I arrived at Burton Road 45 minutes before kick off expecting to be on my own as my thoughts were game off and no notification.
After walking over the pitch I had to make a tough decision on whether it was playable, whilst no water was on it the surface was sticky and I didn't want to officiate a cup Quarter Final that was a farce. This was possibly my most difficult decision so far this season.
I made the decision to play the game and would re-asses every 10 minutes or so to see how the pitch held out and if it cut up further, both managers accepted my decision. Back in the changing room I made the decision that any more rain before kick off and I would postpone it and during I would abandon. I was lucky the game wasn't farcical and the rain stayed away, well until it hammered it down on my way home.
Whilst doing a player equipment check on the pitch before kick off I was already met by dissent by Calverton. I explained to the Calverton players the above and was met by a threat of " Any of us get injured and you'll have it coming to you".
The game started and it took a good 15 minutes for the teams to adapt. I was honestly expecting top of the table Gedling to hammer bottom club Calverton who have so far played 12 lost 12 in the league but this didn't seem to be the case.
I had reason to caution a Calverton defender in the 20th minute for dissent after giving a free kick against him for sliding in but he played man rather than ball, this decision he couldn't accept but he decided to argue about it some 20 yards away.
3 minutes later Gedling broke the deadlock.
Unfortunately a 2nd caution came, this time for a Calverton Striker for dissent toward an assistant.
Half Time 1-0
The 2nd half wasn't memorable and was easy to officiate. Gedling although scoring on 3 occasions also had three goals disallowed, two for offside, of which one I had to make the decision as the assistant fell asleep, luckily enough for me it was easy to give although I was not in line, as the Gedling striker was inside the area when the ball was played and all defendaers were outside of it. The 3rd was for a foul on a defender.
Calverton got a consolation 3 minutes from time.
Was it the right decision to play the game? Yes with the help and willingness by the players and the luck of the rain staying away and the pitch withstanding 90 minutes of football.
What did I learn today? That some Sunday morning football teams can play football without moaning at me all game.
