Martyrs Will Survive Unless it's Dorchester Flash in the Pan

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 25 September 2017 at Loadlok Stadium (Penydarren Park)
Result	Merthyr Town 1 Dorchester Town 1
Competition	Southern League Premier Division (Step 3)
Hopstats	Ground 627 on the lifetime list.  I am here from a shortlist of three because there were more shots on goal (26) in the SECOND period of last night’s NHL ice hockey game between Anaheim Ducks and Winnipeg Jets.  The first and third periods had been linked to Athersley and Whitby.  It’s random-ish.  See previous post for details of my niche.
Context
Dorchester are in the lower half of the table but will have noted that Merthyr (aka The Martyrs) lost 13-1 at Chesham last week, as did everyone else in football.  The development side fulfilled the fixture after a turbulent week off the pitch.  Since then there have been boardroom resignations from this fan-owned club, the creation of an interim board, a huge and well-supported financial appeal, and a week of exhortations to the locals to #packthepark.  Local papers, Argus and Echo, gave some reasonable coverage to the financial issues and the public support of Cardiff and Newport managers (Neil Warnock and Michael Flynn), alongside the pages and pages of rugby.  The All Blacks are in Cardiff and that clash kicks off just after this match ends.
In one sentence
Dorchester coped well with the occasion and a draw was probably a fair result.
So what?
The clubs lie 14th and 20th.  First signs are that Merthyr will have enough backing, and enough character on the pitch, to survive as a club and even hold on to their Step 3 place.  They probably need about another 18 points or so, with plenty of games left.  Dorchester may feel that today was two points dropped but near the bottom an away draw is usually not to be turned down.
Match Report
Members of last week’s development team were introduced to the crowd before kickoff and received a heroes’ welcome.  Once the whistle went, Ian Traylor could have given Merthyr a dream start with a good turn in the box but his shot was over the bar.  Dorchester weathered that early storm and the first half-hour was pretty ordinary but earnest fare in the sunshine.  The visitors had a half-chance of their own from a fluffed clearance.  After the half-hour mark, the game settled into a more open and adventurous phase with Merthyr threatening to take the lead.  The exact opposite happened after 37 minutes with a classic away team counterpunch.  Dorchester poured forward when the ball bounced for them on the left flank.  A dangerous cross was duly volleyed in by Blake Davies.  Good goal, and they saw out the rest of the half. Merthyr’s equaliser came fairly early in the second half.  A through ball found Adam Davies in an advanced position and he set himself well for a good, calm finish as the keeper came out.  Game on. The home side showed visible belief that a win could be had.  Kerry Morgan shot just wide and then a deflected Traylor volley hit the post.  Dorchester’s Twitter feed suggests that it hit both posts, but I was unsighted.  The two sides continued to slug it out, mainly in midfield and with defences on top, keeping up a reasonable level of entertainment for this passing neutral in the encouraging crowd of 923.  We were somewhat entertained too by the ever-increasing number of detailed announcements about cars and vans to be moved from the vicinity. At the end of the day, Dorchester did enough as the away side to earn their point and Merthyr certainly did not deserve to lose.
Ground Pix
Lots of them today.  This place is a good example of why I have become a daylight groundhopper in the last couple of years.  Lots of character and an interesting setting.
Match Pix
Merthyr are in the white-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Green drew with Orange today which has no effect on the standings. Results so far: Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK, and it deserves to be last, trust me.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 9.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 9.0 3.0 19.0 2.111 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.500 Blue 30.1 12.0 6.0 12.1 47.0 10.0 45.0 1.495 Grey 41.5 20.0 9.0 12.5 68.5 11.0 55.5 1.337 Green 68.0 34.0 9.0 25.0 115.0 17.0 81.0 1.191 Orange 27.5 9.0 5.0 13.5 45.5 5.0 11.5 0.418 Purple 11.0 5.0 2.0 4.0 25.0 2.0 2.0 0.182 Yellow 27.0 7.0 6.0 14.0 57.0 5.0 -5.0 -0.185 Pink 14.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 29.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.571 Radioactive Bile 12.0 5.0 0.0 7.0 26.0 1.0 -6.0 -0.500 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.600 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105 Fire Cracker 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -4.000
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Always difficult to plan ahead at this time of year but my four “priority” Step 3 grounds to complete “The 232” landmark are: Ashton United, Tiverton Town, Whitby Town and Athersley Recreation (Shaw Lane’s landlords).  In the event of bad weather it will probably be somewhere closer to home.  Coverage of the Varsity Match (rugby union) will also follow in early December.

