Every Underdog has its Day

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Friday 6 May 2011 at Jubilee Park (Huntingdon Town FC, who play in the step 6 United Counties Division One)
Result	St Neots Town 0 AFC Kempston Rovers 1
Competition	The Hinchingbrooke Cup Final
Hopping	#399 on the lifetime list, the 100th match watched this season (at the 93rd new venue of the season).
This match in one sentence
A man-of-the-match performance by the Kempston goalkeeper, closely followed by those of his centre-backs, allowed the underdogs from the division below to protect a slender first-half lead.
So what?
The AFC Kempston Rovers captain had to lift this thing, and it is the first and only time in the season that St Neots Town have failed to score in a game.
The drama unfolds
To be honest, the first half was pretty tame before the goal, which came just after half an hour.  St Neots looked very pretty going forward but were sometimes guilty of over-elaboration around the box.  They did not really make the ‘keeper work very hard, though they had a lot of the ball. Here’s a scene-setter clip, and then the goal, a neat break and finish by Aaron Baldwin.  0-1 at half time Everyone expected St Neots to improve in the second half and so it proved.  Titanic defensive performances with several excellent saves and a goalline clearance secured this win.  Here are a few clips which show how and why AFC Kempston Rovers managed the win.  I am assuming from the programme that the goalie at the centre of the action is Martin Conway. Final score 0-1
Alternative activity of equal excitement for tourists in Huntingdon
A day at the races, pretending to know something about racehorses but in fact placing your bets on the basis of which ones demonstrated any impolite bodily functions in the parade ring or on the way to the start line.
A snippet from the programme
This particular competition, with its impressive trophy, has been in existence since 1894-5.  The Earl of Sandwich contributed five guineas to the 48 guineas to have it made. For the record, here is AFC Kempston Rovers’ route through this competition this season: Round One – AFC Kempston Rovers 1 Eynesbury 0 Round Two – AFC Kempston Rovers 2 Irchester United 2 (AFC Kempston Rovers win 4-2 on penalties) Semi-Final – AFC Kempston Rovers 3 Deeping Rangers 1
What I learned today
Gavin Strachan has joined St Neots Town, who are heading to step 4 after winning the United Counties Premier League and edging out King’s Lynn.
What Next?
Ground #400 … !  Decided in the original spirit of this blog by the fall of one of nature's most beautiful and perfect shapes - the tetrahedron.  Four identical faces in the shape of an equilateral triangle, with four vertices (corners) and six edges.  Some tetrahedral dice are simply numbered one to four on each face and the number that is hidden on the bottom face counts when you have thrown it.  On mine, the edges are labelled, and it is the number on the bottom edge that counts. So ... It's random.  Thank you, as ever, for your interest.