TALKING POINTS

Matty Hayward – @MattyHayward96

Matty discusses the draw at Worthing

REF WATCH

One of the great scourges of modern football is the (our) obsession with refereeing decisions. This is typified, for me, in Sky Sports News’ weekly feature, Ref Watch. Usually, this will involve Stephen Warnock and Sue Smith grilling Dermot Gallagher about the most recent confected outrage over a red card or errant penalty decision, all while a hapless host stands to the side, the iPad in his arm the only shield he has if it were to ever properly kick off like it threatens to. The ex-pros will repeat, ad nauseum, lines about having “actually played the game,” while the referee-turned-cue-ball-impersonator opposite will, invariably, corroborate his former colleague’s decision regardless of evidence or arguments to the contrary.

This isn’t Sky’s fault, nor is it Stephen Warnock’s. It’s the product of a ravenous football culture that a) craves new content, any new content, that can be served up on the internet and mindlessly gorged on by consumers, giving them another thing to have an opinion about, before they discard it and move on to the next in a series of short videos that they’ll watch until they have fitful, restless sleep, and b) is thirsty for the blood of referees, will sacrifice literally any semblance of entertainment or human decency at the altar of the illusive ‘correct decision’.

The logical conclusion of all this scrutiny is more technology, more pressure on the humans, more amplification and validation of toxic voices crying corruption, more death threats to referees, more real human lives gobbled up and spat out by the tabloid press, and, of course, less authentic football enjoyment. Less actual happiness. Meanwhile, the sensible response would be to accept that mistakes happen, that football is a leisurely pastime, a game of collisions between fallible humans, and to spend the time that could be frittered away spewing bile on the internet about ‘cartels’ and ‘agendas’ instead on something nice. Perhaps reading a book, or talking to friends.

However, I have got content to create, column inches to fill, and a toxic voice that needs amplifying. So, welcome to TT REF WATCH.

Referee Ayrton Hursey had a busy evening at Woodside Road last night, dishing out a red card to both sides before awarding a pivotal penalty to the travelling Yellows in added time. The first man that Ayrton Senna-t off was Worthing’s Sam Beard,for a hairy second-half lunge on Jordan Thomas. On first viewing, I thought the red was harsh. On second viewing, I maintained that view. Having seen it again on the highlights, I still think it’s a dark yellow card rather than a red. Yes, he was off his feet, but it was low and (while I know this isn’t in the rules) looked like a genuine attempt to play the ball. Loose, but not reckless or dangerous, for me, Dermot.

Within moments, Ayrton raced to even the teams up. This time, Sam Dreyer got the wrong side of his man, then on the wrong side of the referee. Whether Worthing forward Temi Babalola initiated the contact or not, the Plainmoor Pique certainly had a good old grab of his midriff, and I don’t think he can complain that the foul went against him. However, Hursey gave our vice-captain his marching orders on account of him DOGSO (denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity) which is, to me, a mistake. It’s quite clear that, even without impediment, Babalola would never have got on the end of that ball, so Dreyer had in fact DSCTCOGK (denied the striker a chance to clatter an opposition goal keeper) and nothing more. Both managers agreed in their post-match press conferences that this red card was undeserved, so I expect that the Football Association will be hearing from Paul Wotton in due course.

Hursey’s match wasn’t over, though. As United probed, Cody Cooke broke free in behind. For the first time all night, the assistant’s flag stayed down, and Cooke was helped to the floor by Worthing’s Joe Partington. This decision seemed more clear cut: the contact wasn’t dangerous, but it was enough to bring our marksman down.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS – YOUNG GOAL

A HOPEFULLY HYPOTHETICAL STRESS

What joy. However, Dreyer’s red card leaves us with a bit of an issue. If there is no successful appeal, my understanding is that, thanks to the uniquely slow-processing speeds of the National League South and the fact that his dismissal was not a result of violent conduct or serious foul play, he’ll miss Chelmsford (a) on the 22nd. That feels significant. With Jay Foulston and Jordan Dyer already presumed unavailable, we’d be looking at a genuine second-string back 2/3 there. Even the most optimistic Torquay fan would struggle to feel confidence in the mobility of a Dean Moxey, Ed Palmer and Finley Craske defensive unit – perhaps the least athletic trio the seventh best athletics arena in Essex has ever seen. Worth the risk for a single game, or time to dip into the loan market? I’m glad it’s not me making that call.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS – BEARD RED CARD

CAN WE ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT THE GAME NOW?

The Omar Mussa question is one that has dominated Yellows airwaves all season: I’d expect, along with James Hamon, he has accounted for more air time, group chat arguments, and article word counts than any other player this season. It’s understandable why he is so divisive: he’s a player of knife-edges, who has ideas that require laser focus but feet that operate in broader strokes, who tends to require more patience than the average, but also offers the most bountiful, somehow more satisfying rewards to his disciples.

These arguments will rumble on with or without my input, but…

At school today [I am a teacher; it wasn’t a social visit], I was asked, by a usually energetically apathetic student, “Sir, is your favourite animal a moose?”

Somewhat taken aback, I replied, “Yes, well, actually, funny you should say tha –” before noticing that she had spotted my notebook, the front of which proudly claims that it is owned by ‘A Man Who Loves Moose’. This was a Christmas present from my mother whose instinct is, I don’t think she’d mind me saying, to opt for sentimentally novel end of the gift spectrum. She got this one spot on, to be fair: it’s a prized possession.

Perhaps this teenage fanboy attitude that I’ve got for Mussa clouds my judgement at times. But last night I think I can say, with some objectivity, that he changed the game. Once again, he beat men in a way that nobody else on the pitch had done. He showed a turn of pace on both flanks that wrought havoc with weary legs, he created things others didn’t see, and he struck fear into the heart of a defence that had been stung by his abilities earlier in the season. I’m often tempted to back the maverick, embrace the inconsistency and say ‘to hell with systems’, but in a team that is otherwise so well-structured, so safety-first-orientated, Mussa provides a spark, a beacon of ingenuity, a magical slight of hand.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS – DREYER RED CARD

GOOD POINT, ACTUALLY

All things considered, that has to go down as a good point. Away to a title contender; got absolutely hoofed there a month ago (strikerless madness not withstanding), and again the season before; cheating plastic pitch; went behind twice; other teams around us lost. If just one of those factors were in play, you’d take a draw most of the time.

And yet. As I watched the highlights in this morning’s cold light, I wondered if we’d slightly undersold ourselves. Refereeing decisions aside, we had a number of chances to turn our two goals into three. Craske’s header in the opening moments; handfuls of corners including the one that Dreyer bulleted over from 12 yards; Matt Carson getting to the byline and firing a ball across the goalmouth without a gambling recipient; the same happening with Mussa’s cross from the opposite corner. What’s worse, the goals we conceded were absolutely dreadful. If you’re going away from home and your first priority is defensive solidity, you cannot be allowing goals from set pieces and free headers in your box. And when you put it like that, we were one clinical finish OR one moment of competent defending from a heroic three points on the road.

But one will do. For now.