National Soccer League clashes between the Football Kingz and Wollongong Wolves are not exactly renowned for their lack of passion at the best of times, but their duel at a rain-drenched Ericsson Stadium on January 10 was a little more fiery than most, and for that, thanks is due primarily to one B. Williams, Esq..      In this, his first year of refereeing NSL action, the inexperience of referee Ben Williams was a significant factor in what descended into a tempestuous 1-1 draw between two teams desperate for three points in the race for play-off places, the intensity of the pursuit of which  is increasing with each passing round.      This intensity was clearly evident in this match between two teams who had drawn five of their nine clashes going into this encounter. That it was not allowed to develop along the lines it should have done is due, quite simply, to too much intervention by the referee, at the expense of the players and, ultimately, of the game itself.      In slippery conditions for both teams, the official, when he wasn't getting in the way of the action, tended to err too often on the side of caution, and, sadly, prevented what should have been an open, richly entertaining affair - as clashes between these teams often are - into a stop-start stand-off, a situation which merely encouraged frustrations to fester and, eventually, boil over.      Dino Mennillo's return to his former club was to end prematurely, after he told the referee what he thought of his decision-making in no uncertain terms sixteen minutes from time, following the disallowance, for offside, of what appeared to be a perfectly good goal by Wollongong's Stuart Young.      The same incident prompted the dismissal of the Wolves' coach, Ron Corry, and team manager from the dugout, after they followed Mennillo's lead in berating the whistle-blower.      That this was the first occasion in his twenty-five year coaching career in which Corry has been sent from the sidelines speaks volumes for how frustrating it was for players and coaching staff of both teams to endure a display of officiating so brimful of intervention.      Patricio Almendra's return from injury was also brought to a premature end six minutes before the final whistle, as he was deemed guilty of violent conduct after Wolves' defender Buddy Farah appeared to fall victim to an errant elbow from the Chilean playmaker in an off-the-ball incident.      To say it was a contentious call is putting it mildly, with referee Williams acting on the advice of his senior assistant, Paul Smith, before reaching for the red card. Kingz CEO, Chris Turner, attended the after-match media conference to advise that "the club will be appealing the decision - the video evidence speaks for itself".      The game began brightly enough, Naum Sekulovski - impressive in the first half until a clash of heads curtailed his evening's endeavours - testing Michael Utting in the eighth minute, two minutes after which a gorgeous chip by Almendra required Andrew Crews' intervention to prevent the ball from dropping under the crossbar. How a goal kick was awarded only Mr Williams can explain!!      Both Sekulovski and Alex Castro just failed to connect with an angled David Cervinski free-kick seconds later, while the first-mentioned Wolves player benefited from the combination of Liam Austin and Dustin Wells in the twelfth minute, only to find Hiroshi Miyazawa blocking his goalbound shot to safety.      There followed a period of play in which football-playing took second place to whistle-blowing, with the actions of three players inside the first twenty-two minutes earning them the opportunity to engage the referee in a brief but meaningful conversation, coloured cards the specialist subject under review, specifically those of a yellow hue.      Scrambling defence was very much in vogue during this spell, which was occasionally broken by a shot on target. Andy Vlahos, still looking to break his goalscoring drought, fired twice at Crews upon receipt of Almendra passes before the interval, while Atkinson twice thwarted Wollongong raids in the last ten minutes of the half, hooking a Cervinski header off the line before denying the game's most impressive performer, Young, the chance to open the scoring eight minutes before the interval, after a raking Crews clearance found Mennillo lurking on the left wing.      Utting produced a splendid save at the feet of Sekulovski in the stoppage time, but the goalkeeper stood nary a chance of preventing the visitors from opening the scoring, six minutes into the second half.      The Kingz defence was slow to respond to a charge led by Young, and when Miyazawa challenged him, the striker laid the ball into the path of Sekulovski's replacement, Dean Heffernan, who smashed home into the goalkeeper's right hand.      Within five minutes, parity was restored, the home team having responded in kind to the challenge thrown down to them by Wollongong. Mark Burton's corner was flicked on by Chris Jackson into Raf de Gregorio's path.      The midfielder's fiercely-struck volley ricocheted goalwards off Harry Ngata, only for Crews to

