Newcastle United came extremely close to securing all three points in their last Premier League outing against Wolves at Molineux.
However, a controversial Willy Boly equaliser right at the death denied Rafael Benitez’s men of that in the 1-1 draw, though ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes Graham Scott made the correct call by allowing the goal to stand on the night.
“Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka never had the ball under his control and Wolves centre-back Boly had every right to go for it,” Halsey wrote in the Sun (via Chronicle Live) in reference to Boly not being penalised for what many deemed a foul before scoring his side’s equaliser.
“It wasn’t a foul for me. The time added on was also questioned but I felt it was fair. Ref Scott asked for a minimum of four minutes added and Boly scored on 94 minutes and 34 seconds.”
Whatever the case, it is still fair to say Premier League officiating this season has been pretty shocking. For Newcastle supporters, the introduction of VAR probably cannot come soon enough.
You can have a look at some of their thoughts on Halsey and the whole ordeal below…
https://twitter.com/StuNg8280/status/1095625026567573505
If Salah pen was a foul in the box then so was that, same referee both games, no consistency at all, just give what they want
— RS2CG (@BobbySimm) February 13, 2019
Another stupid ref. It is not possible to catch a ball if someone is covering your eyes with their hands. He is not in control for that very reason!
— chrismcgaz (@chrismcgaz) February 13, 2019
How can he see the ball with his eyes covered #idiot pic.twitter.com/706OixHpak
— Winston Hill (@WinstonHill17) February 13, 2019
The competence level of @RefereeHalsey doesn’t appear to have changed much since he retired. Blind idiot.
— neilB ⚫️⚪️⚫️⚪️ (@neilTheMagpie) February 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/NaughtyNoodles/status/1095608243789930496
Ok so if that's not a foul, we look forward to consistency for the rest of the season. Reality is, this will be given as a foul the next time it happens – probably in the next round of games.
— Jacko (@ActionNUFC) February 13, 2019
