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!

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!

Insanity

A couple of weeks ago I turned down the chance to line at a match in Nottingham meaning I had a free afternoon for the first time in a while, in which I spent watching Mansfield Town as well as getting a bit of shopping down. Looking back, I would rather have earnt money no matter how little, than spending what I needed for the wedding, so when given the chance of being an assistant instead of having a free day, I snapped up the game.

The match was an under 17's tie between neighbours Bilsthorpe Welfare and Welbeck Welfare and it would be one to remember. It was played at Garibaldi school, which as it turned out to be both sides home ground as the managers came from near-by Clipstone so brought the teams out of their respective villages to here.

We had a long, cold wait in the rain for the game prior to it to start before we took our positions and the game got underway. The referee was an experienced, ageing chap, whilst the other linesman was a very young lad who looked fairly new to officiating.

The first half went ok, Welbeck took a 2-0 lead into the break and the only concern for me was that there were one or two exchanges between a Welbeck full-back and a Bilsthorpe winger that went unchallenged by the referee and threatened to boil over, but what was to happen in the second half was totally unpredictable.

Bilsthorpe came out strong and pulled a goal back within 5 minutes of the restart, before pulling level a further 5 minutes later. They now looked favourites to take the game but 5 minutes later the game turned nasty. It started with an unpunished challenge on a Bilsthorpe player when he'd taken the ball cleanly from a Welbeck striker who then careered over the top of him when it looked easier to step around him. This infuriated the defender so the next chance he got to put a challenge on the culprit he did so, and strongly. I was at the other end of the pitch but had a clear view of the tackle and could see that no attempt to play the ball was made. However, it was right in front of the young linesman who called for a corner as he'd only followed the path of the ball, whilst the referee having the comfort of 2 qualified assistants, chose to officiate the game from as close to the centre spot as possible, so was fully 30 yards away from the incident. With the assistant having called for a corner, the Welbeck players were incensed at the tackle and surrounded the young lad, but the referee had signalled foul and went to speak with the linesman. The young lad had said that he'd called a corner but the referee assured him that it was a foul and needed to know whether it was inside or outside the box. A penalty was awarded, which then infuriated Bilsthorpe and after a slight melee, with the keeper having to be threatened with a caution before taking his place on the line. The penalty was scored and so Welbeck returned into the lead, 3-2.

From the resulting centre kick, Bilsthorpe now had no intention of playing a clean game and instead of passing the ball about and looking to mount an offence, they passed the ball to the nearest opponent so that they could put in as heavy a challenge as possible. Welbeck were wise to this tactic so with regaining the possession, they avoided the first 2 or 3 lunged tackles - which again appallingly went unpunished by the referee, despite no contact being made, he should have pulled it back and had words with the players. Welbeck were incensed with the tackles that were being put on them so when they next lost the ball, they took it upon themselves to dish out some justice and a 2-footed reckless tackle was put in on a Bilsthorpe winger which led to a huge 22-man brawl. I was shocked to see the resulting battle, you'd expect a fair bit of pushing in this situation and at worst a punch or two thrown but in this scrap there were rugby tackles, kicks, lunges, punches, you name it. The referee finally managed to get control, with the help of the managers who pulled their players apart and now it was down to the referee to deal with the aggressors. He immediately sent off the Welbeck player making the initial tackle before returning his cards to his pocket and looking like that was enough. I had been keeping an eye out for any assaults so that I could help the referee remove them and so when it looked like no further action was to be taken, I approached the referee and asked him what else he was going to do. It was obvious that he didn;t know what to do and asked for my opinion so I pointed out a further 3 players who must without question be sent off, 1 for a punch, 1 for a rugby tackle and punches, and another for chasing the tackler around the pitch before dragging him to the floor and kicking him.

The referee pulled the first player over and sent him off and began to look for the other two when suddenly a further distraction got everyone's attention as a number of Bilsthorpe players ran over to their keeper to prevent him from harming anyone as he had left the field only to return waving an old metal school chair at the Welbeck players encouraging them to 'come on then!'

Their was no choice for the referee as he blew the full time whistle and abandoned the game at the 60 minute mark. It was now down to the league to deal with and he made a quick exit. I wasn't in too much of a rush and didn't feel endangered myself, which you wouldn't've blamed me after the incident but I got to speak with both managers and explain the situation and what would happen next. I was asked for my support in written reports to the FA and I told them I would put one in myself. I think both teams wanted me to bail them out of trouble at the expense of the referee who had handled it poorly, but whilst I agree the game could have been managed a lot better, both sides had to take responsibility for their actions.

I was asked for my report which I put in and I have yet to hear what has resulted from it. The game got put in at 3-2 to Welbeck but the result has not stood. I just hope I'm not in charge of the next time they meet! Whilst I wasn't particularly pleased at being involved in my first abandoned match and brawl, I was delighted with the way I had conducted myself and helped the referee.

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!