FAC1R: Torquay United v Derby 3pm 6th November 2022

This incident has caused a lot of discussion. A reckless challenge elicits a caution, so if you think that the challenge was reckless then logically you are agreeing that a yellow card was the correct decision. Red cards are for excessive force, which I personally don't think that was.

Some might argue that it was serious foul play:
[Law 12] "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."  I can't see that being described as a lunge, using excessive force, or even endangering the safety of an opponent (although the Lapslie family might disagree with me!  ). In my opinion it wasn't enough to warrant a red card, and the referee thought the same at the time.

I see this as an emotional response for most fans: had it been the other way around we would not be accepting of a red card for a Gulls player. As much as we might have wanted Derby to go down to 10 men, this wasn't the challenge to cause it. Thankfully, that happened in the second half.*





*Despite Ian Holloway thinking it was 2012 and that the covering defender was enough to prevent the red card for the penalty. Surely there are hundreds of better pundits for ITV to employ than that out-of-touch comedian?

PS: In fact, while I'm here: this is the wording from the IFAB Laws 2022/23:
"Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off."

Simples...