Honest Willo and the Penalty Shout

An article in the Birmingham Mail has suggested that the honesty of Andy Williams, the Hereford United striker, in not going to ground after being clipped by Walsall keeper Clayton Ince might have cost the Bulls the game.

WALSALL benefited from the honesty of Hereford striker Andy Williams during the draw at The Banks’s Stadium.

Doing the decent thing in football can cost you. Darren Wrack can vouch for that from September 2003 when the Saddlers visited Ipswich in the Championship.

In the second half, with an Ipswich player having received treatment, Wrack threw the ball not out for a goal-kick but straight to home goalkeeper Kelvin Davis and was still chasing back into position seconds later when Darren Bent scored the winner for Town.

On Saturday, it was Williams who was punished. Clean through on Clayton Ince in the first half, the striker was clipped by the goalkeeper but, instead of going down, Premiership-style, like a sack of potatoes, he stayed upright and tried to score.

His reward? Nothing – as Manny Smith got in a great block. Ince might not have been red-carded had Williams gone down – he did get a bit of ball as well as player, but the referee would have faced a tricky decision.

“We thought there should have been a penalty,” said Hereford manager Graham Turner. “And the referee would then have had the problem of should he send the goalkeeper off? If Andy had gone down there was a possibility of a penalty and a sending-off.”

Both Williams’ conduct and Turner’s measured response only added to the credit Hereford took from the match. Turner is adamant his team won’t go down and let’s hope they don’t. The former Wolves and Villa boss reckons his opposite number Chris Hutchings will succeed at Walsall. “Chris has a good record at previous clubs and a lot of experience,” Turner said.

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