Finally, some positivity!

After what felt like many bad games back to back, either with my performance, confidence or the fact that I'd inadvertently ticked off one too many managers over the past few weeks, I went into this weekends games determined to ensure everything went as smoothly as possible, and low and behold, I had 2 almost perfect performances.

I started at King George fields in Berry Hill for a cup game between U16 First Division side Forest Town Pumas and Second Division Woodhouse Colts, in a game that was billed to be very one sided. In fact it was a very close tie with Woodhouse's guts neautralising Forest Town's quality, and it was the lower side that took the lead in the opening few minutes of the second half and held it for some time. It was inevitable though that Forest Town would eventually break them down, they'd done everything but including hit the bar, and force a world class save from the very petit Woodhouse stopper. They levelled with a great strike from distance before a mix up at the back between last defender and keeper saw the lanky Town striker nip in between and nod the ball over them both and into the empty goal.

At this point, Forest Town played a lot more casually, with some neat one touch football and stylish tricks but most attacks came to nothing prompting their skipper to remind them they were 2-1 up not 6-1. They were reminded of this even further when with just a couple of minutes to go, a long ball hit forward released a nippy Woodhouse striker who slotted in to equalise and force extra time.

I spoke with one of the makeshift linesman at the end of normal time who praised my performance and the flow of the game, to which I hoped this would continue. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to get everything spot on today and the biggest mestake I made came midway through the first period of extra time. The tall Town striker had forced his way through the Woodhouse defence and was bearing down on goal when one of the centre backs made a last ditch attempt to get a toe to the ball. From where I was it looked like he'd managed to do so, despite the striker crashing to the ground under the tackle. I waved him up much to the disgust of the home crowd and management and play continued.

Forest Town had by far the majority of possession and chances but couldn't find their way through the resilient Colts defence again and they began to get a little frustrated, causing one late tackle near the end of the game to wind up in my book. It hadn't been that sort of game though and was a shame to have had to caution someone so late but it probably would've only been a talking to anyway until he leathered the ball at an opposition player!

And so we had penalties to decide the outcome. The football fan in me wanted the underdogs to succeed but the referee in me hoped Forest Town made it so I wouldn't hear anything else of the penalty decision I knew I had got wrong during extra time. As it were, I had nothing to worry about as Woodhouse missed their first two kicks in very much a Waddle and Pearce fashion and went on to lose the shootout 4-2. I got a lot of congratulations for my part of a great game though the Forest Town manager did question the earlier penalty appeal to which I stated that I had probably got it wrong, to which he was quite ok with - it's a wonder what winning does to a person!

So the first game was a success but I wasn't feeling too confident about the second going so well. It was an U17 league game between Skegby Colts and Woodhouse Colts. This was my big return to Skegby having taken them near the start of the season in a very eventful cup game with Ollerton that ended 5-4 to the latter after extra time, in a match where I gave a penalty decision in the first minute against the home team, cautioned someone who really should've been sent off for a tackle that broke a leg, and had 120 minutes of earache from most of the Skegby players. Was I looking forward to this one, I think not!

Still, I like the challenge so went into the game with confidence and the feeling that I was going to have a good game. It started weirdly though as Skegby didn't appear from the changing room until 1:45 when kick off should've been 1:30. We eventually got started and the game started well. There were some meaty tackles right from the off but most were fair and I had no hesitation calling back the ones that weren't. I had to speak to a couple of players from each side as the tackles got harder and harder and I thought it may not be too long before someone needs booking but I resisted for as long as I could but made it clear that I wouldn't just stand by and watch while someone got hurt.

Skegby controlled much of the game and took a 2-0 goal lead into half time. The second half was contested just as hard but the tackles got fairer and I was pleased I hadn't shown a card yet. A third goal was scored by the home side which all but ended the tie and with this, a young player I recognised from the first game as being the guy who should've been sent where instead I gave a yellow, entered the field of play from the bench. Straight away he began making a nuisance of himself, going in a little hard on a player already on the floor, pulling shirts unneccessarily off the ball and then he took a dive from a clean sliding tackle. I had no hesitation but to book him and his captain, who had spent the 120 minutes of the cup game earlier in the season bellowing at me for every right or wrong decision, this time spent his energy wisely aiming his pleas at the young player who was doing everything he could to turn the yellow into red.

