Those last, testing few minutes... suddenly down he goes!

If there's only one goal in it or the game is drawn as the watch ticks past the 85th minute, it's time to switch to maximum concentration and focus for the remaining time.
On Saturday, the home team pulled a goal back with 10 minutes to play, making it 2-1. The goal breathed new life into the home team and they piled on the pressure, leaving large gaps in their own defence as they poured forwards in search of the equaliser.
At these times, the referee needs to keep a firm grip on the game. Although players are usually generally really focussed during these last gasps, they can also become very tetchy. On the north Kent coast, the watch tipped past 90 minutes and we started four minutes of stoppage time.
Suddenly, a home team winger, a youngster whose pace had bothered the visitors throughout, burst through into the penalty area. I was 20 yards away, reasonably well positioned, as the winger wriggled through defenders and suddenly went to ground. The home team screamed penalty, the visitors held their breath.
I blew my whistle loudly. Somehow, I knew what the right decision was. I ran towards the player who was on the ground, seven yards off the goal line, pointed up field and simultaneously took a yellow card out of my pocket. Still players hadn't grasped what decision I'd given.
So I shouted. "No penalty, free kick defending team ... and you're booked for diving," I said, looking at the attacker. I still don't know how I got the decision right. Looking back, it seems a blur, but I was able to pick apart the strands of my memory and remember that there was no physical contact and that the attacker just went down too neatly. He fell as though he knew he was going to fall, hands already out to break the fall and legs tucked together.
Confirmation, if I needed it, came in the form of a total lack of reaction from the attacking team. Even the player seemed disappointed rather than outraged. Several home players and their manager shook my hand after the game.
Spotting simulation is bloody hard and I'm sure I've got it wrong in the past, so I felt really pleased to have got this one right. It's a bit scary that a referee's validation for an entire 90-minute performance rests on a single decision in the 92nd minute. Scary but an enjoyable challenge nonetheless.
At these times, instinct sometimes helps, as it did on Saturday. At other times, it's often an educated guess, such is the speed at which these incidents take place. With a perfect view, you may see the foot clip an attacker's leg. But was the attacker's leg left there deliberately, looking for the penalty? Wise defenders keep their feet to themselves at these times, aware the punishment is severe for even the slightest error in timing and attackers are becoming more and more gifted at trickery. That shouldn't be the case but it is, and us refs have to try our best to be able to spot the cheating, for that's what it is.