Cod Almighty | Diary

Adding insult to injury time

20 August 2024

This is probably madness, and anyone with an ounce of practical football nous will be quick to say why, but Newbegin Diary will risk it.

Last Saturday, we had played the designated period of first half injury time, the ball was in the arms of the goalkeeper and the referee had the whistle in his mouth. 6,000 people - players, officials, spectators - knew that the moment the goalie kicked it, he was was going to blow for half time. So why not blow it there and then? Was anyone's life enriched by the parabolo of the punt, or would they have preferred the few extra seconds to get into the queue for the toilets or a cup of tea?

So far, so routine, but a more interesting case arose on Tuesday, when a Bradford City player was injured and eventually substituted with about 30 seconds still to play. Wouldn't it have been better for everyone if the half-time whistle had been blown early, with the extra time played in the second half, so the injured player could get proper treatment without everyone having to hang around to kick the ball in a futile snatch of play?

That also occurred at the end of the first half. Obviously, injury time at the end of the second half is sacrosanct, but maybe it shouldn't be. Cast your mind back to one of our Conference matches. The score was 0-0, the clock was running down, the away side was finding legal, illegal and semi-legal ways to kill the game, and the ref was warning them about it. Finally, we did score with about two minutes to play, and from that point the losing team became the beneficiaries of their own time-wasting, given a bit of time to try and snatch an equaliser.

They had spent the last half-hour making clear they'd like the game to be over as soon as possible, so why not end it? Why should they be allowed to gamble on one set of tactics and then given a second chance when they fail. Could it be contrived for the ref say to the winning captain: "There's 30 seconds left because of genuine stoppages, and then two more minutes I was going to add because they were so slow taking dead balls and making substitutions. It's up to you whether we play those two extra minutes or not."

Probably not, although when I outlined that thought to Paul Hurst after just such a match, he was too polite to tell me I'm a half-wit. Go to the official site for common sense news on the youths latest win and ticket arrangements for the Sheffield Wednesday match. I'm not going to waste any more of your time.