Woodhouse offered little throughout the game and were deservingly beaten 4-0 in all and no more cards were required in the game. It had been another great game and I was pleased when the Skegby manager came to chat about a perfect performance, praising me for resisting getting the cards out too soon and also for how I handled his mouthy substitute. It had been a great day and I felt my confidence grow as I learned from previous weeks, ensuring I went into the games fully focused and prepared to show whose in charge. I later heard that from one of the managers from the 2 games today I had received 100% marks, which can't happen very often!

Early Valentines Cards!

Today was one of my busiest days in terms of having to show yellows with 4 over the games. Probably could have been more as there were one or two others pushing for a yellow, whilst at least 2 of the yellows may have been reds on another day.

Starting at Debdale Lane, Manor 4th against Skegby Colts in the 1st round of the Knockout Cup. This was the fourth time the sides had attempted to play this match, luckily my trip wasn't wasted and the game went ahead. The first moment of controversy came prior to the kick off when both sides were exchanging cards. I was questioned about whether new signings made by Skegby were available for selection as they had not yet played for their side, but Manor were insisting that 3 league games should be played before they can play in the cup. I wasn't sure of the rules but something at the back of mind told me that rules were for finals only. A quick phone call to the league registrar confirmed this and the game went commenced.

Skegby started the brightest and had the ball over the line - just, with only 2 minutes played. The Manor keeper had struggled to stop it crossing and at one point had pulled it back from over the line. I was on the edge of the box and had made my mind up that it had gone over and the reaction of players on both teams confirmed it, together with the linesman, who was a Manor representative, so it was good to find an honest one.

Manor equalised not too long after and then midway through the first half I awarded a penalty for a trip after a Manor player had knocked the ball past a defender who then clearly obstructed him. It was a penalty but Skegby weren't happy about it and made their feelings pretty clear. The funny thing is though, it was an obvious obstruction and had it been out of the box no-one would have had any complaints. The penalty was missed though so as far as Skegby were concerned it was a let off and they could get on with the game.

A couple of times during the first half I had to have words with a Manor defender who had gone in a little recklessly when challenging for the ball in the air. Whilst the ball was dropping, he was jumping way too early whilst turning his back into an opponent, together with arms flailing and legs raised. I awarded a free kick the first time before reprimanding him the second.

On the stroke of half time, Manor broke and took the lead for the first time in the game. I blew the whistle almost as soon as the game restarted. It was an even first half though Manor had possibly just edged it. They were to pretty much control the second half but Skegby did have some chances. Just prior to half time though, I had felt quite a painful tweak at the top of my right leg and was struggling to get about the pitch. I tried to run it off but it didn't look like anything that was going to disappear any time soon. I rang the ref scretary during the break to cancel my second game but there was no-one to replace me so they might have to go without a ref. I decided to run as little as possible during the second half and if the pain got any worse, come off and let the teams sort out who would take over, or see if a ref from the surrounding pitches could replace me.

In fact, the second half went quite well, with Manor pressing mostly so keeping the ball in one half for the majority but the times that Skegby did break, I was able to keep up with play fairly well. Manor went 3-1 up and any fears of extra time was starting to look bleak, which was a blessing, but Skegby were more than in the game. They were probably a little agreived that they weren't awarded a penalty when from a throw in into the box, the player that I had spoken to in the first half pushed a Skegby player in the back sending him to the floor. It was on the edge of the box, probably even just inside but it felt like a very soft penalty if I awarded it but I stopped play to caution the player as this was his 5th offence and the 3rd time I spoke to him. I then gave Skegby a free kick on the edge of the box but nothing came of it. Manor wrapped the game up late on to make it 4-1, which felt a little hard on Skegby, but I was pleased that I had lasted the second half and there was a good 90 minute before the second game was to start. I was a little worried about having to do it but I was going to give it a go but mention to the Welbeck manager that I was suffering a little.

