Match 5 - Cripps vs Willoughby

The weather hasn't been kind to us here in Nottingham in the past few weeks, and so we've had a succession of cancellations in the world of intra-mural football. Today, finally, football returned with the first round of halls matches this term being played.

Luke was with me today, and the Cripps players invited us to referee their game against Willoughby. With no other invitations to referee (some teams clearly hadn't turned up), we tossed a coin and I got the honour of refereeing, with Luke running one line and a Cripps sub running the other.

To say the pitch was muddy is perhaps an understatement. It was pretty wet underfoot, and so the players would probably be sliding about rather a lot. This doesn't make it any easier for the referee of course, but it rather depends on how the players behave.

There were a few minor squabbles (including a highly educative debate in which two players told each other to "shut up" in sequence!), but generally things started well. Having refereed Willoughby last term, I remembered their positive attitude to playing football and that returned today, as they tried to pass the ball on the very dodgy surface, and they had the better of the opening period. It was therefore a surprise when Cripps took a 15th minute lead after a defensive error. Willoughby's weak point is undoubtedly in defence, and set pieces caused them some trouble all match.

Willoughby kept plugging away, however, and got their reward with a 37th minute equaliser. It was shrouded in some controversy, however, as there were claims of offside. The ball was played forward, and the Cripps defenders pulled out, but too late to play the striker offside (in my view anyway). He couldn't put the ball in himself, but it fell to one of his teammates who eventually bundled it home. I wasn't sure whether the second player was offside - the linesman kept his flag down (sadly it wasn't Luke on that side!) - but I went over to check with him. He thought the first player might have been offside - but I was sure he wasn't - but confirmed that the second was onside, so on that basis I gave the goal. There wasn't any real complaint, so I think it was the right decision.

Cripps then went down to the other end and scored again just five minutes later. One defender did go down in the build-up but I thought he just slipped over (given the conditions - not a surprise!), a view confirmed by Luke when I blew for half-time a couple of minutes later. Once again, there was no complaint. I was satisfied with my contribution to the first half - I had generally dealt with everything well.

That theme continued into the second half, with Willoughby having the better of play (albeit marginally) - but struggling to find the back of the net. They did manage to equalise though in the 57th minute, again a rather scrappy goal, but they all count! The rest of the game was end-to-end, with both teams fighting for the winner through the last half-hour. Both teams had chances. My contribution was minimal - the players just got on with it. It was a real pleasure to referee. The question was - could anyone find a winner?

The goal - when it came - was unsurprisingly scrappy - in keeping with the previous goals. It was scored by Willoughby in the 90th minute after a free kick was floated in, and there was an almighty scramble. I was sure there were no fouls - and once again no Cripps players complained - they were just shattered and fell on the floor in disbelief. I played about three minutes of stoppage time, but Cripps couldn't force an equaliser - in fact they couldn't even create a clear chance on goal. I then brought to an end an entertaining encounter where the outcome was never certain - but I think the better team won in the end.

The most notable feature of the second half was that players kept going down with cramp. This was probably partly down to it being the first game back after Christmas, but mostly due to the boggy nature of the pitch - the centre circle was completely covered in mud. I'm delighted to say I never pulled up at all - which must say something for my fitness! Undoubtedly, I had a good game, and I don't think there was one player who didn't shake my hand at the end. Not every decision was right, but I kept my interventions to a minimum and let the players play. There was no real controversy - an ideal first game back after a couple of weeks break.

When I go to referee, that is the sort of game I want - where the players get on with the game and I can let them do so. There was virtually no dissent, unlike the previous night when I went to see a Nottingham Senior Cup match between Wollaton and Arnold Town. Wollaton finished with nine men after totally losing their discipline in the second half and picking up a string of yellow cards. I don't think the referee did hugely well, but he had no choice in dealing with their complaints with cards. Fortunately, in my match today, I didn't have to.