Anchors on the Rise - a D8 with Destination

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 20 November 2021
Result	Stockton Town 4 Tadcaster Albion 0
Competition	Northern Premier League (Division One) East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 736 on my lifetime list and I am here because I rolled a 7 on a standard d8 octahedral die on Thursday evening. I am here by car (which was not the original plan) because of engineering works on the East Coast main line! Here’s the proof:
Context
Stockton’s recent league record is WLWDD and they sit in eighth place. Tadcaster’s is an anagram, LWWDD, but they are fifteenth. They are a few points away from their respective dotted lines for playoffs or relegation.
In One Sentence
A comfortable second half following on from a clinical first half.
So What?
As it happens, no change in the league position for either team, but the points gaps to those dotted lines have lessened.
Pre-match Entertainment
After a long drive, I had time to pause briefly at the Infinity Bridge in the last of the late morning sunshine. It gets the name because the bridge’s two arches, together with their reflections, look like the infinity symbol from the next bridges along the river. The other picture is of the Tees Barrage.
Match Report
Tadcaster looked ambitious early on and there was an element of unexpected softness about Stockton’s first goal. A ball over the top into Route One gave Alfie Conway a shooting chance and although keeper Ally Hughes got a touch, the ball nestled in the corner of the net. Tadcaster continued to look neat in midfield but the second good chance also came to Stockton, with Nathan Steel shooting over the bar. We had reached the midpoint of the first half.  The second goal was probably the hinge point of this game. Mikey Roberts was bundled over in the penalty area by Romario Vieira and he scored from the spot himself.  Then, still only just after the half-hour mark, a neat lay off from Roberts to the onrushing Dan McWilliams gave the defender the opening to score the best-worked goal of the day. For once this season, the action had been right in front of me rather than at the other end. It would now have to be something exceptional to deny Stockton the points. The second half would need an early response from Tadcaster to change the story, but Stockton could now play risk-free football. The visitors continued to look neat in midfield with some good running with the ball, but the defence stayed disciplined to shepherd them wide or to block when the time came. It looked fairly straightforward as these things go. The purple-clad Callum Roberts had nothing much to do except to boot a child’s football (accidentally to be fair) straight out of the ground. The only time Tadcaster had the ball in the net, it was correctly disallowed for handball, and in any case by then Stockton had added their fourth, a classic far post header from a set piece, scored by Adam Nicholson. This passing neutral has to be content with an impressive demolition job done rather than a result in doubt until the end.
Match Pix
Stockton in yellow and blue.
Ground Pix
Artificial surface, part of a shared complex with the sixth form college. A substantial clubhouse is at the other end of the site. On arrival, turn left for the pitch, right for the bar.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 237 matches is here, on this separate page. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 49% (45 from 92) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! Thirteen grounds to go at Step 4, seven northish and six southish, most of them quite long trips (especially Guernsey!). It’s possible that the season for pitch inspections and postponements will arrive soon, so it may be a while before the next one. In such cases the declaration that the game is on rarely gives me time enough to travel.

 