Putting the Decision on Ice

Ladies and gentlemen, I have three stadia on my shortlist this week, each of which edges me closer to a personal target of all the current English grounds from the Premier League down to Step 3.  It would be "The 232" if not for a bit of ground sharing here and there.

In alphabetical order they are:

Athersley Recreation (playing in the Northern Counties East but on my list because they are the current landlords for Shaw Lane).

Merthyr Town (a Southern Premier League club in some transitional difficulty as was well-documented after a 13-1 loss last week).

Whitby Town (of the Northern Premier League).

As I write, a zamboni will be preparing the ice for Winnipeg Jets' ice hockey clash with Anaheim Ducks in the NHL.  See previous ice hockey blog diversions if you are interested in zambonis and my controversial northern hemisphere clockwise zamboni rotation theory, which has not been scientifically demolished though even flat-earthers treat me with suspicion.

There are three periods of action in an ice hockey game.  Athersley, Merthyr and Whitby in alphabetical will be linked with the first, second and third respectively.

The period with the greatest total number of shots (for both sides added together) will decide my destination.  

If there is a tie, then the total number of goals scored in that period will be the tie-breaker.

If that is still a tie, then the tie-tie-breaker will be the total number of power plays for both sides in the period.

If that is still a tie, then the tie-tie-tie-breaker will be the largest shirt number of the goaltender that saves the most shots in the given period of play multiplied by the number of players penalised for violence (including technical naughtiness or foul play) of any description in the period.  

If we need a tie-tie-tie-tie-breaker then I will stay at home and sort out my programme shelves.

Thank you for your interest.  Anything to avoid taking a decision by myself, you see.  Looks as if the numbers will turn up here:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20172018/GS020337.HTM


UPDATE:
No tie breakers needed as 20 shots in the first period and 22 in the third were beaten by the 25 shots of the second period, thus sending me to Merthyr Town v Dorchester Town.  It's been an "interesting" week or two for the home club.  Better do some research!

