How Not To Referee A Football Match. By Graham Salisbury.
Let’s start with a little exercise in propaganda, shall we? We could begin this report with the headline UNLUCKY MORECAMBE LOOK FOR REVIVAL OF FORTUNES. This is nice and positive and represents the problems Covid isolation, being hosted by a multi-million pound club in the FA Cup and the undoubted fatigue which must have been caused by two long trips to London in the space of eight days to players who have been unable to train recently. Instead, though, we could start with ADAMS SEEKS TO END WINLESS, POINTLESS 2021 CRISIS. Personally, I would choose the former although I thought Derek got his tactics wrong last Saturday when he seemed to have chosen to play on the back foot instead of the front one against Orient – and paid the price; losing 2-0 in the last couple of minutes of the game to a team who were there for the taking. Intriguingly, though, he made it clear in his post-match interview that there had been unspecified `issues’ before the game which had prevented him getting the team fully prepared tactically for the contest. I wonder what that was all about…
Whatever, tonight was an opportunity to get back on track, as the manager said himself after the loss at Brisbane Road: “It’s a shame because we have been on a fantastic run and we are still in ninth position so we will have to look to put it behind us as soon as possible on Tuesday.’’ Walsall have had a bit of a topsy-turvy season themselves. They arrived in north Lancashire tonight in eleventh position in League Two on the back of three defeats and a single win in their last five games. Three points and two places lower than tonight’s opponents, they have also played two games more. On Saturday, they came from behind to claw a point back from Oldham on their own Bescot patch, drawing 1-1. This was the first game they have played this season without one of their best players, Bournemouth loanee Jake Scrimshaw, who left the club and controversially joined Newport County instead last week. The Sadlers’ Manager, Darrell Clarke, has gone public to record his disappointment about this apparently unexpected development. As a replacement, he has managed to persuade Aston Villa to allow youth team player Tyreik Samuel Wright to join his squad until the end of the season. The Walsall Manager has also got his hands on Birmingham City’s Jayden Reid, who came on as a substitute for Barrow – for whom he played twelve games on-loan without scoring – when Morecambe beat them earlier in the season. Reid was signed too late to feature tonight but Wright was sitting on the bench this evening. Looking at the team sheet, it must be said that rarely has a team Captain had a more appropriate name: the Walsall Skipper is called Mat Sadler. However, Darrell Clarke did not pick a substitute goalkeeper for tonight’s clash. Mentioning a recent injury to usual first choice Jack Rose, he said:
“It’s a bit of a punt not having a goalkeeper on the bench. Rosey did quite well in the team and Robbo (Liam Roberts) has come in and had a good game, to be fair to him. If you put Rosey on the bench everyone is saying ‘why isn’t Rosey playing?’ Everyone will think he is fit when he wasn’t fit to kick a ball. There’s no point having him on the bench because he’ll be a liability if he had to come on for Robbo. It was three subs when I played and there wasn’t a goalkeeper in sight, same when it was five subs. It’s not very often the goalkeeper gets injured so we’ll crack on.”
As far as tonight’s task specifically was concerned, he added:
“Derek has done a great job at Morecambe but the table is so tight isn’t it? There’s not a lot between top and bottom and you always have to be at it. Teams are very equal. You can play teams at good times if they have a lot of injuries. There’s a lot of football to be played and not many points in it in the table. We had to stop the rot (on Saturday), it’s important we did that. We’d have liked to stop it with a win but it’s important we build from here into Tuesday night.”
So the question this evening was – would the visitors return to their form of last year and start losing again – or would Morecambe do the same thing and start winning once more? Despite the loss at Orient, Derek Adams’ men have won three of their last five league games and all of their previous six matches at Fortress Mazuma in all competitions. In previous contests with Walsall, they have won one and lost one in the league and been victorious in their single previous Cup game.
The biggest worry before the game this afternoon was whether or not the game would actually happen at all. Tropical storm Christoph had already put paid to matches scheduled for Ewood Park in Blackburn and, even closer to home, Bloomfield road just south down the Irish Sea coast at Blackpool. But – with one eyes constantly on the heavens – the match kicked-off in pouring rain at seven o’clock as planned.
