I'll be watching and commenting on the Tottenham-Bolton game this morning. Specifically I'll be looking for referee calls and situations and how Chris Foye, our referee today, faired with those decisions.
Also, as an American, I'll be cheering on Bolton a little bit. Provide your thoughts as well!
9:09 - I missed the first 15 or so minutes due to some house work, but now that I've tuned in I've heard Stuart Holden's name about 10 times. The commentators are really talking him up.
Also, had three games last night at a local college. Pretty easy games, my center was 7-0 and I think I called maybe 10 fouls, maybe. Today I have two youth premier games, one of which will help to determine the champions for this season.
9:18 - Both teams in it so far - and wow what a cross by Steinnson and a good save by Gomes for the corner in the 30th minute. No choice tackles so far but with these two teams I'm sure they're coming. Good goal by Kevin Davies int he 31st! Goal Goal Goal.
Ok, seeing th replays it looks like Davies was offside. By less than a yard but it was pretty clear that he was off. Good finish none the less, he buried it with pace and accuracy. I've only seen one replay but it seems like the AR possibly wasn't ready for a transition right before the goal. Spurs had possession but a nice tackle by a Bolton player put the ball to another Bolton player (sorry, haven't seen the replay to tell you who. The 2nd Bolton player played it directly to Davies, but Davies looked to be off by a good step or two. Still have only seen one replay.
Oh, first tasy challenge - Kevin Davies tackles Gareth Bale. Surprising that it's not a yellow - we're a half hour in - plenty of time to give a yellow for that kind of challenge. They just said the referee has not given a red card in his last 22 matches. Impressive? Yeah, I guess so. As long as it's for preventative refereeing then it's great.
Halftime - Definitely offside for Kevin Davies. At least a yard or so. I didn't get to see what the AR was doing but I know that sometimes I'll be sucked into watching the game instead of watching my line. My guess is that he was watching the tackle and was not in perfect position to see that Davies had slipped behind the 2nd to last defender. We should still be at 0-0, but alas, we're not so it should be an interesting 2nd half.
Not many fouls in the 1st half but Bale was on the receiving end of a few challenges. It looks like Bolton has targeted their best player and made sure he's going to be feeling some bumps and bruises tomorrow morning. I would suspect that if this keeps up we might be seeing some yellow cards for Persistent Infringement. Otherwise it's been a pretty calm match. I don't expect that to keep up. As a referee you must be thinking ahead now, and realize that the temperature of the match is going to skyrocket. You must be ready to deal with misconduct and at the same time try to keep a flow going. Foye had a good first half but must keep it up in the 2nd as the game gets more intense.
Alright, time for the 2nd half, the players are on the field and we are ready to go. One change for Tottenham as Pavlyuchenko (spelling Eastern European names is not my forte. Enjoy!
9:54 - Harsh call on C.Y. Lee in the corner. AR2 didn't flag for the foul but the referee called it. AR2 is only a mere 7 yards away while the refere is nearly 20-25 yards from the play. Very slight contact, probably not enough to bring a Premier League player to the ground.
Yikes, the mountainous Crouch just elbowed Knight.
9:57 - First booking of the game on Bolton's Robinson. Small tackle, nothing too bad, and honestly not even as bad as Davies tackle on Bale in the first half.
What a strike by Bale though, just off the woodwork.
10:02 - Another for Wanderers. Steinsson nets it this time after good play for Bolton this 2nd half. They are really taking it to Tottenham. 2-0 Bolton.
10:08 - Great no call by Foye on the penalty shout by Bolton. The Spurs defender definitely got the ball.
10:20 - A flurry of activity by Wanderers here as Matthew Taylor hits the post and Muamba just puts one into the side netting.
And now a penalty! Foye calls the push on Lee in the box. And Davies buries it. Good call in my opinion. Lee did well to position himself with his back to the defender. Then the defender goes right through Lee's back. Great call by Foye, 3-nil Bolton and well deserved.
10:26 - Spurs pull one back with a goal from Hutton. Well taken and a great strike. Too little, too late?
Foye has done well so far in this game. I count one card so far, very well refereed game with little confrontation. Did I just see a bad throw called? Petrov on now.
10:30 - Shout for a penalty by Tottenham and now another by Bolton on the other side. I think both were excellent calls. Why? Both players had their hand next to the bodies in a normal stance. Their hands weren't out from their bodies and they didn't intentionally handle the ball as the law says.
WOW! What a goal by Pavlyuchenko! Wonderful strike from a tough angle. 3-2 now with only minutes on the clock.
And now a stomp by Huddlestone on Elmander. Should be a straight red card for me. The referee was a little ways away and really should have been closer. What's unfortunate is that theere has been nothing in the game to warrant such a play. The FA will be certain to deal with that play this week.
10:37 - Petrove tries to outdo Pavlyuchenko but only barely misses. 4 minutes of extra time. Spurs hanging by a thread in this one.
10:40 - I told you this one was going to get interesting. Petrov puts another in the back of the net on a breakaway run. 4-2 Bolton and surely this is it.
This game had everything, penatlies, penalty shouts, yellow card, brilliant goals, red card stomps, and plenty of creative play on both sides, but Bolton really taking the game by the scruff of the neck early in the 2nd half. With the exception of the bad no-offside call on the first goal and the missed red card late in the 2nd the referee crew had a pretty good game. Certainly this game was decided on the field as Bolton out-classed Spurs on the day.
Hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did and I look forward to your comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment