A Sunday Double for this -borough Surveyor

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 29 July 2018 1) Victoria Mill Ground 2) Stilton Pavilion (first game here)
Result	1) Wellingborough Whitworth 0 Cogenhoe United 3 (Dore, Dove 2.  0-2 at HT) 2) Stilton United 4 Cardea 2 (West 3, McManus – Dandrilli, Yeoman. 1-0 at HT)
Competition	1) United Counties League Premier Division (Step 5) 2) Peterborough & District FL Div 2 (Step 9)
Hopstats	Venues 645 and 646 on the lifetime list to open my season for 2018-19.
Context
I’d spent Saturday as a parent-spectator at the British Firefighter Challenge event in Bury St Edmunds (well done Matt Yapp, well done Hertfordshire) so I was late joining this organised regional hop event.  Well done again to the organisers Groundhop UK, and to these two host clubs who’d both made a real effort.  Both sporting events of my weekend don't happen by chance and a huge amount of volunteering is required.  They all deserve our support.
Each game in one sentence
Cogenhoe scored first and had the greater goal threat, and in the end it was a comfortable away win. It was not as comfortable for Stilton, who were pegged back to level from two-nil before sealing a home win.
So what?
I refuse to acknowledge league tables this early – this was the first league game of the season for all four teams.
Match Report 1
In blustery conditions, Cogenhoe took the lead as a great curling pass from the right by Ryan Dove was hit first time by Montel Dore.  They were denied a second by a goal-line clearance by Jamie Black.  It was almost half-time before Whitworth had their first really clear chance.  The game’s hinge point was on 43 minutes, as a slick move and a sustained period of pressure ended with a tap-in for Dove.  Whitworth’s second half task had just become a lot harder.  The conditions continued to be difficult and the only goal of the second half was a penalty, awarded by the assistant ref, which Dove tucked away in the bottom left corner for his second goal of the day. No heads dropped as Whitworth went looking for a consolation goal but United were able to protect their clean sheet for their grey-clad keeper (see below).
Pix from Whitworth
Match Report 2
The windy conditions were still an issue at the Stilton Pavilion.  The newly-laid pitch has also suffered greatly in recent weather conditions and there were also some bizarre bounces for players to cope with.  It took a while for the teams to settle and adjust.  A superb one-handed save by bright green home keeper Steve Shaw was soon followed by the opening goal.  A great tackle on halfway broke up a Cardea attack, and Stilton exploited the space down the right to set up an easy finish for Kylial King.  King added his second shortly after half-time and it seemed that Stilton were on a (cheese) roll.  (Sorry, had to be done.) Cardea had other ideas.  Mike Dandrilli’s shot from distance came down off the bar, and I was in a good position to confirm that it did not go in.  No VAR in the Peterborough & District, tyvm.  However, Dandrilli bundled in the rebound to cut the deficit.  On the hour, the game was level as Aaron Yeoman’s speculative shot bounced awkwardly in front of Shaw.  No clean sheets for either keeper today. The game’s hinge point came after 63 minutes.  Cardea’s parity had lasted only three minutes before Lewis McManus restored the home side’s lead, and then West completed his hat-trick with a hooked volley at the near post which drew gasps of admiration from the assembled masses.  No comeback this time and Stilton United’s return to their home village begins with a win.  Maybe a rich vein of form will follow.  (Sorry/not sorry).
Pix from Stilton
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course, when I've found one! In match 1, Grey beats conventional Green and has a clean sheet.  In match 2, fluorescent Green beats something bright that is not yellow, not green and therefore must be Radioactive Bile, a colour well-established among keepers but not yet recognised by Dulux. Clean Sheet for the man in grey - Stuart Lutter (Cogenhoe U) Pre-match Predictions based on Keeper Top Colour Stats: Prediction 1: Cogenhoe United Win Was the prediction correct? YES Prediction 2: Stilton United Win Was the prediction correct? YES % of correct predictions so far 100% (2 from 2) 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.  It may not be statistically significant as yet, but all football coverage ignores this point as a matter of routine.  It’s the variance that we love, really. Keeper Top Table based on 147 games: 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 46.5 22.0 10.0 14.5 73.5 13.0 67.5 1.452 Green 76.0 37.0 10.0 29.0 128.0 19.0 88.0 1.158 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 16.0 7.0 0.0 9.0 34.0 2.0 -3.0 -0.188 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!  Lots of Step 5 action all over the country next Saturday for me to choose from.