Garforth Town 0-2 Armthorpe Welfare

Referee David Benton warns Armthorpe captain Craig Morley during the first half

Both managers criticised referee David Benton’s performance after Armthorpe Welfare’s victory at Garforth Town in a lacklustre Toolstation NCEL Premier Division encounter, writes James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson).
Garforth had four players yellow carded and midfielder Tawanda Rupere sent off for a second bookable offence which angered Town head coach Graham Nicholas – Rupere was bizarrely booked in the first half for pulling his shin pad up.
Rupere made his exit with 12 minutes left on the clock when Armthorpe were leading by a solitary goal. Darren Mansaram had scored at the beginning of the second half and captain Craig Morley’s late header sealed the points.
Whilst accepting that Garforth’s display lacked energy going forward, Nicholas said he believed that Rupere’s two cautions were unnecessary on the referee’s part.

Unhappy: Garforth Town head coach Graham Nicholas felt the two yellow cards issued to Tawanda Rupere were unnecessary

He said: “I asked the referee at half-time for reasons for Tawanda’s (first) yellow card and he commented that ‘your number ten was wanting to referee the game throughout and was badgering me and so forth’.
“For me, it’s like any other player, they’re going to question the referee. I think the referee has had it in for him after he’s booked him for showing a lack of respect by not standing up because he was pulling his shin pad up.
“The referee may have called him over, but if he needed to pull his shin pad up then the referee should have let him.
“The referee could have handled the situation better. I think was a cheap booking and obviously the referee has missed the tackle at the end (for the second yellow card) because it was a clean tackle.
“It wasn’t a foul, he won the ball. Refereeing is a difficult job and they can’t see everything. But, there is two linesman and I’m amazed that the referees never consult their linesmen.
“There were some wrong decisions. There was an assessor here today and if the referee had a bad performance what’s going to get done about it?”

Armthorpe striker Jay Rollins holds off Liam Smith

The first half was a forgettable event and the only man to liven-up the proceedings was the referee Benton. Rupere’s first yellow card on the stroke of half-time got the Garforth supporters baying for Benton’s blood.
Despite giving Garforth a free kick, Benton wanted to speak to Rupere and after the midfielder started pulling up his shin pad, the referee decided to caution him for ‘a lack of respect’. Benton had earlier let Armthorpe captain Morley off with a warning after the centre-half had been consistently haranguing him midway the half.
On the chances front, Armthorpe left-back David Buck had one dangerous blocked and Garforth’s Connor Bower had a goal-bound attempt cleared off-the-line.
The game had 0-0 written all over it half-time until a poor Anthony Hilton challenge on the edge of the penalty area gave Armthorpe their chance to strike on 51 minutes.
James Walker’s superb low curling free kick beat Garforth goalkeeper Michael Bathurst, but hit the post. Fortunately for Armthorpe, Mansaram was there to tap home the opening goal.

Garforth goalkeeper Michael Bathurst could not prevent Armthorpe taking the lead

Nicholas attempted to breathe some life into his team by withdrawing Bower and then Martin-Wyatt and replacing them with Josh Greenhalgh and Sinmi Oyebanji.
Garforth made some good breaks through Stephen Simpson and Sam Akeroyd, but Welfare goalkeeper William Biggs was relatively untested and Rupere’s red card moved the visitors into a comfortable position.
The temperature of the game with regards the referee had raised a climate of fear and a red card was always inevitable. Rupere’s made a tough challenge on Buck and won the ball. However, Benton deemed otherwise and was quick to show a second yellow card to the young midfielder, who will miss two matches due to a red card earlier on in the season.
With stoppage time approaching, Kieron Benson’s corner landed perfectly in the six-yard box and Morley was there to head the ball past Bathurst to crown a great away day for Armthorpe and manager Brian Johnston was delighted.
“I’m pleased to get three points because there has been games where we have played well and got nothing,” he said.
“I think we deserved it. They had a few chances in the first half where they could have nicked one and so did we. I thought whoever got the first goal would go onto win it.
“There wasn’t many chances and it was a bit scrappy at times because the conditions were difficult. The biggest thing that didn’t help was the referee.
“We had one booked, but if you look at the overall 90 minutes, I think ten minutes were made up of him being whistle-happy. He was a bit over-the-top.
“There were times when he could have let play go and their sending off was a bit harsh. He made it frustrating to watch and play.”
Garforth Town: Bathurst, Smith, Robertson, Kirk, Hawksworth (captain), Hilton (McMurrough 83), Simpson, Akeroyd, Martin-Wyatt (Oyebanji 77), Bower (Greenhalgh 60). Sub unused: Woodhall.
Armthorpe Welfare: Biggs, Tunney, Buck, Garner, Morley (captain), Aspinall, Taylor, Walker, Mansaram (Ryan 90), Rollins (Hattersley 60), Benson. Subs unused: Gibbons, Davies, Copley.
Referee: David Benton (Sheffield)
Attendance: TBC
Man of the match: Darren Mansaram (Armthorpe Welfare)

Match Photos are HERE