Game 61

The day started with a 5 hour round trip to my wife's parents as a result of my car being kaput!. She and my son were supposed to head down there leaving me behind at home with my own car, but since that blew up, I had to take her there and get back in time for my evening kick off.

On arriving at the ground the place was deserted except for gangs of small children whose parents were enjoying a quiet drink at the neighbouring cricket club. Even the home chairman greeted me with, "Someone's keen!" With no one around I proceeded to go through my pre-match routine, all the while conscious that someone would soon ask me if we could kick off early. The request came as expected and I agreed as long as I could complete everything I needed to do. Little did I know just how busy I was going to be before the night was over!

During the footwear check I noted that one player had a broken blade on the heel on one boot. I explained that he couldn't start the game wearing that boot as I regarded it as a safety risk to other players. He began to argue but was shouted down by his team mates. He managed to change his boots and we kicked off just a couple of minutes early.

The game had just gotten going when a noticed a player who was bleeding from a knee wound. I dispatched him to the touchline to get it cleaned up and patched up. He returned a few minutes later to the touchline, showing me that the wound was clean and covered, so I got him back into the game.

Shortly after this, two players from the same team challenged for the ball and both went to ground holding their heads/faces. I stopped the game and got the trainer on to have a look at them. It seemed that one had headed the other's mouth in the act of heading the ball. In doing so he cracked his team mate's tooth and picked up a 1 inch gash in his forehead. Again I got him patched up and back in the game. We restarted with a drop ball and everyone was happy. He told me afterwards that his dad, a refereeing colleague, had been watching from the touchline and laughing at everything that was going on.

The ball was played through by the home team, the shot on goal spun up and away from the goalkeeper and crossed the line just as a defender swept his leg at the ball to kick it away from the goal. I was about 25 yards away from goal but convinced the ball had crossed the line so signalled a goal. The defence protested but I waved their protests away.

We had the first corner in the 25th minute and as the ball was played across I spotted the home goalkeeper with an away attacker, giving him a double handed push in the back. The kick from the penalty mark was scored and we headed into the last 10 minutes of the first half at 1-1. So far, so good and the legs were keeping up with the game.

Then a close call for offside and I shouted to play on. The away team complained but not a lot, and had little grounds to do so as their offside trap was more than a little ragged. The player ran on and slotted the ball past the away goalkeeper to take the score to 2-1. I asked the away captain to speak to one of his midfielders at half time as he had been arguing against a few decisions. He did so and the player apologised before we kicked off the second half.

Another clash of heads occurred in the second half and I had another drop ball restart. This one was contested, which is something of a rarity, and the players were again happy. I had to disallow a goal as the player who scored the goal played the ball into the goal with his arm. On a harsher day I might have considered a caution but as he was the only person on his team who wasn't celebrating the goal, I knew that he wasn't trying to deceive me or his opponents. He had a wry grin on his face when I talked to him about it.

The next major event was an unpleasant one as I had to have words with a club official who strongly objected to the awarding of a throw in. I also had to speak to the home Club Assistant as his signals were erratic and his support a little hit and miss. He got better from then until the final whistle.

Shortly after that a player attempted to play a high ball but managed to kick an opponent in the eye instead, splitting his lower eye lid, leaving a 1 inch gash. He, as with the others, got patched up and back in the game. And that brought the excitement to an end, well almost. I had to caution the away team captain for deliberately breaking up a promising attack by the home team by handling the ball. Another player disagreed with my decision to award a free kick against his team and his strongly worded vocal outburst got him a caution as well.

We finished at 2-1 to the home team, 1338 calories burned, average hr 79%, max hr 92%. It felt like a harder work out but only in the last 10 minutes did I feel the pace of three games in three days. Just one more to go to complete my four in four. I'm looking forward to the rest ...

P.S. there is now a puddle around my right foot where my ice pack for my hamstring and knee has melted. It's just a precaution and will improve my recovery time. Now it's time for bed, ready for my very early start in the morning (6 a.m. at work!)