RateTheRef

Tell me the story often
For I forget so soon.
The "early rain" of morning
Has passed away by noon.

Or maybe not for every one, as the attendance fell yet again. JCFC, however, once more made his way to

Saturday 4th March 2023
NPL Division 1 East
Brighouse Town   1   v   2   Dunston
Sam Wright; Gordon Greaves, Daniel McKee.

The details of this old, old story may change slightly week by week, but the plot remains substantially the same. A rather lightweight Brighouse. struggling against a physically stronger side, tries, but ultimately lacks composure and comes up short. The SEPAR muttered after five minutes that he would happily settle for 0-0. The first half was largely devoid of incident, bar a lecture for a visiting boss. Dunston claimed a penalty at one stage, Mr Wright immediately giving a corner. It may be that he did not have a chance to get an angle on the challenge; on the other hand, given Dunston's previous moaning and ridiculous appealing, he could just as well have been correct. In a repetition of the previous week, Brighouse conceded a penalty with an ill-judged attempt at a tackle on 43 minutes and went to the break a goal down.

Brighouse showed greater spirit in the second half, earning two yellow cards in the early stages, before breaking away on 79 minutes to score an equaliser. Their hopes were raised still further when a challenge by the visiting number 7 was so late that it constituted an assault. JCFC immediately thought "red card" and after a little thinking time, Mr Wright agreed. A couple of Dunston fans noisily disagreed, but they would, wouldn't they? Brighouse pressed for the much needed three points, creating chances, but a combination of good blocks and inaccurate finishing prevented them from scoring, while Dunston still looked dangerous on the break. On 88 minutes Dunston won a corner. JCFC remarked glumly that we had seen this scenario before - but something strange happened, as a home defender rose and actually managed to head the ball clear. As five minutes of added time was announced (reasonable, given a serious-looking injury to a home full back) the SEPAR was hoping for full-time, even against ten men. He had acquired an equally loud Town fan - never seen before - with a strange (estuarine?) accent and a heavily copulatory vocabulary, who was adamant that Town should be going for the win. This week it was he who ended with egg on his face, as Dunston lifted a free-kick beyond the far post, where it was headed back for the Dunston sub to nod home the winner. As they say, it's the hope that kills you.

AR McKee was unfamiliar, but had served in the army for a decade and in addition to his day job was a professional Thai boxer. Not a chap to mess with. Mr Wright started well, earning Brownie points for his long sleeves - which he promptly squandered on the quarter hour by rolling them up, John Yates style. He showed a good grasp of what constituted a foul, and importantly, what did not and used the appropriate sanctions. A good afternoon's work for the officials, another disappointing evening for the home faithful. Will JCFC be there again on Monday? Very probably - and there will no doubt be even more room in the ground.