Eynesbury Hold Off Spirited Fakenham Finale

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 21 September 2013 at The Alfred Hall Memorial Ground, Hall Road
Result	Eynesbury Rovers 3 Fakenham Town 2
Competition	FA Vase Second Round Qualifying
Hopping	Number 526 on the lifetime list. I am here today for pragmatic reasons – this is the closest to home of 119 possible “new” grounds hosting FA Vase ties today.  Work commitments have to have at least some priority this weekend!
Pre-match preparation
Both teams play at step 6.  Eynesbury Rovers have made an excellent start in the United Counties Division One with seven consecutive wins, and are described in the current issue of The Hunts Post as “rampant”. Fakenham Town arrive with an unbeaten run of six games including 10-0, 8-0 and 6-0 wins in the Eastern Counties Division One.  Fakenham are known as "The Ghosts" and I will research and write about that when I go there sometime in the future!
This match in one sentence
Eynesbury took control of the game midway through the first half and were largely untroubled except for a crazy wobble in the final few minutes.
So what?
Eynesbury go in the hat for the draw for the First Round Proper on Monday, which will give them a tie on or around 19 October.
The drama unfolds
The teams spent 20 minutes or so cancelling each other out on a very good playing surface.  Fakenham had marginally the better chances – Eynesbury’s Lea Jordan was the busier keeper.  The opening goal was a cool but easy finish for striker Lee Bassett – Fakenham lost the ball in midfield and Bassett was unchallenged as Tom Rix tried unsuccessfully to narrow the angle.  1-0 after 21 mins Fakenham missed their best chance so far just a few minutes later and then they switched off at the back from a set-piece, allowing centre-back Nick Henebery to head a goal from a curling right-wing free kick.  2-0 after 28 mins The home side held their lead comfortably at the interval.  2-0 at halftime Fakenham made Jordan make a low save after 55 minutes but it was a straightforward one.  We saw some petulance from Town’s Toby Harris before Rovers’ keeper Jordan needed to make a fine save to protect the lead.  When Fakenham put another shooting chance into the garden of the caretaker of the adjacent school, you sensed their challenge was fading.  I took a belated scene-setter clip from the end they were attacking – the action was so much down the other end that Jordan had time to comment on the size of my equipment … he would be pleased, later on, that I moved on around the ground.  Eynesbury are in blue-and-white. Eynesbury were looking just as likely to score and when Fakenham did make space they found defenders such as Paul Reynolds making timely tackles.  Then came a crazy few minutes at the end.  Fakenham threw men forward and won a corner that was initially cleared but the ball fell to Matt Gilchrist who scored with a low shot.  2-1 after 86 mins With Fakenham committed to go forward, they were then vulnerable to a strong run from midfield which eventually left a tap-in for substitute Ben Wilkes.  3-1 after 89 mins Fakenham kept going and were rewarded with a second goal from a corner.  The ground announcer gave it to Rix, the man in pink who had joined the attack, but the club tweets call it as Gilchrist’s second.  3-2 in stoppage time Rix joined the attack again in the closing seconds.  Maybe not as close as the scoreline would suggest, but Eynesbury held on for the win.  Final score 3-2
Ground Pix
The reserves in action on an adjacent pitch ...
Match Pix
Tom Rix can't prevent Lee Bassett scoring - 1-0 Nick Henebery arrives unchallenged to head home powerfully - 2-0
Something Random
I approve of the punning headline in The Hunts Post (“Sarah on corset for top prize” in which I learn that, “Alongside her burlesque performances, she (Sarah) also works as a residential lettings negotiator, which means that she often has to dash to shows after work on a Friday.”  The same kind of thing happened to me today, when I could only make this groundhopping trip after completing a morning of GCSE marking.
Huddle Stats
No huddles for either team today. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 17 7 3 7 26 25 24 1.41 Huddlers 10 3 4 3 6 8 13 1.30 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Petr Cech’s favourite orange colour is off the bottom of the table with this 3-2 win, and orange also jumps over pink after this direct confrontation. 2013-14 Summary so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (5 each) Pts Pts per Game Grey 7 4 2 1 6 3 23 3.29 Yellow 3 1 1 1 4 1 5 1.67 Green 5 2 0 3 7 1 4 0.80 Blue 2 0 1 1 2 0 -1 -0.50 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Pink 5 1 3 1 10 0 -4 -0.80 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  FA Cup weekend and an in-tray the size of an elephant, so probably something close to home again rather than truly random.