THE 'white heat' of the technological revolution foreseen by Harold Wilson 54 years ago proceeds apace - except in the world of football.

Sports such as tennis, rugby union and rugby league have embraced the development - and crucially the deployment - of systems designed to review issues such as line calls and disputed or obscured tries.

Football's administrators however, shudder collectively at every technological advance, while muttering darkly of preserving the flow of the game and the credibility of referees.

True, goal line technology was introduced in the upper reaches of the game following years of heel-dragging, but only after the highlighting of miscarriages of footballing justice captured by the far superior technology used by broadcasters.

Now, surely, it is time to take the next step in using technology to stamp out some of the errors that occur more than weekly, and that blight matches on the international and national stage.

Corry Evans' deemed handling of the ball in the Northern Ireland v Switzerland World Cup qualifying play-off on Thursday evening stands alone as evidence why referees now require the guidance of video replays to review certain decisions.

Undeniably, the referee at Windsor Park made a shocking decision. A video replay would have cleared it up in 30 seconds, and on with the game.

And this sort of technology should be available at least as far down as the Championship, if not Leagues One and Two.

I was at a recent Leeds United v Derby County match during which Leeds had a legitimate penalty claim turned down, and Derby were awarded one that should not have been. Both outcomes served to swing the game Derby's way, and as a fan, I should have been happy. Instead, I left feeling a little uncomfortable.

Of course, there are plenty who employ the old adage that these sort of calamities level themselves out over a season. But that fact is, they don't - and in Northern Ireland's case, they have just one very tough away game to right a refereeing wrong.

Whatever you may think of technology, that cannot be right - and it affects the credibility of the game as a whole.