RateTheRef

FA Cup - 4th Qualifying Round
Southend United v Chertsey Town

Referee:- Callum Walchester (Suffolk)
Assisted by Stephen Parkinson and Thomas Kelly.

Ventured down to Roots Hall today to a town still in shock from the senseless murder of Sir David Amess MP the day before. A minute’s silence before the game was impeccably observed by the 2,000 plus spectators.

Once battle commenced, Chertsey took a shock lead when Southend failed to deal with a long throw. Southend gradually took command and in the end, ran out 4-1 winners with some well taken goals. That put a smile back on the locals’ faces, much needed too, as Southend FC is in financial peril having suffered two successive relegations.

As for the referee, Mr. Walchester did a very sound job, always up with play, communicated well with the players and wasn’t buying a Southend player constantly falling over looking for cheap free kicks in the second half. He let the players get on with it, but with a quiet air of authority and good presence, and the players let him do his job, and impressively so.

Couple of Southend fans behind me were very complimentary about him as well, so that Indicated a decent performance. All the players shook hands with him and his assistants and they deserved their credit for overseeing a free flowing, good and competitive cup tie. No yellow cards to speak of, in fact, I can’t remember many free kicks being given in the entire match, probably close to 20.

Mr. Walchester certainly has the potential to progress to a higher level. A good watch and Southend fans and the town will be a lot happier this evening.