Garbacz ref rage as Brady blow title race open

Garbacz told JC Sport: "The match completely turned with the single worst decision I have ever seen in any form of football when the ref somehow awarded a penalty for a clear chest in the area by Josh Lipman. To say it was soft would do it injustice but it totally galvanised a Brady team who up until that moment were being totally outplayed and, by their own admission, were lucky to be only 2-0 down.

"He then compounded that decision by awarding another penalty 10 minutes later when Josh won the ball and their player slipped over. As if that wasn't bad enough he then spent the final 20 minutes laughing and joking with the Brady players.

"To say we are livid is an understatement - I hate to blame the ref and yes we should have reacted far more professionally but these decisions were so absurd and we are all gutted that all our hard work in getting ourselves back in the title race should be shattered by such incompetence.

"It was particularly hard to take as we were excellent for 60 minutes, scored two fine goals and in truth should have been out of sight by half time with the number of chances we created.

"This is a massive blow but we will keep plugging away, try to get as many points as possible from our remaining four games and hope that other results go our way."
Brady boss Joel Nathan told JC Sport: "This was certainly a game of two halves; Hendon controlled the first half as we could not get a grip on the game and we gifted them both goals, which was very disappointing.

We lost Josh Gordon early on which caused us to re-jig and this unsettled us, but after another re jig at half time we showed in the second half what Brady is all about.

"Today was a great result and showed the character the squad have developed over the past few weeks fighting for each other and a never-say-die attitude.

"We now look forward to next week and will be up for anything."

Following Garbacz's comments about the referee and the result, Nathan added: "Not that I want to get involved in a argument with other teams but after reading Mr Garbacz’s comments, I feel I have to say something.

"I never said we were lucky to be 2-0 down and as I said we gifted them the two goals. The first when our keeper thought he could try and play football with his feet (not a good idea) and was robbed of the ball on the edge of the area so the Hendon guy had an empty net to roll the ball into. And the second was when we again gave them the ball on the edge of the area leaving our keeper completely exposed.

"As I said the first penalty was dubious but it was never "the single worst decision I have ever seen in any form of football" the ball did hit the guys arms as he tried to protect himself, but his hands should not have been raised, as for the second penalty it was clear cut as anything, Josh Hershman had beaten their defender and was clinically brought down.

"We fully deserved the win after our second half performance and to blame the loss on the ref is just a joke. Richard Jaye did a great job yesterday - he controlled the game took action when needed and for me is one of the best refs in the league. It would have been nice to get given some credit especially as we have taken four points of them this season.

"I would also just like to remind Mr. Garbacz of his comments 18 months ago .. pot/kettle/black comes to mind
David Garbacz, the manager of Premier Division leaders Hendon United Sports Club A, has accused North West Neasden A of being “bad losers” after his team went three points clear at the top of the table. "The winning goal led to the inevitable Neasden complaints,” said Garbacz. "As good a football team as Neasden are, I’m not sure if they have ever lost a match without it being the referee’s fault. The lads from Neasden are all fine friendly chaps until they happen to go behind. Then all their toys tend to come flying out the pram and every official has to bear the brunt of the blame which always mars games between us. It happens every time and we expect it. It’s a shame as they’re playing nice football and should steer away from it.- (October 27, 2011)

Having seen Nathan's response, Garbacz added the following: "None of what I said was having a go at Brady and yes I would give them enormous credit for not letting their heads drop and getting back into the game so strongly.

"It was actually their supporters on the sidelines and not Joel who suggested they were fortunate to be still in it. My point merely was that without the lifeline they were literally handed by the ref I believe the game was dead and buried.

"The fact that he has quoted something I said 18 months ago is proof that unless the circumstances are particularly special, we never normally resort to blaming the officials and never have done, but in this case we felt very strongly that he dealt us a very harsh hand.

"However, to re-iterate, my gripe is not with Brady and good luck to them and well played for taking advantage and getting the win."

Garbacz later apologised for his criticisms of the ref. He told JC Sport: "Some of the comments I made immediately after last Sunday’s match against Hendon were critical of the performance of the match referee Richard Jaye, specifically in relation to two penalties that he awarded to Brady. Whilst we still strongly believe that these were harshly awarded, especially the first one, it does not excuse some of the disrespectful things I might have said.

"Football is a game of opinions and that was Richard’s honest opinion on the day and so be it. I would like to apologise unreservedly to Richard if I caused him any offence in the frustrating aftermath of losing such an important match. He is a fine referee who is a great credit to the league and we look forward to him officiating many more Hendon games in the future."