I got to the Welbeck game about 20 minutes before it was due to start. Both teams were in the changing rooms so I warmed up, whilst checking the pitch and the goals. I wasn't feeling the strain from earlier so I didn't mention the injury to either manager and the game got under way. Both sides were familiar, like most teams are starting to get, though I knew the Welbeck side and had taken one of their matches at home this season but I couldn't initially put my finger on when I last saw Robin Hood, the opposition. I remembered it was in Sutton a few months ago for a big cup game against Drezden, and this was confirmed when I was told that they were awaiting one of their key players to arrive from a County match, which had happened the first time around.

This game was heated from the start, when in the first minute two players clipped each other and began exchaning insults. It was quite petty and I simply told them to cut it out. It was a close, tight affair that could have gone either way. Both sides broke forward plenty, firing shots around the goal, winning corners, and looking likely to soon break the deadlock. Robin Hood had a great chance when a long range effort crashed back off the crossbar and the follow up shot was brilliantly pushed onto the post by the Welbeck keeper. Robin Hood were unlucky not to be one up but from the resulting corner, their skipper met the cross perfectly with his head and neither the Welbeck keeper nor the defender on the line could get to it.

Welbeck tried in vain to get back into the game but they tired as the half time break got closer and Robin Hood began to command the match, especially as their County player had arrived and was causing problems. The game threatened at times to boil over as players from both the rival sides tackled strongly and there were a few reactions but nothing that needed any more than a few words. The linesmen from each side weren't making it any easier as every attack saw the flag raised, rightly or wrongly and a lot of the time it was difficult to overrule from my position, especially when it was raised on the counter attack. A number of times I was having to be shouted to see that the flag was up due to probable incorrect calls as any time the ball is played where a player may be offside I always look across the line to the assistant. This got the players backs up too asking me to overrule where possible.

The second half ran similar to the first, with the teams being fairly even in standard, though Welbeck were the first in the half to find the net. They also had a penalty shout soon after the goal when they broke to a one-on-one situation but the Welbeck striker trod on the ball when about to shoot, causing the ball to roll into the keepers arms whilst he took a bad tumble. Clearly the Welbeck crowd didn't see how this had happened and bellowed for the spotkick and I had to take a little flack for a couple of minutes for not awarding anything but I would have had no hesitation had there been a decision to make.

Robin Hood returned to the lead with about 20 minutes to go and so Welbeck again had to find their way back into the game. Their backs were up once again when their striker and a Robin Hood defender were heading towards the Robin Hood goal, whilst trying to fend each other off fairly shoulder to shoulder. The Robin Hood defender had to be careful as during the run he had become the last defender and the Welbeck player had started to edge in front and getting closer to the goal but he still had work to do. His last touch saw him knock the ball a little too far in front of him so he was in a race with the keeper for the ball whilst the defender was also close by. As the Welbeck player ran across the defender, he was hacked back by the hands of the defender but simultaneously the Robin Hood keeper had won the race to the ball. I blew for the foul and there was a little anxiety as to whether their would be a red card shown. I called the defender over who was a little reluctant to speak properly at first as I talked him through the incident. He replied that he didn't care to the foul which negated the protests of his teammates claiming their was no offence, whilst giving 'Mr Blobby' as his surname - possibly enough to turn a yellow into a red. I said he was lucky that his keeper had won the race to the ball otherwise he would be walking, I showed him the yellow card before Welbeck made nothing of a free kick on the edge of the box.

