VIOLENT scenes on the pitch at a Petersfield youth football match horrified onlookers as opposition supporters launched physical and verbal attacks at match officials. Players from Petersfield Town Juniors under-15s and their Solent United counterparts were left "gobsmacked" as a man allegedly invaded the pitch to assault a linesman, while two others were ordered away from pitchside for swearing at the referee. Petersfield went on to beat league leaders Solent 3 -1 in the match at Penns Field playing grounds 12 days ago. This is the second time this season the town's youth sides have had problems with opposing fans from the Portsmouth Youth League. In September, a 14-year-old referee officiating an under-nines match was subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse from opposing fans of the Portsmouth Chimes. After having his glasses taken away by one man, and being forced to give five verbal warnings for bad language, the referee abandoned the match. This week, Petersfield Town Juniors child welfare officer Alastair Godwin said: "A foul throw was awarded to the Town Juniors and a Solent United supporter rushed over to the linesman who awarded the throw. It ended up with the linesman's jacket being torn. "In the second half, two Solent United supporters were sent off for verbal abuse towards the referee." In this instance, the referee was a mature and experienced official. Often the referees in junior matches are under 16 themselves. Mr Godwin said: "The boys were just standing there gobsmacked as the adults were squaring up to each other. It was quite a surreal sight, but at the same time quite shocking." In his report of the match, Mr Godwin said: "Hopefully, the authorities will take appropriately severe action against those responsible to ensure this sort of behaviour is banished from the Portsmouth Youth Football League. "It must be said, however, that the referee had an excellent game and handled these unfortunate incidents extremely well." Following the fracas the referee sent his match report to the Portsmouth Youth Football League and Hampshire Football Association. Mr Godwin said: "We will wait for a response from the governing bodies to see what action they will take." Solent United club secretary John Gordon told The Herald he had not yet seen a report of the match and would not comment in case it prejudiced the case when it goes to the Hampshire FA. Gary Pratt, of the disciplinary department at Hampshire FA, said they were still investigating the case of the 14-year-old referee who had allegedly been physically and verbally abused two months ago. Mr Pratt said: "Currently the case is still not closed and we can't comment on it, but there has been a charge raised against one of the clubs." Of the latest incident, he said: "We have received the report and are investigating it." Incidents such as this have made Petersfield Town Juniors officials think twice about remaining in the Portsmouth Youth League. They are considering the possibility of moving to the North East Hampshire League. As a father of a boy playing in the match, Mr Godwin said: "It was totally inappropriate behaviour in a youth football game. It was deplorable and hopefully the league will take sufficient action against the offenders. "Had it been a young referee they might have left the game as they are not prepared to put up with the abuse." An official spokesman for Petersfield Town Juniors said: "Incidents such as this are handled by the match official and are included in his or her report to the league and the relevant football association. "They will, we are sure, take any appropriate action if it is deemed necessary and it would be unwise for us to make any further comment at this stage."
