Rooks In Bad Endgame Position as Phoenix Win, Mate

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 12 September 2015 at The Mayplace Ground
Result	Phoenix Sports 2 Lewes 0
Competition	FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Hopping	Ground 579, and I am here because I need to be having pre-dinner drinks in the Isle of Dogs at 6.15pm.  I am so grateful to Phoenix for being in the right place at the right time.  Not strictly random, I admit.
Pre-match preparation
Phoenix needed to win an “away” replay to beat Guernsey in the last round, their point of entry as a Step 4 Isthmian D1 North team.  That replay was held at Lewes as it happens.  Maybe a replay here could mean a team playing two away FA Cup ties at the same ground in different rounds.  Would that be a first?  I suspect not, but I am not sure.  They are in mid-table for their division.  (Note: academic now anyway!) Lewes, of the Isthmian Premier, enter the competition at this point.  They have had an indifferent start to the season but recorded their first win earlier this week, a 4-0 thumping of 10-man Hampton & Richmond.
This match in one sentence
Phoenix fully deserved their half-time lead and were able to add a late second as Lewes were pressing.
So what?
£3000 into the Phoenix coffers and the proverbial name in the hat for the next round.
The drama unfolds
There was only one entry on my notepad after a largely soporific first quarter in the sunshine.  Lewes keeper Dan Hutchings made an excellent save after good combination play from George King and Adem Ramadan down the Phoenix left.  My theory is that the slow start was due to the Robbie Williams “Phoenix from the Flames” dirge that accompanies the players onto the field.  Spend some of the win money on a Basement Jaxx remix or something, guys.  Or go for the instrumental bridge from the Wishbone Ash song from the 70s. Trust me. I correctly recognised @theballisround this time after blanking him at Emley and had an interesting chat as Hutchings continued to get an early grip on the man-of-the-match award with three timely blocks in quick succession.  I took a walk around the edge and noted that “Lewes will be happy to still be 0-0 at half-time” just in time for the opening goal.  It was no more than Phoenix deserved, as finally they found the net.  Ricky Freeman beat his man on the right of the area and set up Jason Goodchild for a close-range glancing header at the near post.  Lewes had not yet offered much by way of attacking threat.  1-0 after 40 mins and at HT Freeman about to be of assistance for the opening goal I messed up the chance to record a flying “save for the cameras” by Phoenix stopper Steve Phillips as Lewes started the second half brightly.  However, Phoenix reasserted themselves and over an hour had gone by before Phillips was seriously tested, making another excellent save.  In the meantime Phoenix had a second disallowed for offside.  Lewes kept pressing and committing players forward.  They had a couple of near misses from headers and failed to make best use of a few set pieces. Freeman sealed the win with another strong run down the right and a neat finish from a narrow angle.  Phoenix managed to hold on easily enough.  2-0 after 79 mins and at FT
Ground Pix
This is one of those grounds that makes a good first impression.  The place looks loved and cared-for.  The club branding is everywhere, the clubhouse is good, and the club’s youngsters were given some attention.  I hadn’t realised how close they are to VCD, and cheers from their match occasionally drifted over on the breeze.  The VCD floodlights are visible over the nearby rooftops (see assist photo above).  They were drawing 1-1 with Didcot in the same competition!
Match Pix
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Blue gets a win and clean sheet, beating Purple.  Updated table at the end of the month.  Red is rarely seen but currently leads on points-per-game with Green in the lead for the mainstream colours.
What Next?
I enter a period of last-minute decisions and missed hopping weeks as the school term gathers momentum.  Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details and announcements!  Occasional nostalgia as I take a look back at how the blog has developed and changed over five years.  One thing that hasn't changed is the appallingly contrived wordplay in the blogpost titles.