produce a marvellous reflex save. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, Vlahos was following in, and duly broke his goalscoring drought for 2002-3 with a tap-in in the shadows of the crossbar. Within ninety seconds, the lively number eleven had a glorious chance to turn the game on its head when finding himself clean through on goal with just Crews to beat. The goalkeeper won this battle, forcing Vlahos to shoot wide with the goal gaping. After Young had sent a well-judged fifteen-yard header flashing over Utting's crossbar on the hour, de Gregorio stung the gloves of Crews with a rasping twenty yard drive, seconds before Farah headed a curling Vlahos shot to safety - the Kingz were very much in the ascendancy at this point, urged on by the 2354 faithful who braved the elements to see their side back on home turf for the first time since December 6. But in pressing forward for a second goal, they were susceptible to fleet-footed Wolves counter-attacking, and from one such raid, in the 66th minute, Heffernan proved too quick for Atkinson, and burst into the penalty area with just Utting to beat. The striker let fly early, but found the sidenetting with his effort. After de Gregorio had sent another long-range effort fizzing wide of the mark, a string of substitutions took place, followed by a final sixteen minutes of action in which the frustrations which had been building throughout the match could be contained no longer. Wollongong were awarded a free-kick on the left-hand edge of the Kingz penalty area in the 73rd minute, over which Mennillo presided. As soon as he delivered the set-piece into the goalmouth, eagle-eyed referee's assistant Martin Pepper raised his flag to indicate offside against a Wollongong attacker. At the same time, Utting pawed the free-kick down, only for Young to pounce and rifle home what looked very much like his tenth goal of the season. Cue Wollongong's celebrations, followed not long afterwards by any amount of vitriol, as the visiting players fumed at having what appeared to be a perfectly good goal disallowed. Mennillo, who had already been booked, wasted little time in voicing his opinion about the official's powers of observation, to which referee Williams reacted by wielding a second yellow card in the former Kingz player's direction. Then, upon the advice of Fourth Official, Neil Fox, the middle-man directed two Wollongong officials, including coach Corry, to join their charge in the players' entrance. With superior numbers, and with their tails up, the Kingz looked on course to score a late winner. Substitute Jeff Campbell twice went close, on both occasions benefiting from Almendra's deft touches, while seven minutes from time, another replacement, Paul Urlovic, had the ball in the net, only for Paul Smith's offside flag to be raised in denial. It was while this incident was being disputed that Farah made his acquaintance with the rain-slicked Ericsson Stadium playing surface, seemingly courtesy of Almendra's actions. On the advice of his FIFA World Cup 2002 flag-carrier, Mr Williams evened up the playing numbers on the park, an action with which the Chilean was far from amused, as evidenced by his ire towards Mr Smith for his part in the dismissal. Time added on for stoppages brought both teams opportunities to snatch a dramatic winner, but Urlovic and Burton, the latter with what was, to all intents and purposes, a back-pass to the ''keeper, squandered glorious chances for the Kingz, while Heffernan snatched at a chance to grab the winning goal for the Wolves with virtually the last kick of the game, but fired wide of the post with Utting and his defenders beaten. While a point apiece keeps both teams well in the hunt for the play-offs, neither left the ground overly happy with something to show for their efforts, the Kingz, in particular, having had enough clear-cut chances to return to winning ways. Sadly, the teams' contribution to this match is not its most abiding memory. Instead, the sight of Kingz captain, Chris Jackson, having to physically shove referee Williams out of the way late on, as he contested possession with an opponent, summed up best of all the impact made on the match by the one person on the park who, of all the combatants, should be a bit-part player in proceedings, not the star attraction. Mr Williams, on this evidence, would do well to shed his interventionist approach to refereeing NSL matches, sooner rather than later. And it would seem that a timely reminder of the golden rule of match officials in any grade, on any football pitch, wouldn't go amiss, either. The golden rule? The game's about players!! Kingz:          Utting; Perry, Miyazawa (booked, 82), Atkinson (booked, 21); Pritchett (Urlovic, 68), Jackson, de Gregorio (Turner, 74), Burton; Almendra (sent off, 84), Ngata, Vlahos (Campbell, 72) Wollongong:     Crews; Cervinski, Farah, Blake (booked, 9); Austin (booked, 22), Castro, Mennillo (booked, 46,. 74 - sent off), Lyons; Sekulovski (Heffernan, 46), Young, Wells (Allifi, 68) Referee:     Ben Williams