The next referee was an astute teenager. Did his job with aplomb and I'm not saying that because he awarded a penalty to my team after an opposition defender had me eyeballing earth worms about 7m out from the goalmouth.
Was he perfect? No way and neither was the officious one. Needless to say this young fellow will go a long way with the help of his custodians despite unfair accusations from some quarters that he was in some way inept or myopic in his judgements.
Last Saturday, at Guthrie Park, Havelock North, I came across a referee who has been to the highest level of soccer officialdom and back. Those who are lucky enough to have him control their games will attest to his prowess with a whistle.
Ritualistically Bruce Grimshaw addressed both teams, informed them he wasn't going to use the help of assistants running the line from either teams because he wasn't in a position to ascertain how good their sense of judgement would be.
"For offsides, I will make a call to the best of my judgement but please don't stop playing until I blow the whistle," he said, snipping a few loose ends like a hairdresser before the game kicked off.
At halftime, he had awarded just one free kick. Walking off the pitch, a grinning Grimshaw urged both teams to do their utmost not to infringe because he didn't want to award any more free kicks.
I stood on the sideline for the second half watching him control a game that flowed without any hiccups.
No finger wagging, no cards and no stern words. I slapped him on the back and asked him to control all our games, knowing very well it wasn't going to happen.
Is Grimshaw great because he's a former Fifa badge holder?
Perhaps it's because he's the village community police officer, as one of my teammates said to me as we trudged back to the changing sheds.
Roger Sinclair is another Bay ref who comes quite close to Grimshaw's level.
Unfortunately Matt Stoneman, who has expressed the desire to officiate at the pinnacle of soccerdom (World Cup) doesn't have that people skill that Grimshaw and Sinclair have.
While refs don't have to be shrinks, it seems a job prerequisite is not only have a grasp of the rules but also people skills if they are to stand between the game and chaos.