In another of his weekly columns, Scott Brotherton takes a look at Walsall captain Andy Butler's handball which led to Crawley Town being awarded a penalty at the weekend.Walsall were below their best on Saturday, there is no doubt. Crawley were the better team until a flurry of late chances put the ten men under some intense pressure. Despite the average performance only one goal separated the teams at 2-1, and a fourth minute penalty made all the difference.
The question is though, was it a spot kick? Every Saddlers fan will say no and every Crawley fan will say yes. It is the age old debate of whether the handball was deliberate or ball to hand.
The ball didn’t strike Andy Butler’s hand in the area as such, but brushed it. At first glance I thought the captain had misjudged the bounce and the cross had cannoned into his forearm rather than his chest. However, this turned out just to be my imagination.
What actually happened was that Butler prepared to chest the ball but it took an irregular bounce off a pitch that, while better than many in League One at the moment, has a pimply surface prone to bobbles. The ball sprung up much higher than anticipated and hit Butler on the head, before rolling down onto his arm.
It was a very soft handball so early on in the game and, upon seeing video footage; it is hard to argue that it was deliberate. Butler himself does a bit of refereeing when he isn’t leading the Saddlers out and understands the pressure, so he was commendably calm in the wake of such an important call.
It wasn’t deliberate, that is for certain. But the ball was heading to goal and this could have prevented a dangerous situation in front of goal for Crawley. That is the second point and possibly the main reason why referee Jamie Simpson pointed to the spot.
It was definitely a harsh decision and ended up being the difference. Dean Smith’s side have had their fair share of luck in the penalty department in recent years though. How many have Will Grigg and Craig Westcarr netted over the past few years? The tables were bound to turn at some point.
By: Scott Brotherton.