Occasional Premier League referee Robert Madley is the man in the middle for the opening game of the Championship season between Charlton and QPR on Saturday.
Referee >>> Robert Madley (West Yorkshire) sixth season on the Football League list — brother Andrew is also a referee in the Championship.
Assistants >>> Adrian Holmes (West Yorkshire) and Daniel Cook (Jampshire)
Fourth Official >>> Fred Graham (Essex)
Fortunately, everything fell right for them on Saturday. The game was decided by a single goal scored at the perfect time. In one minute of time added on at the end of the first half by referee Robert Madley, Leroy Fer intelligently nodded Joey Barton’s deep corner back into the path of Charlie Austin - back in the team after a hamstring injury - and he swept home with his left foot through a crowd of players. Austin had earlier lost out in a one on one situation with Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone at the end of a flowing move thanks to a heavy touch on the edge of the box but he kept plugging away and got his reward in the end.
Sunderland, and Giaccherini in particular, felt they had good cause to be angry with referee Robert Madley who first ignored substitute Will Buckley’s pleas for a free kick on the cusp of the QPR penalty area following an apparent trip by Chilean full back Maurcio Isla. The referee awarded a goal kick, suggesting Buckley had gone down too easily, and the replays made him right, but a yellow card handed out to Giaccherini in stoppage time for diving on the edge of the area when he looked to have been fouled for all money was more controversial.
And Rangers were reasonably annoyed themselves when Mutch was yellow carded in the second half for a nothing foul on Steven Fletcher. The Sunderland man made a lot of the contact, and Madley seemed to reach his decision with a good deal of guesswork.
QPR: Green 8; Isla 7, Ferdinand 7, Caulker 7, Hill 7; Barton 6, Mutch 7, Fer 8 (Taarabt 90, -); Hoilett 6 (Traore 83, -), Phillips 6, Austin 7 (Zamora 69, 7)
Subs not used: Onuoha, Murphy, Henry, Dunne
Goals: Charlie Austin 45 (assisted Barton/Fer)
Bookings: Mutch 56 (foul)
Sunderland: Mannone 7; Vergini 5 (Altidore 82, -), Brown 6, O’Shea 6, Van Aarnholt 6; Cattermole 7; Larsson 6, Rodwell 6 (Giaccherini 69, 7), Johnson 5, Wickham 6; Fletcher 6 (Buckley 69, 6)
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Jones, Bridcutt, Gomez
Bookings: Cattermole 36 (foul), Giaccherini 90 (diving)
Referee — Robert Madley (West Yorkshire) 5 I dare say the Sunderland mark for the referee would be a good deal lower, judging by the stick he was taking from the away end, but in the end he just about managed to keep control of a niggly, competitive fixture with a number of strong characters on both sides. The decision to ignore an appeal from Will Buckley for a foul by Isla on the edge of the area was correct — it was a dive. Whether he got the one with Giaccherini right at the end I don’t know, haven’t seen it again. I thought the Mutch booking was a joke. Not the greatest display of refereeing, but not the worst.
Brighton 2 QPR 0, Tuesday March 11, 2014, Championship
Brighton threatened only very occasionally. A wayward shot from 20 yards out from man Utd loanee Jesse Lingard failed to trouble Green, then when the impressive Will Buckley cut in well from the right and drew a foul from Clint Hill referee Robert Madley played a good advantage that allowed Leonardo Ulloa to advance into the danger area but with the goal at his mercy and Keith Andrews an Lingard waiting for a tap in to his left he lashed the ball into the side netting. A real waste.
Brighton: Kuszczak 8; Bruno 7, Upson 7, Dunk 6, Ward 6; Andrews 7, Ince 7, Forster-Caskey 5 (Lua Lua 75, 6), Buckley 7 (Stephens 90, -); Ulloa 6, Lingard 5
Subs not used: RodrÃguez Sánchez, Calderón, Ankergren, March, López
Goals: Ulloa 77 (assisted Bruno), Ward 86 (assisted Lua Lua)
Bookings: Lingard 79 (foul)
QPR: Green 6; Onuoha 6, Hill 6, Dunne 6, Assou-Ekotto 5 (Maiga 79, 5); Barton 6, Jenas 7; Traore 7, Morrison 7, Hoilett 5; Keane 5
Subs not used; Hughes, Kranjcar, Benayoun, Murphy, O’Neil, Henry
Referee — Robert Madley (West Yorkshire) 9 No real controversial incidents in the game but I certainly can’t recall him getting very much wrong at all. Sensible refereeing, plenty of advantage, just the one card.
The season before he was far more card happy than we experienced in that game at Brighton in general. He sent off ten players and booked 90 in 26 games. That included five red cards in his final nine fixtures and three separate hauls of six yellows and a red in a single game. His biggest haul in a single match was eight yellows in Swansea’s 3-3 draw with Stoke, where he also awarded the visitors a nonsense last minute penalty.
He’ll perhaps always be remembered for his Premier League debut at Southampton v West Brom last season where he sent off three players — Gaston Ramirez and Daniel Fox from the hosts, and Mar Antoine Fortune from the visitors — in 12 second half minutes.
Those cards at St Mary’s went towards last season’s total of eight reds and 105 yellows in 38 games — 2.76 bookings a game on average.
Championship >>> Kevin Friend drops down from the top flight to keep an eye on Leeds v Burnley which is the Saturday lunchtime televised game.
League Two >>> Gavin Ward has the opening day derby between Exeter and Yeovil.
The Twitter @loftforwords
Pictures — Action Images