Light Blue Through and Through

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 22 November 2017 at Grange Road
Result	Cambridge University 53 Steele-Bodger XV 22
Competition	Traditional warm-up fixture for the Varsity Match in December – the 70th anniversary of the fixture.
Hopstats	Not a new ground – been here several times both during and since my own student days.  I’ve watched rugby union at seven different venues and have no detailed records from my twenties. Young readers take note!
Context
Micky Steele-Bodger CBE played for Cambridge University and England in the 1940s before his career was ended early by injury. Since then he has served rugby union with distinction as administrator and leader, but in today’s context there was great celebration of the fact that this is the 70th time he has put together an opposing team for the university side.  It is a fixture that has its roots and traditions in the amateur era.  Oxford University may well have their own routines and traditions as the December showdown approaches, but this blog takes the view that a tiny atoll in the South Pacific, just jutting through the surface of the ocean as the result of a long-dormant volcano and maybe with a single palm tree for comic effect, should be plenty of room for all the people who need to care.  Light Blue is the colour all the way on here. At a personal level, teaching commitments have almost always prevented me from joining a band of young-at-heart relics of a bygone age for whom this fixture has been at the heart of a regular reunion event.  The game itself is flanked by beer, curry, breakfasts (note plural), conversation, reminiscences and beer, and what happens at the SB gathering, stays etc etc.  I am pleased to have been here, and I hope to be back on solids very soon.  Gentlemen, thank you.  You know who you are.
In one sentence
A feast of free-flowing rugby union in keeping with the fixture’s heritage, a whopping win for the Light Blues with maybe some concern about the number of points conceded down the right flank.
So what?
Hopefully no injury worries before the Varsity Match at Twickenham on Thursday 7th December.  CURFC lead the series 35-33 with two draws.
Match Report
Many photographs were taken before kickoff with Mr Steele-Bodger himself at the centre, and regular rugby fans will recognise several familiar faces including Scotland’s Gavin Hastings, the university captain in 1989. Once the match started, the Light Blues built up a healthy lead with three tries.  The first was a burst from Jake Hennessey through the middle of the defensive line and gave an easy conversion for Mike Phillips too.  The second came from Hennessey’s chip kick from centre to flying winger Henry King which was then eventually grounded nearer the posts, before an easy conversion was missed.  Then a breakaway try from deep, a long run by Chris Bell finished with an unselfish pass to Tyler Hammond, was itself converted by Phillips to make the score 19-0. The Steele-Bodgers got on the scoreboard when a grubber kick bounced off the defender and Coventry’s Kwaku Asiedu scored from the right wing.  The try was converted by Lawrence Rayner of Ampthill. The students removed any doubts of a shock result by scoring two more tries before half-time.  The first looked a rather dubious decision – many spectators in our corner felt that Rory Triniman had lost control of the ball in a tackle as he tried to make the conversion position easier.  The kick was missed anyway.  Then Matthew Watson scored under the posts.  A Phillips conversion gave us the half-time score of 31-7. An unconverted try for Archie Russell from a left wing move increased the lead before Asiedu intervened again.  He ran from half-way down the right and there was no catching him.  This was unconverted so the scoreboard at this point read 36-12. The university then worked another good loop move before scoring in the left corner again through King’s second try of the game, and then Hammond had his second too after a break through the middle from a central scrum.  The second of these was converted by Phillips for a score of 48-12. Bodgers worked a kick-to-wing move of their own to score an unconverted try by Tom Hughes on the right wing, before the Light Blues went through the direct central route again to cross the half-century mark with a try from James Elms.  The supposedly easy conversion was thwarted by the post.  So, 53-17 before a mazy run by the Bodgers’ full-back, Cambridge’s Joe Green, set up an unconverted score in the corner for James Beaufils of Randwick District.  Final score 53-22. It had been clear for some time that international referee Wayne Barnes was determined to referee a game without a penalty, and both sides bought into that ambition.  To do so meant (in my opinion) ignoring one blatantly high tackle, but in the end the game was completed, as ever, in good sporting spirit.  The university side looks in good shape and there was plenty of fluency and fluidity.  For the spectators, today’s event is as much social as sporting, and most of the crowd here will re-gather at Twickenham in two weeks.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Pre-Match Entertainment
For the record, our group unexpectedly ended up as Team Clueless in the preceding night’s Pub Quiz at the splendid Champion of the Thames.  After a faltering start with American Artists and a botched attempt at the bonus question, we rediscovered our competitive streak and secured a runners-up position which will fly proud and high on our combined list of academic achievements. After a couple of breakfasts, there was time to stroll.  It has dawned on me in later years that I had my eyes turned downwards too often during my student days.  The rooftops themselves are magnificent entertainment in their own right.  Four years at Selwyn College (next door to the ground) played a huge part in shaping my own life and career, and it looks as if the city might have still have a say in my health and well-being in years to come. Here’s a taste of the city’s atmosphere and architecture, snapped during a morning walk.  Some of the rest of the weekend is a bit blurry, but it certainly involved breakfasts. Queens' College Trinity College Isaac Newton,Trinity College Clare College King's College Chapel 23 West Road, my home for Summer 1977 and site of my finest moments in croquet ;) Cripps Court, Selwyn College, home from Oct 1975 - June 1979 Old Court, Selwyn College Selwyn College Chapel
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Decisions are usually last-minute at this time of the year because of weather considerations.  If all is meteorologically favourable, and my rehab is complete, then the Saturday shortlist comprises the Step 3 grounds at Merthyr Town, Whitby Town and Athersley Recreation (Shaw Lane’s landlords).  Otherwise, something more local that can confirm that it is on in time for me to travel.