The footie folk talk of the need for goal-line technology 'as they do in rugby league,' and the latest row at Man U, who according to City scored their winner after playing until midnight brought the suggestion of timekeepers, again 'as they do in rugby league.'

So far as time-keeping is concerned, football appears to have come up with playground technology – as kids you kept playing until somebody scored a winner or an angry parent appeared demanding: 'Do you know what time it is?' – and the big clubs seem to benefit most. Man U cashed in big time last Sunday, causing City boss Mark Hughes to lose his cool, while Chelsea have scored overtime winners against Hull and Stoke, which nobody questioned.

Incidentally it appears the previously calm Mr Hughes seems to have joined the big club mentality of having a go at opponents. First Arsenal took stick from him and now his old Man U mate Gary Neville, whom he accused of 'running around like a lunatic' when Michael Owen scored the overtime winner.

The mistake is announcing how many minutes of overtime there will be.

In close matches it is by no means unusual to see the clock tick round to the necessary four minutes or whatever and the ref lets the game go on a bit longer because he spotted a bit of overtime wasting.

If football is to copy rugby league, their supporters should be very concerned. After all their game might copy rugby league's cute idea of not relegating teams because they are in a so-called development area, so a club with nine wins out of 20 goes down.


TALKING of the 17-a-side game, as rugby league is now, and prop forwards are an unusual breed. They were always prepared to give hand-outs, such as a good smack, but there appears to be a growing biker tradition.

There is Batley coach Karl Harrison, a well-known ex-prop, swanning round America on his Harley Davidson in addition to being a season ticket holder at Leeds United, surely an odd mixture.

Last Sunday, I was taking the air in Hanging Heaton when a motorbike stopped and the rider turned out to be former Leeds and Halifax prop Roy Dickinson, out for a spin on his BMW.

Roy had been working, delivering drinks for the Great North Run, but was up there around half past four before the sparrow's started coughing, dropped off his load, came back and decided to take in the Batley countryside – as you do.

Roy is as amiable as ever and beginning to do well on the after-dinner speaking circuit. He was always quick to laugh at himself and hasn't changed.

Then we come to another prop, former Dewsbury front row man Dominic Maloney, who did himself a bit of good by winning the Fox & Hounds RL tipping competition. It was close, Dom won by a point and four others were a further point behind sharing third place.

All very nice except that Dominic has yet to share his winnings with mum Julia, who works at the pub some nights, and each week faithfully paid his subs for the competition without being paid back.

She is talking of getting the brass by stopping Dominic's spend. In which case he'll have to get a paper round.


OUR cricket heroes timed things nicely. After conning Australia into a false sense of security by gifting them a 6-0 lead in the one-day series, they duly battered the Aussies in the seventh and last just to rub in the Ashes win. Even without KP.