My busy week of football continued with two matches this afternoon! The second I had known about for several weeks but the first was thrust upon me only some 24 hours before. In this piece, I shall describe both, and they were somewhat different.
The first was the 'Jubilee Cup' game between Newark Hall and Southwell Hall. Like any neighbouring halls, they share something of a rivalry and this week a whole range of sporting events were taking place between them to contest the Jubilee Cup, with this afternoon's football match being one of them. The game also pitted the winners of the IMS Cup against the winners of the Plate, so both teams must surely have had good seasons.
Of course, that's not to say it would be an easy afternoon for me. Local derbies can be volatile, so I figured I might need my wits about me. Early on, things started pretty well though - some nice easy fouls and nothing controversial. The main moment of controversy came about 20 minutes in - with a pivotal decision. As a Southwell forward was heading into the area his shirt appeared to be pulled and he went down. He was bearing down on goal, so any foul should really lead to a sending off in that situation. I had to make an instant judgement, and went for the grass-cutter to wave the claim away. Why? Well, its a decision you see given sometimes, but equally you often don't. I went with my gut reaction - it certainly wasn't a stonewall penalty. Had it been on TV, some pundits would have lambasted me for not giving it - others would have been equally critical if I had. I don't think I could really win either way. The benefit of the doubt went to the defence, and I am happy with the decision. Southwell weren't though, and when I refused them a free kick on the edge of their own area some minutes later, after which Newark then hit the post, they weren't impressed. Newark did take the lead in the 32nd minute, and thats how it stayed at half-time.
The second half saw the game open up more, and as the half got going I sensed my interventions were being needed less and I was able to start playing advantage more. Newark went through a period midway through the half where they thought I wasn't giving them anything too, so I clearly wasn't being biased! In the end, they proved too strong for Southwell, adding a second in the 72nd minute with a looping header and then two further goals in the last five minutes to add a gloss to the scoreline which didn't really reflect a competitive game between two fairly well-matched teams. The difference was perhaps that Newark created more chances - the Newark keeper didn't really have a difficult save to make and, although Southwell hit the post in the second half, that was about it. The better team won.
The game could have been more difficult for me than it was. Opinion will be divided on the penalty claim - I'm happy with how I saw it - but putting that to one side I think that otherwise I did well. I probably got a few of the basic decisions wrong at times (there seemed a period in the second half where I made a few bizarre calls perhaps) but I kept the game under control without showing a card. I let the tackles come in, I let the players be physical and didn't make it stop-start, trying to keep it flowing, particularly in the second half where the game opened up more. You often sense how games change in mood when you referee them, and I sensed as the game wore on that I could take more chances and let things go a little more. Altogether, a good afternoon's work.
I then had just under an hour to relax before my next game. This one was between the Geography Society (students) and Geography lecturers. I gathered that this game is an annual fixture, and indeed the lecturers were resplendent in their own sky blue kit! They had some younger players (perhaps PhD students) but some of them were getting on, and so they were allowed to play with 12 men and the game was restricted to two 30-minute halves.
I wondered if I would run out of space for all the goals on my sheet, but it wasn't like that at all. Having had a debatable penalty decision in my first game, I then had an obvious one in this game as a GeogSoc forward was unceremoniously tripped by a defender in the area. The penalty was scored. However, the lecturers went almost straight up the other end and equalised! 1-1, and it was something of a surprise. The game was a far more relaxed affair than the previous one, with less tension, although some of the tackles weren't particularly well-timed. When another lecturer tripped a GeogSoc forward in the area before half time, I had no choice but to point to the spot again! This time, however, the penalty was hit against the post. 1-1 at half time then.
Into the second half, and the students gradually began to control the game. They went ahead thanks to a beautifully headed own goal in the 35th minute, added a third in the 47th (despite claims of offside - as I had no linesman I gave the goal even though the claims were probably justified), and later added another two. I then ruled out a goal for offside at the end, although apparently the ball came off a defender this time - although the forward was definitely in an offside position! It just shows how difficult it is to spot these things when you have no assistants - with so many players and so many things to watch you can't have you're eyes in that many places at once. The only other incident of note was a bad tackle by a lecturer who came right through poor Jamie. I should have booked him for it - perhaps I was sympathetic somehow to the 'age thing', but I gave him a yellow when he committed another foul later on - to the joy of both the students and his colleagues on the touchline!
In the end, the socreline of 5-1 to GeogSoc appears comfortable but it doesn't really tell the whole story. The better team clearly won, but it was closer than that for a long while - as the game wore on, tiredness got to the lecturers and they made more mistakes. The game was great fun to referee, and the lecturers claimed for the most ludicrous decisions at times! In the end, despite having been worried about potential problems in my earlier game, the only yellow card came in the second encounter!
And that may well be that. I don't now have any more matches left at this stage - whether I'll receive any more invitations over the course of the next week or so remains to be seen. But it could well be that I have now bowed out of refereeing football here at Nottingham. I won't get all emotional about that now though - I'll save that for my end-of-season review!
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