Game 59

This game was a strange one in that we were playing at the home of the away team as the home team's ground was not available because of a festival/tournament taking place there AND the game had been brought forward a week AND it was supposed to be Fat Lad's game.

I swapped phone calls with Fat Lad on the way to his game and with the signal dropping out repeatedly we spent most of our time shouting "Pay your bill!" a lot at each other. I arrived nice and early and wandered over to the cricket pavilion where I was getting changed.

This was the ground with the dirtiest shower in the league and when I checked it out before the game, it was even worse. I mentioned it to one of the club officials milling about and he told me it would be sorted out by the time we had finished. He was good to his word and the after game shower was pleasant, if a little cold/hot/cold depending on who was flushing their toilet in the same block!

The game itself was easy to control. A few switches of throw-ins because they were taken from the wrong place soon established control and throughout the game I had to have a chat to a couple of players. One had three chats and as a consequence he collected the game's only caution.

I stopped the game for what I thought was a head injury but it turned out the player had taken a knee in his back. Despite being less than 10 yards away with a side on view I hadn't seen that, so maybe I was a little too close.

The home team took the lead with a well worked goal that had the opposition player/manager twisting one way, then the other before he sprawled on the dry surface as the attacker passed the ball into the goal. His team's equaliser came from a shot just outside the penalty area which was deflected up and over the goalkeeper.

The away team then took the lead with an hour left with another well worked goal which saw play move left and right before a decisive strike into goal. The home team weren't about to lie down and a a free kick around 25 yards from goal deflected through the wall, was pushed by the goalkeeper (who thought he'd got it past the post) into the inside of the goal post.

Both teams had plenty of chances with both goalkeepers making brave saves. Both teams also had goal line clearances. The home team had a shout for a penalty, but I waved it away and we finished at 2-2. Calories 1336, avg hr 76% max hr 92%. This was my most enjoyable game all season and it was a pleasure to referee with both teams listening to me. Maybe it was something to do with me pulling on my Respect armband for the first time since I received it, maybe it was me running hard and fast to ensure I was close to play or maybe I'm beginning to get the hang of this management thing ... who knows?

So one down and three to go in my four in four spell ... bring on tomorrow ...