RateTheRef

Mr Stockbridge
Peterborough v Fleetwood

Some very tired looking bodies and minds on show at London Road last night, and unfortunately that included Mr Stockbridge.

A very inconsistent display last night with standard cautions missed which ending up frustrating players and spectators alike.
One where a Posh player was pulled back around his neck was one of the most obvious cautions you would ever see and not even a word was spoken.

Mr Stockbridge gave 2 penalties for Fleetwood, which although in the ’soft’ category, were correct in my eyes.

However, how he allowed the wrestling at Posh corners to go unpunished was again a mystery.
One player literally had the shirt pulled form his back but again Mr Stockbridge didn’t even acknowledge it.

It could be his relaxed style, but it came over as tired and uninterested.

Did play some standard advantages, after some quite cynical Fleetwood fouling, but again didn’t go back to caution the player or even have a word, until of course a Peterborough player did and came back.
I thought the Posh caution was correct actually, but based on his previous threshold, it was so inconsistent to be untrue.

On a positive note, he played the correct amount of additional time, but that didn’t make up for what was a very disappointing performance.

Mr Stockbridge is normally viewed as a ‘safe pair of hands’, hopefully the summer break will do him good, as you would certainly not describe him as such after last night.

Maybe a bridge too far for Mr S,  on Saturday previous he took Barnsley v Reading and acquitted himself well, receiving mainly positive comments from the home faithful. Which doesn't happen too often!
He produced just the one yellow, to a home player and desrved, and on two occasions gave good advantages then called play back for free kicks when they didn't materialise. Which again we don't see very often at Oakwell!

Surely a quicker and more practical solution would have been for Chelsea to switch to their own away socks?

After the aborted attempt to watch a Vase tie at Ashville in the previous round, it was a relief that when rain had washed out most local football, the important one survived in the form of

Episode 7
Saturday 9th December 2023
FA Vase 3rd Round
Emley   4   v   0   West Didsbury and Chorlton
Karl Parker; Paul Milosevic, Majid Ali.

Storm Elin produced a strong wind diagonally across the field - reaching into the stand - and regular bursts of driving rain. The wind, they say, can drive people mad and the officials seemed to have succumbed, as all wore short sleeves. The additional grey tinge to Mr Ali's hair meant that her looked distinguished; Mr Milosevic did not.

The visitors seemed unused to the altitude and the attendant climate and were under the cosh in the first half, when the elements were in their faces. In the opening minutes Mr Parker blew for a free-kick, but signalled the wrong way, though he quickly realised and corrected himself. He had a word with the visiting bosses on the quarter hour, possibly over where they were standing. There was a minor contretemps after a WDC foul, involving Mr Parker in a deal of shooing before the kick could be taken. Though barely registering in terms of territory - or even possession - the visitors had defended with spirit and were level at the interval.

Half time allowed JCFC to confirm that the CORE mentor in attendance was indeed David Benton, last seen refereeing 7 years previously.

With the wind and the slope in their favour, the visitors might have been expected to take control, but Emley continued to play the ball on the ground and (unlike Brighouse the previous evening) passed accurately and looked to use the full width of the pitch. On 56 minutes Emley took a free-kick quickly, played it to the right wing and the ensuing cross was met with a superb volley on the turn to give Emley the lead. The Emley 7 was called for a rare formal word on the hour regarding dissent. On 72 minutes Emley doubled their lead when what looked like a cross from the left was misjudged by the keeper and went in off the far post. An Emley player received a yellow card a minute later, the shot from the free-kick curling over the bar. Emley's striker was soon put clear, but was denied by the keeper's block. On 81 minutes, as Emley attacked yet again, Mr Parker had a word with Mr Milosevic and then with the visiting goalkeeper. Two minutes later Emley were awarded a penalty. The challenge, a spot of holding, which JCFC saw seemed relatively mild, but Mr Parker may well have spotted an offence elsewhere. WDC were not happy and protested in numbers and eventually a yellow card was shown to one of their men. The assumption would have been that it was for dissent, but there was no sin bin signal. Was the caution for something else? Is the sin-bin no longer used after the second round? Or did Mr Parker, now a Level 3, simply forget?  There was a certain amount of faffing before the kick was taken, but the player was not put off and duly scored his side's third.  As the 90th minuter drew near, Mr Parker twice raised four fingers, Mr Milosevic bellowed "Four" at the home bench, who promptly showed five minutes. When this was relayed by the PA, Mr Parker had to come over to correct this, leading to an amended PA announcement. Either way, it proved sufficient to add their fourth goal.

For Mr Parker this was a "best of three" sighting. As a raw level 4, still registered South of the Thames, he had disappointed in an International fixture - (sadly Yorkshire v Parishes of Jersey does not qualify for a FIFA badge!) In the second match, more recently, he had impressed. He is a dynamic mover in all modes, and firm in his decision making, if perhaps a shade too rigorous in his assessment of fouls and kept a good grip on matters. He did end up giving most of the free-kicks to Emley, perhaps to the visitors' frustration. but it did seem to be that WDC were committing the majority of the fouls. He had a number of early "on the hoof" calming words with players. Overall, it was a good display and JCFC would have no qualms about seeing him again. With luck, Mr Benton will have found plenty to commend, in addition to the odd piece of advice.

It was a day for congratulations: to the groundstaff for producing an eminently playable pitch; to the players of both sides for producing an entertaining game in appalling weather; to the officials for a good afternoon's work; to the other 384 brave souls in attendance. No thanks, however, to arriva buses, who once again failed to produce the scheduled 17.21 bus, leaving two of us standing getting drenched at the unsheltered bus stop. As the next is not for a further hour and a half my fellow Brighouse supporter and I waited for a further 20 minutes before deciding to resort to the nearby pub (the Club's bar was closed for a previously booked private function.) We were spared, however, by the arrival of a ministering angel, in the familiar form of the father of one of the Emley players (and formerly a Brighouse stalwart.) He most kindly gave us a lift into Huddersfield, for which we were both most grateful.

Emley are at home to Charnock Richard in the last 32, but JCFC has his eyes set elsewhere.

My son and I were two of the aforementioned 384, I'm not sure if another was the WD&C supporting dog, complete with scarf, who appeared to be enjoying the vile conditions as much as the match (he followed every movement of the ball) and if ever I saw a dog with a smile on his face it was this one.

One thing that did puzzle me in the first half was the visiting keeper's persistence in thumping umpteen goal kicks into the away dugout, courtesy of the unforgiving wind. Each time he would hold his arms out as if to say "what else can I do?". The answer was obvious, take your kicks from the other side of goal and aim for the far touchline - as did the Emley keeper second half, unerringly finding midfield with his kicks.

How far back are we going? Keith Styles and Harold Hackney were both from Barnsley, as indeed was Arthur Holland.

On Christmas Day 1946 Barnsley played Southampton at Oakwell. Straight after the match both teams boarded a train, travelled to Southampton and played the return game on Boxing Day.

I too was at the West Bowling v Egremont game, part of a self-indulgent weekend triple header of my second favourite sport. The Conference game was sandwiched between two Championship match3s, Sheffield v Newcastle on Friday evening and Batley v London on Sunday.
Whatever the level, RL matches are invariably played with no lack of commitment, endeavour and a spirit of respect sadly lacking in the Association game. It is rare to come away feeling unentertained or having failed to receive value for money.
Sadly the standard of officiating often leaves much to be desired, all the way up the food chain, and the age old cry of "Gerrem onside" continues to ring out at regular intervals!

Or it opens up the opportunity for him to make different and potentially even worse mistakes 😄

Quote from: Shy Talk on Wed 10 May 2023 16:45

Sorry? Where do I come into this?

You clicked bad spelling on his post, I assume that is what he means.

Oh did I? Sorry, that was inadvertent then. Apologies.