Game 21

This season is the first in which reserve sides of teams can compete in the County Cup even if their first teams compete in the same competition.

So today we had the unusual situation of Fat Lad looking after the senior team of a club and I had their second team. Both teams lost but the first team were unexpectedly beaten by a side I have in a few weeks in the Saturday Supply League Cup. They will be at home to the home team from Game 19 who regular readers will remember pulled off something of a shock result against some league high flyers last Saturday.

Back to today and it was a cold, damp afternoon when I reached the home ground. My car's engine has been overheating recently and the short jaunt up and across the M62 left me with a pungent burning smell inside the car. That was the least of my problems as the mystery virus/cold/cough from which I have been suffering made even my warm up a strenuous run around today. I extended it by a few minutes to make sure the muscles, which haven't benefited from training this week, were thoroughly warmed and ready to go.

It was a bit of a waste of time as I rarely got above a jog in this disappointing game. The away team were from the Old Boys league in my county where former pupils of various educational institutions have football (and I believe rugby union) teams who play football the way that the Respect programme wants everyone to play, i.e. with respect for the officials and opponents. The league thrives with 88 teams competing in 7 divisions.

Today's away team play in the top division and sit in 4th place whereas the home team sit at the foot of the local town league. The away captain amused me by pleading ignorance over the County's recent directive concerning jewellery and sought to play with a decorative ring still on his finger. Once I explained, he was fine about it (and the ring spent the game on the touchline).

The game started quietly enough and 3 goals to the away team in the first 26 minutes killed the game off as a competition. I had noticed the away team taking their time at restarts and had a word with the captain about whether they always played that way. He gave me a wistful look, so when their goalkeeper re-positioned the ball before kicking it, for the second goal kick in succession, I decided he had done enough for a caution. It might appear cheap but from then on his team moved a lot more quickly at restarts.

The second half was a much more eventful affair with a goal by the away team resulting from a deflection (at 35 yards out) up into the air by a defender which looped up and over his own goalkeeper which gave the away team their 5th goal. The away goalkeeper also managed to punch the ball into his own goal after it had been crossed from a corner kick. We also had a flurry of substitutions and one player decided to use the time to leave the field of play for a drink. He didn't look happy when I asked him to wait before re-entering the field. His manager knew what I was doing and acknowledged my common sense approach.

The game finished 7-1 to the away team. I filled up my radiator with the spare 1.5l of water I have taken to carrying with me. I burned 1468 calories much of which was due to jogging around with a high temperature for the whole of the second half of the game. Hr 94% max with a 79% average ... note to self ... do not referee while ill!