RateTheRef

A sunny Bank Holiday afternoon spent at:
AFC Totton v Sholing Referee: Benjamin Duffill Assistants Lee Nowacki and Thomas Farr

An afternoon only slightly spoiled by my proximity to the Sholing bench who complained about or sarcastically commented on every decision made, including Mr Duffill's failure to blow for a foul at one point where his excellent advantage allowed their team to have a shot at goal. They also encouraged their players to get in the referee's ear as much as they could. Personally, I didn't think the refereeing team had a bad afternoon and Mr Duffill continued to smile in spite of the provocation. There were only two notable errors that I could see. On 30 minutes the Totton Number 9 was penalised for a pull on the edge of the Sholing Penalty Area when I thought that was the second foul, him having been pulled back first and on 81 minutes the Sholing Number 10 was clearly pulled back by his shorts, preventing him getting a shot at goal. I think Mr Duffill was probably unsighted for the second incident although running a wider angle might have given him a better view. It was also on the wrong side for his assistant.
My only other complaint was his indistinct brandishing of his yellow card. On 45 minutes the Sholing Numbers 6 and 11 combined to stop a promising attack. He spoke to number 11 at close quarters and number 6 at rather longer range before waving his yellow card. I was unclear which, or whether possibly both of them, had been the recipient. On 57 minutes, the Sholing Number 3 (I think) was shown a yellow card for dissent. Again it wasn't very clear who the card was being shown to. On 60 minutes a Totton shot was deflected onto the crossbar and following the resulting corner Mr Duffill was surrounded by a group of Sholing players for reasons unknown. He reached for his pocket but I don't think produced anything from it. Sholing took the lead on 67 minutes following a long ball and received 3 further yellow cards before the end of the match, their number 2 for a late tackle, number 6 for dissent (which cleared up what must have happened in the first half) and the goalkeeper for time wasting. At the end of the match the Sholing management team could be heard questioning why they had won the yellow card battle 5-0. Answer: Perhaps Totton behaved better but games of football are not always won by the better behaved team.