The Lincs Effect

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 5 September 2015 at South Kesteven Sports Stadium
Result	Grantham Town 0 Marine 0
Competition	Northern Premier League (Step 3)
Hopping	Ground 578 on the lifetime list as I tick off one of this season’s main targets on the way to completing “everywhere down to Step 3”.  I am here, randomishly (see previous post) because Google had more search results (286,000) for “Grantham Town v Marine” than for the fixtures at Bideford, Merthyr, Ramsbottom or Whitby.
Pre-match preparation
Grantham are still searching for their first win of the season and they lie 23rd of 24 in the relatively early league table.  Their website has a somewhat grumpy (and justifiably so if the allegations are true) news item concerning top scorer Lee Ndlovu’s commitment-breaker decision to switch to Ilkeston.  It should be said that no rules have been broken. Marine’s only victory has been away from home but they sit in lower-mid-table with four more points but from one more game.  You know, this one has 0-0 or 1-1 draw written all over it!  (Note: I honestly did write that before I left Chateau Yapp on Saturday morning.)
This match in one sentence
An entertaining but breeze-affected scoreless draw.
So what?
The Gingerbreads are still searching for that first win and remain 23rd in the table.  Marine drop one place to 15th.  I have ten more Step 3 grounds left to complete the level, six in this league, three down south (more south-west really for me) and one more down south but in the Isthmian league.
The drama unfolds
I watched the first half above the halfway line from the terraces under the upper case welcome from the local council. At the first direct free kick in the opening moments, Marine’s Andy Owens overtly challenged the ref about the distance to the defensive wall by pacing it out.  The player was correct.  Then the assistant flagged for a Marine offside when the ball had inadvertently been played backward by a defender rather than forward by an attacker.  This set the tone for the bench view of the officials all afternoon. The first quarter of the game was worthy but dull as risk-free defending frequently sent the ball in the air and the breeze made control tricky.  Midway through the first half there was a lucky escape for Marine as a defender’s clearance sliced off the underside of the bar and down on to the line.  Grantham appealed but nothing was given.  The assistant was reasonably placed, and certainly better placed than me, so let’s hope that was right.  By now we had two very shouty, berating dugouts.  The home side won the obscenity count and the “cheat” word was audible even from where I was standing.  If you bring young children here, sit on the other side or put cotton wool in their ears. Though still goalless, the match continued to be entertaining and end-to-end.  A good move led to a Grantham corner but that led to a three-on-one Marine breakaway and a shot tipped round the post.  Grantham’s Lee Beeson then curled a long shot, also tipped away.  Marine’s Carl Peers then hit the crossbar before a follow-up shot hit the post and then the follow-up to the follow-up was well-saved by Jake Turner.  Ten seconds of madness but enough to make Marine feel that they had edged the first half. 0-0 at half-time The second half followed much the same pattern, and this time I was seated in the main stand.  It remained an end-to-end game with solid defending.  Marine adapted better to the conditions and their through balls held up in the breeze to give the home defenders problems.  Grantham’s through balls were often overhit and they returned possession to Marine too often.  Both keepers were busy without needing to be spectacular.  Peers missed the target from a good position and then Liam Willis missed the ball altogether from an even better one.  If drawn matches were decided on missed chances than Marine were now definitely in front.  They made another one as Lewis Codling created a shooting chance for sub Lloyd Ellams, sent just wide. Grantham finally had the ball in the back of a net after 89 minutes.  Unfortunately, it was the net that would surround a discus-thrower at an athletics event.  Overall, I enjoyed the game and my visit to South Kesteven.  Marine will be hard to beat this season.  Grantham look to have decent team spirit and resilience but they’ll need a cutting edge.  Final score 0-0
Ground Pix
There are two very good stands at this ground and facilities are excellent.  You get a great but rather distant view of the action across the track.
Match Pix
Grantham are in black-and-white.
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
Hurdles - English football stadia tend to be track-free, unlike other parts of the world Note the classic non-league one-man-and-his-dog spectator combo
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Clean sheets and a draw for both blue and pink. The story so far after 73 games: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet.  Ranked by points per game (PPG). P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 6.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 6.0 2.0 13.0 2.17 Green 37.0 18.0 5.0 14.0 56.0 12.0 63.0 1.70 Purple 7.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 13.0 2.0 11.0 1.57 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Blue 19.0 7.0 5.0 7.0 29.0 6.0 27.0 1.42 Grey 29.5 13.0 7.0 9.5 43.5 7.0 37.5 1.27 Orange 9.5 2.0 3.0 4.5 12.5 3.0 11.5 1.21 Yellow 15.0 3.0 5.0 7.0 28.0 3.0 1.0 0.07 Black 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 -2.0 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 6.0 2.0 0.0 4.0 12.0 0.0 -6.0 -1.00 Pink 10.0 1.0 4.0 5.0 23.0 1.0 -11.0 -1.10
What Next?
FA Cup weekend next weekend!  An Isle of Dogs Dinner means that Phoenix Sports v Lewes is the only feasible tie for me, so it isn’t random but I am very happy with that!  Keep an eye on my friends at therealfacup too.  The other event this week is this blog’s 5th birthday, so there will be a few nostalgic and misty-eyed nods to the past.  Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!