Mick
The Ref Aficionado.
Our head-to-head League record against Barnet is still in our favour with 9 wins to their 7 and just 1 draw. Their Boxing Day win means the last four matches between the two clubs have all been away wins, a run it would be good to extend. Last season, we won well at theirs 3-0 and then they won by the only goal at Roots Hall. The previous season two Matt Dennis goals saw us home at home and towards the end of the season we completed the double with a 3-1 away win. That was almost as good as our best season against them in the League back in 2011/12 when we beat them 3-0 both home and away. Bilel Mohsni scored 4 of those goals, including the hat-trick at home. In the first season back after the war, we beat them 9-2 away in the second round of the Cup, having brushed aside Brush Sports away by 6-1 in round one. Everton, also away, proved stronger opposition in round three and we bowed out with a very creditable 4-2 defeat in front of over 50,000 (so 17 goals in 3 away cup ties!).
It must be an extra challenge for referees in charge of the second game between the same team in the space of 5 days with incidents and ill-feeling still fresh in some players’ minds. Our referee for this return fixture will be Sam Mulhall, previously from Northwich but he now appears to work for the FA in London as a Learning and Development Officer and also is the Anti-Doping Co-ordinator. He is the holder of a Postgraduate Certificate in Sports Coaching from Worcester University. He also holds a UEFA Certificate in Football Management from the University of Lausanne.
This is his second season as a National League referee. Last season, he took charge of three Southend matches. Firstly, was the home 1-0 victory over Yeovil. As well as the early red for Yeovil there were yellows for Collin in goal, Demetriou, Powell and a couple of theirs. General consensus was that he did well. Next came the Trophy victory over Darlington, cautioning Lopata and Ralph and 3 of theirs.
Towards the end of the season, he did the Scunthorpe away win, cautioning just Hobson for us and 4 of theirs. So, three matches, three decent performances, three wins …. what can go wrong?
This season he has done 7 National League matches with a high 39 yellows but no reds thus far.
Making his first appearance as an official at a Southend match, first Assistant is Daniel D’Urso, 32-year-old son of the famous (or is that infamous?) referee Andy D’Urso. Having grown up in Billericay and been educated for 5 years at Westcliff High School for Boys, he now comes from Southwater in West Sussex and works for Inspired Energy PLC. His university degree was in Sociology with Criminology and his first proper job was as a Probation Officer. Other Assistant is Londoner Ross Murphy from Brixton, a Commercial Manager in the retail sector.
Fourth Official is Constantine Hatzidakis from Bromley, the former Premier League Assistant, who got into a bit of controversy when he appeared to elbow Andy Robertson in a Liverpool match. He is now working his way up through the ranks as a referee. Played rugby for Harlequins.
…..and a Happy embargo-free New Year to All.
It must be an extra challenge for referees in charge of the second game between the same team in the space of 5 days with incidents and ill-feeling still fresh in some players’ minds. Our referee for this return fixture will be Sam Mulhall, previously from Northwich but he now appears to work for the FA in London as a Learning and Development Officer and also is the Anti-Doping Co-ordinator. He is the holder of a Postgraduate Certificate in Sports Coaching from Worcester University. He also holds a UEFA Certificate in Football Management from the University of Lausanne.
This is his second season as a National League referee. Last season, he took charge of three Southend matches. Firstly, was the home 1-0 victory over Yeovil. As well as the early red for Yeovil there were yellows for Collin in goal, Demetriou, Powell and a couple of theirs. General consensus was that he did well. Next came the Trophy victory over Darlington, cautioning Lopata and Ralph and 3 of theirs.
Towards the end of the season, he did the Scunthorpe away win, cautioning just Hobson for us and 4 of theirs. So, three matches, three decent performances, three wins …. what can go wrong?
This season he has done 7 National League matches with a high 39 yellows but no reds thus far.
Making his first appearance as an official at a Southend match, first Assistant is Daniel D’Urso, 32-year-old son of the famous (or is that infamous?) referee Andy D’Urso. Having grown up in Billericay and been educated for 5 years at Westcliff High School for Boys, he now comes from Southwater in West Sussex and works for Inspired Energy PLC. His university degree was in Sociology with Criminology and his first proper job was as a Probation Officer. Other Assistant is Londoner Ross Murphy from Brixton, a Commercial Manager in the retail sector.
Fourth Official is Constantine Hatzidakis from Bromley, the former Premier League Assistant, who got into a bit of controversy when he appeared to elbow Andy Robertson in a Liverpool match. He is now working his way up through the ranks as a referee. Played rugby for Harlequins.
…..and a Happy embargo-free New Year to All.
