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       #Post#: 50540--------------------------------------------------
       Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: JCFC
       Date: July 31, 2022, 2:55 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The season got under way this weekend, as did the latest
       instalment of rail strikes, preventing a visit to Penistone, so
       the choice fell upon
       Saturday 30th July 2022
       NCEFL Premier Division
       Thackley   1   v   1   Golcar United
       Christopher Rose (Sheffield); Josh James, Craig Smith.
       The reasons were several: as Gary Chapman once said, Thackley is
       one of the pleasantest clubs to visit (though not to leave after
       dark on the unlit, unpavemented lane); Golcar is a club I have
       grown to like in the past couple of years; both clubs are firmly
       and commendably rooted in their local communities; Mr Rose had
       not been seen in the middle before.The main one, however, was to
       discover whether the assistant listed as Craig Smith
       (Lancashire) was the young man from Cherry Tree, whom I
       remembered from cricketing days. It wasn't - and on reflection,
       he would be into his forties by now.
       The game was always enjoyable and played in a very decent spirit
       for the most part. Thackley went ahead after 20 minutes, a
       cracking effort from the corner of the box into the opposite top
       corner. There were appeals for a Golcar penalty on 23 minutes,
       quickly waved away, without much in the way of protest. Two
       minutes later a cross from near the right touchline was met with
       a strong far-post header to give Golcar the equaliser.
       The yellow card made its appearance on 61 minutes, a visiting
       player stopping a not-particularly-promising attack - not wrong,
       but maybe not strrictly necessary. It reappeared again on 65
       minutes, something of a mystery, the guess being that it went to
       the home number 10 for speaking out of turn after a Golcar
       player had regained his feet after an injury pause, but maybe
       for the visitor for an unnoticed foul. (Is the sin-bin
       experiment still operating?) There was a long word with one of
       the Golcar bosses on 73 minutes - Mr James may well have been
       the instigator - and two routine cautions for Golcar players for
       fouls to stop attacks. To avoid being caught the wrong side of
       the players'exit JCFC headed towards the corner of the ground.
       And so we reached 93 minutes, with Thackley officials calling on
       Mr Rose to blow for time. Unfortunately, he didn't. A Thackley
       forward then broke clear and ran into the penalty area, where a
       challenge from behind saw him go to ground. Mr Rose had not had
       time time to get a decent angle and was looking from more or
       less straight behind and quickly waved play on. Thackley
       supporters and JCFC reckoned that there had been a foul; one
       Golcar player was quick to lean over the man on the ground, as
       if to berate him for simulation. A Golcar supporter, coming from
       close to the incident, declared that his side had been lucky as
       it should have been a penalty. The final verdict rests
       presumably with Mr Observer Haycock and his bodyguard. (She must
       surely by now know as much about refereeing as most watchers.)
       It shows, though, how one late decision can affect people's view
       of an otherwise very satisfactory refereeing performance.
       It had been a good afternoon, and cheap into the bargain: free
       bus travel, £3 admission, £1.30 for coffee and £2 for a
       programme represented excellent value. The programme, in
       particular, was superb - not the glossy advertising rag that is
       sometimes found, but well-researched and interesting, with a
       fine assortment of funnies to boot. Even at Golcar's home
       matches. JCFC had never discovered that the village owes its
       name to Saint Guthlac - even Whistleblower's in depth knowledge
       of saints might be stretched by that one.
       Sadly, the coming week offers no accessible matches and next
       weekend's FA Cup fixtures have not offered a chance to take in
       more than one game.
       #Post#: 50775--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: JCFC
       Date: August 7, 2022, 1:58 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Well, it only took northern rail a week of the season to scupper
       JCFC's plans. Engineering work meant that the only trains in or
       out of Huddersfield were the Sheffield ones, so £23.20 was
       invested in a ticket to Mansfield Woodhouse, to take in the
       match between Sherwood Colliery and Long Eaton United. The train
       left on time, but gradually fell behind schedule, with large
       numbers of passengers boarding in South Yorkshire and the
       connection to Worksop had departed by the time we reached
       Sheffield. The service runs hourly, so would not reach Mansfield
       Woodhouse until 15.07, so Will Murray was spared the distorting
       lens. Fortunately there was an alternative, in the form of
       Saturday 6th August 2022
       FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
       Handsworth   1   v   0   Sleaford Town
       Scott Mason ("Mansfield way"); Tristan Churcher, Joseph Golland
       It was the dullest of dull first halves - after 44 minutes
       JCFC's notepad was blank. At this point the visitors presented a
       Handsworth forward with a clear chance, but their keeper dived
       to turn the shot round the post.
