Mole Attack!

Had a peculiar start to this weekends action as the first match (Welbeck Welfare v Mansfield Athletic, U14) had to be delayed by 30 minutes whilst we filled in a huge channel of divots created by moles! Thought for one minute that I might have to call the game off because of them but we managed to fill them in and get started.

This was the 3rd time this season I'd officiated for WWU14's and they definately give their supporters value for money! Following on from last week's 5-1 win and previously the 11-2 win in my first game for them, this time they cruised to a 14-0 victory! I didn't have a great deal to do (once the game had actually started!), no big decisions to make, cards stayed in my pocket, though 2 clear penalties were awarded, 1 for each team - though you only need to see the score to see how each side faired with theirs!

As the game got started at 11am instead of 10:30, I couldn't fulfil my duties for my second game so had to call the referee's secretary to sort it. He swapped his afternoon game with mine, so I travelled to Arnold Town to do their U18 side take on a decent West Bridgeford outfit.

That game had a bit of a funny start too as it was originally pencilled in for a 2:30pm kick off, but as they shared the pitch with other teams, an earlier game was called off so they could start sooner. Both teams had obviously made an effort to round up their players and get their as soon as possible, like me, we all got there at about 1:45, ready for a 2pm start. Somehow though, another side had squeezed themselves onto the pitch so we had to wait another 40 minutes and didn't get started until 2:40pm. Now it was a race against time with the sun quickly disappearing! Would we get a 90 minute match played?

It wasn't a bad game to officiate, only made more difficult by one Arnold lad who became overly frustrated with every decision that went against him. West Bridgeford were a well organised side, who kept their appeals to a minimum and deservedly took a 2-0 lead into the break. Within 30 seconds of the restart though, my 3rd clear penalty of the day pulled it back to 2-1 and Arnold threw plenty forward. It wasn;t until the last 10 minutes that Bridgeford sealed the game with 2 quick goals and as the light disappeared fast, I was left with a decision whether to end the game now or try and get through the last 6 minutes in the very little light that was left. It was difficult for me to be able to see things clearly and with Arnold getting a little rough I didn't want things to get out of hand. I called in the two captains and asked if they wanted to continue and if so, to support me as best as they could. In the end, the 6 or so minutes came pretty quickly and without incident the game ended 4-1.