The Only Way (to Spend Saturday Afternoon) is in Essex

It was Saturday, honest

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 26 April 2014 at Gardiners Close
Result	Basildon United 1 Great Wakering Rovers 4
Competition	Essex Senior League (Step 5)
Hopping	Ground #535 on the lifetime list, shortest journey for me today to a game with significance.
Pre-match preparation
If Great Wakering win, the title (and promotion to step 4) will be secured.  Anything less and Haringey Borough could overtake them with a win, as (mathematically) could Enfield.  The latter would also need a massive goal swing and favourable results at BOTH other matches.  Basildon United are in mid-table but seem to have had some internal upheaval recently – they failed to fulfil a recent fixture and there has been a change of chairman and manager.  Post-match addition: I have also seen a tweet, from before kick-off, saying a sarcastic “thank you” to “players that let us down today”.  Bet that would have gone down well in Haringey and Enfield …
This match in one sentence
GWR overcame early nerves and gave a dominant performance, so that the destination of this divisional title was never in doubt.
So what?
GWR will have step 4 football next season, almost certainly in the Isthmian League.  Basildon will finish in the top half of the table.
The drama unfolds
The early pressure came from the visitors, and I took two clips to set the scene in the first fifteen minutes.  Basildon are in yellow-and-black, and doing lots of defending. The opening goal came from Billy Johnson.  He broke free of the defenders and reached a diagonal ball just before George Walsh in the home goal.  This would calm the nerves.  0-1 after 22 mins Opening goalscorer Billy Johnson Great Wakering started to pass the ball better in the final third and a neat move down the left created the space and angle for Jay Nash to fire past Walsh into the far corner.  0-2 after 34 mins Celebration time, come on!  Jay Nash gets the 'grats. Before half-time, a route one free-kick was headed against the Basildon bar but shortly afterwards this was forgotten as Walsh failed to cut out a left-wing cross and Lewis Sparrow headed in from close range.  This looked like game over and title decided.  0-3 after 42 mins Basildon offered very little except a couple of long range shots.  Adam Seal in the visiting goal had nothing much to do.  0-3 at halftime The game quickly settled into the same pattern in the second half.  Walsh made a very good one handed save, but was then lucky shortly afterwards as a clearance was charged down only for the ball to bounce just wide.  Great Wakering then clipped the bar – it was one-way traffic and the wind seemed to be increasingly helpful too.  The fourth goal came when Walsh pushed away a long-range shot by Johnson but only to Nash, who had an easy tap-in.  0-4 after 71 min Greg Akpele got a consolation goal for Basildon on the break after Great Wakering had lost the ball on the edge of the area and argued among themselves about it.  He deserved that for the enthusiasm and dedication of his performance.  1-4 after 79 mins Akpele then brought the best out of Seal, forcing him to make a magnificent one-handed save almost immediately afterwards.  The unlikely comeback was snuffed out and Great Wakering were home and dry with no further alarms.  A trophy duly appeared, and Basildon formed a classy guard of honour as the victors left the field.  Final score 1-4
Ground Pix
That is "The Onion" in the background, a water tower. Plenty of travelling support today. The GWR mascot had a relaxed afternoon ... not too many of these at Step 5!
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
Both teams huddled today, though Great Wakering’s was borderline with almost no touchy-feeliness about it.  Basildon went for the full man-cuddle experience.  It appears from the season stats that it makes no difference whatsoever. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 15 6 4 5 18 14 22 1.47 Huddlers 29 13 3 13 45 48 42 1.45 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00 2nd Half Huddlers 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Basildon have classic green while Great Wakering bring a vibrant red. 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 Purple 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Grey 12 7 2 3 13 5 35 2.92 Red 3 2 0 1 3 1 8 2.67 Green 10 5 0 5 15 2 10 1.00 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Vickers in a Title Twist

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 19 April 2014 at Oakwood
Result	VCD Athletic 1 AFC Sudbury 2
Competition	Isthmian League D1 North (Step 4)
Hopping	Ground 534 on the list, chosen for practical travel reasons today.
Pre-match preparation
VCD are chasing automatic promotion and have everything to play for.  VCD recently beat Witham Town, who now lead the division by a point having used up games in hand.  Since then, VCD lost at home but won 6-1 away last time out.  Meanwhile, Sudbury have lost their last two, fielding young and inexperienced sides and handing out lots of debuts.  They are just above mid-table.
This match in one sentence
A game of the proverbial two halves, with the wind favouring one direction, but Sudbury managed to hold on to their lead despite considerable second half pressure from VCD. Two-goal hero James Akintunde
So what?
The result will annoy VCD even more as Witham Town lost to a last-minute goal elsewhere.  There is one point in it, but Witham have the destiny in their own hands but will probably have to win away at Cheshunt on the last day of the season to be sure.  Sudbury will finish in the top half.
The drama unfolds
Playing “with the wind”, Sudbury had early territorial advantage but the first save of note came at the other end.  Then, after a VCD corner, Sudbury broke quickly and we had a goal-of-the-season contender from James Akintunde.  He ran half the length of the pitch, cut in from the right wing and hammered his shot into the top left corner.  A brilliant goal, which gave the visiting fans a chance to start up their air-raid siren.  0-1 after 12 mins Lightning struck twice – from another VCD corner, Akintunde led the break again, and though keeper Nick Blue came out to challenge (in pink, not blue - whatever happened to nominative determinism?), a neat flicked finish doubled the lead.  0-2 after 16 mins Sherwin Stanley could have got one back for VCD but he shot over with the goalie Alex Archer out of position.  VCD were trying to play out on the floor from the back, but a combination of the wind and a high pressing response from Sudbury meant that they were not always comfortable.  I took the scene-setter clip just before half-time.  VCD are in green-and-white. Just after this, Akintunde created another chance through his physical presence and a teammate hit the bar, but Sudbury would have been happy enough with the interval score.  0-2 at halftime VCD huddled before the start of the second half.  They started to make better use of the conditions, and Sudbury seemed content to play on the break.  Just before the hour mark, James Duckworth chested the ball down on the left wing.  He was forced inside but kept his balance and rode the tackles to get to a central position before blasting home a superb goal,  1-2 after 57 mins The second clip records the Sudbury siren (and old-school rattle) for posterity. For most of the rest of the game, Sudbury were kept on the back foot.  VCD could not quite find the telling final pass.  A header from Stanley hit the side netting, Archer took a yellow card for timewasting, but the visitors held on.  Here are some clips from late in the game, finishing with the final whistle. The Sudbury supporters heading out of the ground were all expressing pleasant surprise – they really had not expected anything from this game.  Final score 1-2
Ground Pix
Action about to start on the adjacent pitch ...
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
A new category needed because VCD huddled just before the start of the second half.  They “won the half” but this counts for nothing in the harsh results-driven world of huddling. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L F A Pts PPG Huddlers 13 5 4 4 13 9 19 1.46 Non-Huddlers 29 13 3 13 45 48 42 1.45 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00 2nd Half Huddlers 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Another success for grey (over pink this time) but nevertheless grey drops to third on PPG ratio.  Grey has been far and away the most successful shirt of the more popular colours. 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 Purple 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Red 2 1 0 1 2 1 6 3.00 Grey 12 7 2 3 13 5 35 2.92 Green 9 5 0 4 11 2 14 1.56 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!