Heidelberg United manager George Katsakis has questioned the officiating in his side’s 2-1 Dockerty Cup Semi-Final loss to South Melbourne last night.
Heidelberg were left disappointed by a lack of consistent decisions regarding injured players and penalty calls, which Katsakis believes changed the outcome of the contest.
He also said more consideration should be taken into the allocation of referees for higher-profile fixtures.
“It’s a really poor referee [performance], and they shouldn’t referee games like this, simple as that,” Katsakis said post-game.
“Especially in terms of fair play when we knock a ball out of play to make a substitution because of an injured player. He doesn’t acknowledge that and he plays on. For me, that’s unacceptable. Where is fair play in this? I don’t understand.
“Penalties, they could’ve decided the game. They’ve gotten a penalty [out of the game], we still don’t know why. It’s not on.
Another incident acted to provoke the Heidelberg hierarchy, as assertions were made of certain abusive comments directed at their camp, which left the post-game mood at Jack Edwards Reserve rife in tension.
The coaching staff’s reaction to said comments led to their dismissal in the second half, with both Katsakis and assistant coach Jeff Oliver given their marching orders just before the full-time whistle.
“I don’t know [why I was sent off],” Katsakis said, insisting that he was addressing neither the match or fourth official in the lead-up to his dismissal.
“I asked an inspector about what he’s going to do about [a comment made by an individual in the South camp] and he sent me off.”
The controversial send off came moments after South winger Nick Epifano completed a late brace to snatch victory at the death, leaving tensions frayed at that point of the match.
Katsakis and his side however now look towards the future, with six games left to play and a four point gap to catch on leaders Bentleigh Greens.
“Obviously we’re going to be challenging for the league now, of course we are. The FFA Cup and league is what we put our emphasis in now,” he said.
“[But in saying that], it’s a cruel way to exit a cup of this nature. I don’t want to say it’s unfair, but it’s cruel that we exit on these conditions and under these circumstances, it’s not on.”
Their maiden foray into the FFA Cup begins later this month, as they travel to take on NPL Northern NSW side Broadmeadows Magic.
“We’ve looked into [the game against Broadmeadows], we’ve got some footage sent over of them and asked some questions,” he said.
“We’ll definitely work towards that game in the next couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get something positive out of it.”