Spare a thought for referee Ben Abraham, who made a textbook handball decision in Macarthur’s 2-1 win over the Newcastle Jets yesterday that everyone assumed was wrong.
If you were to read only the match report on the A-League website, you wouldn’t even know the Jets were denied what looked like a clear-cut handball in time added on yesterday afternoon.
Aleks Susnjar clearly handled Lucas Mauragis’s cross into the box deep into stoppage time, only for Abraham to correctly rule out Newcastle’s appeals for a penalty.
“Waved off because it came off his own leg up onto his hand,” said Brenton Speed on the Fox Sports commentary. “Immediately Ben Abraham says no penalty.”
It was the right decision from a referee who had an excellent game overall, if only because the International Football Association Board – the governing body that writes the laws of the game – recently changed the handball rule so that it’s not an offence if “the ball touches a player’s hand/arm directly from the player’s own head or body (including the foot)”.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
It may have looked like a penalty, but Abraham made the only decision available to him.
Which is a shame, because the Jets deserved something from a second-half fightback in which they out-muscled a Macarthur side that had run out of steam by the hour mark.
The only problem for Jets coach Craig Deans is that they were already 2-0 down by the time they got into the game.
They were a bit unlucky when Jason Hoffman’s goal was chalked off by VAR – even though the Jets winger was clearly offside – but as soon as Matt Derbyshire opened his account for the visitors with a bullet header from a corner, it looked like it was game over already.
That was until Valentino Yuel pulled the scrappiest of goals back just before halftime to set up a barnstorming second-half display.
Yuel’s goal will do plenty for the youngster’s confidence, even if it was Roy O’Donovan who could probably have done with the morale-boosting strike.
Sideline analyst Mark Bosnich was spot-on when he said O’Donovan’s substitution with just under 13 minutes remaining took much of the momentum out of Newcastle’s attack.
But while the Jets look short of depth, they were well supported by the COVID-affected crowd of just under 4500 who turned out on a glorious afternoon in the Hunter.
One wonders if the same could be said, even at this early stage of their existence, of Macarthur FC.
The newcomers will be well served by Loic Puyo’s spectacular first goal in Macarthur colours because the Frenchman’s improvised scissor kick is the sort of highlight that often goes viral on social media.
But watching the game on Fox Sports with the phone in one hand and TV remote in the other, it was noticeable just how few people were talking about the game on Twitter.
It attracted a few more comments on Facebook and a couple of other corners of the internet, but on the whole Macarthur’s social media presence has been a bit of a slow burn.
Which is pretty much in keeping with the way the club has been set up from day one.
On the pitch they look like they’ll give the top six a serious crack this season. Off it, much of the work they’ve done to connect with fans has been done locally and with little fanfare.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing – and this infernal pandemic has hindered marketing efforts across the league – but it would be a shame if a few more fans don’t switch on to what an entertaining side Macarthur look like being.
They’ve got Campbelltown and Sydney’s south-western suburbs pretty much to themselves.
And with a fortnight to go before their next home game against defending champions Sydney FC, here’s hoping they can win over a few more fans to what has been an impressive start to their life in the A-League.
Paul
Guest
I have watched their games. They are about to fall flat on their and move to the lower end of the table. They have had so much help from the referees. It should have been the Macarthur player who should have seen red instead of Rufer, studs on the ankle of Rufer. Hollman should not been awarded a foul in the first game when was falling over. Football Australia are protecting them from scrutiny by NOT publishing all their home attendance record.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Pretty sure you're trolling... really hope you are.
Mark Scarfe
Roar Guru
To answer your question. No, nobody cares.
Johan
Guest
You’re desperately trying to put a positive spin on it Roberto but the truth is that the crowds for Macarthur has been disastrous and hugely humiliating for both the club and the a league. 2000 people- we used to get larger crowds at school when we played our local rivals. This is clear evidence that there was no appetite or need for this team in south west Sydney. It is far better to have 8 well supported teams with proper crowds of 15,000- 25,000 every week than 12 clubs with Mickey Mouse crowds of 2000-5000.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Good point. The football's been really enjoyable thus far.
