Making a Point May Not Be Enough

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 17 April 2012 at The Playing Fields, Mursley
Result	Mursley United 0 Risborough Rangers 0
Competition	South Midlands League D2 (Step 7)
Hopping	Lifetime list #463 and a 6.30pm ko without floodlights.  I’m here partly to set the record straight after I previously thought this division was sorted last week.
This match in one sentence
Spoiled by the wind in the first-half, dominated by Risborough in the second, but the lack of a goal dents their title aspirations.
So what?
Mursley United, third with one game left, can finish no lower than fourth.  Risborough are in second and still have a mathematical chance of the title, but this result makes it harder.  One of their games is against the leaders, Aston Clinton.  Risborough can get a maximum of 61pts if they win all four games remaining.  Aston Clinton have 58pts on the board so can even afford to lose to Risborough if they get a win and a draw from their other two games.
The drama unfolds
The first chance fell to Mursley (in the gold-and-black) as #4 came in at pace to meet a corner but the swirling ball wouldn’t have helped.  Then Risborough’s #11 smacked a post with a great left-footer – the ball came back and hit the goalkeeper and could have gone anywhere.  Fortunately for the home side it bounced to safety.  This early action was promising but the rest of the first half was a wind-affected disappointment.  Both teams’ centre-backs did well and dominated and players found it hard to control their passing.  Here are a couple of first-half scene-setter clips.  0-0 at half-time There is not much to be said about the first half of the second half either. Risborough began to press harder and were finishing the stronger.  With 15 minutes left it needed a great defensive block (by #3 I think) to keep the match level.  The final clip is with five minutes to go. There was still time for the visiting #11 to fizz one more low shot just wide, but the man wearing the Aston Clinton jacket looked happy enough as we left.  Final score 0-0
What Next?
No idea – might try and fit in something local tonight, but more likely to be at the weekend.  Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details.