Pickering Galvanised to Beat Nailers

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 30 March 2019 at The Silver X Stadium
Result	Belper Town 1 Pickering Town 2
Competition	Northern Premier League Division One East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 690 on the lifetime list, and I am here because I had to abandon an attempted journey to Atherton Collieries due to taking three hours for the first hundred miles on the M1 northbound.  Nevertheless, this is another of my priority grounds and one I knew to be a goodie from other hoppers’ pix.  Therefore, I happily diverted to Derbyshire in plenty of time for a programme and a pie.
Context
No pre-match research done except for a quick look at the table.  The teams are 8th and 15th respectively.  The points tallies suggest a must-win fixture for Belper (aka The Nailers) if they are to stay mathematically in a play-off hunt, and a don’t-lose one for Pickering as they are only four points above bottom place.
In one sentence
Pickering weathered the early pressure and in many ways this was a classic away performance, not very pretty but effective enough to hold Belper at bay.
So what?
This vital win for the visitors is a big step towards survival in the division, and Belper look set for a mid-table finish too.
Match Report
Belper started well and forced several corners in quick succession.  Pickering threatened on the break and won a few of their own.  Both defences looked somewhat shaky.  Pickering opened the scoring through Danny Earl after 24 minutes but the lead lasted less than ten more.  Danny South wearing number 9 was frequently a traditional target man for Belper.  His flick-on went through to Alex Peterson who swivelled and shot to net the equaliser.  Probably fair enough at that point on balance of play. Harrison Foulkes tipped over a snap shot from South and then a Belper defender cleared a shot off the line with his keeper stranded.   By this time I noticed that many of my match photos were very similar, containing 14 or so players in the six-yard box trying to get on the end of a set piece.  There was little variation of approach and the teams were level at 1-1 when the half-time whistle was blown.  Unusually for me, I stayed in the same seat for the second half.  I’m careful about catching too much direct sunlight these days! The winning goal was buried in the net at the far post by Joe Danby.  He was alert enough to react when a teammate in front of him failed to make contact with a teasing right-wing cross.  With over half an hour still to go, there would be plenty of time for more goals, but in the event a mixture of decent defending and wayward shooting kept the score at 1-2.  The result was always in doubt, always a plus point for me as a neutral, but the performances today had a touch of end-of-season about them.  I’d made very few notes.  Pickering needed the points more than Belper, who clearly had a decent first half of the season.
Pix
Belper in Yellow.  This is a fabulous location with interesting views.  The initials on the adjacent Mill building denote the English Sewing Cotton Company.  This kind of thing is why I am a daylight groundhopper in the main these days.  The ground is a short walk from both the station and the town centre and public transport is a viable hoption.  Every hopper should visit here, and indeed many already have.
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. Today, no clean sheets but a win for Orange over Green, pushing the prediction average ever nearer the “expected” 50% after the early-season euphoria. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 54% (25 from 46) 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. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers 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 10.5 5.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.5 24.0 2.286 Grey 50.5 24.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 15.0 77.5 1.535 Blue 47.1 21.0 7.0 19.1 76.0 14.0 64.0 1.359 Green 105.0 52.0 12.0 41.0 183.0 23.0 100.0 0.952 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 54.5 20.0 12.0 22.5 93.5 10.0 28.5 0.523 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 36.0 9.0 8.0 19.0 77.0 6.0 -12.0 -0.333 Radioactive Bile 23.0 9.0 0.0 14.0 51.0 3.0 -9.0 -0.391 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  If all goes to plan, something a little different next Saturday.

