A&H

Open Age Boring Matches

Anthony

Anthony

Active Member
Level 5 Referee
Had two matches this weekend, no cautions, no FT's worth mentioning, no dissent worthy of the name, handshakes all round after the whistle, genuine thanks from the managers, some healthy post match debate over a few decisions. I guess I should be grateful but how can I say this - I was bored bored bored. The teams playing were not of a great standard so that did not provide me with a distraction. I actually had to hold back from blowing my whistle over minor infringements just to give me something to do. I nearly took exception to a a very minor comment from a player about me reacting to the opposition asking for fouls.
I had to keep telling myself to stay alert in case an incident occurred and I might miss it but nothing even close happened.
Got the chance to practice a few positioning techniques I had read about on here but by the last 10 mins I was finding it difficult to move far beyond the half way line in either direction.

Yawn!
 
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Russell Jones said:
From the man who usually wants the rules of the game followed to the letter ... ;)
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Yes, Russell, but given that so many decisions during a game are subjective, was it a foul, wasn't it a foul, etc, not to mention how irritating you could make those whistle blasts sound, i suspect that it would be very easy to liven up a dull game whilst staying firmly within the lotg
 
haywain said:
Yes, Russell, but given that so many decisions during a game are subjective, was it a foul, wasn't it a foul, etc, not to mention how irritating you could make those whistle blasts sound, i suspect that it would be very easy to liven up a dull game whilst staying firmly within the lotg
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+1
 
DanCohen17 said:
Laws ;)
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Dan, that'll teach me not to post late at night after a couple of bevvies :). Or actually, it probably won't!

And Haywain, you're absolutely right about the whistle blast .. the perfect way to get your own back on a player who's being irritating in a non dissenting kind of way!
 
Russell Jones said:
a player who's being irritating in a non dissenting kind of way!
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I had one of those on Sunday. I think you're supposed to pull them to one side, remind them that they are playing, you are reffing and that you don't want to hear their opinion on every play (next time they say, 'we'll have a foul for that', 'which one are you going to give us', 'that's a foul throw', etc, etc, etc and you don't agree, you caution for what is, effectively, dissent)

I haven't followed my own advice yet but certainly intend to, if I can only remember to do so in the heat of the game :)
 
I've learnt the hard way that 'boring' games, especially one-sided ones, can turn at the drop of a hat. My second open age game, not applying enough common sense in my decisions, thinking I was right on top of it all and the entire thing just erupted off one card (correct by the LOTG but silly depending on the context of the match and level we were playing at). It can come from absolutely no where, but live and learn.

I had a bit of a lull in my game this Sunday, good natured physical game but played in pretty much the right spirit, and found myself thinking 'this is easy!'...immediately told myself to snap out of it and to work harder to keep on top of everything. Sure enough, two minutes later, penalty for handball which I was only able to see because I was working hard enough to try and be in a good position to make my calls credible. Penalty scored and the team then go on to level the match at the death. Dull & boring turned into a great game just like that!
 
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