Moss selected for New Year Day Norwich test
Thursday, 30th Dec 2010 20:09 by Clive Whittingham

The usually calm and reasonable Jon Moss is the man in the middle for QPR’s trip to Norwich City on Saturday.

Referee >>> Jon Moss (West Yorkshire) sixth season on the league list and usually a safe, calm pair of hands.

Assistants >>> David Margetts (Essex) and Wayne Porter (Lincolnshire)

Fourth Official >>> Glenn Hambling (Norfolk)

Previously

QPR 1 Leicester 2, Friday October 30, 2009

Magilton had seen enough and replaced Damion Stewart, possibly carrying an injury and certainly massively off his best on the night, with Fitz Hall ten minutes into the half. Hall played reasonably well thereafter, although he was very fortunate not to give away a penalty when he appeared to wrestle Fryatt to the ball in the box – referee Jon Moss waved the appeals away in what was just about the only possible mistake he made in an evening of near perfect officiating.

QPR: Cerny 5, Ramage 5 (Vine 67, 6), Stewart 4 (Hall 54, 6), Gorkss 6, Borrowdale 6, Routledge 6, Buzsaky 6, Leigertwood 5, Faurlin 5,Taarabt 7 (Agyemang 86, -), Simpson 6

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Alberti, Ainsworth, Parker

Goals: Taarabt 33 (assisted Simpson)

Leicester: Weale 7, Neilson 7, Brown 7, Hobbs 6, Berner 6, King 6, Oakley 7, Wellens 7, N'Guessan 8, Waghorn 9 (McGivern 90, -),Fryatt 8 (Gallagher 75, 6)

Subs Not Used: Logan, Morrison, Howard, Dyer, Kermorgant

Booked: Neilson, N'Guessan, Oakley

Goals: Fryatt 37, 64

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 9 Leicester probably should have had a penalty in the second half when Hall pulled Fryatt to the floor but Moss was otherwise almost completely faultless and this was just about as good a refereeing performance as you are ever likely to see at this level.

Wolves 1 QPR 0, Saturday April 18, 2009

There was also a change of referee from the advertised appointment. John Moss came in for Kevin Wright who was presumably injured.

At the other end Rangers had a half chance to take the lead as the twentieth minute approached. Wayne Routledge pinched a loose ball midway through the Wolves half and seemed to have a chance to run through on goal but Jody Craddock came across as the last defender and got an untidy but effective tackle in on the little winger before he could get a shot away. Routledge appealed to referee Moss in vain for a foul.

Referee Moss compounded QPR frustration with the first yellow card of the match for Jordi Lopez after he had challenged Karl Henry in the air. Lopez had twice been warned by the official after previous fouls so in fairness it seemed that the card was for repetitive fouling rather than that one specifically.

Down at the other end referee John Moss had to keep a close eye on two clashes between goalscorer Ebanks Blake and QPR keeper Radek Cerny just before the hour mark. First the striker challenged him in the six yard box after a corner and then seemed to grab hold of him as Cerny tried to launch a quick counter attack. That sparked a bit of a hand bags session and when Kaspars Gorkss first mis-controlled a high through ball and then left a header back to the Czech slightly shortit gave Ebanks Blake a chance to leave a boot in a second time – which he duly did. Cerny was content to get up and play the ball when he could have made more of it.

With five minutes to go QPR had an ideal chance to equalise. Wayne Routledge seemed to be fouled forty yards from goal as he burst through the centre of the Wolves midfield but referee Moss waved play on. The ball broke to Helguson on the edge of the penalty area and he certainly was chopped down crudely by Berra. Adel Taarabt seemed the most likely striker of the ball as Molineux fell into a nervous silence but ultimately Hogan Ephraim took responsibility and lofted a pretty pathetic chipped effort over the wall and the cross bar by some distance. Taarabt gave his team mate a daggered look – I can’t see Hogan being at the front of the queue for one of those next week against Plymouth should the chance arrive.

