31st March 2013
Ifield vs Keymer & Hassocks
Div 1
K & H ground out a goalless draw away to Ifield in a game that at one time seemed would never start.K & H had changed their socks so as not to clash with Ifield’s but they had also changed and the Ref was not willing to play the game until they changed to another colour so the game was held up for 15 minutes with a real danger of hypothermia for the players as they stood about in the freezing conditions
When it finally got under way both sides seemed evenly matched - Ifield had more possession but K & H defenders were never seriously under pressure.
The second half was much more eventful-firstly Simon Catford was tackled from behind by the Ifield keeper and expected a penalty to be awarded but the Ref somewhat strangely called it the other way.K & H then had a scare at the other end when Ben Watson made a save with his face.The most controversial incident then occurred as Dan Goodrum made his way into the box and unleashed a shot which the goalkeeper could only parry back to him and this time he made no mistake.The Ref gave the goal but then noticed the linesman had his flag up.Given the circumstances K & H were confident the goal would stand but then had to wait for nearly 5 minutes whilst the Ref debated the incident with the linesman before finally giving offside against a player who was positioned at the far post and now deemed to have been interfering with play.It seemed the Ref had decided to change his mind as otherwise how could he spend so much time if he was agreeing with the linesman.After such a delay both sets of players had ceased to care and just wanted to see the game out
K & H then had a scare when the Ref awarded a dubious free kick just outside the area for what seemed a perfectly timed tackle by Watson.The ball was delivered into the box where it bounced around crazily before it was finally hit wide
K & H might have had cause to feel badly towards the Ref but he was actually a nice bloke and stayed on the pitch after the game to listen to players views without taking any offence it seemed
