READING FC’s Yann Kermorgant’s comments in the Chronicle about his penalty kick against Norwich City, made me wonder how well players know the Laws of the Game.

I wrote a short while ago about the changes to the taking of a penalty kick, which have been made in this season’s rewrite of the Laws.

I only covered the changes that had taken place, but this incident related to something which has always been with us.

Reading were awarded a penalty, which was taken by Kermorgant.

The Frenchman explained afterwards what happened. He said: “I was ready to go hard and to the left but I changed my mind and wanted to ‘dink’ it down the middle, but maybe I had too much power.

“When it came back off the crossbar, I was ready to put it in with an overhead kick but Gareth McCleary came from nowhere and headed it in.”

So spot the flaw in Kermorgant’s thinking.

If he had played the ball after it had rebounded from the crossbar, it would have meant that he had played it a second time before it had touched another player.

So instead of a goal for Reading, it would have been an indirect free kick to Norwich.

This Law applies to all free kicks, including corner kicks and goal kicks.

I once made just about everyone at the ground shout “what was that for” by giving a free kick when a player taking a corner kick played the ball again after it had rebounded to him from the upright.

With a goal kick the ball has to go outside the penalty area before it is in play.

I remember watching a new referee in his very first game when the keeper’s goal kick took the ball outside the area and he then caught it as it was blown back by the strong wind.

It’s a very rare occurrence, so credit to the new referee, who remembered the Law and gave the free kick.