VIDEO: Sports journo turns linesman after original official sustains first-half injury

A game in London quickly turned into something like a deleted scene from The Waterboy.

A sports journalist swapped his pen for a linesman flag when Hemel Hempstead took on Bath City on Saturday. After the original linesman was struck down with a calf injury early on in the first half, football writer Matt Mesiano said "screw the match report" and togged out for the remainder of the game. Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, the same station for whom he was covering the match, Mesiano relayed his very own Bobby Boucher tale. "The referee came over and I said 'I'm a qualified ref, if you need me, I'm here," he said. "When I usually ref, I'm lucky if the man and his dog comes to watch so this was pretty big." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXjrhujQ2Wk H/t to MirrorRowZed