Moore insists officials should be addressed
on 24/02/05 by Andy Starmore
Christchurch manager Pete Moore was distraught the other night when the referee in Priory?s 2-1 defeat at AFC Totton disallowed a Paul Rideout ?goal? before the home team darted up the other end of the pitch to grab the match winner.

Moore claims that Rideout?s effort was ruled out for offside despite a defender and the goalkeeper standing on the goal line.

It incensed the Priory boss, who wasn?t happy with some other aspects of the officials? game either.

?The officialdom in that game was absolutely awful,? said Moore.

?That second goal would have put us 2-1 up when we were well on top of the game as well and the decision to disallow it is beyond me.

?I cannot see, nor could people around me see how the linesman could even contemplate giving offside and it was just ridiculous.

?And another example of the linesman was with about five minutes to go we put them under pressure.

?We crossed the ball in from the right, their keeper then touched the ball on to Ross Edwards who chested it down and struck a volley.

?One of their defenders has thrown himself in front of the ball and it went just over the crossbar so it?s a corner.

?Then the linesman decides that the ball had gone out before the cross came over and gave a goal kick.

?Yet he didn?t flag until the ball had gone over the crossbar.

?He couldn?t keep up with play and it?s literally beyond me.

?It?s so disappointing when the lads play so well and then you get done by officialdom and poor decisions.?

Moore wasn?t blaming the referee on this occasion but insists that his Christchurch side have been the victim of many poor decisions this season.

He added, ?It wasn?t the man in the middle this time, it was the linesman. I actually felt sorry for the referee because he?s supposed to get support from the linesman.

?I?m absolutely gutted we didn?t win that game because we deserved to win 2-1.

?It?s so sad because after we?d played so well, all we can talk about is that decision which has cost us the game.

?So many times this has happened to us this year where we?ve been absolutely done by poor officials.

?The decision in this game was one of the worst I?ve ever seen a linesman give.?

Moore insists that something has to be done about the standard of match officials at Wessex League level and said that the decision to rule out Rideout?s possible match winner against Totton made him angrier than he?s been for a long time.

?Unfortunately we can?t play the game without them,? continued a disgruntled Moore.

?I was sent off when we played against Bournemouth Poppies recently and the referees report has come through and he?s completely and utterly lied through his teeth as to what actually happened.

?Because I?ve got a reputation they take it as gospel that that was what happened but, what he?s put in that report is absolute rubbish.

?Then you get a decision like Rideout?s goal against Totton and what can you do about it.

?The standard of refereeing unfortunately has dropped and it?s become very poor.

?And the people they put on the touchline?s are just not up to it.

?They can?t keep up with the pace of the game.

?You?ve got to remember that the Wessex League is part of the pyramid system and players are paid wages at this level, so the standard is a quality standard.

?Then you see the officials and they are poor, and it needs to be addressed. How, I don?t know but it does need to be addressed.

?To be honest I haven?t been this angry with a decision like the one at Totton for a long time because it was absolutely bizarre.?

* Striker Richard Bentley was taken to Southampton hospital ten minutes into the game with Totton with a suspected broken ankle but has since been given the good news that it is just severely bruised and not broken.