Their were plenty of personal battles on the pitch and a couple from each side were lucky not to be cautioned but late on a Robin Hood player found himself in the book by purposely tripping an opponent as Welbeck broke. 30 seconds later and a Welbeck forward was in the book for the same thing as frustrations began to show. It wasn't helped by the sideslines from each side as they were gearing up their own players and encouraging them to go in hard on the other side. Finally, I was able yo bring the game to a close and Robin Hood edged a close game, probably deservedly so. Whilst their was one or two narks aimed my way by disgruntled players and supporters, the majority of the lads knew the game ran well and thanked me for a good game. I was just pleased to come out of it without feeling my earlier injury too much!

3 Games = Knackered!!

I was initially down for a couple of games in Glapwell this weekend but heard at the start of the week due to changes in fixtures after the recent bad weather, that I would now be doing two games back to back locally for Market Warsop, both at under 15's as they have 2 sides. A couple of days later I was asked if I could also take Welbeck under 17's after this, which for some reason I accepted. Don't get me wrong, I really need the money as the wedding gets closer but the under 15's games were 40 minutes each half, so the 3 matches would total 250 minutes of football - over 4 hours!! I did let Welbeck know that I may arrive later than their initial 1:30pm kick off as the second match wouldn't finish until about then but they were fine to start with one of the linesman as referee until I get there.

The first match went well - as far as I were concerned. Both sides were familiar as it was the second time I had taken each side. Market Warsop Windmills were a relatively poor side languishing near the foot of division 3 but they had a couple of decent lads, whilst Rolls Royce could play a bit but still weren't taking the bottom tier by storm. Warsop started the brightest and got a few early shots off but Rolls scored with their first chance, an own goal by a Warsop defender and shortly after I had to give a penalty as Rolls' tricky forward knocked the ball past a Warsop defender only for it to catch his hand in full. It was harsh as it was hard to avoid it but it was a penalty. Not many appealed it, before it was taken and scored.

Warsop got back into the game before another own goal on the stroke of half time meant Rolls went in 3-1 up. With the game threatening to stretch beyond Warsop, tempers got a little frayed and a late challenge created a little havoc as players pushed and shoved and I had to book one from each side before the game restarted. Warsop pulled one back in the second half through a penalty for a high foot, but Rolls were too strong and eventually won the game 5-2.

The second game started soon after and again Warsop were the side that started the brightest but were 1-0 down just 2 minutes in. This was also the second time I had taken charge of this Warsop side, the first being a 5-0 win over Manor 4th and I knew they had a very good side, but their opposition, Winthorpe & Coddington were a team full of very good players and soon started to take hold of the game, going 2-0 up midway through the half. Late in the half Warsop pulled one back when their striker went round the keeper and slotted into an empty goal. Embarrasingly I blew for half time after 35 minutes only to be reminded that U15's play 40 minutes each half. Funnily enough, both halves of the previous match were only 35 minutes and had gone totally unnoticed!

The final 5 minutes of the half were played without incident before both sides returned for the second half. Warsop were much better in the second half, creating many chances and levelling through a well taken goal by a very skilfull, young player who saw a lot of the ball and was unlucky to not contribute more to the game, though at times his distribution could have been better. It looked likely that Warsop would go on to win the game but Coddington still had a threat to their play and had really only let Warsop back in as they let their foot off the gas 2-0 up. They did return to the lead with about 15 minutes to go and then spent the remainder of the match timewasting, much to Warsop's disgust. I kept a keen eye on the time and ensured the full allocation was allowed to be played so their efforts were fruitless other than frustrating the opposition. As Warsop pressed for the leveller, their defence got a little sloppy and Coddington were allowed to attack on the counter and with about 5 minutes to go they were in the box when a player tried to swing the ball across the box only to be clattered recklessly by a Warsop defender. He did well to stay on his feet but I called the penalty which sent Warsop irate. They had nothing to complain about though as the tackle was poor. However, the penalty was missed and so they had the rest of the game to find the equaliser but it didn't come.

