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Saturday, March 26, 2005

Essex man books McCafferty

I felt a strong sense of déja vu at Nene Park on Friday night. Rushden and Diamonds were drawing 1-1 against Lincoln City at half time, but with a player sent off, the game ended 1-4.

The game was refereed by Fred 'Essex Man' Graham who is the only person from Essex on the National List, having been promoted to it at the age of 41 this season (Andy d'Urso, the banker from Billericay, is a Premiership referee). On this performance, we don't want any more referees from the county. Graham's antics were too much for normally equable Charlton loan player Neil McCafferty who got booked in the second half for giving the hapless official a piece of his mind.

As one would expect from a midfield player, McCafferty's main contribution was precision passing as a provider to another players. He put in one superb cross which Broughton somehow managed to head wide of the goal. McCafferty also tracked back well in defence.

However, he was inclined to be shoved off the ball by larger Lincoln players, the Imps relying heavily on pushing players with the benign encouragement of the referee who smiled and joked with the Imps as he came off at the break. McCafferty also had once chance to score, but hesitated.

His loan spell at Rushden has cleared helped him to develop as a player. But there is a big gap between a League Two side threatened with relegation and the Premiership.

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