On the Franchino play (because the broadcast was screwed up I saw it with fuzzy reception and had no replay) the ball seemed to hit his stomach/chest, and I'm not sure that he was in the box when it happened. On the Cullen play, the ball definitely hit his arm on the way out. I think that the ref missed that one. I wrote a post after the Colorado game (where we had a shot blocked by a defender with his arm away from his body) claiming that should have been a red card and a pk. Since Cullen was obviously fooled (a few times) by Etch on that play I'd say no red card but possible pk. This league is in dire need of better refereeing and linesman.
Since the Franchino thing happened in front of me I can tell you all it was unquestionably a hand ball (and obviously intentional). The Cullen one was on the other side of the field. It definitely hit his arm but his intention is impossible for me to tell. The thing that fired the crowd up was that these were at the end of possibly the worst reffed (and biased) game I have ever witnessed. Ritchie was absolutely helmet ball tackled in the box on a United break in the second half in an obvious penalty. Also, Villegas was absolutely NOT offsides (right in front of us again - couln't miss it). To be honest, most of our ire was with the near side linesman as he was on top of many of the problem plays (with the ref far away from the play and looking the wrong way) and he got alomost everything wrong. I would also like to note that I think the Revs palyed a very hard and smart game (even though they were dramatically outplayed). The had a good hand dealt and played to it. No one can blame them for being smart.
A win is a win and the team deserves credit for a shutout on the road. A lot of grit and thank goodness that Llamosa is back! In watching the game I was once again struck by the consistent lack of quick technical judgement on our part. We always seem to take that extra second to make the pass, or judgement and the other team wins the ball as a result. I lost count of the times we had the advantage to the ball, but because we slowed down a DC player took the initiative. It was nice to see APC playing his game, quick decisions on the ball, get the ball moving. We need more of that. This was a game where APC was involved throughout his time on the pitch and we needed it. Taylor seemed to do a bit more, taking on of folks and missed some great opportunities to set up other folks. While great scorers need a level of single-mindedness, I hope this doesn't get worse. There were at least two times where Ralston was alone on the 18 yard line with no one within 10 yards of him, and TnT decided to dodge two or three people. Good effort and work rate and still love the kid though. Wolde is not a midfielder. He doesn't have the stamina for it. Joey Franchino, ball or not, deserved the yellow. When you slide up the back of someone's legs, you are going to get carded. That said, the DC player who cleated TnT's knee deserved one as well. Say what you will about Rooney, but he had a great save on the line and works hard. Can't say that about Hernandez. Loved Hernandez's first game as a Rev, but haven't like much else that I have seen. Congratulations to the team on a road win and a shut out at that. Look forward to having Rusty back on D (and it was nice to Coutier back too). Interested to see Kuarte, more composure in the back is sorely needed. My darkest moment was when Llamosa went down and I thought he may have re-injured his groin...thank goodness it was a hit and not a pull.
I thought the Franchino tackle was an obvious yellow, not for what he did, but for what would have happened if he had missed by a few inches or a healthy fraction of a second. Just because Joey made a clean tackle didn't the next player who tried it in the same situation wouldn't break somebody's ankle. I've only watched the first half so far, but I thought that and the non-call on Villegas' obvious belly flop were the only good calls the ref made in those 45 minutes.
Amen. They're called dangerous plays when there's a high potential for injury. Franchino (and everyone else) doesn't get a free pass just because he didn't draw blood. The punishment was deserved for the recklessness of the play.