       A few minutes into the second period, JCFC's weary sigh drew
       sympathetic agreement from nearby spectators, one commenting
       that you could write what had happened to date on a postage
       stamp, leaving JCFC thinking that the new code section would not
       be needed. Just after the hour, it was the turn of the home
       defence to gift Sleaford an unmissable scoring chance, which was
       duly missed. As the soporific afternoon wore on, further
       amusement in the stand was caused by a comment that even the
       fouling had not been very good. Perhaps appropriately in a match
       which prompted thoughts of Waiting for Godot, in which nothing
       happens - twice, on 83 minutes Handsworth got Lucky, taking
       advantage of a couple of rebounds to prod home the winner.
       Mr Mason had an excellent reverse gear and made a couple of
       splendid curving sprints, getting very wide, in a game which did
       not really test him. He is lightly built, though with a slightly
       lived-in appearance of someone already into his thirties, at a
       guess. (There speaks the 74 year old!) His two assistants were
       more sturdy in appearance, neither of them quite qualifying for
       "Bright young thing" status, but all three officials performed
       well.
       
       The day's real stars, however, were the two ladies in the
       clubhouse, who produced pie chips and gravy an hour before the
       match.
       Contrary to previous expectations, it will be possible to take
       in another tie today.
       #Post#: 50851--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: JCFC
       Date: August 8, 2022, 3:28 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: JCFC link ---
       >
       >
       > Contrary to previous expectations, it will be possible to take
       in another tie today.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       As things turned out, it was possible - though "nobbut just."
       The route allowed for a connection time of 32 minutes at both
       Leeds and Derby, so missed connections should not have been a
       problem. At Leeds, however, it was announced that the
       CrossCountry train was delayed by 29 minutes, though the
       company's website's revised schedule showed an arrival in Derby
       in time for the next train. The delay grew by a few minutes and
       both before and after Wakefield the train trundled rather
       slowly. By the time we should have reached Derby, we were still
       North of Rotherham, and approaching Chesterfield as the next
       train left Derby. The only solution was to take a taxi - with a
       driver who wanted me to choose which route to take. In the end
       there was time to grab a cheeseburger and a tea on arrival at
       Sunday 7th August 2022
       FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
       Belper United   0   v   3   Lichfield City
       Robert Pealing (Nottinghamshire); David Henfrey, Jack Simpson.
       Mr Pealing did not turn out to be the imagined wiry young
       hopeful. It should not, however, be inferred from this that he
       was old and hopeless. On the field his age would have been
       guessed as about 40; at close quarters, though, he appeared
       rather younger.
       The first minute produced an almighty collision between two
       players: JCFC was inclined to give it as a foul by the defender,
       but as usual he was wrong. Mr Pealing promptly gave the
       free-kick the other way and nobody was unhappy (except the two
       men groaning on the ground - fortunately both recovered.) On 7
       minutes JCFC was surprised at the award of a free-kick for what
       seemed a perfectly executed tackle by a home defender, and this
       time his view was supported by several Belper players. Lichfield
       were well on top and the Belper keeper was kept busy, making a
       couple of miraculous saves. On 26 minutes a couple of players
       found themselves gently wrestling on the gound, Mr Pealing
       having a quick word, but rightly deeming no further action
       necessary. The half ended with another brilliant save by the
       keeper after his defenders had given the ball to the opposition
       striker. There was a sense of disbelief at the break that the
       visitors were  not already several goals clear.
       Belper actually started the second half quite well, but
       Lichfield finally took the lead on 53 minutes. The home side did
       create a couple of decent chances, but blasted the ball over the
       bar. Mr Pealing called a Lichfield defender for a lecture after
       he had chirruped too persistently. There was a strange moment at
       a substitution, with Mr Pealing being called from the other side
       of the pitch for the briefest of words with Mr Henfrey, before
       making his way back across to his position. Reason unknown.
       Lichfield added two goals in the closing minutes as even the
       home keeper ran out of saves.
       Despite a slightly greater degree of noise on the pitch -
       notably from the Lichfield keeper, who was not always too
       careful in his choice of language - Mr Pealing had coped very
       comfortably. The suspicion remained, however, that this was
       perhaps his right level. Given JCFC's lack of judgement in such
       matters, wise gamblers (if that is not a contradiction in terms)
       would be advised to invest a few bob on promotion in forthcoming
       windows. The two assistants were both different from those named
       in the programme, but did well and had no reason to use those
       names as aliases.
       The train from Belper to Derby was on time, but CrossCountry
       again were running late, leading to the connection in Leeds
       being missed. Brighouse had disappeared from the "Next train
       for" board as the 21.30 was cancelled. Ironically it was
       northern who solved the problem, with a train to Bradford, from
       where a bus enabled JCFC to reach home at 21.58.
       The good(!) news is that rail strikes are planned for the next
       two Saturdays, so there is no risk of such journeys then.
