It was definitely not a Slow Train that whisked JCFC from Huddersfield to Chester le Street, which happily survived the Beeching cull, though it can be confirmed that "No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat" was totally accurate. From there the Angel 21 bus led to a small place previously only seen mentioned preceded by "Jack Elliott of," to watch
Saturday 5th September 2020
Northern League Division 2
Birtley Town 1 v 1 Washington
Simon Williamson (Northumberland); Andrew Vardy, Jack Whitfield.
Entry involved double hand sanitising, a temperature check and provision of a phone number. Before the match JCFC was approached by a friendly gentleman, who had, he claimed, given me his programme - at a place I had never heard of! The awful thought is that there must be some poor soul out there who has the misfortune to look like JCFC. He could be excused the confusion, however, having travelled from Nottinghamshire to watch Sunderland West End, only to find the game Covided off, and had had to take a taxi to reach Birtley. (He was last seen at the bus stop, waiting for a bus to Durham.)
Mr Williamson was of a fairly short, sensible build, with a sensible hairstyle to match. Young Mr Vardy's hair was of an appropriately Autumnal hue; the name Jack suggests either someone modishly young or a geriatric, but Mr Whitfield fitted neither description, nearer to the former, but some way beyond - or else having had a hard life. Both assistants went on to perform very well, with appropriate flags for fouls.
The match turned out to be less than inspiring. Birtley had an early half chance, but put it wide. Washington had a shot on 36 minutes that the keeper could only turn for a corner. The Birtley number 10 was shown a yellow card on 38 minutes. Just before half time the Birtley number 11 challenged for a ball in the area, with his foot raised above knee level, but went down in a collision with a defender. The whistle was blown, JCFC assumed for a defensive free-kick, but Mr Williamson, who obviously knows more about these things, pointed to the penalty spot. Washington players, however, shared JCFC's view , though their "head-high" claims were laughable. Birtley players had nothing to contribute, other than to wait and fire home the penalty to take the lead. Given the controversy, it was surprising that the assistants didn't sprint to be with their colleague at the half-time whistle, but they did manage to get there before the coaches had their say.
Washington had a great chance four minutes into the second half, but under little pressure headed wide from a corner. On 53 minutes, a late tackle drew a deserved yellow card for the Washington number 2 - or so JCFC thought, but twitter tells us that it was a sin-binning, so must have been for dissent. Washington's excellent equaliser came on 66 minutes, with the home defence failing to mark. There remained a header against the Washington post (anyone for Sousa?) and a block by a Birtley defender after his keeper had been drawn out of position. The closing minutes produced a further yellow - the Washington number 7 preventing a clearance by the loud Birtley keeper.
Overall it was not a match to remember and unfortunately Mr Williamson matched the general level. He showed a measure of political balance in his movement - generally Conservative, but occasionally Laboured. Perhaps lack of practice in recent months prevented JCFC from picking up the subtleties of his line, with there appearing to be a certain random element in the referee's triage. On the plus side, he displayed a sufficient level of authority to see matters to a satisfactory conclusion, without further difficulties despite the penalty decision. Refereeing on a par with the match, perhaps.
Home
Search
Contact
Login
Register