Referee admits he got it 'completely wrong' as Derry City left frustrated

Ruaidhri Higgins has said that referee Adriano Reale has acknowledged he got the decision to chalk off Jamie McGonigle’s first-half goal ‘completely wrong’ in tonight’s game between Derry City and Sligo Rovers.  

The Derry City striker had the ball in the net midway through the half only for the official to pull play back for a free kick to the home side, rather than play advantage.

The decision had huge ramifications, with Sligo Rovers taking the lead shortly afterwards, and holding that lead until late in the game when Ciaran Coll equalised.

“I’ve just left the referee’s room there now and he has held his hands up and admitted that he got it completely wrong,” Higgins said. “It’s a big, big decision which has gone against us when we were playing well. We were completely in the ascendancy. In fairness to him, it’s probably the first time that a referee has openly admitted that he got it completely wrong.

“And to be honest, I felt the player in question as also lucky to stay on the pitch for an accumulation of fouls as well similar to a Dundalk player last week who should have been sent ff, but wasn’t. But again, we had enough time from that moment on for our performance to be better, and right we lacked a bit of spark and edge about our play. We’ve taken a point but we need to be doing more to win these types of games.”

It is the second time in eight days that Derry City have dropped points at home, and the second time in eight days that everyone in red and white has gone home frustrated.

“I’m disappointed that we’ve only taken a point,” Higgins added. “The performance until they scored was good, we started really well. They scored with their first attack and I don’t think we recovered brilliantly from that for the remainder of the game.

“I felt we were patchy and bitty and lost our discipline a wee bit, particularly in possession, which isn’t like us, but I do think it's two points dropped.”