President's Cup thriller! VG United beat Wolues on penalties to retain title
It was a thrilling final that went down to penalties after the score after regulation time was 2-2. Jaadon Quashie and Bernard Cumberbatch were the goal scorers for VG United.
Wolues’ goals came from Hugo Lizario and Ciaran Johnston.
‘Controversy’
Recently controversy over officiating has been permeating football even on the international scene, and unfortunately the final last evening was not spared of it.
Wolues goalkeeper Simon Cross saved one of the penalty kicks from VG United but the assistant referee raised his flag to indicate that the goalkeeper had come off his line before the kick was made.
The call, on video review after the game livestreamed on 284 Media, proved to be an erroneous one. One of Simon’s feet was clearly behind the goal line at the time of the kick; however, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is currently not used in the Virgin Islands.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Law 14, regarding penalty kicks, states: “When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line.”
Wolues; however, did have an opportunity to put the game into a sudden-death penalty, but their final kick was saved.
VG United had reached the final at the expense of Panthers FC, while Wolues eliminated Islanders.
There was no third-place game.
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8 Responses to “President's Cup thriller! VG United beat Wolues on penalties to retain title”
The overall standard of officiating is clearly not where it needs to be, and whether it’s a lack of knowledge or something more serious, the frequency of game-altering decisions against the Wolues has become a recurring and frustrating theme.
Congratulations to VG United, but let’s be clear—Wolues lost to the official, not the opposition.
Shame on you!!!
Obviously it is frustrating when a hard fought and close cup final comes down to a decision (and one which appears to be generally accepted to have been a wrong one).
But mistakes are made at every level of football, by officials and by players, and dealing with them is a part of the game. Sometimes every club benefits and sometimes the opposite. The club does not believe that it is in any sense a victim of racial bias.
We’d like to congratulate VG United on their victory and we look forward to battling them again next season.