Call or no call?

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by wardtc

I also have a goal kick. If what you said is accurate, the defender was trying to prevent the goal by kicking the ball. In that case he was playing the ball. The attacker fell over the defender's foot. It is not a case where the defender was attempting to trip the attacker. See advice to ref's on the laws of the game 12.4:
"Tripping or attempting to trip is an offense if it is clearly directed at an opponenet and causes the opponent to falter or fall. Players, however, may trip or fall over an opponent as the result of natural play and no infringement of the law has been committed."

Ward,
You make a great point, but that is not the way I'm envisioning the action on this play. I believe that the defender is sliding in a tad late and taking out the landing foot or plant foot of the shooter, rather than sliding in front of him and the shooter going over his leg as you have described.

For anyone saying that a goalkick should be awarded here, I believe that it is a poor idea to allow players a free whack on an opponent after he has kicked the ball. Would you let this go at midfield after a pass (and there is no advantage situation)? Late tackles simply must be penalized. Just my opinion.