When Vidic hauled down Agbonlahor in the penalty area today, it looked for all the world like it was a penalty and as Vidic was clearly the last defender, a red card should have followed.

All eyes went towards Phil Dowd. What was he going to do?

He immediately pointed to the spot (revealing that he obviously saw the incident and was in no doubt that a foul was committed) but bizarrely and inexplicably kept his cards in his pocket.

Vidic had escaped the early bath although Villa had won a penalty.

Technically, the ref got it wrong. For a moment there, he took the rulebook and, I think, made a conscious decision to throw it out of the window.

This was Wembley, this was a Cup Final and I truly believe that he took the law into his own hands and decided that no one wants to see ten against eleven for eighty-five minutes of a Cup Final.

I must admit, I am not quite sure why this “last man, red card” rule should always be applied. I am fully aware that it was brought in because a striker could be through on goal and the defender could chop him down from behind – a “professional foul”. No one wants to see that, especially if the offence is committed outside the area (because there is absolutely no reward for the victims – not even a penalty) but sometimes I don’t think both punishments are necessary.

Today, had Vidic not brought Agbonlahor down then maybe, just maybe, Agbonlahor would have scored (he still would have had a bit to do, Evra was getting back and Kuzscak was well positioned). He may have dragged his shot wide, he may have blasted over the bar, Kuzscak may have saved his effort.

All this is speculation and irrelevant. What happened was that Villa were given a penalty kick which was duly scored and so they came out of the incident in as good a position as they could have hoped for had Vidic not brought down Agbonlahor in the first place.

Five minutes gone and one goal to the good. That’s a one goal start in anyone’s book.

However, the talk coming from Martin O’Neill after the match was that Vidic should have been sent off too as if the whole match hinged on this one thing.

Sure enough, ten against eleven on the heavy Wembley surface would have given Villa a tremendous advantage but call me old fashioned here but isn’t it considered pretty unprofessional to want to see players sent off?

As a result of the offence, Villa were gifted a goal start. United roared back, scored twice and hit the woodwork twice whilst Villa never gave Kuszcak much to do at all.

I can fully understand O’Neill’s disappointment at reaching a Cup Final only to come away with nothing but a loser’s medal but for the good of the game (on the level of this individual match and on the greater level) I am delighted that Phil Dowd got it wrong. If United had had to play with just ten men and finished the game 2-0 losers and dead on their feet, that wouldn’t have been much of a spectacle or an occasion would it?

It would have been a massive anti-climax for United, a hollow victory for Villa and a poor advert for one of the showpiece occasions in the English game.

Would I be saying this if it was a Villa player who had dragged a United player down in the box?

Well, if we got a penalty and scored from it for a 1-0 lead, then yes, I think I would.