> SOUTHERN INDIANA — It was a game they’d thought they’d won.

After a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Lexington FC in the semifinals of the U12 Kentucky Eurosport Challenge Cup, Javanon girls — featuring four of the area’s players — were told they were going to have to play the last 21 minutes all over again.

The reason? With the score at 2-0 to Javanon, a penalty kick was awarded to Lexington. Although they scored, one of their players encroached into the penalty box. 

According to the Laws of the Game, the kick should have been retaken. But instead the referee awarded a free kick to Javanon, which has on its team locals Erin O’Farrell, Reagan O’Farrell, Katelyn Crane and Samantha Fell.

After a protest, the teams took to the field again that evening, with the game restarting with a penalty kick at 2-0 and 21 minutes remaining on the clock. 

Lexington managed a comeback and tied the game at 2-2. It went on to win it in an exciting penalty shootout, which finished 5-4. The following day, Lexington won the final against Nelson Elite in overtime.

Many have asked if this was the correct way to deal with the matter. Because it was a misapplication of the Laws of the Game — and not a judgment call — action was necessary.

It has happened before and it has been dealt with in a couple of ways. 

Gary Voshel, one of the experienced referees who answer questions on the soccer rules site AsktheRef.com, said the correct move — absent of any specific tournament rules — is usually to have the entire game replayed.

This is what happened in a World Cup qualifying game between Uzbekistan and Bahrain in 2005, shortly after the penalty-kick law had been changed.

“The referee got the change wrong and gave an indirect free kick instead of a retake,” he said. “Unfortunately, when Uzbekistan protested that game, IFAB agreed with them that the ref had erred, and then said the game had to be replayed, even though they had won the game. In the replay, Bahrain won and advanced.”

Kris Zander, Kentucky Youth Soccer Association executive director, said he has heard of it being done both ways — either a replay or a restart from when the incident occurred.

“In 2008 at the national championships, this happened and it was replayed from the penalty kick,” he said.

Jim Cosgrove of U.S. Youth Soccer confirmed it happened at the national championship finals, but said he is not aware of a standard procedure to address such situations.

“The determination on a misapplication of the Laws of the Game is generally left to the competition authority,” he said.

INFERNO BLAZING HOT AT ROCK TOURNAMENT

Southern Indiana United U11 Inferno was in fiery form when it won the Classic at the Rock tournament in Bargersville last week.

The team, coached by Travis Henretty and Matt Rogers, went 4-0-0 during the weekend at the SCSA Soccer Complex. Saturday’s games included wins over Owensboro United Premier and Fusion Navy.  

“Sunday, the team won a very tough match against USF Real White in the morning and clinched the championship in the afternoon win a strong win over SIFC,” said Henretty. 

Inferno won the Kentucky Select Soccer League Division 3 title this year and also was a finalist at the Mockingbird Invitational in Louisville.

The team consists of boys ages 10 and 11 from Floyd, Clark, Washington and Harrison counties.

EURO 2012 KICKS OFF, WHILE U.S. WINS OPENING WORLD CUP QUALIFIER

Euro 2012 kicked off in Poland and Ukraine last Friday, with the first round of group games wrapping up Monday.

The three-week tournament, considered the second-biggest international competition behind the World Cup, features 16 teams. But unfortunately, most of the early headlines have revolved around non-soccer incidents.

Before the tournament started, racist abuse was reportedly aimed at Netherlands players during a training session in Krakow last Wednesday.

Then there were reports that the Czech Republic’s only black player, Theo Gebre Selassie, was the target of monkey chants during their 4-1 defeat to Russia in Wroclaw on Friday night. 

After the game, Russian fans were filmed attacking stewards in a stadium walkway, prompting UEFA to open disciplinary proceedings against the nation’s soccer body. 

Europe’s soccer-governing body also announced disciplinary proceedings against the German Football Association over the behavior of its fans during the country’s 1-0 Group B win against Portugal.

Supporters threw screwed-up paper at Portugal’s players during some corner kicks and let off a smoke bomb in the stands. Portugal also face a fine for a delayed kickoff to the second half.

And early Sunday morning, Polish police said they arrested 14 fans involved in a brawl that broke out in the main square of Poznan ahead of the Ireland-Croatia Group C game. They detained 10 Poles, three Irish fans and one Croatian. Video footage showed chairs toppled on the square and police arriving in force to make arrests.

On the field, Poland and Greece kicked off proceedings with an eventful 1-1 encounter, while other notable results included Denmark’s upset 1-0 victory over the Netherlands, holders Spain’s 1-1 draw with Italy and Croatia’s 3-1 triumph over Ireland, which ended the Boys in Green’s 14-game unbeaten streak.

Group games continue until June 19, with the quarterfinals starting on June 21 and the final taking place in Kiev, Ukraine on July 1.

Meanwhile, the United States kicked off its World Cup qualifying campaign in Tampa, Fla., on Friday evening with an unimpressive 3-1 victory against underdogs Antigua & Barbuda with goals from Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Herculez Gomez.

Coach Jurgen Klinsmann will be looking for a better display when the U.S. plays its second qualifier of the semifinal round away to Guatemala at 10 this evening, a game which will only be available on pay-per-view.

Contact Aidan Kelly at aidokaydo@gmail.com.