Mick.
RefChat Addict
After the wet weather and injury I finally managed to get my sixth game in yesterday. I was still carrying the injury (pulled calf) so was not up to full fitness but was able to pretty much keep up with most of the play. The field was a bit boggy and soon got churned up once the play started which meant a lot of players slipping over or otherwise losing their footing. Needless to say that every time a player went down there were calls for a foul. I have to admit that foul recognition is something I do not think I am consistant with. Some stuff that I would have given as a foul a few weeks ago (when both sides would look at me as if I were mad) I am not giving now and the players are calling for a foul. Nearly every header results in a call of "in his back ref" despite the fact that invariably the offending player is just holding his ground. Sometimes they put an arm or hand up to stop the jumping player backing into them but I dont see that as a foul. They are merely holding their ground. Am I wrong? There was a sliding tackle from some way out yesterday and the player got the ball. The tackled player then fell over the tackler. I thought it was a fair challenge and shouted down the calls for foul, saying "nothing wrong with that, carry on." I heard one player ask another what players had to do to get a foul. When I hear things like that I do wonder if my foul recognition isn't what it could be. I wasn't much helped by a club linesman who wavered in his offside flagging and I was not convinced that the player was offside. When I didn't whistle the defending team went mad. The attacker stopped (presuming he was offside) and turned back to his own team. The defenders then took the ball and began a counter attack. I just shouted as loud as I could, "play the whistle". Needless to say I got a bit of back chat from a defender about the offside calls. Stepped approach used and words of advice given.
A last minute goal (literally in the last minute) was scored by the home team. It dribbled under a mis-timed dive by the goalie. Really poor goal keeping. Needless to say, after the game the losing side were muttering about the appalling reffing. I was so tempted to remind them that their rubbish goalie let the goal in, not me. The only hand-shake I got from the losers was from the captain.
Oh well. Good days and bad days. I would be grateful if anyone has any video links or tips on foul recognition. It would be a big help.
A last minute goal (literally in the last minute) was scored by the home team. It dribbled under a mis-timed dive by the goalie. Really poor goal keeping. Needless to say, after the game the losing side were muttering about the appalling reffing. I was so tempted to remind them that their rubbish goalie let the goal in, not me. The only hand-shake I got from the losers was from the captain.
Oh well. Good days and bad days. I would be grateful if anyone has any video links or tips on foul recognition. It would be a big help.