Source: Telegraph
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill hails 'brave' referee for reversing penalty decision
Villa snatched a 1-0 win from a game at Hull that looked to be heading for a goalless draw when Kamil Zayatte diverted an Ashley Young cross into his own net with 88 minutes gone. [LNB]That ultimately proved enough to lift Villa above Arsenal into fourth in the Premier League but they were almost undone when referee Steve Bennett pointed to the penalty spot in injury time. [LNB]Bennett thought Ashley Young had handled the ball on the line as it looped towards him off Luke Young following a Hull a corner. [LNB]Yet following protests from Villa led by captain Gareth Barry, Bennett changed his mind after consultation with his assistant, who correctly ruled the ball had hit the bar, not Young's raised hand. [LNB]"It was delight turned to despair and despair back to delight for us," admitted O'Neill, whose side benefited from late goals in their previous two games against West Ham and Arsenal. [LNB]"It's not like us to have a bit of drama at the end. [LNB]"We didn't play well enough, but suddenly when it looked like the game was maybe heading for stalemate, Ashley Young produces a piece of magic, absolutely brilliant. [LNB]"We get the goal, then we had the drama at the end. [LNB]"I've no idea why Ashley put his hand in the air. He is a very intelligent player, especially when we came up the corridor and said he knew it was going over the bar! [LNB]"But the referee has been exceptionally courageous to change his mind. It is a very brave decision." [LNB]Young himself also praised Bennett for reversing the penalty decision. [LNB]"I didn't touch it with my hand, you can clearly see it was going over," the winger said. [LNB]"The referee deserves a lot of credit. I was just seeing it out and we got our reward at the end of the day." [LNB]Hull manager Phil Brown claimed to be bemused by the whole penalty incident, but conceded the "harsh reality" was that it was not a spot-kick. [LNB]Brown could at least reflect on an improved performance from his players, even though the defeat was their third in succession. [LNB]Hull were thrashed 5-1 at Manchester City on Boxing Day and Brown captured headlines by giving them a public dressing-down on the pitch. [LNB]He reacted further to that Eastlands humiliation by making five changes and his new-look side were unlucky not to claim a point. [LNB]Brown, who in a lively post-match press conference had an argument with a journalist over the penalty incident, said: "It's beyond me whether it was a penalty or it wasn't - he's given it. [LNB]"A referee gives a penalty and then a linesman tells you it's not. [LNB]"Some days you get bad days at the office because of referees, other days you get bad days at the office because of players. [LNB]"Today was a good day at the office from the players and not so good from the ref." [LNB]
