Australian A-League referee replaces coin toss with cracker pull

The stunt happened before Sydney FC's clash with Central Coast Mariners

A-League referee Benjamin Williams oversees the cracker pull (Getty Images)

A referee in Australia’s A-League spread some festive spirit yesterday by replacing the pre-match coin toss with a cracker-pulling competition.

Benjamin Williams, who officiated Sydney FC’s clash against Central Coast Mariners, decided to do away with sporting tradition and instead follow standard Boxing Day practice by making use of leftovers from the day before.

The two captains, Sydney’s Alex Brosque and Central Coast’s Nick Montgomery, formerly of Sheffield United, seemed somewhat bemused by the stunt but joined in nevertheless, with Brosque winning the pull for this team.

Sydney, whose A-League title hopes were in danger of being derailed after some shaky form of late, went on to comfortably beat the struggling Central Coast, with Brosque himself getting on the scoresheet twice in the opening half hour.

It did not, however, all go the way of the 32-year-old Australia international, as a reoccurrence of a recent hamstring injury forced him off in the 26^th minute.