SO much for friendlies. Willington Under-15s' final pre-season fixture was played out in the most unpleasant of atmospheres last Sunday.

A derby against St Mary's, from Bishop Auckland, ought to have brought our preparations for the forthcoming Premier Division campaign (which begins this Sunday) to an enjoyable, stress-free close.

Instead, rows, recriminations and rancour turned the exercise into one I now wish we had not got involved in.

The St Mary's coaches and I agreed before the game that "the most important thing is the two teams come through unscathed".

So, when one of my players went down clutching his ankle, I expected the referee (one of their bosses) to stop play immediately.

But he did not. In fact, he did not blow his whistle for at least 20 seconds, by which time my frantic pleas to the ref had become furious roars.

He took exception to this, shouting at me and saying I should stop shouting at him.

I pointed out (strongly, but without swearing) that one of my lads was hurt, and he responded by threatening to have me ejected from the premises!

If the charge was that I wanted my injured player to be tended to, I plead guilty.

Refereeing is not an easy job - especially if, as in this case, the man officiating is not a full-time ref.

But the least I demanded was that my players were looked after, and in my eyes that had not happened. In those circumstances, I felt my anger was understandable.

At the end, to their coach's credit he came across and wished us luck for the new season.

But as handshakes go, it was as cursory as the one that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger exchange when their teams meet.

To make matters worse, the match itself was terrible; we were without our best attacking players, and we lost 1-0 to a penalty that my players disputed.

The result did not concern me, however. I was pleased to have 11 players standing at the end and took great encouragement from our doughty defending.

Nevertheless, the whole experience left a sour taste in the mouth.

Our first league game of the season is away to Parkside, based in Seaham, in two days' time.

We have a number of injury worries and I fear the team I select for the match will be greatly under-strength.

I have also heard a number of very good reports about our opponents, who were promoted last season.

Even if we were able to field our best line-up, I know Parkside would give us a stern test.

Despite our problems, I am sure we will not disgrace ourselves; whether I can galvanise my weakened team and get them to play well enough is a completely different matter.

Earlier this week, my players went from lads of leisure to hard-working schoolboys. Well, they're schoolboys again, anyway - I don't know about the hard-working bit!

I'm fortunate that all 19 members of my squad are personable individuals when they're at Willington, although I cannot vouch for their academic ability.

Last week, during the St Mary's game, one boy was denying claims that he was a ruler short of a full pencil case.

"Here's a question for you," he said, clearly trying to prove his extensive knowledge.

"What's the capital of Paris?"

Oh well, at least he wasn't hoping to become a geography teacher!