Saturday took me to Arnold for their league game vs Hallam. When we got to the ground I was surprised at the pitch.  It was very heavy and while not in doubt it didn’t need a down pour.  To be fair to Arnold though they had one more league game after this before they move to their new ground up the road.
This did mean the touchline I had was very heavy but I didn’t make life easy for myself as I could really have done with my long stud’s but didn’t think after the last couple of weeks it would be quite so bad. Â Bad preparation!
The conditions didn’t really allow for a great game to be played, however both teams gave it a decent shout. Â One thing that did stand out was that I don’t think ive given so many offsides in a game for a long time. Were not talking close active/inactive offsides here but yards off.
However you can guarantee the one that leads to a goal wont be a simple one.  Hallam were on the attack played the ball through and player in an offside position is not active, he stands his ground does not move for the ball so play continuities. Goes to a team mate who runs 30-40 yards down the pitch puts the pass in……………to the non active player.
Now I’m sympathetic to the players but play has moved onto to the next phase of play. I get some dissent from the defenders, nothing major though. However the technical area were supportive and had no issues.  Hallam scored a 2nd just after half time to win 2-0
To be fair there has been a lot of talk this around respecting Referee’s. The Arnold technical area were one of the best ive come across for a long time.  A couple of decisions I gave I expected some comments, and when I flagged for an offside against an Arnold player and he questioned it. They said to him from their position he looked offside.
Next game is Rocester vs Strattford in the MFA on Saturday.
