Game 14

This was a late pick up on Thursday when another official gave backword on his game. It was a Preliminary Round of the FA Women's Cup and Fat Lad was my Senior Assistant.

With this being a FA Competition we had led the team's out and completed the Respect programme handshake (as well as the pre-match meeting in our changing room). Just as happened this morning the first goal was scored from a kick from the penalty mark by the home side. The offending player spoke out once too often and earned the game's only caution. Her reaction told me that she believed was going to be dismissed, however I've heard worse in my time. The away side equalised before half time and the opinion in our changing room was that Extra Time was a distinct possibility.

This game was littered with stoppages for injured players and I think we had three dropped balls for this type of stoppage where the players injury appeared serious. Fat Lad and I were enjoying ourselves and Johnny Be Good on the other touchline had little to do. The second half saw the home side score another couple of goals to push themselves towards safety, then 8 minutes from the end we had a lengthy stoppage for a back injury to one of the away side.

The player said she had little or no feeling in her lower legs which concerned everyone and her coach took his time removing her from the field of play. She was later placed on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for assessment. I'm sure, with time, she'll make a good recovery. The home team added a late fourth goal to clinch the game. The 8 minutes of added time delayed Johnny Be Good's departure ... he was heading to work in Southampton straight after the game!

The away team had some good players but they were very young and I believe that if their 16 year old centre forward can get some shooting practice, then she'll be a fantastic prospect for the future. 1324 calories in total burned and that doesn't include the half time interval. First half average 75% with an 89% max and second half 88% max and a 69% average.