UPDATE: After initially posting this article, plenty of comments have questioned whether the conclusion of the piece – that South China were denied a legal goal – was actually the correct conclusion.

In the interests of getting this issue properly judged, we’ve now added a poll at the bottom of the post in which you can voice your opinion.

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Long time readers of the site know how we feel about the introduction of technology in football; its a sham and a mistake that Fifa have not yet introduced it into the Beautiful Game, and their failure means that teams routinely suffer injustices on the pitch. It goes without saying though, that people only seem to pick up on the absence of technology when it affects their team.

Within that context last weekend spewed up another controversial incident, although few will have noticed it as it happened in the Hong Kong Senior Cup on Saturday.

Breezing through the facts, Sun Hei SC played host to South China AA (who you may remember signed Nicky Butt back in 2010) and, after drawing 1-1 in relegation time and with neither team able to score in extra time either, the match went to penalties. Sun Hei emerged 5-3 victors, however their triumph never should have been.

Locked 1-1 in the 74th minute, South China (wearing blue) won a corner and their Brazilian number 20 Dega duly delivered an inswinging cross into the mixer. Then, after receiving a flick-on on the edge of the 6-yard box from a South China player that beat Sun Hei’s keeper to the ball, possession dropped to the unmarked Dhiego Martins (also Brazilian) at the back post.

Crucially, as can be seen be the picture attached, at the time of the flick-on Martins appeared level with a defender whilst another Sun Hei player was hugging the near post on the goalline (but was he behind the goalline?).

Martins coolly swept the ball over the line after briskly wheeled away to celebrate his moment of glory. Only that was cut almost instantly short as the pot-bellied linesman on the far side raised his flag to rule the goal out for an offside.

South China protested the decision, but in the absence of any mechanism for judicial review the call stood.

Watch TV footage of how the incident played out in real time here.

Offering a second angle of the horror call was this eye-witness footage of Martins’ non-goal.

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Hong Kong has surprisingly tabled several viral videos this season.

Last week Kitchee keeper Wang Zhenpeng scored a terrifically bad own goal against TSW Pegasus, whilst Hong Kong’s own goal of the season remains Festus Baise’s world-class scorpion-kick.