Biggest game to date

As the end of the season draws ever closer, the games are starting to get bigger and more important, for most sides anyway. I've already learned that I shall be officiating in 3 cup finals near the end of the season, which is great news - more info on that to follow.

Today, I faced my biggest game to date. An U15 Cup semi-final between Robin Hood Colts and Arnold Town Maroon. I should have had 2 assistants in this game but when I made it to the ground I heard that one had already called in sick so arrangements were made for a representative from each side to take a half each. There were only 5 minutes remaining before kick off when the other assistant arrived, otherwise I was on my own.

Before the game got underway, I was asked to lead the sides out of the changing rooms and onto the pitch and for them to then do the respect handshakes. I had heard earlier in the season that the handshakes should be taking place on a weekly basis anyway but I'd not seen it put into place all year, my bad?

Following this the game got under way and it was Robin Hood that started the brighter. This was a team I was familiar with as it was the third time this season I had taken charge of one of their games. Arnold though were apparently the favourites and began to take control of the game, going ahead in one of their first attacks on the quarter of an hour mark. Robin Hood though to their credit didn't let their heads go down and equalised merely 2 minutes later.

It was a very well contested first half and at the break the score remained 1-1. I was pleased at just how well the half had ran, with no incident of note to mention, especially as in previous games with the home side, there have been plenty of moaning and appeals from both those on the pitch and those off it, but today everyone seemed fully focused on the game.

I was advised at half time by one of the home representatives to just keep an eye out for Arnold playing a little rougher as they were known for it apparently but there'd been no sign of this in the first half. The away side started the second half brighter and midway through the half took the lead with a well worked goal down the right side. When the players had returned to their own half, I was alerted to a man down in the box. It was a home defender who appeared to have taken a blow to the knee and was in some pain, and I had my ear chewed off by a Robin Hood coach who said that I had missed something. The thing was, all the play had come down the right side, there was nothing or at least very little happening on the left or even in the centre so how this p[layer had took a knock on the far left side of the 6 yard box was beyond me.

Moments later and a free kick was floated into the box by Arnold and at first the keeper looked like he was comfortable but he spilled it, much to the delight of the unrushing Arnold forwards who had the simplest of tasks of putting the rebound past him. Once again, following the return of the Arnold players to their own half and the keeper had stayed down and was upset. Again the same Robin Hood official barracked me for missing a 'clear' kick as the ball was put in but this time I made a point of saying that I was just yards from the play and there was no contact from the moment the ball was hit into the box to after it had gone in. The keeper had simply spilled it and couldn't recover. Even after the goal he was fine just disappointed that the goal came from his error, so it just looked like dirty tactics to me.

The remainder of the game went by pretty quickly and certainly without further incident and at the full time whistle, the Arnold players celebrated their progression to the final. I was then apprached by someone from the Notts FA and thought I had been observed at first until he simply informed me he was acting on behalf of a Charter Standard awarders and asked for my opinion on how each side had conducted themselves today. I said both had been great and there were no issues or concerns to which he thanked me and we both made our way from the ground.

I had to move pretty sharpish as I had 45 minutes to get to Notts for a game I was doing as a favour. I should have been taking another semi final in Ollerton for their U17's side but had only been contacted on the eve of the game and a clash in kick off times meant I could only do the first. I then sped to the venue of the Goose Fair for a Midlands Amatuer Alliance game between Cambridge Knights (of Nottingham!) and Selston.

This game was played in very high spirits and on a great day in the sun. It was clear from the off that Cambridge weren;t the greatest side in the world, with an ageing back line and, for want of a better word, a chunky lone striker! Selston were full of fairly talented young adults and they controlled the game from start to finish.

However, chances on the day were few and far between and surprisingly the game ended just 1-0 to Selston, with the goal coming in the closing minutes of the first half. How the scores were level for so long was beyond me but the Knights had battled hard and defended quite well but offered little going forward.

I had almost no decisions to make throughout the game and simply strolled around the pitch at my leisure. In fact the quickest I moved was the second I blew for full time as I made it to my car in record time to move it from the clutches of a traffic warden, who had been sniffing around it about half an hour earlier! I was in a rush finding the pitch and had just parked at the side of a main road, but other cars were there too, it there were no markings and I saw no signs. Still, luckily I got there in time!

Bad day at the office

When taking my referee assessment last summer, we were encouraged / led to believe / brainwashed(!) that referee's are always right! We're not there to please others and no matter how we approach a game and no matter how we perform, we're never going to please everyone. So don't try! Often I go into games and hope I can banter with players and managers, and whilst it may look like it works at the start of a game, make one decision they don't like and you'll soon lose them!

