WATCH: Derry City pays penalty as official denies Dundalk ‘stone wall’ kick

An incident that was also overlooked on the Airtricity League’s new TV program ‘The LOI Show’ could have made Derry 3-2 on the night and perhaps secure a valuable road win to kick off the season. City.

Shortly after Jamie McGonigle leaned in to drive home James Akintunde’s cross to make it 2-2, the City striker was then taken to the ground just yards from the penalty spot as he was trying to put himself at the end of the intelligent reduction of Patrick McEleney.

The Dundalk debutant and goalscorer the night Mark Connolly collided with the Dungiven man from behind and McGonigle frantically appealed for a penalty to the referee’s assistant to no avail.

Match referee Rob Harvey was well placed with his view clear but the Dublin official ignored the shouts from the Derry players and play continued.

Asked about the incident afterwards, Derry boss Higgins was frustrated by the decision not to award the penalty but said it came as no surprise to him.

“From where I was it looked like a rock wall, but I’m not surprised it wasn’t given away,” Higgins said.

Oddly, the footage was not in the highlights package on LOI TV, although it was potentially a game-changer, Derry had scored from the spot so late in the game, however, the video clip clearly shows that contact was made inside the box as McGonigle got pinched. in front of the Dundalk defender.

Despite the main talking point being omitted from the LOI Show coverage, the panelist instead opted to take a second look at “a possible body check” on Dundalk’s Andy Boyle by McGonigle ahead of Derry’s first equalizer. The two experts on the panel, Declan “Fabio” O’Brien and Alan Keane, however, felt that McGonigle used his body fairly by leaving the Dundalk defender in his wake.

McGonigle was then denied twice by the woodwork as Derry chased the win at the Co. Louth site, but the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Of course, it’s not the first time the Dublin official has upset the City boss and Brandywell’s backing after denying Ronan Boyce what looked like a certain penalty on Foyleside when he was knocked down by the sliding tackle from Anto Breslin in the 1-1 draw with the Bohemians. June. Higgins was furious with the decision and was shown a yellow card for protesting on the sidelines.

And Higgins was also outraged by Mr Harvey’s decision to play an excessive role SIX extra-time minutes at the end of a six-goal clash against the Bohemians at Dalymount Park as Georgie Kelly equalized with the final kick of the game in the 3-3 thriller last September. The Candy Stripes have only won once in the last 13 games officiated by Mr. Harvey.

“In all honesty, he explained himself,” Higgins added at the time. “He said a minute for the (Akintunde) goal and then another for Ciaron Harkin being down for whatever.

“It’s just strange that he added a minute for each of them. But we went over 50 minutes. At our club, we have to get used to accepting things like that.”

While Higgins claimed it was overall a ‘fair result’ based on the balance of play on the night, the Limavady man will wonder what might have been had his side been awarded that penalty.