Moss added four minutes on at the end of the game during which Vokes volleyed wide from a Harewood knockdown. It was clear from the moment Ephraim put his free kick over the bar that QPR would not equalise and the atmosphere inside Molineux was fit to burst. Repeated pleas over the public address system for fans to remain off the pitch were clearly not going to be heeded and so, roughly a minute early, the referee picked up the ball in the corner as Harewood attempted to waste time and blew the final whistle. Suddenly thousands of people were pouring onto the pitch and the QPR players had to make a swift exit to avoid behind caught up in it all.

Wolves: Hennessey 7, Foley 6, Craddock 8, Berra 7, Ward 6 (Stearman 79, 6), Edwards 7, Henry 7, Jones 6 (Vokes 65, 6), Jarvis 8, Ebanks-Blake 7 (Harewood 60, 6), Keogh 7

Subs Not Used: Higgs, Reid

Booked: Stephen Ward (foul)

Goals: Ebanks-Blake 46 (assisted Keogh)

QPR: Cerny 7, Ramage 6, Stewart 5, Gorkss 8, Connolly 7, Routledge 6, Lopez 7 (Leigertwood 85, -), Mahon 7, Cook 5 (Ephraim 63, 6), Vine 6 (Taarabt 63, 7), Helguson 5

Subs Not Used: Delaney, Miller

Booked: Lopez (repetitive fouling)

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 6 A late replacement and I felt he was a little bit one sided in the first half, with the home fans baying every fifty fifty decision went their way. Second half he was much better and with only two cards in total deserves some credit for the way he handled a tough game overall. One of the linesmen, the one at the far end from the QPR fans, was dire.

QPR 0 Reading 0, Saturday January 31, 2009

The second half began with a pathetic incident. Michael Duberry lumbered across the pitch just inside his own half and was confronted by Heidar Helguson. The QPR striker challenged him for the ball at which point Duberry flung himself to the ground and let out a scream so loud and high pitched that it had proprietors of all girls’ boarding schools across Western Europe rushing to the dormitory’s fearing a break in by Russell Brand. Duberry’s collapse and yelp was so dramatic that the Reading club doctor was robed up and prepped for surgery before he had even hit the ground and so it was something of a surprise when the screaming and knee clutching came to an immediate halt when the referee awarded a free kick at which point he immediately leapt up and raced off down the field to contest the resulting set piece in the QPR penalty area.

Cheating. No other word for it. And it was not the first time. Duberry is a fairly hefty guy, in the same way as Lisa Riley is fairly hefty, but the way he consistently collapsed to the floor and moaned to the match officials was embarrassing. I was embarrassed for him. The Duberry v Helguson battle was the one area of the game I thought referee Jon Moss got wrong on the day – Helguson ended up with a booking for repetitive fouls against the big useless lump when often the offence was minimal if it happened at all.

Still Duberry got his comeuppance later in the second half when he attempted to fend off Hogan Ephraim and shelter a through ball out for a goal kick. Somehow Ephraim, built like a chicken stick, managed to not only shift Duberry, built like a kebab shop owner, but also kick the ball off him and win a corner which Rangers promptly wasted. Duberry, wouldn’t you just know it, thought Ephraim had fouled him and was booked for suggesting to the referee that he had given the corner on the say so of the home supporters in the Loft End.

Another cross into the area a minute later caused further panic when Camp spilled it under pressure from/while being fouled by Lita and Hunt stabbed the loose ball wide of the open goal while simultaneously screaming for a penalty for a late tackle by Gorkss. Moss showed no interest in the complaints from either Camp or Hunt.

Probably as sick and tired of the farce as the rest of us Jon Moss decided that was enough and blew the final whistle seconds later. QPR had shaded the first half, Reading the second, in the end a draw was a more than fair result.