At the end of the game, the linesman representing Warsop threw his flag at me and had a right go at my performance but some people clearly don't handle losing very well. His tirade continued all the way back to the changing room but I don't really have a clue what more I could have done, plenty of time was added on to counter all of Winthorpe's timewasting and the penalty was missed, though even had it been scored it was a good decision. I'd even taken a shot full in the kidneys in the second half as a shot from distance came straight at me and I could do nothing to avoid it. It wasn't poor positioning on my part, I'm as much a part of the play as the players themselves and they could see where I was stood, it could have been avoided but they probably prefered to have hit me anyway than got a shot on goal!

I managed to get away at 1:45pm, the time I'd managed to talk Welbeck into kicking off to give me time to get there but due to the misjudgement of length of matches at U15, I wasn't going to get there anywhere near on time. In the end I was 15 minutes late but instead of changing the referee at this stage I just took over from one of the unofficial linesman. The game was already 1-0 to Skegby but it looked evident early on that Welbeck were a much better side. They equalised through a clear penalty about 5 minutes after I arrived, though at one point I didn't think the referee was going to give it, and then I had to laugh at his position as the kick was taken, he was about 20 yards outside the box when he blew his whistle!

During the first half, a few things looked odd from the referee's performance and I questioned whether he was actually a qualified official - ha, I'm in my first season and I'm already judging my fellow referee's!!. I had little to do in the first half other than one or two offside decisions. Skegby went 2-1 up before half time though the Welbeck keeper should have done better.

I met the referee in the centre at half time where he mentioned he was a returning referee after a few years out of the game and asked me if I wanted to take over the second half. I left it to him to decide if he wanted to continue, half wanting to take over for the money, but the other half thinking it would be weird for the players to change now and also I was getting a little leggy after the first games.

Whilst the referee's positioning wasn't great, nor some of the decisions he made, the way that he handled the discipline of the players was excellent as he was clearly confident when speaking to them and thought nothing of pulling them to one side for a word. He looked quite a young lad too and so I observed this more in the second half when he spoke to players 5 or 6 times. This is something I feel I greatly need to improve on if I am to progress through the levels as I struggle to find the words clearly in time even if the offence was obvious.

Welbeck dominated the second half and really should have won the game by 4 or 5 goals but they fired a lot of clear chances staright down the keeper's throat, and they were fortunate that I had a good view of an offence in their box early in the second half. Welbeck had already equalised when a Skegby striker latched onto a long ball. He powered towards the box and forced a lunging tackle from a Welbeck defender, however it wasn't late or reckless and the Skegby player had avoided it before going down theatrically. The referee awarded a penaly which the Welbeck players debated and so he came to me for my opinion. I immidiately assured him that it wasn't a penalty and so he reversed the decision and played on from the keeper. This slightly annoyed a Skegby striker who had already been forced to apologise to me after swearing from an offside decision I gave earlier, though he accepted my explanation of the decision pretty quickly.

Welbeck took the lead through a glorius lob from distance with about 15 minutes to go and then created a further 5 or 6 if not more chances that should have been converted, and so like the home fans behind me, you always felt that Skegby were going to nick a late equaliser, but it never came.

It was a good day and I enjoyed a little more experience as a linesman, which I need to ensure I keep doing to enable me to make a positive impression should I ever be observed or assessed. Sometimes I feel I don't have the natural assets to make a good referee where I really want to see how far I can make it but the linesman route may also offer just as many opportunities. We'll see in a few years time!

Formality?

Just the one game today at local side Welbeck Welfare in neighbouring village Warsop for an U14 division 2 game against Skegby Colts. One of the good things about getting into refereeing in the local leagues is when you get to take charge of teams for managers or with players that you know, and the Welbeck manager of this age group was a guy I knew well from my time with the club, so it was good to chat with him prior to the game. He informed me that this was probably going to be a tough game as both sides were battling it out at the right end of the table, but he was confident he was going to 'edge it'.

As it turned out, Welbeck ran out 11-2 winners despite conceding an early goal to their opponents. It was a great game that left me with very little to do other than keep count! Welbeck clearly had a very talented side and I was pleased at the end to be asked for my man of the match. I awarded it to the obvious choice, which was the managers son and team captain, who had scored about 5 of the goals and had had a big hand in most of the others, leading by example.

