I was playing football in a 7-a-side tournament last night against a group of kids (probably about 16-17).

We lost the game 3-2 but they were top of league so I'm not too disappointed, and personally it was my best game of the tournament by far.

At one stage it was 2-2 and we looked to be gaining the upper hand and they'd become frustrated (we were a team they obviously expected to beat).
They kept complaining to the referee about perfectly decent challenges, hard but fair ball winning tackles. They also started diving, swearing and then fouling us in retaliation.

When I tackled this one guy he leaped up in the air and onto the floor when I didn't actually touch him, I walked by and said "that was probably the worst dive I've ever seen mate", fortunately the referee wasn't having any of it.

It's just a bit of fun, why take it so seriously? And why cheat? Hopefully they'll grow out of it but bloody hell it's annoying.