Dynamo Charge Positively Around a Field and Stay Up

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 22 April 2017 at The Nanpantan Sports Ground
Result	Loughborough Dynamo 4 Market Drayton Town 1
Competition	Northern Premier League Division One South (Step 4)
Hopping	Number 611 on the lifetime list.  Here because my Step 3 target grounds are all too far away for a term-time trip, and this is a game with a lot at stake.  At this stage of the season I tend to be a game-hopper as much as a groundhopper.  I much prefer the contest to have some possible significance.
Pre-match preparation
A run of three road wins, two of which were over relegation rivals, has given Loughborough the chance of a Great Escape.  Basically, they will stay up if they win, whatever happens elsewhere.  If they lose or draw, then the result from Rugby Town v Kidsgrove becomes relevant.  Rugby Town (a point behind at start of play but with an uncatchable favourable goal difference) need to do better than Loughborough to stay up.  A home loss here today and Rugby only need a draw, and a draw here means that Rugby would need to win.  I am expecting drama, passion and shouting.  Loughborough will also be encouraged to see that Market Drayton’s goalkeeper has moved to Stafford Rangers this week for some reason.  His replacement, Glynn Coney, has made his previous appearances up front!
This match in one sentence
It took until the second half before Karl Demidh completed his hat-trick to ensure that Dynamo did enough to avoid relegation, and the tension evaporated after an hour or so.
So what?
Loughborough Dynamo stay up, Rugby Town are relegated.  Market Drayton finish in mid-table.
The drama unfolds
It was certainly tense.  Market Drayton started strongly and had the better of the opening half-hour.  It was stop-start stuff, with several free-kicks and two stern ref lectures for visible dissent.  Dynamo were forced into an early substitution, and had just once half-decent chance on the break.  I made a note that Dynamo had weathered the storm just in time for them to concede.  A well-placed glancing header by Daniel Beddows from a right-wing cross was greeted with gloom, especially as the news filtered through that Rugby had the lead against Kidsgrove.  0-1 after 28 mins Fortunately nerves were settled reasonably quickly.  As a home forward burst through on goal, collision with keeper Coney was inevitable.  He escaped with a yellow card, but was powerless to stop Demidh’s excellent placed penalty low to his left.  1-1 after 30 mins I was at the other end when Coney was fouled having dropped the ball, the resulting tap-in being disallowed.  In the end there was nothing else to report either here or at Rugby, so as things stood Loughborough were going down to Step 5.  1-1 at half-time The tide turned a few minutes into the second half.  Dynamo had been more, er… dynamic and got the lead with a slightly lucky goal.  The chance came from good work by full-back Tom Rigby, who beat his man to a clearance and then powered towards the goal before playing in Danny Durkin behind the defence.  His cross may have looped up off a defender’s foot before finding the far corner of the net.  Cue celebrations.  2-1 after 51 mins Dynamo hit the post soon afterwards, which added to the tension at the time but in the end was not an issue.  Twitter confirmed a Kidsgrove equaliser at Rugby and then Demidh curled in a delightful long-range freekick from the left.  Cue wilder celebrations.  3-1 after 61 mins  It got a bit fractious, we had some pushing, some shoving and a melée.  Then Dynamo settled to periods of keep-ball as news filtered through of a second and third goal for Kidsgrove in quick succession.  Demidh completed a hat-trick in the closing moments with a calmly rolled penalty to the left this time.  Cue, well you know.  I left them to it and headed back to the M1.  Final score 4-1
Ground Pix
This ground is definitely worth a daylight visit.  Adjacent cricket and bowls too.