I should have followed this game with an U17 game for Welbeck against Sherwood United at Clipstone but earlier in the week I was asked if I'd prefer a different game but was never actually given one!

Tough game

My game today was difficult for a number of reasons, not more so than these teams were rivals and knew each other well, which wasn't a good thing as there appeared to be some history there. Also, I'm used to Skegby playing in Red, but they were in a very bright orange and Blackwell wore red and white. It was a very cold, blustery day and it took me a few minutes to even take the plunge and leave my well-heated car and warm up.

Skegby won the toss and chose to go with the wind, always a good move to get the advantage and that proved to be the case as they stormed into a 2-0 lead. They were very muchly ruled out a potential third as I took up an inexperienced position behind everyone from a corner. As the cross came in, it was cleared before being returned developing a situation where a Skegby striker was running the opposite way to the goal to collect the ball with the Blackwell keeper in hot pursuit. The keeper slid for the ball and from the poor position I was in, looked as though he'd got a full foot to the ball knocking it safe, so when the Skegby striker crashed to the ground, most of the people surrounding the pitch were up in arms when a penalty was not awarded. It became clear that the Skegby player was the one who had played the ball but I felt I couldn't reverse my decision.

At half time, a representative of Blackwell who was running the line had told me on his way past that it was a penalty and I must've been the only one in that postcode not to have seen it! The Skegby manager also asked why it wasn't given. I answered as honestly as I could saying that I'd probably taken up a poor position and so from where I was it looked as though the keeper had played the ball but I now know it was a wrong call. Very gratiuously he accepted that and said not to worry - easy to say when you're 2-0 up! I was wondering what would happen now should Blackwell, who now had the wind in their favour, come back and take the game themselves. The penalty decision would prove very costly in this scenario.

It looked like it would head that way too when only a few minutes into the first half, Blackwell pulled one back and now had the wind and the run of the game in their favour. Skegby still posed a threat against the wind, which Blackwell didn;t really do in the first half. It was still a worry though if the score was levelled, but then an incident occurred that made that eventuality unlikely. A Blackwell striker was fouled outside the box but he reacted by kicking out at the player making the tackle. He was soon surrounded by Skegby players and he squared up to one of them who pushed him, followed up by a batch of pushing and shoving by players on both sides. I eventually got the situation under control and called across the Blackwell striker and a Skegby player. I was also on the hunt for a second Skegby player who was heavily involved but I couldn't see him at this point. I cautioned the Skegby player for a push and told him in this situation he needed to keep his cool. I was then left with no choice but to send the Blackwell forward off for the kick and his reaction, much to his surprise.

With this, Blackwell were now on the back foot with trailing the game and down to ten men. Skegby made it 3-1 near the end of the game and the penalty decision was forgotten! The full time whistle went and there weren't any complaints at the end from either side so I felt quite pleased that I'd had a decent game.

Week 2 - 2 out of 4 games!

My second week as a Youth League referee and already I was introduced to the joys that is administration! Initially down for 2 matches in Rainworth, I had already arranged one of them in the week when some paperwork indicating changes in fixtures came through the post. This pointed out that I was now to take 2 games in Shirebrook instead. I informed the Rainworth manager who had to then chase up his newly appointed official whilst I awaited hearing from the 2 games I was now doing.

These didn't come by Thursday so I chased them up myself. Both Shirebrook managers had sorted referees so I spoke to the Referees Secretary who told me I was down to do them so I should still be doing them. He chased the games up on my behalf so as far as I was concerned I would be doing the 2 Shirebrook games.

The first was Shirebrook Rangers Blue at U10, against Southwell United Squires. I got there well before kick off, which is always good to give me time to chat to the managers beforehand. I spent some time talking to the Southwell manager who had recently brought his side out of the Newark League for more competition. The Shirebrook manager I recognised from West Notts College, where I used to work.

