Michael O’Neill said he was “baffled” by the quality of the refereeing in Northern Ireland’s 1-0 Nations League win in Georgia on Friday, a result sealed by Shea Charles’s 99th-minute goal in Tbilisi.
Charles’s late strike gave Northern Ireland their first ever away win in the Nations League, but much of the manager’s post-match reaction centred on the decisions that went against his side. The game’s first flashpoint arrived in the 65th minute, when Daniel Ballard was adjudged to have fouled Luka Lochoshvili while challenging for a cross, a penalty awarded after a VAR review. Pierce Charles saved the spot-kick from Georgia captain Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
O’Neill’s frustration was compounded at the other end. Northern Ireland had an appeal of their own waved away in the 88th minute when Shea Charles appeared to have been caught in the area, and the manager was also unhappy that referee Orel Grinfeeld did not award a free-kick after substitute Ceadach O’Neill was brought down late on. Ballard was injured in the following phase of play, chasing a loose ball as Georgia broke forward on the counter-attack.
“In the second half we had to show a lot of resilience,” O’Neill said. “Not only against the opposition, who were very good in the second half when they got Kvaratskhelia in the game a lot more, but some of the decisions that went against us. I was really disappointed in that side of things with how the game was refereed.”
On the penalty award, he added: “At times it didn’t go our way. I’ve not seen the incident back but to me it seemed incredibly harsh to give a penalty for that. The guy was nowhere near the ball to head it. We feel aggrieved that we didn’t get one at the other end. The foul on Ceadach when he came on the pitch causes Dan to get injured. I was just baffled by the quality of the refereeing.”
Ceadach O’Neill won his third cap in the match, a milestone that ties him to Northern Ireland for three years. Despite his complaints about the officiating, O’Neill praised his players, describing them as “magnificent” and saying the team “showed every side of our character tonight”.
The win came at a cost, however. O’Neill confirmed that Sunderland defender Ballard had injured his hamstring and would miss Northern Ireland’s next three games in the window, against Hungary, Ukraine and Georgia. “You saw the nature of how he pulled up. It’s a hamstring,” O’Neill said. “We’ll scan him tomorrow but he’s certainly not going to be available for the next three games.”