The view from the Western terrace

A different look at Bromley's recent FA Trophy win vs Aveley

National League South side Aveley visited Hayes Lane in Saturday’s FA Trophy fixture, but football wasn’t the sole focus of the fans on the Western Terrace.

This week’s Victim of the Western Terrace, as we like to call the assistant referee, was suffering from a problem I understand all too well: hair shortage. However, rather than go gracefully into the sunset, he’d gone for a Jack Charlton-style comb-over, highlighted rather ostentatiously by ginger colouring. It looked awful. But, and it’s a big but, he did an excellent job. Most notably, he was constantly telling the referee what was going on in his blind spots. This was refreshing.

Usually, we’re treated to an attention-seeker with a whistle who just happens to be wearing the same gear as the decision-phobic silent types running the line. On Saturday, however, we saw a team of officials working together to get the calls right.

I watched a fair amount of rugby over the weekend and it highlighted the crucial role of assistant referees, especially when compared with lower-league rugby where no assistants are used. Three pairs of eyes see more than one, so better decisions should follow. But this rarely seems to be the case in football. 

Comments from those far wiser than I suggest that every referee has a preference as to how much input they receive from their assistants. Is that wise? Even at this quirky level of football, decisions matter. Shouldn’t there be consistency?

The National League is full of failed Football League and Premier League clubs striving to recover their status, not to mention the ambitious non-leaguers looking to escape a level that already makes older fans light-headed. When every point matters, big decisions carry a cost that can be measured in six or seven figures. It beggars belief that officialdom isn’t taking full advantage of all the resources available.

Fans will always disagree on tight decisions, but with so much mediocrity creeping into officials’ performances in the National League, the competency of this trio stood out. For me, this proved that the person in the middle should be part of a team of three, not out there alone.

The Western Terrace will continue to referee the game themselves at an appropriately high volume, but the volume was noticeably lower on Saturday.

Who’d be a lino, eh?

In other news from the West:

• Here’s hoping Josh Passley remembered to remove Aveley’s number 3 from his back pocket before sitting down after the game. We can’t wait to see Josh’s crosses picking out Levi sometime soon.

• It was great to see Ben Krauhaus back to his best. Must’ve been his new boots.

• An interesting week in the midfield debate. Did this performance swing us back in favour of Sam Woods sitting at the base? This would surely boost our chances of achieving Woody’s number-one aim: the clean sheet. Let the goals take care of themselves (with a bit of help from the wing-backs and our marauding young centre-backs).

• We bid a fond farewell to our unique mate Toby Manchip. We’ll miss his witty observations as he passed the terrace. Gone far too soon.

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Thanks for taking the time to read the alternative look at the match by Andy Hammond.

Please note all photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Twitter here

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