Championship sides Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday played out a 0-0 draw yesterday. Though the match was a drag one for the fans, it had it’s moments when referee Mick Russell caused a controversy when he showed a Sheffield Wednesday player two yellow cards but didn’t send him off. Mistakes do happen in football but it was a blunder by Russell.
Jeremy Helan was the offender. Helan was booked as early as the 9th minute when he dived to claim a free kick. The second foul was on Adam Hammill to stop the Winger surging forward. Though he was shown the second yellow, the referee did not issues a red card. It is only after Russell had admitted that it was a genuine mistake and that he noted the wrong player first time, the real reason behind the incident was found.
Russell initially booked Helan for diving in the ninth minute, and then when he fouled winger Adam Hammill, he forgot about the earlier yellow card.
The error occurred because he had taken down Michail Antonio’s number for the first booking.
Talking about the incident Huddersfield manager, Grayson said:
“I think he’s probably written the wrong number down in his book, which is staggering, and I also think he should have been helped by his officials, who should be overruling because they all know, when a referee makes a mistake like that, who he’s booking,” he said.
“The lineman should be helping out. He’s not done it deliberately, but you can’t make major mistakes like that.
“He’s put (Michail) Antonio’s number in his book, but he was nowhere near the incident. I don’t mind referee’s making big mistakes in terms of tackles and sendings off, but something quite simple like that shouldn’t be happening in Championship football.”
After that incident Sepp Blatter came out and ‘indicated’ that Australia could have made the game be replayed had they lost and been knocked out. It will be interesting to see what comes of this, and whether Huddersfield will look for a replay.
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