Seeing Red

I didn't begrudge Wales their win over Scotland the other night - over the 90 minutes the Welsh team certainly never deserved to lose.

Maybe there was even some poetic justice -  a bit of payback to compensate for that famous Joe Jordan penalty that never was in 1977 - which helped send Scotland to the World Cup the following year in Argentina where the Scottish team underperformed on a grand scale.

But what does make me see red was the blatant cheating during the game - seems to me that some of the diving from the Welsh players - would have won a medal at the recent Olympic Games in London.

Especially the one from Gareth Bale which earned a penalty from which the player scored the  equaliser - soon after Scotland had a perfectly good goal chalked off for the ball going out of play - which it emphatically did not.

The fact of the matter is that no one touched Gareth Bale - as the TV instant replay showed on the night. 

But as soon as Gareth got into the penalty box (where he was heading away form the goal) - he caught one of his own legs against the other - before going down as if he had been shot by a sniper in the stands.

Given that this 'trip' was not caused by a Scottish player - the only conclusion to draw is that Bale's behaviour was deliberate - skillfully done I have to admit - but not the kind of skill that deserves to be admired and copied. 

In plain language it's called cheating and one of Gareth's team mates - Aaron Ramsey - was up to the very same trick earlier on in the game.

Diego Maradona once excused his blatant cheating as the the intervention of 'the hand of God' - but what a load of baloney, even if he did go on to score an incredible goal - just like Gareth Bale.

With the kind of modern technology that's available these days -  there's simply no excuse for referees making such mistakes.

Because it disfigures the game and encourages others to behave the same way - which is no example to set young children and aspiring players.

I like to think my views would be the same if a Scottish player had conned the referee - I think they would - as I've never liked to win anything by cheating.