Chuffin hell A few incidents that come to mind: Hourihane (who can go down if someone looks at him funny to be fair) is clearly taken out with a challenge round his knees when running forward during the first half. No foul. United break forward, almost score, get a corner. Wild shot from Utd in second half, ball goes through the crowded penalty are, doesn't touch anyone and crosses the dead ball line half way between the goal and the corner flag. Ref has a think about things for a couple of seconds and decides he'll spice things up a bit by awarding a corner. Dudgeon makes a perfect tackle on JCR on the byline. Hard but clearly wins the ball. The kind of tackle we've been screaming at our full backs to commit to all season. Linesman flags for a foul. Ref doesn't see it, but before he's even spoken to assistant he's got the yellow card out and books Dudgeon. Our full back, up against one of the most skilful players on the pitch, is now on a caution despite the fact that he hasn't committed a single foul all game. Dudgeon is taken out by a clear foul from a frustrated Utd forward. Much worse than the tackle Dudgeon is booked for. The ref sees this one but never even thinks about booking him. Berry burst forward late in the game. He's taken out at waste height just as he's about to power in to the box. No foul. I've seen some incompetent performances from referees over the years and this one was right up there with the worst. For 10 minutes in the second half he actually changed allegiances and started giving us freekicks for fouls that never were. But he got bored of that and went back to supporting the home side. Hope the assessor has a field day with him.
Third tier mate. Third tier refs. They'll all have rough games and ropey moments, just as our players might not always pull trees up. Be careful what you wish for though - Last time we were at this level we wanted better refs, got one for a derby against donny - they sent us 'Premier League' Uriah Rennie. Worked out well.
The standard of refereeing we see all too often is appalling. There will never be any 'respect' until they get the basics right. I don't expect perfection, they're human afterall, but I do expect fairness, competence, consistency and for them not to take centre stage. Is it too much to ask for?
I don't normally pay attention to the names of the referees - I could count the referees that I can name from the top of my head with my left hand fingers (even if I had a finger or two amputated) - but I've heard of Scott Mathieson on many occasions before so he must be fairly respected and well rated. Or just notoriously bad perhaps?
Txts between me and Roy yesterday: Roy - "How we doing, pal?" Me - "50/50, ***** game, refs a blunt" 30 minutes later.... Me - "1-0 us" Roy - "who scored pal?" Me- "no idea" Roy - "Winnall mate"
On his performance throughout the game I was surprised, although it wasn't one in a million years, that he didn't penalise Ross Turnbull when he saved at the feet of a Utd player. I could well imagine him giving a penalty booking Turnbull then sent him off having already booked him for time wasting.
Dreadful ref. sure he's had a few disasters against us. Down there with Darren Deadman and Trevor Kettle.
