Only in the round ball game.

If there has been a more tumultuous week, both nationally and locally, in recent times in football, then I can’t remember it.

Let’s start with the farcical ending to the Two Coast Cup match between Beegees and Gold Coast Knights at Glasshouse on Saturday. For those of you who haven’t heard exactly what went down, here’s a brief summary.

Beegees had scored an early goal to hit the lead when a Gold Coast Knights player was given a straight red card for a dodgy challenge.

The Knights coach then put on a tanty that a three-year-old would be ashamed of, demanding that the referee be replaced. When he was told to pull his head in, he ordered his team on to the bus, and back they went to the glitter strip.

Such an over-reaction would only ever happen in football and the Gold Coast Knights should be made to pay heavily for their immaturity.

When contacted about the matter the following day, Beegees player-coach Scott Grimshaw took the public relations approach and said they would be happy to play the return leg at the Knights’ home ground this week, but deep down the Beerwah-Glasshouse United hierarchy must be seething.

Not only did Beegees miss out on a chance to get in some much-needed match time ahead of the season proper, it would also have had a financial impact on the club.

You can’t sell too many hot dogs, meat pies and XXXX Golds when the game lasts only five minutes.

It was a blatantly selfish act by the Knights and they should be fined heavily and banned from the Two Coast Cup. Not only for this year, but permanently.

Sure, they may have thought they got a raw deal from the referee, and I wasn’t at the “match”, so I can’t comment on that.

But all sporting teams cop some dodgy decisions from match officials during the year. The difference is they get on with the job rather than act like a child.

Moving on to the controversial ending to the A-League grand final at Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday. Now, I have to admit that the punters across the road watching the cricket at the SCG would have seen the handball committed by the Newcastle Jets that was missed in the dying stages.

But that doesn’t give Central Coast goalkeeper Danny Vukovic any right to think he can vent his frustration by striking referee Mark Shield.

The shot-stopper has subsequently been banned for nine months, and good riddance. That sort of rubbish is absolutely unacceptable in an under-7s game, let alone the country’s premier competition.

In my opinion, he was lucky not to get a lifetime ban.

The moral to the story is this – everyone take a chill pill and respect the referee, whether you’re playing football, cricket or tiddlywinks.

They’re only human like players and, like the players, they will make mistakes.