But don't they all cheat in soccer?

SPORTS TALK - BY JOSEPH ROMANOS

OPINION: I'm perplexed by accusations that Chris Payne "blatantly cheated" in helping Sydney eliminate Wellington Phoenix from the A-League title race over the weekend.

Sure, Payne's second goal was a hand-ball. It would be great to think that when the referee failed to notice it, Payne had stopped proceedings and said: "Actually guys, that one came off my hand." But that would never happen.

I was similarly amazed by the outrage at Diego Maradona's "hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, and at Thierry Henry's hand-ball goal against Ireland last year in the World Cup eliminator.

Soccer players cheat all the time.

Not just the increasing amount of foul play, but also the dives, when a player pretends he's been tripped in the hope of eliciting a free kick or, better, a penalty.

It seemed odd for Phoenix fans to bleat about Sydney cheats just because Payne had managed to cheat more effectively.

Cheating is an incredibly ugly side of some sports.

In cricket, bowlers and fieldsmen appeal repeatedly when they know a batsman is not out, hoping to con the umpire. Is that anything but cheating?

New Zealand benefited from two such incidents in the one-dayer against Australia in Wellington last Saturday, when Australian batsmen Ricky Ponting and Adam Voges were wrongly given out.

That didn't seem to put a dampener on the celebrations of New Zealand cricket fans afterwards.

There is an answer to soccer's cheating woes.

Why doesn't the sport use the video referee, which has been so helpful in rugby and rugby league?

Use of video technology, plus severe penalties for cheating players, would soon rid the sport of dives and hand-ball goals.

The controversy over the hand-ball masked a poor performance by the Phoenix, who had been so good in reaching the semifinal.

What a season the club has had. Players like Andrew Durante, Paul Ifill, Ben Sigmund, Tim Brown, Daniel, Dadi, Leo Bertos, Chris Greenacre, Mark Paston and, more recently, Liam Reddy, plus coach Ricki Herbert, have done their club proud, and become genuine New Zealand sports heroes in the process.

Big crowds watched the team because soccer fans knew the Phoenix were delivering something special.

So why was the team below par against Sydney?

Why was there so little urgency in the first half?

I must say I found the decision to hold the end-of-season awards ceremony before flying to Sydney baffling.

This sent a signal, even subconsciously, that the job was done.

It's no defence that rugby league also follows this questionable practice.

Imagine Wimbledon having its annual ball before the semi-finals.Holding the awards ceremony prematurely means you risk giving major awards to the wrong players.

What if Ifill had scored a hat-trick in the semifinal and three more in the final?

What if Durante, the player of the season, had blown the semifinal by playing poorly and then getting himself ordered off?

But more importantly, why act as if the season is over before the most important game?

All I know is that watching the Phoenix against Sydney, some of them seemed to be playing like their season was over, and then made sure it was.

WILLIAMSON CLOSE TO TEST HONOURS

Kane Williamson, only 19, has scored 170 and 192 in his last two innings for Northern Districts and must surely be on the brink of a call-up to the test team.

Veteran Mathew Sinclair was brought in as batting cover for the first test against Australia, at the Basin Reserve. Williamson might have benefited from that experience.

Northern Districts have handled Williamson well during his three seasons in first-class cricket, but Williamson is mature beyond his years.

I recall watching him play in the national secondary schools tournament in Palmerston North a few years ago. He walked when he gloved a ball going down the leg side, though the umpire hadn't noticed.

His composure and sense of fair play marked him as someone to watch, and he has continued to prosper since, at first-class and one-day level.

- The Wellingtonian