Wonder why I bother sometimes!

[Matthew]

So, there's no defending the subsequent series of actions, but I think this is your problem. If you allow an early incident of misconduct to go unpunished, when it was a nailed-on misconduct, then you're asking for trouble. There really is no "aside from that" when it comes to failing to take an early opportunity to take control and show that you're interested in defending the safety of the players.

Agree with the general point here, but I didn't say that I let nailed-on misconduct go? I'd never do that in any type of game. This was a challenge that fell between careless and reckless and, given that it was the first challenge of any real note and there had been nothing to suggest that the game was going to be particularly feisty, I didn't deem it worthy of a caution at the time. If I was to ref that particular team again I would definitely caution that early challenge, but for other teams/matches? As always that would come down to the temperature of the game etc.

 

[JBeil]

Thanks, as always, to everyone for the helpful and supportive replies.

Obviously easier with hindsight, but I think it's pretty clear that I should have found a way to deal with the half time behaviour. Even now I'm not sure how I'd have gone about that being on my own with no assistants, but one to consider for the future. I've flagged this behaviour (as well as a few other bits) to the league's safeguarding officer.

Also noted on the half time drinks point. I'm usually pretty limited in terms of where I can go as I try not to set myself up on the parents' side of the pitch, but grabbing my drink and heading back into the middle is a good idea.

It's often the way that there's an early decision that we 'let go' because we don't want to escalate things too quickly, and then find that we lose control. In the first ten minutes, I've found being sympathetic isn't going to help - for the good of the rest of the match, long-term, I'll be a stickler for the rules at the start, and then as the teams settle into the game and understand what I'm prepared to tolerate, I can loosen up just a little.

Regarding half-time, there's not a lot, but a word to the captain on the pitch that you heard what the coach heard and will be watching is probably the best you can do. Otherwise, if they do something daft, you get the cards out, and when the coach whines you can repeat back to him what he said. He can't blame you if he's already warned you he wants his players to be violent, and then they get sanctioned for being violent!

 

[GraemeS]

Agree with the general point here, but I didn't say that I let nailed-on misconduct go? I'd never do that in any type of game. This was a challenge that fell between careless and reckless and, given that it was the first challenge of any real note and there had been nothing to suggest that the game was going to be particularly feisty, I didn't deem it worthy of a caution at the time. If I was to ref that particular team again I would definitely caution that early challenge, but for other teams/matches? As always that would come down to the temperature of the game etc.

Did you just give the foul and move on, or did you take the opportunity to lay down the law and draw the line? It reads like the former, but not giving the yellow is far more justifiable, possibly even more effective if it sends a message regardless.

 

[Matthew]

Did you just give the foul and move on, or did you take the opportunity to lay down the law and draw the line? It reads like the former, but not giving the yellow is far more justifiable, possibly even more effective if it sends a message regardless.

Called the player over and explained that the challenge was careless, bordering on reckless, and that he needed to be more careful when challenging for the ball.