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O'Kelly: Cherries star O'Kane should be rewarded for fair play (From Bournemouth Echo)
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O'Kelly: Cherries star O'Kane should be rewarded for fair play
7:00am Monday 21st January 2013 in Sport
By Neil Perrett
PENALTY GAFFE: Eunan O'Kane (right) in action on Saturday
RICHARD O’Kelly believes Eunan O’Kane should be short-listed for the FIFA fair play award following his penalty gaffe during Cherries’ defeat at Walsall on Saturday.
Walsall’s assistant boss, who was Sean O’Driscoll’s number two at Dean Court between 2004 and 2006, praised O’Kane for his honesty and sportsmanship during the bizarre incident.
The midfielder conceded a late spot-kick when he inadvertently picked up the ball after thinking referee Andy Davies had blown for a foul by Steve Cook on Saddlers’ Will Grigg.
Although O’Kane declined to comment when asked by the Daily Echo, he later took to social network site Twitter to post the following explanation: “I can only apologise for what happened today! Thought I had heard a whistle so was trying to get the ball back to them to speed the game up!”
Cherries striker Steve Fletcher said he anticipated footage of the rare occurrence would end up featuring on the What Happened Next? round of the BBC’s A Question of Sport.
O’Kelly told the Daily Echo: “I thought the referee confused people with some of his decisions all through the game and he confused Eunan O’Kane the most. The referee and linesman both had a great position and it should have been a free-kick. Will Grigg was brought down by Cook.
“You could say Eunan should have reacted in a different way but, in my opinion, he could win the fair play award for what he did.
“I thought the referee had a get-out and could have given the free-kick after looking like he had tried to play the advantage. He didn’t, he applied the letter of the law and, unfortunately, he gave us a penalty.”
Grigg despatched the 79th-minute spot-kick, his second penalty of the game, to seal Walsall’s 3-1 victory and bring to end Cherries’ 15-match unbeaten run in League One.
Cherries boss Eddie Howe said: “I think everybody in the stadium saw it as a free-kick except the three officials. Eunan thought he heard a whistle and it was as blatant a free-kick as you could get.
“You can’t really attach any blame to Eunan. He picked up the ball almost in good faith. It is something he will learn from and I don’t think he will ever do it again.”
Comments(19)
Frankiesbackfromhollywood
says...
7:35am Mon 21 Jan 13
let football be the winner
says...
8:31am Mon 21 Jan 13
sea poole
says...
9:26am Mon 21 Jan 13
canfordcherry
says...
9:54am Mon 21 Jan 13
TedMacsCherryPants
says...
9:58am Mon 21 Jan 13
Snow has all now gone from the Victoria Park playing surface ahead of Tuesday night's League One game against Bournemouth.
The pitch is wet but playable and high winds are helping with the drying process at the moment.
The Club are staying in constant contact with the Football League, as well as Bournemouth who are flying to the north-east on Tuesday morning.
jontee
says...
10:45am Mon 21 Jan 13
.
My hope when Eddie arrived was to consolidate and reach a mid table position. The season effectively started in October with a points deduction, the penalty for giving Groves the job.
.
The hopelesly unbalanced squad thrown together by Groves still requires much rationalisation. January is drawing to a close so hopefully there will be some movement to offload the dross and the misfits. Better to buy in the summer when prices are lower.
Wilkie
says...
10:56am Mon 21 Jan 13
Afcbpete
says...
11:20am Mon 21 Jan 13
jontee wrote:and your not wrong now, or then. But the dream is still alive, although if we remain off the buffers, then not for much longer. We still have a lot of games against top teams and we have to start winning against them to claw points back. It was always going to be a tremendous ask, none of us would of thought otherwise and to be honest, if we did only end midtable, so what. Like you, I believe the close season gives Eddie/Jason time to totally sort the squad out. But there's no harm in dreaming and getting behind the team regardless... UTCIAD
I was taken to task for suggesting a few weeks ago that auto-promotion was out of reach. Now the dust has settled tat must now be clear to all. Eddie has done a fantastic job and as previously he has got the team punching above its weight. The play-offs remain possible but even that is a big ask, with many other challenging teams above and below us.
.
My hope when Eddie arrived was to consolidate and reach a mid table position. The season effectively started in October with a points deduction, the penalty for giving Groves the job.
.
The hopelesly unbalanced squad thrown together by Groves still requires much rationalisation. January is drawing to a close so hopefully there will be some movement to offload the dross and the misfits. Better to buy in the summer when prices are lower.
sea poole
says...