Grem
Roar Rookie
That's 2x yesterday's crowd at The Gabba to watch Australia play India! It's interesting - imagine if the Socceroos had 2000 in attendance and played out a 1 - 1 draw with India. Imagine if this came after being called out for cheating and further allegations of cheating being alleged. Imagine if our football crowd was also calling out racist results! Would the media have something to say about the state of football?
Punter
Roar Rookie
I'll repeat myself, there is a pandemic on,even the cricket had nowhere near the crowds it normally does. Not the limits, but people deciding not to. I went to the Sydney Derby on Sat, normally about 40-50 people I know would go, last Saturday, 5 due to it being in the Sydney hot spots.
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
Fair enough thank you for answering. I hope that both clubs can do well, although I am a Sydney FC supporter even though I live in Bathurst. My son and I watch the A-League in summer but we definitely won't be watching it once the NRL starts. The Sydney NRL clubs just do so much for our communities most Aboriginal people in the Central West watch League. The A-League Is a great summer alternative to cricket though.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Can see an average of around 7-8k with games against WSW and Sydney FC 15,000+
At work
Roar Rookie
What I’m enjoying about these COVID times is that I’ve stopped worrying and caring about attendances, and instead just put all my focus on what’s happening on the pitch. It’s quite refreshing to just enjoy the football with caring about anything off field
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
I can see them exceeding 4k crowds.
Matt
Guest
Bumper crowds? Might hit 4k if they're lucky.
Popavalium Andropoff
Guest
Bulls probably won’t come into their own support wise until next season when the pandemic is over. If Wests Tigers doesn’t play finals this year Bulls might get some bumper crowds next year.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
For a few years the local council has been trying to entice the Tigers to move to Campbelltown permanently, which is hardly beyond the realms of possibility as the Western Suburbs Magpies have been the controlling interest in the Tigers ever since the Balmain side of the merger went bankrupt. But the Tigers are keen to retain a footprint in the Inner West and don’t want to lose access to Leichhardt Oval. So Campbelltown City Council has been annoyed that they tipped money into the stadium for an NRL side that only plays three games there a year. It was one of the biggest reasons they threw their support behind Macarthur FC and gave them a peppercorn rent.
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
Ok, but what specifically did the Wests Tigers do to upset the local council? The Wests Tigers have done some work out here with the Indigenous kids and I've found them to be a really well run organisation, just wondering why they would upset their local area?
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
So crowds are limited to a couple of thousand?
pete4
Guest
Probably not a big deal at this stage as the Bulls have the best stadium deal in the competition - $1
Punter
Roar Rookie
There is a pandemic on, there was no-one at the cricket neither.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
No chip on my shoulder, Middy... I simply call things as I see them. For what it's worth I wrote at least two 'positive' stories in the build-up to the new season and couldn't get them published anywhere. There's no interest and no money to pay for it.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Mike Typical chip on shoulder reaction... its not the media job to be cheerleaders.... No its not and no one is arguing critical articles should not be written... Agree with you that game based articles get way less hits... but just maybe because its been decades of articles mostly non complementary about Australia Football... have had the effect of convincing say Eurpo snobs its worthless and by far worst players that its not worth watching stick to watching NRL & AFL... It can't and won't be turned around in a short time... But the refusal to even discuss the effects, of often toxic Australian Football media and often patronising articles .... that bleeds into social media ... and hide behind we are not here to support and write puff articles masks that the norm is to attack ... Singo was asked once why he would not buy the Mariners ... his reply was interesting... and this goes from what I recall but the theme of it was ... and buy into the sis-pit and politics of Australian Football... But to indicate non of this has to do with our media IMO is overly defensive... SBS in early Hal ran constantly about no A-League team was running youth training programs... yet the Mariners were doing everything SBS said was needed ... and so to but to a lessor extent was Brisbane ... both these clubs have provided many recent Socceroos ... but at the time no credit no acknowledgement .... so instead of attacking clubs not doing it.. the Mariners & Roar could have been credited encouraging others to follow... Rant over ....