RateTheRef

One of the drawbacks of the apparent Westward move of this neck of the woods is that, unlike the excellent NCEFL, the NWCFL does not publish details of its match official appointments. The investment in a programme was of no assistance, as they followed the League's code of secrecy. No teamsheet was posted and there was no PA. Fortunately, over the hill rode a knight in shining armour, in the form of one of the most experienced local referees, who is a fount of all knowledge. So it was that I was able to settle to watch

Tuesday 3rd August 2021
NWCFL Division 1 North
Campion   2   v   3   Golcar United
Ian Claridge (Lancashire); John Hislop, Declan O'Regan.

Campion applied the early pressure, but Golcar soon responded, creating two good shooting chances only to fire each of them over the bar. A high foot clearance by a Campion defender drew appeals from Golcar, but Mr Claridge, probably rightly, did not intervene. Midway through the half the Golcar goal survived a series of desperate clearances, but Campion soon returned to take the lead in similar circumstances, before adding a second just after the half hour. Shortly before the break Mr Claridge took exception to something in the far corner and a Golcar player was summoned for a long warning. Nothing deterred, Golcar took play to the opposite end and brought the score back to 2-1.

Early in the second period, Campion put a couple of shots over the bar, but narrowly survived a powerful Golcar attack on 75 minutes.The escape was short-lived, Golcar equalising just two minutes later. A surging run by a Golcar attacker towards the Campion goal was halted when a beaten defender grabbed him from behind. Mr Claridge whistled, clearly correctly, but then had to receive deputations from each side simultaneously as the verdict became unclear. Eventually Mr Claridge was able to trot over to Mr Hislop, returning to show the defender what had seemed the obvious red card. The offence must have been outside the area, and the free-kick came to nothing, but Golcar continued to press, scoring their winner on 84 minutes.

It is several years since JCFC used to see Mr Claridge on the line at Rochdale Town, and he did not appear particularly youthful then, but he was still able to produce a fast sprint on a couple of occasions. Overall, he did well enough, though the hand gestures used to explain decisions did not clarify matters greatly. It was work of a decent enough standard, but without creating any aura of assurance. Mr Hislop, a known quantity, made several useful interventions with his flag. Mr O'Regan had been seen once before, in an evening match at Golcar. On that occasion he had been on the far line and would have been fairly anonymous, but for the beacon that was his hair, the kindly light amidst encircling gloom. This time he was under closer scrutiny. On one occasion he appeared a little generous towards an attacker over a possible offside, having perhaps been a little slow off the mark on half-way, but otherwise his work was accurate. His vocal input from the line was particularly impressive: a regular stream of the usual patter when play was in his area, and a strong voice to convey instructions further afield. His manner suggested that he could do well in the middle. I hope that will prove to be the case.