Digging Deep to Secure the Win

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 13 November at the Regional Electrical Services Ltd Stadium, Beechnut Lane
Result	Pontefract Collieries 2 Hebburn Town 1
Competition	Northern Premier League (Division One) East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 735 on my lifetime list was selected by a convoluted method which is explained in full detail on this Twitter thread. I decided that I could draw the attention of more people to the Register of Members’ Final Interests given some of the news coverage earlier in the week from Westminster. It’s something that everyone should look at for their own MP. I had six unvisited Step 4 grounds on my shortlist. In alphabetical order of team name, I added up the figures on the register for extra earnings and donations for each local MP. The MP for Chippenham (including Melksham Town), Rt Hon Michelle Donelan, gets a right honourable zero against her name. Likewise Robert Largan, MP for High Peak (covering Glossop North End) scored a technical zero as no actual value is assigned to his part-interest in a London property. Craig Whittaker MP for Calder Valley (Brighouse Town) opened with £3457 worth of Euro hospitality in his total of £4232, but was soon overtaken by Nigel Evans MP (Ribble Valley, Clitheroe) also with some football-related interest (courtesy of Qatari sources) in a total of £8912.67. The runner-up was Tim Loughton MP (his constituency includes Lancing) with £65450 made up mostly of two additional salaries for 22hrs/month but the winner was Yvette Cooper MP for this patch. £73388 of donations for office and campaigning from a company based in Hertfordshire plus a bit of rugby league hospitality and book earnings gave a total of £79131, comfortably enough to bring me here. It’s randomish in the sense I had no idea what the outcome would be when I started the thread. It’s not random in the mathematical sense as not all outcomes were equally likely. Here’s the link to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests so you can have a look at your own representative, or just dip in at random and be amazed at the extent and variation.
Context
Not much time for detailed research this week but did spot that both teams had a proper tonking (technical term) last time out. Pontefract went down 4-0 at Shildon while Stocksbridge won 5-1 at Hebburn. I saw Hebburn just a few weeks ago. The teams start the day in 18th and 13th places in the division, and both have announced a new signing this week.
In One Sentence
Hebburn were wasteful with several set pieces and Pontefract’s debutant striker scored both goals to ensure a home win.
So What?
The teams are now 17th and 14th respectively. We are about a third of the way through the season.
Pre-match Entertainment
A brief walk around the town centre, which has a lot of blue plaques on some interesting old buildings. It’s great to see a town centre with character which isn’t an identi-build collection of the same old retail names, but on the other hand there were definite signs of economic stress. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I witnessed an incident and had to spend some time giving a statement to the police, and therefore didn't have as much time as I would have liked. Maybe a re-visit in July for this ... ?
Match Report
For the first quarter of an hour the teams largely negated each other. Both defences were good in the air, and Hebburn’s two early set pieces came to nothing. Connor Bell came closest, just over-running a curling pass from the right so that it comically hit his back leg.  Then someone tried to catch Hebburn keeper Kieran Hunter off his line from distance, but the shot went wide. Hebburn’s next chance was even better. They worked the ball down the right again, drawing the keeper out and taking him out of the equation, but a defender had got back to be in just the right position to intercept and clear the final pass. Pontefract took the lead in the 34th minute with a debut goal from Rob Guilfoyle. For the rest of the first half I was somewhat distracted and disgusted by the loud political ranting and rambling of a nearby spectator on matters of Brexit, immigration and events at Yorkshire Cricket. After the earlier experience, this time I chose, rightly or wrongly, not to get involved. It’s midnight as I draft this and it’s still bothering me somewhat. The second half also started with a couple of fruitless set-pieces for Hebburn before Pontefract spurned a chance of their own, with a shot curled over the bar. Just after the hour they eventually doubled their lead. I’d moved to the other end, but it looked as if the ball broke kindly for Guilfoyle, or maybe it was a good through ball, but whichever it was he then had an uninterrupted run on goal for a neat, easy finish. Hebburn kept going and the home defence were kept busy. Finally they converted a free-kick for a consolation goal with a few minutes left. It was a really good shot by Michael Richardson into the top corner from a central position. For this passing neutral, this was a good contest between two physically strong sides, with the result in doubt for long periods. I’m not going to let one resident and one supporter spoil my day, or my impression of the club.
Match Pix
Pontefract in blue. Apologies for the poor quality this week. I was trying some manual settings on my camera as the natural light faded and I didn't get them right.
Ground Pix
Another ground close to a train line, though the trees mean that they are more audible than visible. Top old-school whiteboard work here (I'm jealous) See HERE for more fantastic examples of Non-League bins on this Facebook page (not mine, but I do occasionally contribute)
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 236 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Orange beats Green, but no clean sheet for either. Pontefract keeper Ryan Musselwhite has inherited the right genes, as many readers will recognise. Here is a picture of him pacing around in each half. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 49% (45 from 91) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! Fourteen Step 4 grounds to go, almost all of them well over 200 miles per round trip. Whether it will be realistic to get to Guernsey as one of them remains to be seen. We are also entering the season of bad weather and pitch inspections, so it will be a month of late decisions and late substitutions.