Given the dreadful weather, both teams put on a creditable display during the first half. The visitors chose to have the strong wind from Morecambe Bay at their backs but both sides tried to play the passing game rather than hoofing the ball into or with the wind. Walsall won a corner on their left in the very first minute but the first chance fell to the home team after three minutes. Carlos Mendes-Gomes had a shot well blocked by the visiting defence following a free kick to the Shrimps. The huge Elijah Adebayo then headed powerfully from a Walsall corner after seven minutes only to see Adam Phillips block it on the Morecambe goal-line. About ten minutes had been played when a Morecambe free-kick from a central position was played out to Stephen Hendrie on the left flank; he headed it into the middle and Cole Stockton spun and shot all in one movement to draw a great save from Liam Roberts only for Referee Graham Salisbury to blow for offside. With a quarter of an hour on the clock, Aaron Wildig and Cole combined well for the resulting shot from Stockton being deflected for a corner, which Roberts confidently punched away with both fists. Josh Gordon had the next chance for the visitors after eighteen minutes when he shot pretty tamely wide. Two minutes later, Carlos was about to latch on to a forward pass into the Walsall penalty area when one of huge defenders clad in yellow gave him a crafty push. Referee Graham Salisbury gave nothing. Or was it Liam Roberts’ fault? – throughout the first half, the Ref and his linesmen were wearing an identical strip (all black) to the visiting goalkeeper – a very basic error. But the referee had a very poor game altogether tonight, as we shall see. With Mark Halstead’s kicking into the wind often wayward, Wes McDonald had the next chance but blasted the ball wide when well placed with half an hour played. Three minutes later, nice play down the Walsall right resulted in Josh Gordon heading directly at Halstead, who saved easily. And it was from another attack down their right that the visitors took the lead three minutes later. Adebayo made good progress and slipped a cross to that man Gordon again. His initial effort was brilliantly saved by Halstead but the ball hit the goalkeeper’s right-hand post and bounced out at the perfect height and trajectory for Walsall’s Number Ten to steer it home with his head. There was a bit of argy-bargy between Stockton and Zak Jules shortly after this for which both players were booked. From the free-kick which they were getting hot under the collar about, the ball was headed away to the edge of the Walsall penalty area where John O’Sullivan’s instant volley was smartly saved by Roberts, despite a deflection off one of his own players. Shortly after this, the players trudged back to the dressing rooms through the unrelenting wetness.
The Ref and his men changed into green tops for the second half. But the quality of the officiating did not improve any. Hendrie tried his luck with a cross-come-shot from the right flank almost immediately but the ball flashed wide of the far post. A pattern soon emerged. Walsall retreated and gave away a succession of free-kicks and corners. Virtually every time they did this, the nearest player to the ball kicked it away – and the man in the green shirt did not penalise them even once. But the longer the match wore on, the less likely did the hosts seem to be any nearer an equaliser. Time after time, they launched high balls into the danger area – and time after time, Walsall’s huge defenders easily dealt with them. Yann Songo’o contrived to head the ball lamely over the bar from close range on one of the few occasions he got anywhere near a set-piece. This was from a corner after 47 minutes. Then, when Phillips’ high lob from the left came down with snow on it, Carlos’ ball control when unmarked in the penalty area failed him for once and the chance went begging. Phillips then wasted a free kick from a promising position after 56 minutes with a shot which went way over the bar. Two minutes later, Adebayo found himself in a good position on the Walsall right during a rare counter-attack but made a total hash of the resulting shot. An hour was on the clock when Hendrie on the right found Mendes-Gomes on the left but his shot was well blocked by the large yellow rearguard. And so it went on: Morecambe had all the possession but clearly not the nous to do anything with it as Walsall blocked or headed everything coming their way without too much trouble. A key moment of the game arrived after 72 minutes when Adebayo again received the ball on the right hand side of the Morecambe penalty area from his point of view. Hendrie then simply ploughed into him with a really poor challenge – taking the ball and the man from behind — for which he was rightly booked. But Mr Salisbury did not award the stone-wall penalty the visitors should have got. Skipper Sam Lavelle was then caught in possession and conceded another crude foul for which he also got a yellow card. But – just as it looked as if the game was going to end with a Sadler’s win, Carlos popped-up again in the right place at the right time and brilliantly headed home Phillips’ pin-point cross from the right at the near post. What would we do without them? It could have got even better for Morecambe with just four minutes scheduled to play. Wildig was in with a clean run on goal and was clearly pulled back at the crucial moment as he drew a tremendous save from Liam Roberts. But again, the referee gave nothing. Derek Adams was so enraged by this appalling decision that the man who made it sent him to the stands. And then made another bad mistake, just to rub it in. Substitute Liam McAlinden was making progress down the centre when he was pulled back by a Walsall defender and then body-checked by a second one. All this as the Ref ran along right behind them. But the Ref waved advantage – play on. What advantage? I suspect that if Derek was not already in the stands, he would be making the trip after this final error by a man who simply wasn’t up to it tonight. So the match ended all-square, probably more or less fairly.
And still the rain poured down. So very well done to all the Morecambe ground staff tonight – even at the end of it all, the pitch looked in really good nick.
Morecambe: 12 Mark Halstead; 3 Stephen Hendrie (Y); 4 Nathaniel Knight-Percival; 24 Yann Songo’o; 10 Aaron Wildig; 5 Sam Lavelle (C)(Y); 11 Carlos Mendes-Gomes; 20 Adam Phillips; 21 Ryan Cooney; 9 Cole Stockton (Y); 16 John O’Sullivan (19 Liam McAlinden 74’).
Subs not used: 13 André da Silva Mendes; 18 Ben Pringle; 8 Toumani Diagouraga; 7 Jordan Slew; 22 Liam Gibson; 23 Freddie Price.
Walsall: 1 Liam Roberts; 3 Zak Jules (Y); 4 Mat Sadler (C); 6 Dan Scarr; 7 Stuart Sinclair; 8 Liam Kinsella; 10 Josh Gordon; 15 Wes McDonald; 24 Hayden White; 17 Jack Nolan (2 Cameron Norman 64’); 11 Elijah Adebayo.
Subs not used: 14 Callum Cockerill-Mollett; 12 Alfie Bates; 9 Caolan Lavery; 20 Sam Perry; 23 Emmanuel Osadebe; 27 Tyreik Samuel Wright.
Ref: Graham Salisbury.
