Accidental trip

[DaveMac]

Just wondering what people's opinions are. Ball over the top, defender and attacker both sprinting for it. There is no obvious trip at all, but both stumble as there is a slight coming together. Defender goes down and striker runs on an scores.

Had this at the weekend and starting to think I should have blown for a free kick to the defending team. I'm always watching very closely during these foot races for anything and neither player obviously broke their normal running stride, it did seem like there might have been a very minor accidental coming together of feet. Obviously the defending team were furious about it.

 

[Charlie Jones]

if its just a coming together then the defender has to go to the gym and bulk up, make sure it doesnt happen again lol

 

[DaveMac]

Alas @Charlie Jones I think there is a better chance he'll hit the gym with his and just moan about me costing them the game. God forbid it was their own indiscipline that let them down.

 

[SM]

As a generalisation - If they are side by side running or the attacker is in front of the defender and you see no obvious foul then play on.

If the attacker is behind the defender and gains an advantage from the contact then give the foul.

 

[DaveMac]

If the attacker is behind the defender and gains an advantage from the contact then give the foul.

The attacker was behind the defender, but only fractionally when the ball was played, but also slightly to the side. So I think contact was made as the defender had to change direction slightly and ended up heading towards the attacker. But in hindsight I should have blown as the attacker raced through and scored.

The only thing that stopped me at the time was the collision did leave the striker stumbling as well, only he stayed on his feet. But I'm future I think I'd blow. Although neither player is committing a foul as such, but the attacking team did gain an advantage from the coming together.

 

[Martiju]

I think it's one of those where you go with expectation - if your sense (almost as a spectator, rather than as a ref) - is that you'd expect a free-kick, then I'd go for it. You were probably spot-on in law though, so I wouldn't beat yourself up about it.

Your post made me think about the number of times I say there was a 'coming together' so no FK and also the number of times I say a trip was careless, often in those cases where people are running alongside each other. I wonder if that's being consistent or not - but generally I think case-by-case judgement is probably the best you can ever do.

 

[Ryan Owens]

If it's just a coming together then that's one thing, but if the attacker wasn't going in a straight line, then it's a foul. He was being careless.

 

[DaveMac]

@Ryan Owens the attacker was going straight, the defender was the one who had to change direction slightly which caused the coming together. But he had to change direction to follow the path of the through ball if that makes sense.

 

[Ryan Owens]

So he's the one who committed the foul and you successfully applied advantage which resulted in a goal being scored. Congratulations

 

[Brian Hamilton]

The attacker was behind the defender, but only fractionally when the ball was played, but also slightly to the side. So I think contact was made as the defender had to change direction slightly and ended up heading towards the attacker. But in hindsight I should have blown as the attacker raced through and scored.

The only thing that stopped me at the time was the collision did leave the striker stumbling as well, only he stayed on his feet. But I'm future I think I'd blow. Although neither player is committing a foul as such, but the attacking team did gain an advantage from the coming together.

If the attacker was behind the defender, then the defender is the player most likely to play the ball at the instant the contact occurs. Add into that situation, there is no obligation on the part of the defender to run in a straight line. It is only if his running causes the attacker to have to change the line of his run does it become an offence, one which meets the definition of impeding.

If this happened in my game I would have penalised the attacker because he has made contact, resulting in the defender being tripped. Accidental or intentional does not matter, it is a careless action and as such should be penalised by the award of a free kick.