When Herts Refuse to Be Beaten

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 6 November 2021 at New Cuthbury
Result	Wimborne Town 3 Kings Langley 3
Competition	Southern League Premier Division South (Step 3)
Hopstats	Ground 734 on the lifetime list. Wimborne’s new ground is the only one currently left for me at this level, and this is the first fixture here since I completed the new Step 2 grounds at York, Gloucester and Bolton earlier this season. So this isn’t random, but it completes “The 243” which is all the grounds in the first seven tiers in England. There are 245 teams in those divisions but two (Cray Wanderers & Kingstonian) are currently groundsharing with grounds already counted in that total. Another three (Hendon, Truro City and Rushden & Diamonds) share with clubs who operate in a lower tier.
Context
The clubs occupy the bottom two places in the division with six points each, although Wimborne do have two games in hand.
In One Sentence
A very entertaining game for the passing neutral, and a red card didn’t stop the visitors from grabbing a point with a very late equaliser.
So What?
Both on seven points, closing the gap by one to Merthyr Town who lost today.
Match Report
I’d only just finished tweeting the #keepertopcolourstats prediction when Wimborne had the lead. The ball was turned in from close range by Lewis Beale. Kings Langley had the ball in the net themselves within a minute but there was an offside call. After this crazy start the game settled, and the visitors started probing, enjoying the major share of possession. However, they wasted a couple of set pieces from good positions and when Beale scored again after 18 minutes it looked as if Kings Langley were going to be all style and no substance. The incident was on the far side of the ground from me (a regular occurrence this season) but Wimborne’s Charlie Gunson was perhaps slightly fortunate that the ref waved yellow rather than red after a moment of retaliation. The home side then had a good chance for a third before the visitors got on the scoresheet to make a game of it. It was a good finish across the goalkeeper to the top corner (pictured) by Harrison Crawford, leaving debutant Ryan Hall with no chance to save. Half-time arrived with the result still in doubt, just the way that us neutrals like it. After the break, Kings Langley continued with their policy of playing out from the back, with the ball on the deck for the most part. With only 50 minutes on the clock, Crawford slotted home his second and the equaliser from a very neat move, triangles everywhere. However, in less than a minute, Wimborne had the lead again. There was a push in the penalty area and Beale completed a hat-trick by converting the spot-kick. Kings Langley were not yet beaten. Hall had to be alert to smother the ball at the feet of Crawford, who could then have had his own hat-trick. His header, from another neat passing move down the left, went just wide. As we entered the final quarter, Wimborne exerted some pressure of their own, presumably having decided that three might not be enough. Then came the red card for Crawford, adjudged to have made a dangerous challenge. Wimborne pushed again for their fourth but Kings Langley did just enough to hold on, and we had reached stoppage time before another lovely flowing move down the left ended up with two subs queuing up at the far post to score. It was Will Hoskins with the final touch, whose name will be familiar to quite a few EFL supporters from his earlier career exploits. Even that wasn’t the end of the action, and just before the final whistle it took a sharp save from keeper Alfie Marriott at the other end to protect the hard-won point. I think both sides will feel they could and should have won, it was that sort of occasion.
Match Pix
Wimborne in white and black.
Ground Pix
Very well-appointed new build as you would expect. Grass pitch with an adjacent artificial surface for training.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 235 matches is here, on this separate page. This week, two shades of blue share a draw and there is no change in the positions, a result which also brings the prediction success rate back to 50%. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 50% (45 from 90) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! There are now 15 Step 4 grounds on my priority list which would complete the ninth tier. We are moving into the season of potential weather disruption, though, so there may have to be late, pragmatic decisions if I am to get through them all this season. Random or randomish decisions will be back whenever possible.

