Game 9

And the conclusion of the weekend came in the form of a FA Women's Premier League Northern Division game, on the line for Jane with Peter on the opposite touchline.

The game was only 40 seconds old when I saw a foul only 15 yards in front of me AND inside the penalty area. As I flagged, Jane blew her whistle to stop play and she pointed to the mark. She admitted that when I didn't complete the signal, she thought she'd gotten it wrong and only relaxed when I ran in to my position on the goal line - 1-0 to the away team.

There was little else to talk about except that Jane missed me on one offside flag and I had another couple of close calls, but the quality of the game was poor. The second half started almost as explosively as the first did as the home team equalised with a driven shot that passed through the goalkeeper's hands. The ball had been crossed from a corner, taken at the second attempt as I had spoken to the player taking the kick on the first attempt and then flagged to Jane as the ball was being placed outside the quadrant.

For around 20 minutes the game livened up and we saw some good football from both sides as substitutions from both teams had the desired effect. The away team then killed the game with two quick goals. A fourth was ruled offside despite Peter not raising his flag. Jane explained afterwards there had been a slight touch from an attacker that Peter couldn't have seen from his position. The away team added a fourth and fifth goal to bring the scoring to a close.

The only other incident was a second blood wound of the day. The player argued about it and when Jane came over, she took a firm line with the player. The game petered out and the home manager showed his frustration by punching the dug out at the final whistle. First time I'd been out with Jane and I thought she did a great job. There's a chance I'll be on her line in my Supply League later in the season. Calories 1295, max hr 86%, average 65%. Time to put my feet up and enjoy some of my wife's home made blackberry crumble!!!