RateTheRef

it was to be another case of "Tell me the old, old story" at

Saturday 25th February 2023
NPL Division 1 East
Brighouse Town   2   v   3   Bridlington Town
Aaron Hallam (Sheffield);  Brandon Blackham, Josh Bramall.

There was an example of role reversal among the officials. Mr Hallam had first been seen in one of his earliest NCEL appointments - at Penistone, with Mr Bramall (now taking the specialist assistant route) in the middle. Mr Hallam was subsequently seen on the line at Emley, on crutches at Dronfield, again at Penistone and Emley, always appearing competent, and has this season reached Level 3.

The opening minutes saw Brighouse looking promising, raising hopes of a first home win this year, but Bridlington soon established a pattern of direct play, pressurising the fallible home defence and  taking the lead on 17 minutes. The home side soon retaliated, with a surging run from the left back position and two smart passes to score a superb equaliser. Brighouse;s passing then reverted to its norm, lacking both direction and judgment of weight as play became all too frantic. Two minutes into added time in the first half aBrid attacker was gifted a penalty - by Brighouse, not by Mr Hallam - and went to the break with a 2-1 lead. Mr Hallam, incidentally, had done very well to dash in to prevent any scuffle for the ball after the successful kick.

The home manager had done his stuff during the break and Brighouse again began strongly,  breaking quickly from a Brid free-kick on the edge of the home penaty area and equalising after just three minutes. The usual pattern followed, however, with passes going astray, clearances panicky and Brid playing well to their limitations. The game was settled in the 68th minute Brid were awarded a free-kick in a potentially dangerous position. The SEPAR remarked to a visiting supporter "at the risk of tempting fate, your number 8 hasn't distinguished himself with his free-kicks." Fate was of course tempted and the kick found an attacker, who scored his side's winner. There was little sign that Brighouse would be able to respond and in fact Bridlington spurned a couple of great chances in the closing stages.

Mr Hallam looked confident in what was a very comfortable afternoon for him. There was little in the way of dissent, largely because he gave them little to argue with - though that is in itself not always a guarantee. Towards the end, the SEPAR gave him some fortissimo advice, but commented at the end that the referee had been good - a view with which JCFC was more than willing to concur. It would be interesting to see him take charge of a more demanding game, but his general alertness made for a promising display.