Had my first two matches in the middle today.
First was an u12s match, CARs and ended 3-3. Nothing much happened in the match, very little fouls. It got a bit scrappy at times but very rarely was anything a bad tackle / careless. Both of the CARs were good and helped with in/out of play and off sides. One thing of note during the match, an away player went down and was upset, the home team had the ball and despite calls to put out of play didn't do that. They then lost possession and the away team got the ball (child still down and calls to put it out of play) went forward and scored. There weren't any complaints but I heard a few home team players mention the calls to put it out of play.
Straight after the above I had a surprise OA county cup game (their ref hadn't turned up) again playing with CARs. Immediately I notice the more vocal aspect of OA. Early on each team questioned offsides from the CARs so I decided to get a wider angle which would help calling offsides. The questioning against offsides died down but one team began to question how far I was away from the decisions I was giving. I felt like I got the right but due to the wide angle I was a little further away than I would have liked. This was evident in a PK I gave against the home team, the defender fouled the attacker close to the goal line, I was on the other side of the box and the home team questioned how I gave it from there - I'm very sure it's a penalty. After this there wasn't too much of note, a 50/50 where the keeper got injured, again home team briefly questioned why it wasn't a free kick but there it was just normal play for me. The home team also questioned me not giving them a few free kicks and claimed I wasn't looking, I had seen them all and there was very little in them. The only caution was for a reckless tackle from a home team defender towards the end of the match. The home team questioned me not giving them offsides later in the match, but their CAR was going mental at them for playing so deep and saying they were obviously on side so that definitely helped.
At the end of the match the away team won 6-1. They were very thankful for helping them out today. A few of the home team shook my hand.
I didn't give any cards for dissent as I felt like nothing crossed the line, although they were questioning a few calls.
A few notes I made was that maybe I could have dealt with the questioning of calls better to stop it. I also said maybe I was too lenient and by being so risked tougher tackles. Also I feel like it highlighted that I needed to be closer to play, which was tiring when also trying to get wide.
First was an u12s match, CARs and ended 3-3. Nothing much happened in the match, very little fouls. It got a bit scrappy at times but very rarely was anything a bad tackle / careless. Both of the CARs were good and helped with in/out of play and off sides. One thing of note during the match, an away player went down and was upset, the home team had the ball and despite calls to put out of play didn't do that. They then lost possession and the away team got the ball (child still down and calls to put it out of play) went forward and scored. There weren't any complaints but I heard a few home team players mention the calls to put it out of play.
Straight after the above I had a surprise OA county cup game (their ref hadn't turned up) again playing with CARs. Immediately I notice the more vocal aspect of OA. Early on each team questioned offsides from the CARs so I decided to get a wider angle which would help calling offsides. The questioning against offsides died down but one team began to question how far I was away from the decisions I was giving. I felt like I got the right but due to the wide angle I was a little further away than I would have liked. This was evident in a PK I gave against the home team, the defender fouled the attacker close to the goal line, I was on the other side of the box and the home team questioned how I gave it from there - I'm very sure it's a penalty. After this there wasn't too much of note, a 50/50 where the keeper got injured, again home team briefly questioned why it wasn't a free kick but there it was just normal play for me. The home team also questioned me not giving them a few free kicks and claimed I wasn't looking, I had seen them all and there was very little in them. The only caution was for a reckless tackle from a home team defender towards the end of the match. The home team questioned me not giving them offsides later in the match, but their CAR was going mental at them for playing so deep and saying they were obviously on side so that definitely helped.
At the end of the match the away team won 6-1. They were very thankful for helping them out today. A few of the home team shook my hand.
I didn't give any cards for dissent as I felt like nothing crossed the line, although they were questioning a few calls.
A few notes I made was that maybe I could have dealt with the questioning of calls better to stop it. I also said maybe I was too lenient and by being so risked tougher tackles. Also I feel like it highlighted that I needed to be closer to play, which was tiring when also trying to get wide.