Slough Despondent, Canaries Flying

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 5 November 2016 at Arbour Park
Result	Slough Town 0 Hitchin Town 1
Competition	Southern Premier League (Step 3)
Hopping	I am here because it is a rare chance to be partisan rather than neutral at an unvisited ground.  Number 599 on the lifetime list.
Pre-match preparation
To be honest, preparation mostly involved the big decision whether to take the train, but the Yappmobile’s comforts won the day despite the risks of the M25 western section.  In the end all went well with the journeys.  For the match itself, 2nd plays 4th.  The teams have a decent localish rivalry and a good contest was to be expected at Slough’s new ground.  Both sides are in good form.  Hitchin have not lost in the league since the end of August and Slough’s home league games have provided seven wins and a draw.  Pre-match chat centred on Slough’s Elijah Adeybayo, a Fulham loanee who scored a debut hat-trick last week.  They made sure Hitchin knew this with a canny presentation just before kickoff.  I was also interested to see Hitchin’s Kane Smith who apparently caught the eye of WBA in the close season.
This match in one sentence
A great awayday performance from the visitors who take the points with a freekick.
So what?
Chippenham’s simultaneous win keeps Hitchin in 4th, but Slough drop to 3rd. Still plenty of this season left to go.
The drama unfolds
Hitchin made a bright start and won several early corners with Slough keeper Mark Scott having to look into the low sunshine.  Callum Donnelly and Kane Smith linked well but the shot went wide.  At the midpoint of the half Hitchin would claim to be on top territorially but only routine demands had been made of Scott.  The best chance so far then came to Slough.  The ref had just finished booking Donnelly.  James Dobson hit the post from the freekick and with keeper Michael Johnson on the deck, Elijah Adebayo flicked the ball over the bar.  Robbie Burns found himself clear of the defence but the ball rolled just wide.  The same player then had a half-chance after a sloppy backpass but he was forced wide and could not convert from the narrowing angle.  The more pessimistic Hitchin supporters were beginning to fear that Slough would turn up for the second half and make them pay for the series of missed chances.  So the first half ended scoreless with only a moral victory of no great value for the visitors.  0-0 at half-time The deadlock was broken by a direct freekick from Hitchin’s Ben Walster.  1-0 after 49 minutes Ben Walster's match-winning goal As you might expect, the gamesmanship, or game management if you prefer, began to creep in and the atmosphere became a tad tetchy.  Slough forced Hitchin back into their own half for long periods.  They coped better when they started pressing again higher up the field.  Thomas did all that was asked of him, which was not as much as Slough would want.  We reached the 75-minute mark and it looked for all the world like another goal was coming.  Hitchin were defending very well but not retaining possession after clearances except on rare occasions they looked dangerous on the break.  Burns worked hard up front but was well shackled. As the home side became more desperate, Scott joined the attack for a couple of corners and to be fair, Hitchin did not adapt well to that new threat.  The keeper appeared to be close to scoring from where I was standing at the other end of the ground.  Again, his counterpart Thomas did all that was necessary as Hitchin rode their luck in the final moments.  Final score 0-1 Mark Scott (in blue) defied by opposite number Michael Johnson (orange)
Ground Pix
"It'll be nice when it's finished."  (Anonymous HTFC Supporter) To be fair, it's pretty good already.  The artificial surface will divide opinion but I'm clear on this - it made for a better game.
Other Match Pix
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Today, orange wins and takes a clean sheet against blue. The story so far after 96 logged matches. 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet.  Rank order by Pts per Game (PpG). P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 8.0 4.0 0.0 4.0 8.0 3.0 19.0 2.38 Blue 27.1 11.0 5.0 11.1 41.0 10.0 47.0 1.73 Green 46.0 25.0 5.0 16.0 75.0 13.0 70.0 1.52 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Orange 18.5 6.0 4.0 8.5 25.5 5.0 21.5 1.16 Grey 34.5 16.0 7.0 11.5 58.5 8.0 36.5 1.06 Purple 9.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 20.0 2.0 4.0 0.44 Yellow 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 33.0 4.0 7.0 0.39 Pink 11.0 2.0 4.0 5.0 25.0 1.0 -10.0 -0.91 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.60 Radioactive Bile 9.0 2.0 0.0 7.0 23.0 0.0 -17.0 -1.89 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.11
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Next ground is number 600.  Back to work this week so nothing certain.

