David McMillan: League of Ireland referees should let games flow more often

Damien Duff is right to be frustrated by some of the refereeing decisions in the League of Ireland according to former players Graham Gartland and David McMillan, with the latter suggesting that officials could let games flow more.

The Shelbourne manager was aggrieved by a second yellow card meted out to his defender Paddy Barrett during their 1-0 defeat to Derry City in the Premier Division on Friday night.

Duff's gripes with the standard of refereeing in the league was evident when he spoke to RTÉ Sport immediately after the match.

"I don't accept the standard of refereeing in this country," the former Republic of Ireland international told Tony O'Donoghue, adding that, "We're trying to up the standards. The fans are amazing in every ground, not just Shelbourne fans, [but] every ground in the country there's a sell-out week in, week out. Standards are going through the roof. Referees need to come with us."

He wasn't the only manager disappointed by a refereeing call with Dundalk's Stephen O'Donnell critical of a straight red that was shown to Robbie Benson against Shamrock Rovers, although the Lilywhites have lost an appeal against that decision.

Ex-Dundalk striker McMillan and former Drogheda United defender Gartland were on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast and both felt that Duff had a point in regard to the consistency of some of the officiating decisions made over the years.

Watch Damien Duff's post-match interview and Gartland and McMillan's reactions on this week's podcast:

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