Just watched a repeat of the game on Sky & 2 police officers (deffo police & not security) came on before any toss of a coin & spoke to the ref. Bauer then won the toss to see who went first. Their captain weren't happy but them the odds.
The police walked on to the pitch with two officials and told the ref what end the penalties were to be taken. Sky said for safety reasons but I like to think otherwise.
Good to see them doing something for the community, my feelings for the police have gone up 1000% for that gesture.
I don't think they were Police Officers. Their uniforms had no shoulder flashes etc. I think they were private security officers hire by Sky or the club.
Just watched it again and froze the picture. Definitely Metropolitan Police.
If you believe that the end you take the kicks impacts the result, then Donny can thank their fans for this. I was watching on ESPN and there was no mention of any trouble between the fans in the Jimmy Seed. But having both sets of fans in there may have concerned the police, especially if it was at that end. It could have been a flashpoint.
It rounds out the discussion before the game on how much the fans can impact the result. If Donny had sold all their tickets, this wouldn’t have been an issue. The fans can’t win you the game, but they can lose it.
I can assure you that there was trouble brewing in Jimmy Seed, whether ESPN didn’t want to mention it or not.
Everytime Doncaster scored they were a good amount trying to climb over segregation, pushing over stewards. They got worse and worse with every goal.
For me its a well done to the police that it was not played at JS end.
Heard there was trouble in JS Stand from the second minute when we scored. But our Safety Officer, Mick E, leapt in to sort it out. In similar fashion to the way Bowyer sorted Accrington after the final whistle. All alleged, of course.
The Laws of the Game state that the referee decides the end at which the penalty kicks are taken. There is not however any qualifying narrative in the laws to help us understand what criteria the ref uses in making such a decision.
There aren't too many laws which that bungling half-wit used to make up most of his decisions throughout the game. But for the grace of whatever you deem holy did Charlton overcome Donny AND that absolute shambles.
We (the team I manage) had a cup final penalty shoot out the week before. The ref chose the goal that didn't have any spectators behind it - the coin toss decided who went first. Then our opponent's supporters filled that stand. The ref insisted they cleared the stand before the penalties were taken.
If we did get an advantage it was because we finished third and the 2nd leg was at the Valley. It didn't seem to help any of the other higher finishers! Totally a non story really. You could argue that it might put more pressure on you taking a kick in front of your own fans. Doncaster are a good sort and they did well. Most of the moaning is from other clubs. Sunderland don't want to play us so a few of theirs had a moan.
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Everytime Doncaster scored they were a good amount trying to climb over segregation, pushing over stewards. They got worse and worse with every goal.
For me its a well done to the police that it was not played at JS end.