The Broadgate Park captain invited me to referee their game today, so I was in the unusual situation of heading down to Grove Farm knowing which match I'd be doing! Their opponents were Lenton & Wortley; Luke meanwhile went off to referee Cripps vs Ancaster, which Ancaster went on to win 3-2.
The game was pretty unremarkable to be fair. The first half was scrappy, and devoid of quality and chances - a dogged midfield battle for the most part. I didn't have a lot to do, my only real intervention of note being to penalise the Lenton goalkeeper for handling outside his area in the early stages. He lost control of the ball and grabbed it from over the line - it was a free kick and no more. As Lenton lined up a corner just before half-time, I reflected on how the game needed a goal. It duly got one, as the ball was cleared and then swung back across to be met by a volley at the far post. It was a rare moment of quality two minutes before the break. The score remained 1-0 as I blew for half-time a couple of minutes later.
Broadgate's heads seemed to drop a little, and defence wasn't their strongpoint. About 10 minutes after the restart, the defender left it for the keeper who wasn't near enough to it, and a Lenton forward stole in and slotted it home to make their lead 2-0. Although Broadgate had some pressure throughout the remainder of the second half, including some set pieces, Lenton's defence kept them out and they never really looked like getting back into the game. This was disappointing, as they had played so well in the Cup games at the end of last term, seeing them through to the final which I believe is next week. In the end, Lenton added a third goal in the last 10 minutes to seal a fairly routine and well deserved win.
It wasn't the most testing of games from my perspective, nor the most exciting, and I just tried to do the job as efficiently as I could. I did make a few errors, but there were no real big decisions to make, and the game passed off without any real controversy. I tried to communicate with the players, keep my interventions to a minimum and let them get on with it as usual, and I think I was pretty successful in doing so. I am probably refereeing as well as I have done throughout my time here in Nottingham, and I'm glad I have felt I've been improving over time. As I carry on through to the end of the season, I hope my good run of form can continue!
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