Hey, I've only recently joined this forum and was hoping perhaps someone out there could answer something for me about an incident in one of my games recently?
To set the scene, it's an u11's game, whites are playing reds and the whites are winning 4-1. Despite rain throughout the week, the pitch, although boggy and a bit muddy in places, is more than playable. In the last minute, the reds launch a quick counter attack and get to the edge of the whites penalty area in a 3 (white defenders) v 2 (red attackers) situation. The white defenders successfully manage to tackle the reds and a white defender kicks the ball in the direction of the byline, obviously attempting to concede a corner in order to relieve the pressure on his team. However, whilst on a drier pitch the ball would have gone out for a corner, on this occasion on the muddy pitch, the ball grinds to a halt just before leaving the field of play (i.e. the ball is still in play, just inside the whites penalty area and just before the byline where it would go out for a corner). The whites goalkeeper, after a 2/3 second pause deciding what to do, comes out of his goal and opts to pick the ball up, cue shouts of "Backpass Ref!".
I decided not to give it, as the back pass rule dictates that the ball has to be played with the intention of playing it to the keeper, and on this occasion, I felt the defender was trying to clear it for a corner. Was this the right decision, despite the time delay between the ball stopping and the goalkeeper picking it up, and the fact the goalkeeper was about 15 yards away from the player when the ball was kicked towards his byline? Any help would be much appreciated.
To set the scene, it's an u11's game, whites are playing reds and the whites are winning 4-1. Despite rain throughout the week, the pitch, although boggy and a bit muddy in places, is more than playable. In the last minute, the reds launch a quick counter attack and get to the edge of the whites penalty area in a 3 (white defenders) v 2 (red attackers) situation. The white defenders successfully manage to tackle the reds and a white defender kicks the ball in the direction of the byline, obviously attempting to concede a corner in order to relieve the pressure on his team. However, whilst on a drier pitch the ball would have gone out for a corner, on this occasion on the muddy pitch, the ball grinds to a halt just before leaving the field of play (i.e. the ball is still in play, just inside the whites penalty area and just before the byline where it would go out for a corner). The whites goalkeeper, after a 2/3 second pause deciding what to do, comes out of his goal and opts to pick the ball up, cue shouts of "Backpass Ref!".
I decided not to give it, as the back pass rule dictates that the ball has to be played with the intention of playing it to the keeper, and on this occasion, I felt the defender was trying to clear it for a corner. Was this the right decision, despite the time delay between the ball stopping and the goalkeeper picking it up, and the fact the goalkeeper was about 15 yards away from the player when the ball was kicked towards his byline? Any help would be much appreciated.