure through the game.
The overloads down the sides were pretty overwhelming for Sutton. Jili drew the accolades of the opposing gaffer in his post match press. Chris Agutter was keen to stress that Jili looked far ahead of the level, as he caused a constant threat down the left hand side, finding himself in great positions time & time again.
The two up top equally suits the Rovers system, allowing for centre backs to be occupied, allowing more space for the aforementioned wide players to create overloads.
The only concern for me, would be potentially us being dominated in central midfield as teams get to grips with the changes in recent weeks. This could be contained with Mendy stepping up into the holding 6, though he has been faultless at CB in recent months.
It’s a decision that will weigh on the Robbie’s mind over the coming 48 hours, as we prepare for what is a huge game against Altrincham at The New Lawn on Wednesday night.
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