Maybe they should not allow posts to go infinatley upwards in future.

If you kick it too high the decison goes against. Or as someone else has said, put lights on the posts. If the beam is broken it's not a goal.

Just watched it again on the replay and there are 3 or 4 saints players saying it was to the left. The Huddersfield fans don't really get onboard until the first replay which is the one from behind. They then kick off and probably don't watch the second replay, because by the time it's done Saints are on the halfway line.

If the drop goal was ruled as given, then it still leaves over a minute of play so it is not a guaranteed win.

As for calling the ref a cheat, I think that's a bit cheap. Why would they cheat, for what possible benefit??? They can be wrong, but not cheats.

It's a more logical way? By nature, it's possible to go between the posts, without going over the cross bar - it's impossible to go over the crossbar without going between the sticks.

The rules also don't know about advances in technology - for all the laws state, posts could disappear in a month, and be replaced with laser light to judge whether it's gone over. But the crossbar needs to remain (source of the laser light in said example) - the posts act as little more than a guide for the officials to be sure.

They can't cheat? A bit naive?

For what benefit?

sod it, Hawkeye in future and coloured laser beans coming out to the top of the posts so you can see the colour on the ball if it goes over the top of them.

or GPS the ball. short of introducing go go gadget posts.

No need for expensive gadgets; just accept that the ref was in the best position to judge the kick. He did just that and concluded that it was not a goal.
We should praise the Saints defence for creating the conditions in which Brough, an excellent kicker, did not, on this occasion, get it right.

Praised for being offside?

Congratulations for displaying your incomplete knowledge of the knock on rule.

As you say, the ball goes backwards off the Saints leg. The fact the ball has been lost and makes contact with the Saints player's leg is enough to give a knock on, regardless of where is then bounces or rolls.

Well that shat on some people's parade.

I have seen two camera angles, on one it looks good, on the other it doesn't. If Bentham had gone to the video ref it would have probably been referred back to the referee's call seeing as the replays were inconclusive. So Huddersfield wouldn't have got the decision anyway.

It was a 50/50 call that didn't go their way. There's no bias, no conspiracy and no need for talk of protests and other such ridiculous suggestions.

I've lost a lot of respect for Huddersfield over he last 24 hours. Clapping Ferres off the field, the reaction on here to the DG decision and finally the statement from Thewlis, it's all extremely embarrassing. The club as a whole has reacted pathetically.

I see the point you are trying to make, but unfortunately your perspective lines on your first image are hopelessly inaccurate, and as you base your case on them, your conclusions are fatally flawed.

Also you don't need to struggle with the difficulties of perspective from that camera, when the direct shot shows you that the ball set off inside the post and stayed on that line, eliminating the need for perspective drawings. Simply put, the ball could not have kept to a very clear inside line as we all saw it do AND gone outside that line.

The ball didn't stay on that line. It swerves to the left of the post (i.e. over the post/wide).

I've watched it several times back and forth and it's impossible to tell without an horizontal angle.

The camera angle behind the stick is not pointing straight when he initially kicks it. Had it done so and fully zoomed out it would have been a more conclusive view in whether it had or hadn't.

As it zooms out it gives the illusion it's going over however the balls line clearly curves over the post. This is visible on BOTH views.

It's a matter of opinion in terms of at what point the ball goes over the posts. I'm firmly in the it hit the post smack on camp, which IMO is why Bentham ruled that it wasn't over.

There is NOTHING in the rules to state that a drop kick that hits a trajectory of that exactly over the post is or isn't a goal. In that sense, I guess a lot of this comes down to interpretation and the ref interpretation in this case is that if there's reasonable conclusions to suggest the ball would have hit the post and bounced back (if posts are assumed to be infinitely up) then it's not a drop goal. Whereas had the majority of the ball gone inside the post, it would be a drop goal.

I don't argue it was not a drop goal, neither do I argue that it was. I just argue that is was not a clear drop goal. Therefore those saying it's definately a drop goal are just ignoring any percentage of doubt.

I'm 60:40 it was a drop goal, but if you told me that someone had worked out the answer and I had to bet my life one way or the other. Then strap myself to an electric chair to see if I guessed right. I would not take that bet. Stuff it I would not take that bet for £1000.

Rather than me displaying incomplete knowledge of the knock on rule, you appear to be trying to comment on a game you didn't even watch. The ball was kicked out of the player's hand you tusk!

You could make a great "spot the ball" competition from this attempted DG. If could be here, there, any f@@king where?

How would that be a great one? It would be the worst spot the ball comp in history.

Exactly!

It doesn't. From the angle behind brough you see it curling in and being to the right of the 'fantastic' of the fantastic media sign, it's quite far inside the the left hand post when it hits the stand

It curls out. It's the angle of the footage that suggests otherwise.

Just had another look at it tonight. IMO I think that if the posts were higher it would've hit it. Then it's a guess as to would it bounce out or bounce through.

No one (and I mean no one) truly honestly knows if it was a correct or wrong decision. But their's enough there to say it's an acceptable decision not to give it,

I know it was a wrong decision and here's the proof.

1. Here is a composite view, made from a series of shots from the camera behind the posts. As the ball went way over the posts, I have added a green extended post.

I do not think there is any doubt, at all, that the ball is at all times within the posts, it doesn't deviate, it doesn't swerve away from the posts, it is a drop goal.



I should add that the camera is very slightly to the left of the ball's trajectory. The ball travels in a parabola. This means that viewed from the camera, it will appear to travel in a very tight parabola from left to right, which explains the very slight impression of a "drift" to the left - but that is an optical artefact, and not an actual drift.

2. With regard to the footage from the other direction, I have frozen and enlarged the moment where the ball hit the glass on the boxes behind the post, just underneath the sign that says "FANTASTIC MEDIA STAND".

The green arrow in the zoomed in section shows the ball hitting the glass.



The green arrow on the lower image is the shot posted a couple of pages back. The ball is not on this shot, (because the BBC cut the shot before the ball landed) but the green arrow points to the spot the ball struck, as evidenced by the previous image.

The ball did not drift to the left. It actually landed almost centrally behind the posts, the blue section of seats where it lands is 16 seats wide, and the ball landed in the 10th seat as viewed from L to R on the image. Here is an image of the ball landing, with a very enlarged spot showing teh position of the ball, indicated by the arrows I have added.



Whilst this may look blurry, if you view the footage (which is on iPlayer) you will be in no doubt at all that that is the ball.

I rest my case.

That first picture with the extended green posts.....how do you know the ball has reached the goal line? Is that final ball shown 2m before the posts, level, 2m past it?

You don't honestly know.

Is that all your own work?

Just to check, the composite picture is of the ball rising and falling, yes? If it was just rising then it could have been heading wide. But if it is including the rise and fall of the ball that pretty much proves it,

If that is an accurate portrayal of where the ball landed, it is an even clearer example of it being a very wrong decision.

Just to check, was the ball visible at all times, or is there a posibility that the ball hit the roof and that caused it bounce back to the middle even though it was wide? I know that stand is the stand with the highest roof, it's the cinema end of the stadium so I doubt it hit the roof but you need to check these things.

If the ball didn't hit the roof and did actually land on the glass there it's pretty much cast iron proof the referee screwed up.

Top work.

Sadly all my own work.

The ball is rising all the time.

The ball was visible at all relevant times and there is no doubt at all where it hit.

BTW you can actually see the cameraman in the image behind the posts, and if you watch the iPlayer recording, and see how close to the camera the ball gets, and then cross-reference that image in your mind to where I have shown the ball hit the glass, both are also consistent.

Except for the fact the ball hasn't reached the posts in the first image.