Blaming the referee. Everyone’s done it. Some do it every week, no matter the result, while others will only drag out the cannons for extreme injustices. Ernie Merrick would be classed in the latter.

At some stage during our sporting history, we’ve all been the victim of poor officiating. Whether it be an blatant bias parent-ref for a kids football game, big fatty boys who won’t leave the centre circle or the bloke who wears the outfit but clearly hasn’t read the manual.

The Nix got one of these dickheads on Sunday.

Ok, clearly he’s not having weekly shockers, he’s reffed 100 odd A-League games, but for some reason he just had one of those days. A dead-set Luiz Suarez intentional handball to save a goal, 2 soft yellows to the same guy in 5 minutes, and gifting Melbourne a penalty for a bad dive. It’s natural for refs to get things wrong every now and then, and you might even go on runs where your getting streaks of bad refs – but Sunday's effort could definitely be considered an outlier.

What’s great for the Nix is that they battled hard and came away with the 2-2 draw. It helps Wellington more than it helps Melbourne, but more importantly is how they battled. Any one who keenly follows EPL knows how deep teams need to dig to fight their way out of the blood shit & piss that is the relegation zone. No, maybe not the same level of grit – but fighting for the top 6 is the closest these guys are coming. There’s a few awkward bumps in the final 3 games, so the Nix are gonna need to grind just as hard if they want the last spot.

Teams placed 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th square off this round, with Welly (8th) away to Newcastle (7th). They also need Sydney (5th) to win or draw away at Rad-elaide (6th). The next 2 rounds then see the Nix go up against both Sydney (away) AND Adelaide (home), so it’s all going to be pretty rough.

At this stage you really have to remain an optimistic fan, especially after being kicked in the guts by sub-par reffing. It’s the kind of thing that wants you to regretfully think “Hmm, maybe next year lads” – but while your in with a sniff a bit of belief goes a long way.

I did read that Ben Williams was apologized for on behalf of the FFA for his crap display, brandishing it inadequate, insufficient and inexcusable – but at the end of the day shit happens. Hopefully he’s shown the tape & had a stern word from the Referee King.

Not long left fellas, dig it in.