On a mild, drizzly evening, I ventured out of London to take in a First Round replay in the new town of Stevenage.
First time I’ve been to this ground and there was a nice, friendly atmosphere and helpful staff. And what a game I witnessed. Everyone loves a bit of late drama and we certainly had that tonight.
The much maligned Alan Young was the referee and it’s the first time I’ve seen him in action live, so I decided to form my own opinion of his officiating.
He was kept very busy throughout the 120 minutes. Two early cautions for MK Dons players for cynical fouls set the tone and then a massive home penalty shout, which to be fair I didn’t get a great view of, so can’t offer an opinion.
The half progressed along relatively serenely, MK Dons taking the lead from a corner and then the game came to life when there was a schmozzle in the centre circle and out came Alan Young’s red card. With most of the players around him, it was hard to see what it was for, the gesture he made to a questioning MK Dons player as they came off at half time indicated violent conduct for one of their players.
More yellow cards abounded (9 in all, 7 to MK Dons) in the second half, along with a few penalty shouts for MK Dons, one of which was a handball which can hardly be construed as deliberate as the ball struck the Stevenage player from about a foot away. Correct call not to award a penalty.
Mr. Young was being back chatted at most opportunities by the MK Dons players and a couple were lucky not to see further action for their dissent. The referee attempted to manage it which can be counterproductive.
Stevenage equalised in the second half and so we went into extra time. 121 minutes on the clock and a Stevenage player collected a through ball, ran into the penalty area where he was quite palpably brought down by a last ditch foul. In my opinion, he was the last man and should have got a straight red, but Alan Young decided it was a caution, and that was the player’s second, so MK Dons were down to 9 men.
The crowd were on tenterhooks as the Stevenage player took the penalty and it was slotted home to the joy of the home crowd. Then a couple more minutes were played and Stevenage had edged an exciting and feisty replay by 2-1.
After the drudgery of watching England batter San Marino yesterday, this was football in the raw, blood and thunder and full of incident for the entire game. As a neutral, it was enthralling viewing.
Now onto Alan Young. He has had a bad press on this forum, but in truth, I speak as I find and he wasn’t too bad. Not outstandingly brilliant, but not dreadful either. Whereas he has been accused of losing control before tonight, this time round he kept control all the way through. Very good fitness and positioning, though for the last minute penalty, he got the nod from his better placed assistant.
And may I add, after his time keeping faux pas the other week, no problem this time round. Cracking evening, and the FA Cup is still the best competition in world sport.