Cod Do Better

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Thursday 19 April 2018 at the John Clements Sportsfield
Result	Codicote 3 Bedford 1
Competition	Spartan South Midlands League Division 1 (Step 6)
Hopstats	Ground 641 on the lifetime list, and I am here because I have my in-tray under control and it’s an 8-minute journey from Yapp Acres.
Context
Codicote are having a rough season and sit just outside the relegation positions, albeit with games in hand.  Bedford have mid-table respectability but both have largish negative goal differences which suggests this won’t be a 0-0.  Codicote picked up a win recently against their prime relegation rivals and seem to be improving from the disasters of the first half of the season.
In one sentence
Codicote scored early in the second half to settle any nerves and they rode their luck at times to hold for a vital win.
So what?
Results elsewhere have been favourable this week and so Codicote have a three-point cushion AND two games in hand over the team below them.  Bedford look likely to finish the season in lower-mid table.
Match Report
Thanks to the club Twitter feed for identifying the scorers.  Codicote took the lead in the first minute or two with a belting, swirling shot from Ricky Brennan.  It looked at first as if the timewasting started immediately.  Bedford’s #10 was irritated by the home keeper enough to leave his foot in slightly longer than necessary as things started to get a bit tetchy.  By the end of the evening I had lost count of the number of yellow cards. Bedford responded and it wasn’t a surprise when the equaliser came on 38 minutes.  A good through ball beat the Codicote defensive line, #9 timed his run to perfection, kept his feet despite a little tug of the shirt, and scored.  However, any thoughts that Bedford might have broken the home spirit were instantly removed.  It took a good block by the visiting keeper to keep the scores level at half-time. All to play for, then, as the crescent Moon and Venus also became visible in the night sky.  Codicote scored the vital early goal to retake the lead, a composed finish by George Robinson, straight through the middle.  The same player added a third, and with only 56 minutes on the clock, plenty of time left.  At this point I noticed that I’d forgotten to adjust my camera settings for the game itself, so, deservedly coming soon to a “crap football photos” near you sometime soon, here’s one of the goals in all its blurry goodness…  I tend to find that most games have a hinge point where the result is decided, but it’s hard to pick one from this game.  At the midpoint of the second half, Codicote’s keeper made a vital block save.  A Bedford goal then could have changed things.  As a physics teacher I don’t throw the word momentum around but you know what I mean.  However, with just over 15 minutes to go, the home stopper was lucky to get away with a yellow as he tripped an incoming forward just outside the area.  I was at the other end so maybe the ball had been knocked past him but in a direction sufficiently away from the goal to allow the ref to decide that he hadn’t denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. The game was won, but there was time for Bedford’s keeper to make one of the best saves I have ever seen live at this level with a one-handed push onto the bar from #9’s header.  Then it was back to the Yappmobile for eight minutes of difficult driving along the Pothole Road in time for the news.
Ground Pix
This ground looked fabulous in the evening sunshine with all the trees at the car park end in magnificent flower, and we were then treated to a wonderful. sunset as the game got under way.  With red against orange, the colour scheme was spoiled only by the keeper tops (see below).  The pitch was in good nick, but Codicote are one of many teams forced to play Thursday night fixture catchup this season.  The team are back in their home village in recent seasons and this visit to my nearest Step 6 ground is overdue.  The new clubhouse is a superb facility.
Match Pix
I'll call this one, "Lino at Sunset" or something
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Both turned up in Radioactive Bile and neither kept a clean sheet.  It's about time a major kit manufacturer contacted me about this stuff ;) 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 Blue 36.1 16.0 7.0 13.1 50.0 14.0 75.0 2.078 Red 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Fire Cracker 2.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 2.000 Grey 44.5 20.0 10.0 14.5 72.5 12.0 57.5 1.292 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 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 30.5 9.0 7.0 14.5 49.5 6.0 14.5 0.475 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!  Hopefully will be at Ashton United v Nantwich Town on Saturday to complete “The 232” (that’s everywhere from Premier League to Step 2 inclusive) for the first time.