Way Out East

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Sunday 30 October 2016 at Ahtme Gümnaasium Kunstmurustaadion
Results	Jöhvi FC Lokomotiv 0 JK Keila 1
Competitions	II Liiga Promotion Play-Off 1st Leg (Estonian 4th tier)
Hopping	Ground 598
Pre-match preparation
I chose this match, 2hrs to the east of Tallinn, for two reasons.  Firstly, although at a lower level than the second-tier alternatives on offer, it has more sporting significance.  This match means something to both sides.  Secondly, it was a chance to see some of Estonia beyond the capital.  I think this game will also be the most easterly that I have ever watched. These two sides were runners-up in their regions.  Keila had six more points from the same number of regular-season games, but it is hard to say whether that is significant.
This match in one sentence
Lokomotiv kept the tie in the balance despite going down to ten men just before half-time.
So what?
The second leg is scheduled for next weekend.  If I am reading the league structures correctly, the winner will then have to meet the eighth-placed side in III Liiga for the promoted place.
The drama unfolds
A crowd of around 50 was gathered, mostly appearing from warm cars at the last moment.  As might be expected, the sides seemed well matched.  They largely cancelled each other out.  There was plenty of effort but not much final product and I made very few notes in the first 30 minutes or so.  Then the Lokomotive keeper, wearing white and the number 99, made a great save to tip the ball over the bar.  A goalmouth scramble followed from the corner.  By this point, Keila were slightly on top with their number 7, Emmanuel Odeh, looking sharp on the wing. The hinge point came on 37 minutes.  A second yellow card was waved at a Lokomotiv defender for a reckless challenge on Odeh, who needed treatment.  He had recovered in time to poke home what turned out to be the game’s only goal from close range just before the break.  0-1 after 43 mins Lokomotiv could have equalised almost immediately.  A great move on the left with a perfectly weighted pass inside the full-back released number 12, but his pass inside led to a rather tame shot by a colleague.  0-1 at half-time Credit is due to the ten men, who kept fighting and fashioned the occasional half-chance, the best coming from set pieces.  Keila were not creating too much themselves and the game settled into a mainly defensive stalemate.  Locomotiv did not simply settle for damage limitation and were happy to get forward at every opportunity.  However, defences and keepers did their jobs and the tie is still alive with only a one-goal margin going forward to next week’s second leg.  Final score 0-1
Ground Pix
Match Pix
FC Lokomotiv are in red.   Who was that masked man? Scorer Emmanuel Odeh (7) at work annoying defenders
Learn Estonian Through Football
Püapaev – Sunday Eesti – Estonian Jalgpall – football Külalised - visitors üks-null – one-nil Särgid – shirts Püksid - shorts Põlvikud – socks Leegitatud kitsejuust rohelise salati padja ja röstitud seedermänni seemnetega – Flamed goat’s cheese with a bed of green salad and roasted pine nuts And finally, you should know this running gag by now... Mu hõljuk on angerjaid täis
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
An unusual colour, White, let in one goal while Blue keeps a clean sheet. The full table will be reprinted later this month.
Reflections on Groundhopping in Estonia
Close followers will be aware that I had originally booked and paid for a stay in Tartu on Friday night so I had to switch hotels at the last minute because of a fixture change.  I will put that loss down to experience and pay a slightly higher room rate in future to keep the free cancellation option.  In the end I stayed at Hotels Susi and Ülemiste and would be happy to recommend both.  I fly back tomorrow at noon having seen four games and spent Saturday morning exploring the old city. I flew from Stansted with Ryanair and hired a compact car with Alamo, and everything went smoothly.  I am glad I added a SatNav – life would have been difficult as a solo traveller without it.  In the end the car got me and my luggage to the hotels and stayed there except for the Sunday trip to Ahtme which would have been difficult otherwise.  Driving in Tallinn was reasonably straightforward compared with other places I have been!  For city tourism, the best advice is to buy a green Tallinn Transport card for 2 euros and then top it up online.  The cards are available from the R-Kiosks.  I paid 3 euros plus the card fee for my Saturday travelling.  You are then free to travel on the buses and trams for a maximum of 3 euros per day.  I’d say if you are not going out of Tallinn then don’t bother with a car – the airport is almost walking distance from the city centre!  Download a decent transport map to your phone before you travel. I walked to FC Infonet, took the bus-and-tram to the national stadium complex, and the car to Ahtme.  Tickets were not a problem – I paid 11 euros including two programmes for the two top tier games and the two lower-league ones were free admission.  Facilities at FC Infonet were basic but present, facilities at the national stadium were good.  I didn’t see any frills at either of the lower level games.  Three of the games were on artificial surfaces, but were probably better for it. Crowds were small but the games were competitive, with all results in doubt either throughout the game or until well into the second half.  Next time I would pay for a suitcase rather than stick to hand luggage – I needed another layer on the legs!  Woolly hats, gloves and plenty of layers are needed at this time of year– it was either very wet or very cold at every game I attended.  It was all very safe. The fixture calendar is likely to give plenty of opportunities for multi-game weekends, with plenty in and around Tallinn itself.  The city his very photogenic, and there are lots of people trying to do their photographic thing.  I’d like to go again to pay more attention to some of the culture and history.  Thanks to you the readers for the mentions and retweets.  I love this hobby. Edit: I should have added that the Estonian Football Association website was my biggest source of information.  It was updated quickest, and was invaluable in pinning down late date switches, and the times and venues for the lower-league fixtures.  The Google translation from Estonian is quirky to say the least but it is possible to extract the key facts.  http://jalgpall.ee/index.php
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  I suspect work commitments will take over again soon enough but I would like to reach the 600 mark sooner rather than later!