Match Pix
Dynamo are in the gold and black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Today, a relatively rare appearance and win for Pink over Green.  The table is now based on 108 matches. The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal against (GA) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS), rank order by Points per Game (PPG) P W D L GA CS Pts PPG Red 8.0 4.0 0.0 4.0 8.0 3.0 19.0 2.38 Blue 28.1 11.0 5.0 12.1 44.0 10.0 44.0 1.57 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Grey 39.5 19.0 8.0 12.5 64.5 11.0 55.5 1.41 Green 53.0 26.0 7.0 20.0 89.0 15.0 71.0 1.34 Orange 20.5 7.0 4.0 9.5 29.5 5.0 20.5 1.00 Purple 10.0 5.0 2.0 3.0 22.0 2.0 5.0 0.50 Yellow 23.0 6.0 6.0 11.0 46.0 4.0 -2.0 -0.09 Radioactive Bile 11.0 4.0 0.0 7.0 24.0 1.0 -7.0 -0.64 Pink 12.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 26.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.67 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.60 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.11
What Next?
No definite plans, so follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Three-Hop Deluxe: Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape (continued)

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Friday 15 April 2017 at a) Oxford Street, Rossington b) Church Street, Armthorpe c) Fairfax Plant Hire Stadium, Selby
Results	a)  Rossington Main 0 Hall Road Rangers 1 b)  Armthorpe Welfare 1 Hemsworth Colliery Welfare 6 c)  Selby Town 1 Penistone Church 1
Competition	Northern Counties East League - Premier Division (Step 5) for b), and First Division (Step 6) for a) and c)
Hopping	Grounds 608-10 on the lifetime list.
Pre-match preparation
As I said in yesterday's post, credit where credit is due.  My pre-match prep is as nothing compared to the months of organisation that have come together for this Hop.  My thanks go to Chris Berezai, Laurence Reade, anyone I am accidentally omitting, and all of the club and league secretaries, officers and volunteers who made all of this happen, from match to parking to programmes to refreshments.  Great stuff.
These matches in one sentence each
a) Hall Road were made to work very hard for the points, a first-half penalty ultimately proved decisive. b) Hemsworth controlled the game and will see this as an easy win. c) Probably a fair result on the balance of play because both sides will think of moments that they could have scored a late winner.
So what?
The Division One title race goes to the wire.  Today's win puts Hall Road in pole position and they will win if they beat Campion away next week.  Rossington Main are 16th.  Armthorpe's relegation to Step 6 had already been decided before today, and Hemsworth remain solidly in mid-division.  Selby are also mid-table, and Penistone are still strong contenders for a playoff place.
The drama unfolds
Hall Road needed the points to go top and they started looking more dangerous with Rossington playing on the break.  One of those breaks, on 35 minutes, had needed a good save by Hall Road's keeper but his side went in front soon after.  The penalty award was disputed by the home side but Chris Spinks slotted it home. The second half was quite even and both sides had chances, but in the end Hall Road hung on and head to the top of the division, at least until Emley play later today. Hemsworth took the lead in the first half at Armthorpe, but the hosts should have levelled from one of a couple of clear-cut chances.  When the visitors added two more before half-time, the game was over as a contest.  The fourth goal came after the break, and the fifth one was a neat floated finish.  Armthorpe got their consolation and Hemsworth got their sixth in the closing moments. Postscript: I didn't notice until much later that four of the Hemsworth's six were scored by, wait for it, Collier.  Wonder what his ancestors did for a living? The game at Selby settled into a tight but end-to-end contest of few clear chances, until 35 minutes when Dane Mortimer's header found the net via a very satisfying ping off the woodwork, giving the lead to the home side.  The second-half equaliser was fair enough, a good initial save rebounding to another attacker who finished well.  Both sides had late chances in a lively end to the game.  Selby's keeper was caught out of position and a goal-line clearance was needed.  Then a Selby cross dropped on to the bar and could have bounced anywhere, but a defender got to the ball first.
Ground Pix
Rossington Main: Armthorpe Welfare: Selby Town:
Match Pix
Rossington Main in blue... Armthorpe in blue... Selby in red...
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Grey beat Green at Rossington and kept the only clean sheet of the day.  It was also a bad day for Green at Armthorpe, where Orange took the points.  Finally, Green and Yellow shared the spoils at Selby.  Full updated table to follow later in the month - I have now tracked over 100 games.
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  A new term and the summer exam season beckons so expect last-minute decisions.