QPR: Camp 6, Connolly 7, Stewart 8, Gorkss 8, Delaney 8, Routledge 7, Mahon 8 (Ephraim 77, 6), Leigertwood 7, Miller 8, Cook 5 (Di Carmine 90, -), Helguson 5 (Blackstock 85, -)

Subs Not Used: Hall, Alberti

Booked: Helguson (repetitive fouling)

Reading: Federici 6, Rosenior 7, Duberry 5, Pearce 7, Armstrong 7, Kebe 7 (Gunnarsson 90, -), Harper 6, Cisse 6, Stephen Hunt 6, Lita 6, Doyle 6

Subs Not Used: Andersen, Matejovsky, Bikey, Long

Booked: Stephen Hunt (foul), Duberry (dissent)

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 8 Not too bad at all, very good in fact. I did feel however that he bought a lot of the play acting, particularly from Kebe and Duberry, and the booking of Helguson was harsh.

Colchester 4 QPR 2, Tuesday 2 October, 2007

Harford switched to a 4-3-3 formation by introducing Sahar for Jarrett but this just opened things up even more at the back and took up a lot of the space Vine was working in. Dexter Blackstock was looking tired and laboured again, although he did draw a booking from Duguid after chasing a lost cause down to the corner. He looks like he could do with a rest really.

Ephraim wasn't as impressive in the second half as he had been in the first and picked up a booking for fouling Yeates after cashing him back into the Rangers half. Ainsworth got a card himself for a similar offence on the other side of the field against George Elokobi. All in all Rangers just petered out. Virgo was unlucky not to extend the lead when he headed just wide of the bottom corner after Platt had set him up.

Colchester: Gerken 5, Duguid 6, Baldwin 6, Virgo 6, Elokobi 5, Yeates 8, Izzet 7, Jackson 7, Granville 8, Lisbie 7, Platt 7.

Subs Not Used: Cousins, Guy, Guttridge, Connolly, Elito.

Booked: Duguid (foul), Jackson (foul), Platt (foul)

Goals: Leigertwood 19 og (unassisted), Izzet 30 (assisted Granville), Yeates 38 (assisted Lisbie), Platt 63 (assisted Yeates)

QPR: Camp 6, Rowlands 5, Leigertwood 4, Cullip 4, Barker 6, Ainsworth 5 (Moore 85, -), Jarrett 6 (Sahar 75, 6), Bolder 4, Ephraim 7, Blackstock 5, Vine 8.

Subs Not Used: Cole, Bignot, Stewart

Booked: Bolder (foul), Ephraim (foul), Ainsworth (foul)

Goals: Ephraim 29 (assisted Vine), Vine 58 (assisted Ainsworth)

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 7 - Pretty sensible display all round although I really don't think it was a foul from Bolder that led to the third goal. I can sympathise with him because the rules outlaw tackles from behind but this is a contact sport and that was a good tackle.

Stats

So far this season Moss has shown 32 yellows (1.77 a game) and three reds in 18 matches, which is a low average befitting a referee that usually goes about his job in a calm and sensible manner. He sent off two, booked four and awarded a penalty as Ipswich won 2-1 at Crystal Palace in August but has otherwise largely kept the book in his pocket. He was more prolific last season, showing 121 yellows (3.27 a game) and eight reds in 37 games. His biggest haul in a single game was six yellows and a red in Southampton’s 1-0 win at MK Dons. The last time he refereed Norwich they beat Wycombe 5-2 here in League One 18 months ago.

Other Listings

Championship >>> More bad news for Cardiff who have Stuart Attwell in charge of their game at Bristol City, Andy D’Urso has Watford v Portsmouth and Rob Shoebridge has Burnley v Sheff Utd.

League Two >>> Watch out for Trevor Kettle at Chesterfield v Stockport.

Monday >>> Fred Graham is the man in the middle for our Bank Holiday game with Bristol City – a referee that doesn’t usually blow his whistle for anything. More on him on Sunday.

Photo: Action Images

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