A non-league referee has left two Conference sides with good cause to question his decisions, reportsBack of the Net'sJohn Foster...
Tuesday nightâÂÂs Conference National clash between Southport and Wrexham descended into chaos after referee Seb Stockbridge stopped telling players his decisions, requiring them instead to guess why he had blown his whistle.
âÂÂIt wasnâÂÂt easy out there,â admitted Wrexham captain Dean Keates, in the wake of his sideâÂÂs hard-fought 4-1 victory. âÂÂThe ref would whistle, and then heâÂÂd just stand there with his hands behind his back while we tried to work out what he wanted.âÂÂ
âÂÂEventually someone would say something like âÂÂencroachment at a throw-inâ and heâÂÂd nod curtly and the game would continue.âÂÂ
âÂÂI donâÂÂt know if he was bored, or shy, or just quite aloof,â Keates continued. âÂÂBut what I do know is, just when weâÂÂd started getting the hang of it, he started awarding corners for correct guesses, which made everything much harder.âÂÂ
"Goal kick? Penalty? Match abandoned due to ref getting trapped in invisible box?"
Southport striker Darren Stephenson told FourFourTwo that the refereeâÂÂs assistants proved no help whatsoever.
âÂÂHe [Stockbridge] made it clear before the game that one linesman always told the truth and the other always lied, but he didnâÂÂt tell us which,â reported Stephenson. âÂÂBy the time I thought to ask one of them âÂÂwould the other linesman flag if their fullback was clearly playing me on?â the game was over as a contest.âÂÂ
Southport will point to the departure of Godfrey Poku, who left the field in the 54th minute wrongly convinced heâÂÂd been sent off, as the turning point.
âÂÂWe complained to the fourth official,â said Stephenson, âÂÂBut he spoke only in riddles and ambiguities and answered every question with another question, which isnâÂÂt what you want at this level.âÂÂ
Stephenson also pointed out that this was not the first time a controversial decision has gone against Southport. Last week the Merseyside outfit were forced to battle back from two goals down at home to Hereford after the officials decided that away goals would literally count double shortly after the Bulls went 1-0 ahead.
Editor's note: this isn't a serious accusation and all quotes are fictionalised. But you knew that, because you're not stupid.
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