Double OT
So as I mentioned in my post before, I was assigned the center to a Boys Varsity game that included the 7th ranked team vs the 10th ranked team in the area. The home team #7 Forest Park(white) was hosting #10 Gar-Field SHS(red) in their second match up of the season. The previous game saw Forest Park take the win away from home and from my understanding about that game there had been a few cards along with a penalty kick. Going into this game I knew it was going to be the highest level of intensity that I had seen yet but I also felt calm and prepared. I had confedence in myself and in my crew.
Now the game:
The first half saw a lot of action mainly with Forest Park scoring the first goal. I showed two cautions, the first being for a delay of restart when a Forest Park player kicked the ball off the pitch when a foul was called against him. This caution kind of set the tone that I was not going to put up with any of the silly stuff. However the FP coach was upset at half time because I had allowed Gar-field to delay a restart, I did not caution Gar-field because as my other assistant put it, it was a matter of 3 seconds vs 30 seconds. The 2nd caution went to Gar-field. The player as you can see below in the photo is about 4 inches taller than me and just a slight bit bigger. The roster says he is a senior, and lets just say if it had said he is a junior that might be a little weird. He was called 3 times for pushing in the back on high balls especially and on a few I had let slide because they were 50-50 and he was just in a better position and the other player fell down at a light touch. I showed him a caution for persistent infringement. It calmed him down a little bit and he was on the verge later for another caution but I had a word with him once or twice down the field about being careful and I believe it stuck.
At halftime both of my assistants (The AR is one of them) told me that I needed to tighten it up in the second half. Now I am not sure if I had did that or not but I did focus on being in the right position and on top of play. Red was down a goal and was fighting back really well. Although their problem was that they did a lot of individual play and were at each other's throats over every little mistake. Red #10, one of the best players in the region and also a captain, was constantly trying to play make and did a good job but he also talked back a lot. I have not seen another team that complained so much and asked me if I "seen that" so many times. Red tied the game up about 15 minutes into the second half on some nice one-two passing and then a slotted finish. This sparked two more goals within the next 10 minutes. White came back and did another nice back pass from the goal line that found a wide open man on the far post, the red defense was caught lapsing. About 6 minutes later #10 red found his way around a few players to put one in the back of the net. This set up a frantic final 15 minutes. There were two more cards in the 2nd half both for Unsporting behavior. The first given to white for a tactical foul by taking someone down on a semi breakaway towards the corner. There was no way that this would be a yellow card, and no way that it could be red because there were other defenders back and red was going towards the corner. The other caution was issued to #10 red for a reckless tackle. This is where I realized that these players knew what they were doing. #10 went into the tackle hard and knew once I blew my whistle he was going to get a card. The other player went down hurt and once he saw that and heard my whistle he acted hurt as well. I stopped the clock and called on the trainer for white. #10 was on the ground trying to reason with me but as I told him, he was working on a second card for dissent. Once he stood up I showed him the card and he walked off. When he came back on he was more focused on the game than me. The 2nd half ended with a brilliant save by the white keep that went off the post.
Right at the end of regulation I called the captains together and tossed the coin. White won and chose to kickoff and red decided to go in the same direction as they ended the game. There was a 5 minute halftime before the two five minute overtime periods started. If I can say something about HS rules this is the one thing I do not like. It should either be a full 10 minutes or two 10s because 5 minutes is not long enough. The overtimes had their chances but nothing major and there was only one caution, also for a tactical foul and the player even said to me "I know that was an asshole thing to do" which made me laugh and he accepted the yellow with out any trouble. The game ended in the 2-2 tie after both overtimes. The AR came running up to me at the end with a big smile and said I had done an excellent job, I believe both as a referee and as my dad.
At the end of the game red team fans had to walk around the stadium and some of them by the place we, the refs, had put down our stuff. The red fans had largely been more vocal than the white fans and mainly because I did call more fouls against red. They were by far a more physical team and also had a greater lack of discipline. A few of the fans said I sucked among other things and were only a few feet from me. The AR and my other assistant called for the AD to come over. The fans walked away but we still waited for an escort out of the stadium and to the car. We ended up being escorted by the visiting teams head coach and the home teams AD.
My overall impression of the game and my performance was a good one. I know I still need to improve on my positioning and not being in the passing lanes. I get caught too many time thinking about where I should be if I wanted to receive the ball when it should be where I think I can see the ball and where I expect it to go. Ah the player in me. I think I did a really good job vocalizing to the players, especially when going up for headers and telling them to go straight up. I also was sound on verbalizing that I was going to make them play through stuff and that not every touch is a foul. In the end I think communication is my strongest trait. I talk to the players a lot and I reason with them, but when I need to be I set the tone and don't let the tone be dictated by the players. Could have I called it tighter? sure, but the more you call the more people start realizing you are there, the less you call the more they police themselves. I am also proud of my fitness, there was a point in the 2nd half when I realized I needed to focus on keeping up with play and I think I was able to do that. It was a fun game to referee and the teams were really good. I look forward to having those high intensity games more regularly...
right on top of play eh?all the photos came from www.gar-fieldsports.com
if you want, check out their blurb about the game "and all the calls going against them"
Any questions or thoughts feel free and I hope that The AR will post some comments as well
2 comments:
It's late for me so just a couple of comments.
First, the Ref did a solid job. As he mentioned, I and his other assistant did suggest tightening things up a bit. While the players generally seemed ok with how he was calling the game, it was physical and could have teetered over into rougher play had one or two of the players not been kept in check. The guy the Ref carded for PI being a prime candidate.
My other comment relates to the crowd. One expects some passion from the crowd but this one went over the line, especially after the game. I think next time the fans behave this way, I'm going to get the school's AD involved early. Disagreement I can accept, abuse will end.
I'll add more over the weekend.
So the weekend came and went and I didn't have a chance to add anything to my earlier post before now.
What we learned over the weekend is that this game basically decided the division winner, who got the automatic bye into the HS playoffs. The Red team needed a win; a tie was no better than a loss. And, as the Ref reported, the game ended in a tie.
Both teams played hard, but White seemed more organized, clearly played better as a team. We all noted how critical Red players were of each other. It often seemed, especially in the first half, that the players spent as much time criticizing each other as they did the ref crew. The Ref and I had run lines at an earlier game involving Red, and the internal bitching and moaning was evident there as well. (In addition, though Red clearly outclassed their opposition in that game, they also had at least three goals pulled back because of offside and other calls.)
For the ref crew, I think this game was a valuable learning experience. We all survived one of the more intense games we're likely to face this season. The Ref made judicious use of cards --gave out five total -- and each was deserved. He also did a good job talking to the players during the game, perhaps saving them from engaging in actions that might have led to additional cards. And we started and ended with 22 players on the pitch, always a good sign, especially in a game with as much on the line as this one.
The Ref will work some playoff games and perhaps get a center (I don't recall whether his one current assignment is a center or line). I cannot imagine that any game will be more intense than this one was. And all the Ref needs to remember is that he was able to handle this game with aplomb. Others will be difficult, but he's shown that he can meet the challenge.
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