Sportsmanship ...have we gone too far?

Yeovil let Birmingham score last night, allowing Lee Novak to walk the ball half the length of the pitch and put the ball in the back of the net with no challenges, and no gaolkeeper. All this because Yeovil's Byron Webster had equalized at 2-2, chipping the Brummie keeper who had put the ball out so one of his defenders could get treatment.

Here's the BBC match report and you can see the video of the goal here.

Yeah, lovely, let a team equalize, karma, polite, good manners and all that, but sportsmanship has gone too far?

If the Birmingham keeper kicks it out, why should his team get it back? If it's a genuine injury, the referee should stop the game. If it looks serious, sure, go ahead and kick it out if the ref hasn't stopped it, but putting the ball out every two minutes has become a joke. Teams do it to waste time at the end of a game, or to get extra time for fake injuries if they are losing.

Yes, players should look out for each other and be concerned about an injury, but it's gone too far. It changes games, relieves pressure, infuriates fans and makes it harder to determine when there's a real injury.

Oh, the game would eventually end 3-3, and Birmingham would go on to win on penalties. If you care.