What a difference a few days make...

With 15 minutes to go on Saturday we were looking at the possibility of sitting in third place until it all went slightly crazy.

After midweek wins for Wealdstone, Concord, Dartford, Torquay and Woking we suddenly find ourselves down to eighth and out of the play-off zone. The table is incredibly tight though, with only five points covering Welling in third and Eastbourne in fourteenth. Makes it even more important that we can see out games like Saturday, although of course there is no allowing for dubious refereeing decisions.

Given how little refs are rewarded and the abuse they receive it must be taken that all refs at this level are slightly bonkers. So the best we can hope for is that dodgy decisions even themselves out over the season. (Although a penalty conceded in the last minute of the season is more costly than one in the first).

Not sure about that.. it just appears so. A better example is a cup competition where there isn't time for things to even out, at least in a single season.

I was thinking that if you concede a penalty in the first minute of the season you have time to do something about it. If you concede a penalty in the last minute and miss out on the play offs as a result then it is substantially more costly.