[choirboy]

A good run out for Some of our less regular first team players. Clarke’s goal was the pick of the bunch. Charles worked very hard once again. Opoku was classy too.
The Liverpool team was a very youthful group as I was told that they have an U23 match tomorrow! So these lads were mainly 16 to 18 year olds with two lads at 22 years old. The youngsters showed plenty of composure and skill on the ball and will have benefited from the experience of playing against regular ‘Pro’s’. Stanley were too strong and quick for them in the end.
For a change I sat In the Eric Whalley stand in line with edge of the penalty box. We had another lady assistant referee and she did very well. The only real issues were in the second half when Stanley started to really dominate and played a number of very quick breaks through the middle with our forwards advancing very swiftly. She just could not match the 30 yard sprints by the likes of Charles and she was five yards behind play several times. So she was not able to be in position to judge off sides from any second or third touches as our lads advanced towards the Liverpool goal. Luckily no contentious decisions arose but to me it does highlight a problem for female assistant referees. Over a thirty yard sprint women are just not as fast as men. I think that the best advice to these ladies is to work really hard in training on their ability to sprint with a rapid change of pace in order to keep up with play. Other than this point I am perfectly happy for us to have female officials refereeing matches.