Newcastle 1-0 Burton Albion

In a season where the officiating has been below par to say the least, we had the pleasure of being on the wrong end of another frankly bizarre decision. Luckily, it didn’t cost us in the end, with Magic Man Matt Ritchie deservedly getting the goal he should’ve had a half hour earlier.

The prospect of lowly Burton Albion coming to St. James’ Park hardly gets the excitement pumping does it? That is until Keith Stroud stepped into the spotlight, pulling out one of the strangest, stupidest decisions English football has ever seen. What happened?

Newcastle started the game quite brightly, pushing for an early goal from the first minute. Burton weren’t completely out of it though, with a couple of good chances themselves, and could’ve easily been ahead. Gayle was then taken down in the box, with no penalty given. Maybe that would be as bad as it got. Or not.

Gayle breaks through once again, and a blatant foul sees the referee finally point to the spot. Ritchie steps up and slots it away with ease. 1-0, on top in the game, mint.

The goal, however, is then ruled out and a free kick awarded to Burton.

Was it 'encroachment'?

Gayle was encroaching the box as the penalty was taken. Ok, that’s an infringement, but it’s not a free kick to Burton, it’s a retake. The only way it’s a free kick is if the penalty wasn’t scored. Fifa’s and the FA’s website is more than clear on this.

Was it a 'foul'?

This would probably make sense. If it happened. Fan video of the penalty shows Gayle doesn’t so much as brush past a Burton player, never mind foul them.

After all this, in my opinion, the referee has blown his whistle, realised he’s dropped a clanger, unable to go back on his whistle and admit the wrongdoing, he has attempted to cover it up. Unsuccessfully. This fella needs to sit his exams again.

In the end though, Newcastle scored in the second half through Matt Ritchie’s ‘weak’ right foot, curling an effort into the back of the net from just outside the area. A touch of class sounded like the only way this game was going to get a goal, and Ritchie gladly provided it.

Newcastle now sit back at the top of the Championship, one point above Brighton and ten points above Huddersfield, who still have a game in hand.

We won, we’re top, there’s six games left, Keith Stroud is a clown, life goes on. Happy days.