NLS: Torquay United V Hemel Hempstead 3pm

I wasn't at the game so I can't comment on any particular event but in the interests of balance I would like to say this. A booking for kicking the ball away is actually a booking for "delaying the restart of play".

The Laws state that:

"Referees must caution players who delay the restart of play by:
• appearing to take a throw-in but suddenly leaving it to a team-mate to take,
• delaying leaving the field of play when being substituted,
• excessively delaying a restart,
• kicking or carrying the ball away, or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the referee has stopped play, 
• taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake. "

So while it doesn't actually say so, it could be that the referee felt that, by letting the ball roll past him, a player is deliberately delaying the restart. Context is everything, so if that incident happened in the first 22 minutes of the match then the ref is an idiot for thinking we were trying to delay the restart when we were 2-1 down. If it happened after 89 mins then the ref would be absolutely correct to think our player was trying to hold out for the win. Anywhere in between then he is being pedantic unless he has already warned the player concerned and, of course, the fans are the last to know if that happens in a game...

Incidentally, goal celebrations involving the crowd used to be a cautionable offence under the "delaying the restart" heading, but these days they have a separate clause:

"Players can celebrate when a goal is scored, but the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting. Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not a cautionable offence but players should return as soon as possible.
A player must be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, for:
• climbing onto a perimeter fence and/or approaching the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues,
• acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way,
• covering the head or face with a mask or other similar item,
• removing the shirt or covering the head with the shirt."

A booking "even if the goal is disallowed". Boy, that would be a sickener!