12:17pm Mon 21 Jan 13
STEADY EDDIE 1 for the road
says...
12:22pm Mon 21 Jan 13
Afcbpete wrote:Good call Pete. One loss in 16 is hardly cause for great concern. Eddie & Jason will pick the boys back up, and hopefully we will embark on another long unbeaten run. Top 2 is still achievable, we have still to play many of the top teams most of them at DC so "KEEP THE FAITH", get behind the boys and lets see where it takes us. Most fans wouldn't have believed we could have been in such a good position now, given the terrible start to the season. We have a great squad and terrific leadership so i for one will not be giving up hope with 57 points still to play for.
jontee wrote:and your not wrong now, or then. But the dream is still alive, although if we remain off the buffers, then not for much longer. We still have a lot of games against top teams and we have to start winning against them to claw points back. It was always going to be a tremendous ask, none of us would of thought otherwise and to be honest, if we did only end midtable, so what. Like you, I believe the close season gives Eddie/Jason time to totally sort the squad out. But there's no harm in dreaming and getting behind the team regardless... UTCIAD
I was taken to task for suggesting a few weeks ago that auto-promotion was out of reach. Now the dust has settled tat must now be clear to all. Eddie has done a fantastic job and as previously he has got the team punching above its weight. The play-offs remain possible but even that is a big ask, with many other challenging teams above and below us.
.
My hope when Eddie arrived was to consolidate and reach a mid table position. The season effectively started in October with a points deduction, the penalty for giving Groves the job.
.
The hopelesly unbalanced squad thrown together by Groves still requires much rationalisation. January is drawing to a close so hopefully there will be some movement to offload the dross and the misfits. Better to buy in the summer when prices are lower.
bobsworthforever
says...
12:24pm Mon 21 Jan 13
oxoncherry2 wrote:Already lost the game 15 minues left Walsall down to 10 men pity Swindon didnt think when they were a goal behind play to the whistle in all cases
We had already lost the game when it happened.
STEADY EDDIE 1 for the road
says...
12:51pm Mon 21 Jan 13
lionheart
says...
1:52pm Mon 21 Jan 13
bobsworthforever wrote:Just think of James Hayter's quickfire hat trick as to how quickly goals can be scored.
oxoncherry2 wrote:Already lost the game 15 minues left Walsall down to 10 men pity Swindon didnt think when they were a goal behind play to the whistle in all cases
We had already lost the game when it happened.
Small pitch, opposition down to 10 men and Fletch on the pitch it was still game on.
wookj1
says...
5:55pm Mon 21 Jan 13
jontee wrote:Agreed with your original post Jontee, at the time. A huge effort has been put in by the players to get us into the position we now sit in.
I was taken to task for suggesting a few weeks ago that auto-promotion was out of reach. Now the dust has settled tat must now be clear to all. Eddie has done a fantastic job and as previously he has got the team punching above its weight. The play-offs remain possible but even that is a big ask, with many other challenging teams above and below us. . My hope when Eddie arrived was to consolidate and reach a mid table position. The season effectively started in October with a points deduction, the penalty for giving Groves the job. . The hopelesly unbalanced squad thrown together by Groves still requires much rationalisation. January is drawing to a close so hopefully there will be some movement to offload the dross and the misfits. Better to buy in the summer when prices are lower.
Other teams have had a bad spell and are now pushing on again.
It will take a really special effort for us to step on the gas again, and increase our efforts even further during the next three months.
We have the players but do they have the "legs".
The return of Macdonald and Pugh will make a huge difference..
UpTheSaddlers
says...
6:36pm Mon 21 Jan 13
lionheart wrote:Small Pitch? Just cos we have a complete stadium does not mean the pitch is small. So Glad we did the double on you robbing scum. Makes the car park charge rip off at Bournemouth sooo worth while!
bobsworthforever wrote:Just think of James Hayter's quickfire hat trick as to how quickly goals can be scored.
oxoncherry2 wrote:Already lost the game 15 minues left Walsall down to 10 men pity Swindon didnt think when they were a goal behind play to the whistle in all cases
We had already lost the game when it happened.
Small pitch, opposition down to 10 men and Fletch on the pitch it was still game on.
STEADY EDDIE 1 for the road
says...
8:14pm Mon 21 Jan 13
AFCBade
says...
8:30am Tue 22 Jan 13
4stands
says...
9:15am Tue 22 Jan 13

oxoncherry2 says...
7:30am Mon 21 Jan 13