Game 8

The opening round of fixtures in the local Sunday league saw me looking after a clash between two teams promoted to the Premier Division at the end of last season.

I had set off in plenty of time but realised I had left my wallet containing my whistles, cards, pencils and coin sitting on the chair. A quick turnaround saw me arrive at the ground 15 minutes before kick off. I was changed and out on the field conducting the footwear/jewellery check within 7 minutes!

The game kicked off and the away team established a 2 goal lead after just 9 minutes. Before the game I had spoken to Perry Mason who had stopped off to watch then game. He apparently injured himself in training on Thursday and was struggling with a hamstring injury - not good as he has a FA Youth Cup game on Wednesday.

The home team scored a goal with less than 10 minutes of the first half left. The game rumbled through to half time and apart from having a chat after a couple of offences, I had little to do. The second half was only 55 seconds old when I issued the game's first caution and it was for a cynical foul. Soon afterwards I had to manage a blood wound (not the last one for today!) and the player wasn't happy at having to take time out of the game to deal with his injury. He was less impressed the second time I sent him to the touchline to get it sorted out and came close to getting a caution.

The home team scored their equaliser early in the second half and the away team were hanging on, enduring almost constant pressure. I then had a hotly disputed offside call in favour of the away team. The home centre forward pleaded with me that he hadn't been offside and then as the resulting free kick was being taken, he gave me a cheeky wink and admitted he had been trying it on. The spirit of Sunday football s alive!

With 15 minutes left, I heard the away team captain say that getting a point would be a good result and giving instructions to slow things down. When I pulled back an advantage that didn't accrue, the away team's centre half kicked the ball away and collected the game's second caution.

By this time, my blood wound person had committed a couple of fouls, so I took the opportunity to ask him to rein things in for the last few minutes. As time ran down, I was convinced it had work, then he jumped up at the goalkeeper who was kicking the ball out of his hands and blocked his kick. I gave him the caution he had earned and ended the game shortly afterwards. Calories 1524, max 95%, average 75%. Two down and one to go.