The game was well contested - you don't see many otherwise at U10! Southwell ran out deserved 3-0 winners but Shirebrook showed glimpses of a very good team and I'm sure the next time I referee for them, I will see a scoreline more in their favour. Also, it has to be said, the half time cup of coffee was very well received too! Thanks!

I then headed for the second Shirebrook game, which was due to kick off within about 15 minutes of the first one ending so hoped they hadn't started to panic yet! It was only 5 minutes around the corner but when I got there I was surprised to see that the match had already commenced with another referee. I contacted the referee's secretary again, who was disappointed to hear of this, and so sorted me an U17's cup game in Skegby for later in the afternoon.

This match proved to be very entertaining indeed! I was pleasantly surprised at the start to see that all U17's matches are given 2 qualified assistants so I could trust the linesmen for once, rather than rely on the typically biased club-appointed assistants. For this one I was given a very young lad, making only his second appearance since being qualified, and a very experienced guy, who actually didn't arrive until 10 minutes into the game.

It was Skegby Colts against Ollerton and by the sounds of the pre-match team talks, Skegby were expected to walk it. I wasn't sure why, they were both in the same division, and were last season, finishing just 12 points apart and just 2 games into this season surely hadn't given much indication of who was much better than who?

Anyway, Skegby's arrogance didn't last long as just 5 minutes in I had to award a penalty to Ollerton for a trip in the box, which was scored. From this, the captain of Skegby saw fit to berate me with moans of diving but I assured these away. When Ollerton went 2-0 up, these intensified and he began to vent his frustrations in me into his tackles, to which Ollerton replied with strong challenges of their own. I had to call the 2 captains in to stop the game from boiling over and told both to concentrate on the game and leave any past decisions behind, whether right or wrong (right of course but it's what they wanna hear!). I could tell my warnings had fell on at least one set of deaf ears! Possibly directly because of this, Ollerton were soon 3-0 up.

The second half threatened to continue where it left off with Skegby verbally challenging every little decision so I made a point of saying it was doing them no favours and if they put as much effort into the game as they were moaning at me they might just get something from the game. This seamed to spark them into life as 30 seconds later they'd pulled one back. Virtually straight from the kick off it was 3-2 and less than 5 minutes later 3-3! Incredible really and just goes to show you if you focus on the task in hand rather than the official you'll be much better off.

Ollerton were on the backfoot but found a goal from somewhere putting them back in front but Skegby equalised with just a couple of minutes remaining to force extra time. They should really have gone into extra time a man down but for the only mistake in the game I admittedly made, when a frustrated Skegby midfielder - and a talented one at that, lunged two-footed into a tackle, clearly hurting an opponent in the process. I blew instantly and in my inexperience, was too indecisive to show my first red card. The fact that I'd even blew for a foul seemed to irritate the Skegby player into thinking he'd got the ball, it was a clear red but I only showed a yellow. Still, he was that furious he actually substituted himself, which did Ollerton no real favours as they were forced to replace their injured player who was actually taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg. This made my yellow card even more frustrating knowing that it should have been red.

Extra time commenced and a goalless first half was contested, before Ollerton made it 5-4 ealry in the second period. Skegby battled to find an equaliser and as it looked like time would evade them, they had the ball in the net with literally seconds remaining, only for the linesman to be flagging for offside. Skegby were fuming and all ran first to me to appeal before I cowardly pointed them in the way of the linesman who had given the decision (well he was a lot bigger than me so why not?!). It was clearly offside, a good 3-4 yards but Skegby wouldn't see this as they threw everything forward looking for the leveller. It was justice to Ollerton really who should have played extra time a man up, though I was disappointed not to be officiating my first penalty shoot out! The full time whistle was certainly met with plenty of moans as I was challenged by a couple of Skegby players, and the manager was in no mood for handshakes so I took the money and got out of there pronto! They had no complaints really, Ollerton were the only ones who had any rights to complain for the lack of a red card, but I had enjoyed my first game at U17 level, though wasn't in any great rush to take on another!