Mass con - missed kick

[Gabriel]

I was senior AR on a cup semi-final yesterday and it all kicked off just before 70 minutes right in front of me. Both sets of coaches and subs were on the pitch as well. My priority was actually getting out of the way as I was caught up in the middle of it by that point. As a result, between me and the ref, we missed a blatant kick by the sounds of it (but correctly identified a headbutt for red and then 2 easy yellows as well). It was annoying knowing I'd missed the kick when I found out afterwards but would everyone agree that moving out of the way should be the first priority? This is probably a stupid question to ask but it was just one of those. I was just glad when one side scored a winner with a minute left as well because this cup is one of the rare grassroots cups that still uses extra-time. Another 30 minutes could have been awful.

 

[Runner Ref]

Look after yourself. If players want to knock hell out of each other, that’s their choice.

Get out of the way and hope you catch someone doing something they shouldn’t. But a potentially 20+ person ‘brawl’ is nigh on impossible to correctly identify every bit of misconduct.

 

[Kent Ref]

I was senior AR on a cup semi-final yesterday and it all kicked off just before 70 minutes right in front of me. Both sets of coaches and subs were on the pitch as well. My priority was actually getting out of the way as I was caught up in the middle of it by that point. As a result, between me and the ref, we missed a blatant kick by the sounds of it (but correctly identified a headbutt for red and then 2 easy yellows as well). It was annoying knowing I'd missed the kick when I found out afterwards but would everyone agree that moving out of the way should be the first priority? This is probably a stupid question to ask but it was just one of those. I was just glad when one side scored a winner with a minute left as well because this cup is one of the rare grassroots cups that still uses extra-time. Another 30 minutes could have been awful.

You've done nothing wrong here.

Keep going mate.

 

[santa sangria]

Your own safety absolutely priority #1.

A smart prematch about mass cons will start with this. Own safety, avoid getting in the middle of players, stand back, look for numbers, if you are AR2 especially look for anyone coming a long way to get involved (like a GK 50 yd dash), if you are AR1 try to be proactive with benches if you can and prevent them getting involved. Generally form a triangle in theory, but AR1 is likely to be distracted/involved with benches, so AR2 is expected to enter the field smartly to take up a good position. Exceptions apply but that’s about what I have been briefed by smart refs so it’s what I use before a big/difficult match.

 

[Gabriel]

Thanks all. I did try and calm the benches down and then something happened when I was dealing with them which caused all TA occupants to rush on as well. Difficult one to deal with but I suppose we learn from every experience!