RateTheRef

The weekend finished with a sortie close to the Dutch border (another area known to Quo Cob, perhaps, given his Gladbach allegiance) and despite an hour's delay when a connection was cancelled, I arrived at Breyell in plenty of time  for

Sunday 8th March 2020
Oberliga Niederrhein
SV Union Nettetal   0   v    0   1.FC Kleve
Daniel Hachtkemper (Bocholt); Dr Thomas Dickmann,  Michael Burian.

It is hard for an old codger like JCFC to take seriously an official with a man bun and sure enough the idea of switching his flag proved totally beyond SRA2, who admittedly was otherwise competent. As was to be expected of someone with a doctorate, this was no problem to SRA1. At first sight it seemed that he might match the first syllable of his surname (in the German rather than the English sense) but that was perhaps a shade harsh. His poor attempt at a beard, however, did him no favours. Herr Hachtkemper was fair-haired, and had he had the good sense to wear long sleeves for added gravitas, he might have cut quite a dash.

The morning had been sunny, but by the time the ground was reached, drizzle had arrived, making the afternoon grey and dismal - and to be honest the game rather fell into the same category. Herr Hachtkemper was energetic in his movement, but had relatively little to do in the first half. It took him a little too long to spot, or be informed, that two players were down in the goal area on 26 minutes. A Nettetal player was dispossessed on 38 minutes with a challenge that was part jump and part slide, the weighting in favour of the latter. Herr Hachtkemper saw nothing wrong: not so the Nettetal bench, who were briefly up in arms.

On 49 minutes a substantial clatter in the back of a Union player did not receive the caution it probably deserved. The free-kick, though, was excellent and was kept out only by a combination of keeper, crossbar and defender. Otherwise Kleve were on top, but could not take their chances. The final quarter brought one caution for each side, but the final whistle was a relief. Herr Hachtkemper had been competent, without really hitting the heights. Good, but not special.

An earlier second team match meant that this game had been scheduled for 15.15, meaning that there would be a wait of 50 minutes on a bare station platform. Overall the best feature of the afternoon had been the coffee and cake in the clubhouse before kick-off.

Next weekend Caledonia calls again!