Buntingford Set Herts Fluttering at Knebworth

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 28 April 2018 at Knebworth Recreation Ground
Result	Knebworth 1 Buntingford Town 2
Competition	Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division (Step 7)
Hopstats	Ground 644 on the lifetime list, and here non-randomly today because I needed to stay local.
Context
There are some teams with a lot of fixtures left to play in this league.  Knebworth are in the lower half of the table but with several games in hand.  Buntingford are bottom with even more games in hand, but that won’t count unless they start winning.  They have just one win and two draws all season.
In one sentence
A plot twist saw Buntingford take the points with a late, late winner.
So what?
The teams stay 11th and 15th respectively but maybe a wake-up ripple through time and space will be felt at Evergreen and Lemsford in 14th and 13th.
Match Report
The surface was wet and slippery, but a good playing surface and in much better condition than I was expecting to see given the weather.  The daisies are doing well.  The players took the opportunity for a few old-school sliding tackles.  The chat at pitchside was that Knebworth were missing a few regulars, but that some reserves were stepping up, including a goalkeeper who has more regularly been seen outfield.  Pep Guardiola got his inspiration from English Step 7, I tell you.  The game was largely fought in midfield for the first quarter of an hour.  Buntingford took the lead when the stand-in keeper was unlucky to see his parry of a fierce shot from distance fall nicely to Buntingford’s #9.  Knebworth deservedly levelled before half-time – a cross from the right was over-hit but the return from the left gave James Tizard the chance for a header into the corner. Level at the break, and the teams largely continued to cancel each other out during the second half.  The best chances came from set pieces, and both teams rode their luck at times.  The last ten minutes had as much serious goalmouth action as the rest of the game put together.  The visiting keeper made a great block with his feet and then a Knebworth corner caused chaos and it took a goalline clearance to stop them scoring.  It felt somewhat harsh that Buntingford went up the other end within a minute and scored to grab the points.  There was still time for one more goalmouth melée but Knebworth’s players could not get that ball over the line.  A result that is not of huge significance to Knebworth, but keeps alive that glimmer of hope for Buntingford.
Ground Pix
Two adjacent pitches and a large number of trees!  I’m somewhat obsessed by non-league trees at the moment and they are lined up here with mathematical precision.  Despite the incessant drizzle, this was an amiable afternoon out at a friendly club with real mugs for the coffee.
Match Pix
Knebworth in orange.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Blue (just about, a very greeny one) loses to Orange, but overall league positions unchanged after 145 games. 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.  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 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Blue 38.1 16.0 7.0 15.1 54.0 14.0 71.0 1.864 Grey 45.5 21.0 10.0 14.5 73.5 12.0 59.5 1.308 Green 74.0 36.0 10.0 28.0 123.0 19.0 90.0 1.216 Purple 14.0 6.0 3.0 5.0 31.0 4.0 10.0 0.714 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 32.5 11.0 7.0 14.5 51.5 6.0 18.5 0.569 Radioactive Bile 15.0 7.0 0.0 8.0 30.0 2.0 1.0 0.067 Yellow 31.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 65.0 5.0 -9.0 -0.290 Pink 15.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 30.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.533 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
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Love 2, Actually

Specimen Programme from a recent game

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 23 April 2018 at The Spencer Recreation Ground
Result	Sandridge Rovers 2 Ware Sports 1
Competition	Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division (Step 7)
Hopstats	Ground 643 on the lifetime list, and I am here for a Monday evening kickoff in the sunshine because I’m up-to-date with my marking and for a long-overdue visit to a ground close to home.
Context
Both teams doing well in the division, and Sandridge will be seeking revenge for a big defeat in the reverse fixture.
In one sentence
Credit to both teams as you wouldn’t have known this was an end-of-season fixture played mainly for pride, and it was a game settled by an unusual free-kick.
So what?
The teams are 5th and 2nd in the league, with Bovingdon romping away to the title.  A few teams have an insane number of fixtures to complete.  Unofficially I predict both teams could get overtaken by one of them to end the season 6th and 3rd, but no lower.
Match Report
The match started in breezy conditions and both teams took a few minutes to get used to the flight and bounce of the ball.  Sandridge took the lead with a cross from the left wing.  Sean Mboto had already made his presence felt with speed and directness, and his cross was poked in from close range by Stuart Love. Rayston Whyte was the standout player for Ware early on and his efforts in midfield created their first good chance, blocked by Warren Bell in the home goal.  It remained a good contest throughout the half, with plenty of effort and commitment. 1-0 Ware Sports improved after the break.  They were a few cm taller and newtons heavier (proper units for weight in this blog, oh yes) on average.  A Ware header just wide was followed by a rattling of the crossbar at the other end.  Bell then made a superb one-handed stop from a close range shot as the visitors gained control.  The equaliser was around the hour mark and a looping placed header from #5 who had stayed upfield after the corner.  1-1 at that stage was a fair reflection of the play, and I don’t think too many people would have complained if it had stayed that way. The winner had an element of surprise in that it came from a freekick given by the assistant referee when the away keeper had carried the ball out of his own area during a clearance.  You don’t see them given very often – I was at the other end so can’t comment further.  In the gathering gloom, Love kept the shot low (maybe as the wall jumped, I can’t be sure) and it found the bottom corner for his second goal.  Meanwhile, a jazz band was moving into the village hall for practice as the game came to an end.  The hectic and relentless pace of Hertfordshire life continues.  A good win for Sandridge and a sense of what might have been for Ware Sports. As a postscript, I’ve mentioned before in this blog that Sandridge have a couple of Yapps on the playing staff, and I was able to meet their father in the clubhouse afterwards.  A quick check of mutual family history knowledge and it is clear that there is a fair chance that we are related, maybe about eight generations back would be my guess subject to more research.  It’s a small world, but we are in the process of taking over the south-east en route to world domination. Thanks too to the very welcoming club officials who gave me some past programmes.  Much appreciated, gents.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Sandridge in the black-and-white.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Orange at home to an eyeball-searing abomination that has to go in the Fire Cracker group.  Good job it is horses and not bulls in the adjacent field is all I am saying. Results so far after 143 fixtures: 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.  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 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Blue 37.1 16.0 7.0 14.1 52.0 14.0 73.0 1.968 Grey 45.5 21.0 10.0 14.5 73.5 12.0 59.5 1.308 Green 74.0 36.0 10.0 28.0 123.0 19.0 90.0 1.216 Purple 14.0 6.0 3.0 5.0 31.0 4.0 10.0 0.714 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 31.5 10.0 7.0 14.5 50.5 6.0 16.5 0.524 Radioactive Bile 15.0 7.0 0.0 8.0 30.0 2.0 1.0 0.067 Yellow 31.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 65.0 5.0 -9.0 -0.290 Pink 15.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 30.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.533 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
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Nothing specific planned as yet.