Had a situation in an adult game where a player who was leaving the goal area after a save was trying to get out of the keepers way and was moving back and forth in the same direction that the keeper was. You know kinda like when you meet some one in a hall and move the same way. In my opinion he was not trying to impede/interfere with the keeper in any way. The keeper then jumps up and kicks the attacker from the other team. The keeper was sent off and I awarded a PK after a brief discussion with my AR. Though neither team made a fuss over the PK the kicker sent it wide so there was no goal scored off it. I am still not a 100% that is the correct restart for that situation. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Sounds like someone forgot to have their HappyFlakes that morning. The send-off and PK are fine, it was a DFK foul inside the penalty area. However, was there any indication that something like this was a possibility? Violent conduct is not usually isolated and unprovoked. Perhaps the player who was kicked had been annoying the keeper the entire game, getting in his way and generally not playing nice? What I'm trying to get at is that it is important to look at not just the incident itself, but events that may have led up to it. If it is isolated, then don't worry too much about it. Your call was correct.
I am sure it all happened fairly quickly but..... maybe next time you can try to get a little more proactive and call out "Hey you two can dance after the game". Humor sometimes goes well, other times it blows up in your face. However, if you see a situation developing try to use your voice to diffuse it.
You did the right thing....no need for the keeper to kick the opponent The situation you described where players get in each others way does happen in the course of a game and can be a natural part of play. Kicking an opponet is not. Send off and restart with a PK as it happened in the PA Simple
I did give a quick "HEY HEY" just to get their attention before the kick even though these are adults they act like 5 year olds. In fact this was one of many matches that has been terminated due to fighting. We had 2 dives in the first half that led to several yellows and 2 reds in the first half then about 4 more yellows and 2 more reds in the second when a fight broke out with about 10 min left and the match was terminated. With this leagues history I tend to call almost any contact at all just cause of their actions in the past. Thanks for the reassurance about the restart. About done with this league any way last season we had a couple players swing at a ref and chase us around the net in the Championship game.
You had to be there to judge the attacking player's conduct that immediately preceded the kicking incident, so I'm not second-guessing you at all on this, but I'm not sure I understand why there would be a dance like that after the save. Once the goalie has made the save and gotten possession, get out of his way. No need to dance, just turn and get back up field. If the attacker is standing in front of the goalie facing him or even moving back up field while zig-zagging in front of the goalie in order to interfere with the punt (perhaps to slow-down a counter, or to actually block it, or just because he was ticked off by the save), you certainly could have an instance of USB on the attacker that is deserving of a yellow card, with the restart being an indirect kick for the defending team. (The goalie would obviously still get his red card for kicking the opponent, but it wouldn't change the restart). From what you describe, that's the only other option - and one I might personally lean to if I thought that the attacker had been the instigator. HOWEVER, from your description, I believe you to have concluded that there was nothing wrong with what the attacker was doing (again, your judgment). If so, then PK is your only option at that point for kicking an opponent while in the penalty area while the ball is in play.
yeah, we are a small market here and only have about 6-7 guys that can handle these games so and they do 4 a weekend plus we are the same guys that do high school and higher level competitive games so we stay very busy. But I will be taking some time off from these games for a while just don't like wondering if giving a card is going to get me beat up. thanks for all your replies.
So if about 5 of those guys would refuse to ref that league, maybe, just maybe, they'd clean up their act.