Relegated to the second match this week after my late arrival last week - fair enough!
Due to incidents of swine flu across the football community this week, I used a brand new whistle (did you notice the new tone?)
First match was a tight game well refereed by our visitors. Light on incident, well controlled and set a really good tone for me to follow. It was good to see him ask for a thrown in to be re-taken for encroaching onto the field of play (has he been reading my blogs??)
It was great to have our ref from last week discreetly positioned on the far side of play from the other parents this week. When I did spot him - he gave me the unofficial finger helping me with two thrown in decisions - these are always helpful little clues from the touchline - sorry that on both occassions I went the other way Matt! Still, goes to prove therefereesdecisionisfinal!
Throw in's were much better this week. I had one retaken. Just one lace tie incident per team.
The longest delay today (just over a minute added to the stop watch) was for a parents feeble attempt to get the ball out of a nasty hawthorn (scared by a bush on Halloween!) rather than risk a cut, instead waiting for the smallest spectator to retreive the ball!
Parents do seem a little reluctant to help the kids when the ball goes down the bank or into the car park after missed shots. With a slighty wet surface, it would be great to see one of you slide down the hill and give us a chuckle!
I was able to play a number of advantage rules this week thanks to the bravery and sportsmanship of the players. A small number of late tackles and shirt pulls were not greeted by yelps and dives, instead by players brushing themselves down and getting straight back into the game - it really does make a difference to enable the game to flow, and is how it should be. Well done to you all.
Only one minor piece of dissent this week - after I gave a freekick, my decision was challenged by a forward with arms fully stretched and a "what, that was not a free kick ref". It was immediately followed by the coaches immortal words. "Button it (name), the refereesdecisionisfinal!! So it's catching on then.
Happy Halloween. Your man in black.
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