Game 63

I don't like refereeing when it's windy, I don't like refereeing when the ground is too hard and I've forgotten to pack my trainers and I don't like refereeing when it's sunny.

I got all three today and with my knee still showing the wear and tear from four games in four days last weekend, I knew I was going to have to work extra hard on my man management to stop my own frustration spoiling my work with the players. During my warm up I found a rabbit hole close to one of the touchlines and we had a little wait while the home team sorted that out.

I'm sure the away team's defence wish they could have climbed down that hole and hidden after the first 25 minutes. They were 3-0 down, one of their players had been cautioned for a nasty late challenge and their best centre half had been substituted as he was injured. In between times I had been obliged to have some harsh words with their left back for arguing with the team captain and it was only a matter of time before their attention turned to me.

It did just before half time when the captain went to ground holding his head. Now I will admit I didn't think he was injured and played on. I genuinely thought, from my position less than 10 yards away, there had been no contact and he was trying to get a free kick to give his team some breathing space. The manager who was doubling up as the physio gave me a piece of his mind when he entered the field to assess the player.

In fact I had to ask him three times to attend to the player instead of berating me! The player eventually got back on his feet and continued until substituted late in the second half. All throughout that time he told me he didn't know where he was. I'm not sure how true this was as I scored a goal with a scorching low drive from 35 yards, so I don't know what to believe!

At half time it was 4-0 to the home team, the away team had nothing to offer and I had one caution (described above). The second half was very different as both teams tried to play the offside trap and close calls were the order of the day. The away team scored 3 goals but the home team added a 5th of their own to make the score reflective of possession and play.

I added another couple of cautions, both for the away team. Both were for verbal comments, had a full complement of substitutions and ran myself silly when things got a little heated (from my sunburn!!!).

Score finished at 5-3, 3 cautions all for the away team, 5 minutes added time, 1286 calories, average hr 76%, max hr 91%