Wwest Lancs Prem 11 October 08

For reasons I will theorise upon later, this stop start affair was not, despite both sides being blessed with their share of skilful players, the most enjoyable of matches to witness, and one suspects to play in either. Looking through the early season fixtures, a home match against one of the newly promoted sides would have been one for which Mark McDonnell would have pencilled in three points, but in fact had it not been for the agility and ability of last minute stand in keeper Matt Atherton, then Villa could well have ended the afternoon empty handed. 

The visitors started somewhat the brighter, and Atherton was called on to execute a couple of early takes, which he did with the consummate ease of a seasoned stopper. The late reshuffle, which saw him switched from wide left to between the sticks, meant once again a switch away from the more successful 4-4-2 to accommodate the preferred starting eleven, and the bright and bustling Vickerstown front pair kept the Villa defence on the back foot during most of the early exchanges.                                                                                                                            

Traffic was far from one way however, and if anything Villa held the upper hand through the first half. Villa were only able to make limited use of the wide areas, however, but nevertheless it was a move down the left which saw Sam Bolton work a clever opening with Phil Woodman to set up George Craddock for a tap in to open the scoring ten minutes in.   

The breakthrough failed to ignite the hoped for spark however, and in truth it was all rather low key. Atherton had to produce a wonderful tip over from a close range header on the half hour to keep his side in front. Then, ten minutes before half time, for some inexplicable reason the Ref, although no claim had been forthcoming, overruled his assistant and gave the Visitors a corner, although clearly no one from the defending side had touched the ball. Almost inevitable in the circumstances, the ball ended up in the back of the net from a powerful Keenan header, though questions have to be asked of the defence over the ease with which he found room to do so. 

If Villa felt hard done by the events leading to the equaliser, ten minutes later it was the visitors’ turn to find themselves on the wrong end of a controversial decision when Villa were awarded a ‘soft’ indirect free kick deep in the opposition box. Stuart Bingham rolled the ball to Gavin Cooper who smashed it into the corner before the keeper could blink.  

Atherton was again called into action with another fine save early in the second half, as the visitors set about the task of getting back on terms once again. Given the low threshold at which yellow cards were being produced, it was inevitable that before long someone would walk, and as it happens it was Phil Woodman who drew the short straw. Thus encouraged by their unexpected numerical superiority, Vickerstown pressed harder and ever harder for the equaliser, and Atherton had to show his metal on a couple of further occasions.  Five minute from time however, the pressure told when Brennan brought his side level with the simplest of stooping headers. 

Now, without intending to provoke indignation from any quarter but rather to instigate a serious debate, I would like to promulgate the following theory, and would welcome any comments or thoughts from any interested party who has a view, either via the Forum or directly by email to me h.mackinnon@sky.com, as these are my views and not necessarily those of the club. 

Since responsibility for assessing officials was taken out of the hands of the League and instead administered by the LFA, it seems to me that the West Lancs Premier League has become more of a vehicle for the advancement of referees than for spectators and amateur players to enjoy amateur football.  I am not having a go at this particular Ref, his decisions re the issuing of yellow cards were soft but arguably correct within the letter of the law. But at this game we had TWO assessors present, and any official would be less than human if that fact did not affect his thinking. We are not a dirty team, not even a physical team, and neither are Vickerstown, yet there were more than a dozen yellows and one red in a game played without any malice whatsoever, with little flow to the play as a result. In this and other recent games, the issuing of cards has replaced other man management techniques, such as the quiet word and good old common sense. More noticeably so when an assessor is in attendance, which is the case in most games now.  It worries me that some of the better players and indeed coaching staff are becoming disillusioned with the situation. The only people who get paid (at least at our place) are those in black, the rest of us do it because we believe in and want to support amateur football, but ordinary working guys are finding it an expensive hobby these days.

Villa Line-Up: Atherton, C.Chambers, Davies, Dickinson, L.Chambers, Bolton, Woodman, Bingham (Kirkpatrick 71), Cooper, Dunn, Craddock (Clitheroe 81)