Vodkat North West Counties Premier League

Wednesday 22nd April 2009

Its was very much ironic that the match official was called Mr Crop as in the last five minutes of the game he came a right cropper with a bizarre decision which cost Bacup at least a share of the points. Thankfully it was a sparse crowd, had it have been a crowd of significant volume, then his handling of this particular decision could have erupted a bigger crowd into far serious consequences something the FA must surely look at when appointing inexperienced officials to matches in the future.

The situation unfolded in the final five minutes of the game. Bacup Borough’s Sean Roscoe made a run from the left flank infield towards the penalty box when he was blatantly fouled by Formby’s Liam Pace. Whilst on the floor the player followed with a late boot which caught Roscoe’s nose, the Referee stopped play to award Bacup a direct free kick and when noticing blood coming from the players nose, the official instructed the player to change his shirt. Roscoe didn’t leave the pitch but came to the touchline where he was given a new shirt and was given aid to wipe away the blood.

Roscoe then returned back to the spot where the infringement took place but the official instructed him to return to have further treatment to clear the blood. Roscoe came back to the touchline but did not leave the pitch and quickly to the field of play following receiving another dollop of vasoline back to where the referee was stood, where the infringement took place. The Referee didn’t see Sean Roscoe return to the touchline and also return back to the spot where the free kick was to be taken from.

The official clearly accepted that Roscoe was on the pitch and accepted that he was now about to take the free kick. Sean Roscoe struck the ball into the net to give Bacup a deserved equalising goal after dominating all of the second half. Following the goal the Formby players started to remonstrate with the official stating that Roscoe should not have been allowed back onto the pitch following receiving treatment until the kick had been taken and the referee changed his decision and ruled the goal out and booked Sean Roscoe and ordered a re take with Roscoe off the pitch. This bizarre situation was a clear indication of the tail wagging the dog something which certainly upset the Bacup faithful.

During the first forty five minutes Bacup looked very much leg weary as this was their third game in five days and Formby capitalised on this situation having much of the possession ensuring that the Bacup keeper keeper Tony Tomposs was kept busy. Following the half time break and a change of shape the roles were reversed and Bacup started to dominate the game. On forty six minutes Martin Cosgrave missed a complete open goal with an header which was harder to missas a result of excellent play from Roscoe. Further chances were created when Jamie Rother shot wide of the goal and another Rother shot brought a good save from their keeper. On fifty two minutes Martin Cosgrave became the villain once again when he was through one on one with the Formby keeper but failed to get his shot off due to too many touches of the ball.

Bacup created several opportunities but failed to kill the game off something the home side were made to pay for when Liam Pace at an angle to goal shot across the keeper seeing his shot nestle just inside the far post to give Formby the lead. Despite this set back Bacup continued to ask questions of the Formby defence and then in the eighty fifth minute Bacup had the ball in the net following a well struck free kick only to get ruled out due to the official coming a right cropper !

Manager Brent Peters Had This To Say “During the first half we failed to show any aggression in our play something one must have against a side like Formby. They had long spells of possession which we allowed them due to us not competing. Once we changed the shape and matched players up we started to win our battles which allowed us to play and create numerous chances.

When the cahances come along we must be more clinical and finish teams off something we failed to do today and we were made to pay. The opportunity we had just after half time which Martin Cosgrave missed is totally unacceptable and equally at the back the goal we conceded was unacceptable as Tony Tomposs and I know he should have dealt with the tame shot better.

In the first half when we were not at it, Tony kept us in the game but he must question himself on the goal which finally beat him. With regards the chances we missed if we had been fresh and sharp we score them all day. Despite the fact that Bacup Borough have played Saturday, Monday and Wednesday, stupidly Martin Cosgrave plays in a Sunday League Cup Final in between. No wonder he missed having played four games in five days, That certainly does not help our cause. Players know my feelings with regard to playing Sunday Football.

With reference our disallowed goal & the performance on this particular incident by the referee it just proves what I have sent in previous correspondence to the Football Association. Fast tracking officials who are not ready is a dangerous situation. This game could easily have been AFC Liverpool versus FC United of Manchester with several thousand spectators present and the consequences of that one mistake and cancelling a perfectly good goal out in front of all those supporters would have created mayhem. Not only this I feel that all players at this level are having a raw deal when it comes to referee’s and discipline & suspensions.

At our level we get the inexperienced officials that are making their way in the game. In any walk of life mistakes are more common where there is inexperience however, when an inexperienced official makes an almighty blunder as in the yellow card he showed to Sean Roscoe which you cannot appeal against it is totally unacceptable. The player will still be fined and will go on his record which could be one of the bookings which could lead to a suspension. This whole situation came about because the official in question made a serious error.

To be fair to the official he was bold enough to admit he had made a complete mess of the situation and he also apologised. I am just glad the game was of no importance in terms of honours and that there was not that many supporters present, it was bad enough with the few that were in attendance”

Team: Tony Tompos, Kyle Harrop, Jacub Wood, Sean Roscoe, Jamie Rother, Steve Smith, Matthew Hampson, Davey Luker, Warren Collier ( Lee Oldham) Martin Cosgrave Tommy Turner

Subs Not Used: Matthew Andrew, Phil Melville, Lee Stott

Goals:

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