RTÉ soccer analyst Alan Cawley bemoaned the standard of refereeing in the Premier Division, slamming the decision not to award Bohemians' Jonathan Afolabi a penalty in the final 15 minutes in their 2-0 defeat away to Shamrock Rovers.
Trailing 1-0 in Friday evening's top-of-the-table clash, Bohemians were handed a major opportunity on 76 minutes, when Gary O'Neill's sloppy back pass gave Bohs' front man Afolabi a sight of goal.
Shamrock Rovers defender Dan Cleary dived in despairingly, replays indicating he brought the Bohs attacker to ground and failed to connect with the ball.
Referee Rob Hennessy and his team of officials rejected the penalty call, Afolabi being booked in the aftermath.
Minutes later, Rory Gaffney headed home from close range to seal the win for the home side, narrowing the gap at the top to a single point.
Reacting afterwards, Cawley described it as a "stonewall" penalty, referencing Damien Duff and departed Cork City boss Colin Healy's complaints about the officiating in the top flight.
"This isn't good enough. We talk about referees over and over," Cawley said on RTÉ's coverage afterwards.
"Afolabi is on the goal, it's a race between him and Cleary. He (Afolabi) makes the initial contact.
"It's a stonewall penalty. And these are the decisions that are costing managers their jobs. They're costing players and teams points.
'This isn't good enough’ - @alancaw says Bohemians were denied a ‘stonewall’ penalty when Afolabi was felled in the area by Cleary with the score at 1-0 pic.twitter.com/LP4TzqLeQK
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"It's a hot topic at the moment. We have Damien Duff slating the referees. We have Colin Healy slating the referees before he lost his job during the week.
"That's the reason why. You can't get those big decisions wrong. That's a massive decision in a top of the table clash. And where's the lineman to help him as well? It's not good enough.
Bohemians manager Declan Devine was relatively philosophical over the call, saying it was a "blatant penalty" but insisting that his team had lost because of defensive mistakes and their inability to take their chances.
"It's a definite penalty. We haven't got a decision all night. But look, I said last week, I'm not here to have a go at referees.
"It's a blatant penalty, it has to be given. It's a turning point in the game. But look, we haven't lost here because of that, we've lost because we haven't defended our box twice and we didn't take the chances we were presented with."