Leafe Means Whyteleafe

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 23 March at Church Road
Result	Whyteleafe 1 Whitstable Town 1
Competition	Isthmian League Division One South-East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 689 on my lifetime list and I am here randomishly  because of a complex combination of non-events at Wembley last night.  All is explained in the previous post, but essentially: a) the scores were not level at both HT & FT b) neither James Ward-Prowse nor Kieron Trippier scored (or made an appearance for that matter) c) Harry Kane only scored one goal d) a Czech substitute, Lukas Masopust, did not score e) neither team hit the woodwork f) there were only five goals scored on the night These events had been randomly linked to seven other venues today, and Whyteleafe was the “catchall” at the end of the alphabetical list.
Context
8th v 13th. Looks like the gap to playoff places is too large now for Whyteleafe, and Whitstable look safe, so there could be the first touch of “end-of-season” about this fixture.  Arguably the visitors need a few more points, and they are not mathematically safe as yet. They are in good form though with three much-needed wins in a row. Likewise, the home side could still mathematically get promoted but would probably need one side above them to go into freefall. That looks unlikely when you see they have lost five in a row.
In one sentence
Pass-and-move-at-pace shares the points with traditional strength and structure, but the visitors needed a disputed penalty.
So what?
The teams end the day 8th and 12th respectively.
Match Report
On their home surface, Whyteleafe played football on the ground and played out from the back, keeping a man wide on each flank.  At this level, there is going to be the odd lapse giving the other side a chance, but neither keeper was really fully tested in the early stages.  Whitstable might feel that their bigger physical forward line was looking more threatening. Whyteleafe took the lead with a goal from nothing after 20 minutes.  Ashley Robinson crossed from the left to the feet of Junior Aikhionbare, who turned his defender and shot home. The disputed penalty equaliser came in first-half stoppage time.  Here are my stills of the key moments.  They show that the ref was in a good position, and maybe that the defender on the left has missed the ball, and also maybe that there was contact.  It was given, and that's that.  I do worry that the arrival of VAR in the "elite" game will make refereeing even harder at this level.  Some of next season's sin-bins will need to be fairly sizeable. Harry Stannard scored from the spot and the half-time whistle sounded. In the second half, Whyteleafe had most possession.  They kept trying to move the ball quickly to feet, and had several players willing to run directly at defenders.  Whitstable coped pretty well, although often at the expense of corners, which they defended well.  They occasionally threatened at the other end too, and the result remained in doubt as it had done all afternoon.  It was an interesting contest and made me wonder whether Whyteleafe play with a different, more pragmatic style on the bobbly grass pitches of away fixtures, and indeed whether Whitstable were also trying to play their normal away game. I’m in favour of artificial pitches for all sorts of reasons (see my posts on football in the Faroe Islands for example) but I do have a nagging doubt as to whether any individual league should have a mix of them.  As the final whistle went, I scuttled quickly up the road for the 1705 to London Victoria.
More Pix
A ground in transition.  Perfect artificial surface surrounded by buildings in various degrees of dilapidation, but all clean and tidy.  Special geeky mention that two train lines are just about visible from the ground, which is an easy 5-minute walk from Whyteleafe station.
Diversion
I had taken the train today and stopped off in London on the way back. I marched unobtrusively from Victoria to Westminster and paused to take in the vast array of placards left on Parliament’s railings.  If you follow me on Twitter you know how I feel about the nation’s current predicament.  I’ve signed the petition.  I don’t ever recall the world laughing at us over something important – usually it’s just teapot etiquette and cricket dress codes. Brexit is more fundamental and I am not ready for my country to become an island of racist irrelevance.
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.  Table based on my last 190 matches.  Today, Orange played Orange so of course a draw was predicted!  No change in table positions. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 56% (25 from 45) 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. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers 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 10.5 5.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.5 24.0 2.286 Grey 50.5 24.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 15.0 77.5 1.535 Blue 47.1 21.0 7.0 19.1 76.0 14.0 64.0 1.359 Green 104.0 52.0 12.0 40.0 181.0 23.0 102.0 0.981 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 53.5 19.0 12.0 22.5 92.5 10.0 26.5 0.495 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 36.0 9.0 8.0 19.0 77.0 6.0 -12.0 -0.333 Radioactive Bile 23.0 9.0 0.0 14.0 51.0 3.0 -9.0 -0.391 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  22 grounds left to do at this level.  No chance of getting them all done this season, but next season should be enough.  Any Spurs season-ticket holder out there interested in a short-term friendship?  ;)