@schmeetle – holding time just because it’s the dying seconds of the game is against what netball umpires are taught to do. The stage of the game should have the LEAST bearing on whether an umpire decided to hold time or not.
In last weeks game, there was no reason to hold time. The ball hadn’t rolled away to an unreachable place and the players weren’t holding it up deliberately. Kumwenda barely touched it and McDonnell had tapped it and then chased it and retrieved it pretty quickly. All in all, it was just a normal goal scored and wouldn’t warrant time being held if it was the first 30 seconds of the quarter, and the last 30 seconds should be treated the same. Otherwise it actually favours the team trying to catch up.
I’ve been harsh on Tara Warner in the last few games, but I think she handled that situation correctly.
