McFaul appalled by 'disgraceful' goal that wasn't

When two balls are on the pitch, the referee normally blows his whistle, halts the game and waits until one is cleared off the pitch before restarting.

Yet when a pair ended up being thrown in during a Finnish Veikkausliiga Premier League game between top of the table side HJK and relegation strugglers Haka last night, the referee left play go on and a contentious goal was scored by HJK.
 

It left two former League of Ireland players, fighting for their lives for bottom of the league Haka, furious.
 

Skipper Shane Robinson, formerly of Drogheda United and Shamrock Rovers, and ex-St Patrick's Athletic midfielder Shane McFaul are both stars for the Valkeakoski side, battling to keep them afloat in the top tier of the domestic league.
 

Robinson had given Haka an early lead from the penalty spot, with New Zealand striker Kris Bright doubling their advantage before half-time. However, the controversial goal from HJK arrived on 57 minutes, with the Helsinki outfit grabbing a second to steal a point.
 

A win would have moved Haka, who faced Cork City in the UEFA Cup in 2008, out of the relegation zone with four games to play, but they now languish in 12^th and need a result against fellow strugglers KuPS this weekend.
 

“It's an absolute disgrace. We were 2-0 up against arguably the best team in Finland and that changed the game completely,” McFaul says, explaining exactly what happened.
 

“Our right winger Jordan Seabrook cleared the ball from deep in our half on the right hand touchline and the ball boy from near the half way line where the ball went out threw the ball to their left back and he then took a throw in.

“All of our team were looking at the ball at the half way line when suddenly their left winger was chasing a ball down our left corner, so we all had to suddenly avert out attention to that ball instead but by that time they had outnumbered us, crossed and scored.
 

“When the first ball was thrown in the player receiving that particular ball kicked the ball out when he seen that they were going to score, so he made it so the ref couldn't see the other ball in play.
 

“This all happened under the eye of the linesman and no matter how much we protested he wouldn't say what happened to the referee.”
 

McFaul said the ‘appalling’ decision would not be reviewed by the Finnish FA, but admits that the focus within the team now is on Sunday’s upcoming game with KuPS, who are currently in 10th place, four points clear with a game in hand.
 

“We are fighting for our lives and it is very hard to take but we performed well so we now want to put this behind us and focus on our next Match on Sunday against KuPS.
 

“The referee and the Finnish FA are standing by the appalling decision which is disappointing to say the least but there needs to be a big shake up in the league regarding referees as to be honest they have been awful all season,” he added.