So, whenever someone isn't happy at a decision or my performance in a game, I always tell myself that every decision is right and that every game has gone well. If a player or manager isn't happy with me, it's usually a case of them not having performed well as a team so I don't take it personally, I'm happy to take the flack if it makes them feel better to direct it at me. I'm old enough and ugly enough to not let it bother me.

But today, I do have to hold my hand up and say I probably had a bad couple of games. It will happen and the sooner I recover from it the better. No point dwelling on it, I can't change anything now and in fairness, despite me not being at my best, I don't think it's had a great difference to either game.

I started with a familiar venue, Meden School Fields, where I spent so much of my early youth and had already visited 3 times this season to take Peggy's (Gary Edwards') Welbeck Welfare U14's against Teversal U14. I was looking forward to this one as the other 3 games for Welbeck had seen a shedload of goals and I assumed this would be no different. I hadn't anticipated that there were other teams in this division that were capable of matching them, and today they were facing one of them.

At this point, I have to thank Gary for having no problem swapping his kick off to 10am from 10:30, which allowed me to honour my 12pm kick off at Arnold Town, otherwise I would be down to one game for the second week running.

The game was a tight affair with both sides cancelling each other out and chances were few and far between. Welbeck thought they'd broke the deadlock late in the first half when their strikers combined to work around the Teversal defence but the final ball played one of them offside, though the flag went up late and he had put the ball in the net before I could bring it back.

The same 2 combined in the second half to put them 1-0 up and it was a deserved lead after working hard to break down the resilient Teversal defence, but this Welbeck side though contains a lot of attacking talent, they lack something considerably at the back, and within 2 minutes of taking the lead, they were pegged level again.

Either side had chances to win it and it took a moment of controversy to do so. The Teversal linesman had become a little flag-happy as the game drew to a close, itching to put his flag up for any close offside and ruling every throw in in their favour so I was having to be at my sharpish to ensure the decisions he was making were correct. With 2 minutes to go, a Welbeck midfielder picked the ball up in acres of space and brought it forward. As he reached the half way line, the quick Welbeck striker was waiting on a throughball that would set him away, although he was marked closely by 2 defenders, he would have no problem outpacing them on the way to goal. The pass didn;t come right away though so he was having to check his run and I too was keeping a close eye on his position. When the ball did come, the striker was level with both defenders but the flag went straight up. I overuled it and let play continue and so when the ball was put in the net, their was great furore as the linesman and the Teversal players remenstrated with me. I cleared up why I had let play continue and although they weren't happy, they had to accept my decision.

Two minutes later and I sounded the whistle for full time. I knew I hadn't had a great game as there were some tough tackles that I let go when maybe I should have acted stronger, and I booked a Teversal player for challenging the keeper although the ball was there to be won. I believe he was a little reckless as he stretched for the ball and caught the keeper but I was probably a little harsh cautioning him for what was his first offence and felt I probably did so to make a point to his teammates that were pushing for a yellow with some slightly aggresive play.

At the end of the match the Teversal manager enquired about the goal but before he could get out what he wanted to say, I ran through my sequence of the events with the final goal and he seamed to accept it, shook my hand and left. If only everyone was the same though as the young lad that I'd booked, his mum came to rant at me for a while after but I was having none of it and left her to it after hearing what she had to say.

The second game was at Arnold Town for what was a cup game - though I wasn;t aware of that until after as I was originally down for a league game between Arnold Town Blue and Market Warsop, but they ended up playing Selston in a re-arranged cup game and I was not made aware of this. It didnt matter though as Selston ran out 6-1 winners and once more I felt that I hadn't had the greatest of games.

I'd spent the few days prior to today recovering from a throat infection and had had a couple of days off work under strong medication so maybe this had had an adverse affect on my performance. As I mentioned above, it's not something I believe will be a regular occurence so I won't dwell on it, I believe it's my first off day of the season even if other teams may disagree.

It started well enough with Arnold actrually taking the lead through a sliced clearance by a Selston defender that looped over his own keeper, and 2 minutes later I awarded the most clear penalty I'll ever get to give as a striker holding the ball up in the box had his legs swept from under him. There weren't any protests against the penalty and it was that clear there weren't even any appeals for it.

The game ran well and fair but I failed to call a few decisions for both sides, mainly when a couple of players challenge for an aerial ball, there were a few pushes in the back that others would probably have given. The way I see this though is if both go up together, with eyes only for the ball, there is bound to be contact as bodies clash together in the air but I need to spot more whether either of them go in too harshly, sometimes at an angle, with an arm or knee raised so when their is an aerial collision, it may be unfair.

