I was happy to be appointed to referee a Round 4 match of the Surrey FA U16s Youth Cup.
In the early rounds of county cups there can be some big skill mismatches between teams. I spotted a Round 2 game with a 23 – 0 result, for example. On paper, this match looked like one as well: AFC Wimbledon were against a side who were quite a few divisions lower down.
The match certainly did not start as expected: The ‘lower’ side scored in the first minute of the game. By the end of the first half it had ended up a 1-1 draw but hardly the one-sided affair that may have been predicted.
This changed in the second half. AFC Wimbledon truly came alive and the skill, speed and fitness of their players was obvious. It ended up 7-1 to them.
However, what impressed me was the attitude of both teams. It was a competitive game with everyone there just to get on with it. Only one caution for a blatant pull on the shirt. AFC Wimbledon’s opponents were outright winners in their own league yet they maintained their discipline during their ‘learning experience’ on the day.
The management teams were top notch as well. Leading by example. It is rare for a manager to come up to me and apologise for one of his players needing to be cautioned, but nice when it happens!
I had a good game. Main development point for myself was that I missed an offside flag which led up to a goal. The goal was correctly disallowed but naturally the attacking side were annoyed about the delay. Completely my fault and I kept a sharper eye out for the rest of the game!
Some other good youth news: I’ve been appointed to referee the U16s final of the NE Hants Youth League. Yay!