KEVIN DOHERTY believes Drogheda United’s pending appeal against Jack Keaney’s red card will be the real test of the trial by TV process.
Keaney was dismissed in last night’s 4-0 defeat by Shamrock Rovers for what was adjudged by referee Rob Hennessy to be a professional foul on Hoops striker Johnny Kenny.
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But television replays are unclear on whether the Drogs defender tripped Kenny, or the Rovers man stumbled.
League of Ireland rules allow clubs to appeal against straight red cards, though no decision has been overturned since the regulations were changed at the start of last season.
But Doherty said that the Drogs will likely appeal – it costs €500 though it is refunded if successful – as he believes it was a clear refereeing error.
Doherty said: “It’s not a foul. It’s awful. I spoke to the referee afterwards and he told me it’s a clear foul…not what I saw it wasn’t.
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“I’d be a very disappointed in that decision. I’m not trying to deflect from the performance or the result, but I just can’t see it.
“Rob is one of the best of the referees in the country. We all make mistakes, I make mistakes, players make mistakes, I think that’s a refereeing mistake.”
Asked about an appeal, Doherty added: “Well this will be a test for that appeals process. If what everyone is saying to me is right, that’s a big one.”
While Doherty was annoyed by the decision, he acknowledged it had no bearing on the result with his side 3-0 down at the time.
But he was disappointed with his own side’s performance as they were below par following Friday’s 3-1 win over Sligo Rovers.
His plan was to to frustrate Shamrock Rovers but he bemoaned defenders conceding a sloppy corner just before half time from which the hosts broke the deadlock.
He added: “We’ve shown consistently that there are ways of getting results here, and if we stuck to the plan, I’d have been confident enough.
“We’d get in 0-0 (at half time) and then you keep it for ten minutes and 15 minutes and the crowd start,but that all sounds stupid because we lost 4-0.
“Probably the first goal is the key one. You can critical of being a set-piece but the fact that they got a set-piece in the first place, we completely went off script..to mess around at the back was completely not what was in our plan.
“And then we get punished from a set-piece. And then to compound it (by conceding a second before half time)…I wouldn’t say it was game over at half-time but we have a serious serious mountain to climb.”
