A Controversial Call on Christiansen
NEIRAD enilno edition
The Darien Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team season may have long since ended, but the anger over a controversial call lingers. This incident happened when the team was knocked out of the FCIAC tournament in the first round against Staples High School in Westport in November. The ending score was 4-2. Yet, some queried this final tally. According to Assistant Coach Ms. Lynn Brown, “Several questionable calls by the referee caused a severe part in the loss.”
The most questionable call took place when Darien was leading 2-1, late in the first half of the game. Video evidence and multiple witnesses defend that a Darien player took a free kick from mid-field and then passed it down field where senior Graham Christensen, team captain, jumped up to head the ball with the Staples goalie. They collided, knocking the ball out of bounds. The ref turned his head to see the ball, missing the goalie tackle Graham to the ground. Graham pushed him off just to be knocked down again by two of the Staples defenders. As a result of the tussle, Graham was given a red card and the Staples players just a yellow.
The referee issued a statement of “No comment” to Neirad when approached for an interview. After the game, a written statement was given that declares a play by play: “Player 18 (Graham) from Darien and goalkeeper from Staples attacked a 50/50 ball in the air. There was a collision, but no foul as a result of the collision. The two players fell to the ground and Darien #18 started punching and shoving the Staples goalkeeper. Two Staples players attempted to push Darien #18 away. The two players were cautioned for unsporting behavior. The match resumed without incident.”
The Staples senior goalie, Sanders McNair, commented by saying, “the ref saw the Darien player throw our goalie, so in his mind he deserved a red card, so I’d say it was fair.” Sanders continued by commenting on the outcome this play had on the game, “Were we given an advantage with the red card? Yeah, but I don’t think it had a huge impact on the outcome of the game and the ref saw what he saw and gave a red card to the Darien kid because he saw him throw our goalie.”
The ref denied comment to Graham and the coaches on Darien. This didn’t help the ref’s case for the call and nobody ever got any sufficient explanations for the call to Coach Brown or Graham, even after Graham had questioned it in numerous e-mails to the referee. Graham said, “The ref wouldn’t even look at are (our) video or letters about the play.” Graham later said, “The video shows that I never made any violent moves and that the ref’s head follows the ball out of bounds and doesn’t see what happens, what did happen is that the goalie took me down. He also, didn’t consult either of the two referees when making his call.”
On the other side Staples Coach, Dan Woog, commented, “No one likes to see a red card. I’m glad there were three officials on the game, because they consulted with each other before the red card was given. In terms of Staples, our goalkeeper and a defender both received yellow cards on the play.” He continued to describe the play, “So, with just a few seconds to go before halftime, we had to put in a keeper who had played very little all year, and a new defender – and both had to prepare instantly for a corner kick. The ball bounced around for 10 seconds before our new keeper finally saved it. So that play – not just Darien’s red, but Staples’ yellows had an impact on both teams.”
Prior to this incident, Graham had never received a red card. Graham, too, had to have recognized that Darien was playing its State’s game and by picking up a red, he would be suspended. Thus, placing his team at a disadvantage, most likely knocking them out. Luckily, Darien played a meaningless game against Norwalk in which Graham sat out, so he could play in states. They lost in OT in the state tournament even with the team’s strong efforts and Graham back on the field.
The game was a hard fought battle, switching momentum every kick of the ball, but the ending result was a 4-2 victory other people would call an easy win. However, there is more to every story then meets the eye. And, sometimes people just learn the lesson “life is not fair.” Nobody could change the call even with the strong evidence that could have overturned it. What are you going to do? What is there to do? Nothing, just pack up and wait till next year, except there is no next year for Graham to lead DHS to a FCIAC title, nobody will ever know if he was capable to do it this year just because the ref didn’t swallow his whistle.