       #Post#: 50925--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: cwh
       Date: August 8, 2022, 11:12 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Nice to see you back with your amusing reports - I particularly
       enjoy reading about the journeys to and fro each match - they
       would make good reading on Train websites!!! - it amazes me that
       you bother sometimes with all the 'obstacles' you have to
       overcome to actually get to a ground in the first place - I
       wonder if any of the refs/assistants read your reports -I'm sure
       they would benefit by so doing
       #Post#: 50929--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: Whistleblower
       Date: August 9, 2022, 1:34 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: cwh link ---
       >
       > Nice to see you back with your amusing reports - I
       particularly enjoy reading about the journeys to and fro each
       match - they would make good reading on Train websites!!! - it
       amazes me that you bother sometimes with all the 'obstacles' you
       have to overcome to actually get to a ground in the first place
       - I wonder if any of the refs/assistants read your reports -I'm
       sure they would benefit by so doing
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       I echo the appreciation for JCFC's excellent accounts of his
       travelling  and footballing adventures. I have no direct
       knowledge but I would be extremely surprised were not his match
       reports a regular topic of conversation among the match
       officials whose exploits appear in Pyramid Patrol.
       #Post#: 50931--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: ell
       Date: August 9, 2022, 4:36 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: cwh link ---
       >
       > Nice to see you back with your amusing reports - I
       particularly enjoy reading about the journeys to and fro each
       match - they would make good reading on Train websites!!! - it
       amazes me that you bother sometimes with all the 'obstacles' you
       have to overcome to actually get to a ground in the first place
       - I wonder if any of the refs/assistants read your reports -I'm
       sure they would benefit by so doing
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       i can assure you there's plenty of refs in the area who do
       i suspect many fear JCFCs review more than the observers!! if
       only we knew where he was in advance...
       #Post#: 50945--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: Conkernut
       Date: August 9, 2022, 11:00 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Mutn3 reported on a game that I was on last season and although
       he/she didn't mention my performance it was nice to read about
       it. I'm sure others feel the same way
       Keep it up JCFC and Mutn3, it's much appreciated
       #Post#: 50950--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: Whistleblower
       Date: August 9, 2022, 1:39 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Conkernut link ---
       >
       >
       > Mutn3 reported on a game that I was on last season and
       although he/she didn't mention my performance it was nice to
       read about it. I'm sure others feel the same way
       >
       > Keep it up JCFC and Mutn3, it's much appreciated
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Were you AR or 4th then Conkernut ? I presume so for it would be
       strange for a site which provides input on match officials not
       to comment on the performance of the referee.
       #Post#: 50952--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: bmb
       Date: August 9, 2022, 2:02 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Whistleblower link ---
       >
       > [quote author=Conkernut link=topic=3843.msg50945#msg50945
       date=1660060854]
       >
       > Mutn3 reported on a game that I was on last season and
       although he/she didn't mention my performance it was nice to
       read about it. I'm sure others feel the same way
       >
       > Keep it up JCFC and Mutn3, it's much appreciated
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Were you AR or 4th then Conkernut ? I presume so for it would be
       strange for a site which provides input on match officials not
       to comment on the performance of the referee.
       [/quote]
       You may or may not have noticed the frequent diversion that
       threads take on this forum - from a match report to poetry via
       the state of the railways, obscure towns oop north, palm trees
       protecting the southern softies from all the sun we get, the
       price of bread, ring roads, hymns and whatever else can be
       linked in along the way! There is always that one person who
       attempts to get a thread back on topic, they normally fail
       miserably though... [emoji23]
       #Post#: 50962--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Pyramid Patrol 2022/23
   DIR By: Whistleblower
       Date: August 9, 2022, 5:34 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: bmb link ---
       >
       > [quote author=Whistleblower link=topic=3843.msg50950#msg50950
       date=1660070356]
       > [quote author=Conkernut link=topic=3843.msg50945#msg50945
       date=1660060854]
       >
       > Mutn3 reported on a game that I was on last season and
       although he/she didn't mention my performance it was nice to
       read about it. I'm sure others feel the same way
       >
       > Keep it up JCFC and Mutn3, it's much appreciated
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Were you AR or 4th then Conkernut ? I presume so for it would be
       strange for a site which provides input on match officials not
       to comment on the performance of the referee.
       [/quote]
       You may or may not have noticed the frequent diversion that
       threads take on this forum - from a match report to poetry via
       the state of the railways, obscure towns oop north, palm trees
       protecting the southern softies from all the sun we get, the
       price of bread, ring roads, hymns and whatever else can be
       linked in along the way! There is always that one person who
       attempts to get a thread back on topic, they normally fail
       miserably though... [emoji23]
       [/quote]
       Noting that this post about attempting to get a thread back on
       topic comes immediately after mine I sincerely hope I am not
       regarded as the culprit.  I pride myself on being one of this
       forum's great diversionists and have always found journeying
       down the byways far more rewarding that the direct routes. I
       would be mortified were I to stand accused of relevance !
       [emoji6]
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