Selston had started to run away with the game, putting the result to bed quickly in the second half, but there were still a few protests I let go. I called what I did see so maybe I am being a little harsh on myself as there will always be protests, there just seemed to be a little more than usual in this game. Neither manager was critical of me though and even when they themselves protested, they never followed it up with anything more than just a quick ask for a decision.

There were a few odd ones early on all by the same player. 3 backpass shouts all against him in a matter of minutes but none were actually backpasses. The first went relatively unnoticed as the ball dropped out the air. The defender and striker went up together for a header but both missed it and it fell onto the defenders toe which sent it into the arms of his own keeper. A Selston striker had a look at me as if I had to call it but I just shook my head. 2 minutes later and the same defender put a tackle in on a Selston winger, stretching for the ball and catching it full but again sending it back to his keeper who picked it up. This time there were 2 or 3 shouts for it but he hadn' purposely sent the ball to the keeper, he was making a tackle. The third did make me consider calling it though as he tried to cut out a thrown in by swinging his foot at it. It was more of a clearance than a pass but once again it went to the keeper who collected it in his arms, to which this time the Selston manager asked me to give it, especially as I was considering it myself and had out the whistle to my mouth, but as I gave myself a couple of seconds to reflect, I opted not to give it, to which the Selston manager asked me to 'blow if I was going to blow'. To this I just said that I'd thought about it but it wasn;t a clear backpass and this came with a great level of acceptance all round and was soon forgotten.

Halfway through the second half and I had begun to tire a little after a lack of action in recent weeks and was irratated by a lose stone in my boot so my focus wasn't fully on the game and again I let a couple of decisions slide that I may usually have called. I also felt that my positioning wasn't great near the end as I tired and I got caught up a little in the way. Firstly I blocked a short corner as I tried to move out the way to provide an angle for a pass not realising that there already was one and I was actually shortening it, rather than creating one. Then a sliced clearance was sent my way which I managed at the last second to hurdle opnly to turn around and have it returned straight back at me! There was no avoiding it this time and through a lack of thought and embarressment of being struck, I nearly retaliated by sending the ball in the way that it would've gone had I not been in the way but at the last minute stopped myself!

Whilst I felt I was missing a little in the game, nothing was very clear or heavily contested and with the score running clearly in Selston's favour it didn't have any adverse affect on the game but then at one point I denied Selston a clear penalty. It came right after failing to stop the play when an Arnold player was bracing for a header and was clattered into from behind, though at first it looked like he'd gone down a little softly but as the ball ran clear, I knew I should've brought it back. Only seconds later from this, the Selston striker had forced his way into the box and had the full attention of an Arnold defender on his back and he went down under a lean but knowing if I gave this then Arnold wouldn't be happy at the build up that I'd not given, so I just waved him up and said he'd gone down a little easily himself.

I was glad when the game was over so I could get some rest for the day and reflect on what I need to improve on in future, which includes pre-match preperation as I'd had no breakfast breforehand and so my energy levels weren't up to scratch. Nevertheless, whilst feeling that I wasn't at the top of my game I'd enjoyed both matches and not come under any heavy criticism other than the contenscious goal in the earlier match.

The last note of the day has to go to Selston's number 7 who, whilst the focus of most referee's actions has to go towards the disciplining of players, it's nice to be able to praise the actions of one. The game was set at 2-1 to Selston so there was everything to play for and he broke into the box avoiding a couple of challenges, when one Arnold player looked to have caught him with an outstretched leg. I awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box as it looked like he'd been caught just outside but fallen into it but from his reaction, it was clear he'd avoided the tackle and caught his own feet causing him to fall. As a referee, it's difficult to catch this sort of incident as you see the defender make the tackle, hear the contact and see the fall so by peicing it all together in a split second you feel you're making the right decision, but it was incredibly sporting for the Selston player to admit I had it wrong, so I got him to pass a dropped ball back to the Arnold keeper and it was nice to continue the game after such a positive note.

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.

Easy

I had 2 games today, at opposite ends of the county to each other with the first at local Market Warsop for an U15 game against FC Huthwaite, followed by an U16 match at Arnold Town's ground where I had qualified in the summer, for a league tie between Arnold Blue and Ordsall Rangers.

Both games were pretty uneventful in terms of discipline and controversy. I issued no cards nor even had to speak to anyone, which is a surprise at U15 and U16, and there wasn't even a penalty, which may be seen as an even bigger surprise with the way my career has started!

In the first game, a poor Market Warsop Windmills side beat an ever poorer Huthwaite by 2 goals to nil, before Arnold were beatn 5-2 on their own ground.