Sedge Have the Cutting Edge

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 30 October 2021 at The Clayborn Ground, Cleckheaton
Result	Liversedge 4 Scarborough Athletic 0
Competition	FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 733 on the lifetime list, and I am here because of a pragmatic travel decision today. Only five grounds on my priority list were hosting a game. Two were in areas with a Met Office yellow warning, and this was the nearest of the other three, and the only one I could reach once I had waited to see whether there would be a pitch inspection.
Context
Liversedge are topping their division at Step 4 in one of the Northern Premier League’s lower divisions, whereas Scarborough Athletic are in Step 3 in the Northern Premier League itself. They occupy a mid-table position. Liversedge needed a 10-9 penalty shootout win to see off Clitheroe in the last round, and Scarborough enter the competition at this point. They are managed by Jonathan Greening, whom I saw play many times with distinction for West Brom back in the day.
In One Sentence
Scarborough missed their chances, and though Liversedge missed some too in the first half, in the end they inflicted a heavy defeat on the visitors.
So What?
You know the drill. Knockout football. Liversedge in the draw for the next round, Scarborough concentrating on the league.
Pre-match Entertainment
Nothing to report this week. Given the weather forecasts, I waited until the last minute before travelling. I would have liked to have visited the nearby Jo Cox memorial wood had there been time.
Match Report
There were several hopperatic types with cameras around the ground before kickoff, and I was pleased to cross paths with George of the @ManchopperBlog for the first time. For the passing neutral, this was a good game. Entertaining, end-to-end stuff, and it may be surprising that the visitors were not really out of it until the third goal went in. Having said that, it ended up being a bit too easy for Liversedge, and the visiting fans were making some loudly uncomplimentary views evident towards the end. The young children of Cleckheaton may have learned some new words in the process, shall we say. The teams changed ends after the coin toss. This might have been a stroke of genius on someone’s part because later on the low sun proved tricky for Scarborough’s keeper and defenders. Liversedge had the lead after 11 minutes. A free-kick was only partially cleared and Jack Stockdill’s shot sneaked in off the post. It really ought to have been two shortly afterwards but veteran keeper Michael Ingham was alert and came out to smother a heavy first touch by Nicky Walker. Scarborough clawed their way back into the game. Neat interchanges down the flanks looked good but caused no real defensive damage for the most part. Liversedge were defensively pragmatic and brave where necessary. The visitors had the ball in the net after space was found down the left by Colville but there was an offside flag. Then Liversedge keeper Jon Stewart needed to make a double save from Michael Coulson and Ryan Watson in rapid succession. When Nicky Walker hit the post after 36 minutes you started to wonder whether Liversedge would eventually be left to rue what might have been, especially as they missed two more chances before the break. Admittedly the final one for Paul Walker was from a very tight angle. The start to the second half was clearly going to be an important phase of the game. Coulson was booked for simulation in the penalty area and the Scarborough players were incensed. They surrounded the referee and there was a good deal of accusatory finger-pointing. I was probably the nearest spectator to the incident. Regular readers will know that’s unusual this season. For what it’s worth, I think the referee was right that it was not a penalty. The defender had not committed to any challenge and was stationary with both feet planted on the floor when Coulson ran into him. It was a simple collision rather than a deliberate foul and that is absolutely clear. I can’t really say whether the collision was then followed by a dive.   Liversedge’s second goal, with 54 minutes on the clock, therefore added to the tension. There was an element of fortune for Paul Walker as a clearance rebounded off him to give Ingham no chance. The game continued to be open, and Scarborough were still looking to score, and Stewart had to make another double block to protect the lead. Liversedge were also getting chances on the break and it seemed likely that there were more goals to come. When it did, it opened up the anti-management shouts from the visiting supporters. Scarborough were sliced open on a break down the right and then across to the centre where Ben Atkinson had all the time and space in the world to control and shoot to make it 3-0. The shouts intensified with about ten minutes left when Nicky Walker smashed in a tremendous shot from distance which did that wonderfully satisfying thing of hitting the post before going across the empty goal to the opposite corner. There was some more pushing and shoving in the closing moments leading to a yellow card for each side before the final whistle. You can’t really argue with a 4-0 scoreline but it felt like it should have been a 6-3. Mr Greening has a job on his hands. I suspect that his Liversedge counterpart Jonathan Rimmington will be somewhat chuffed that his side did such a demolition job on their higher-ranked opponents.
Match Pix
Liversedge in the blue-and-white.
Ground Pix
The ground is reached down a narrow lane (Quaker Lane) between houses that initially feels like your SatNav has landed you in trouble. The parking was well-organised by friendly stewards. The stadium has excellent views into the distance and a nice range of heights for watching the match, both covered and uncovered. It’s got a bit of character and quirkiness about it, and is all the better for it. A pre-match rainbow was a visual bonus.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 234 matches is here, on this separate page.   Today, Grey met Blue in a top-of-the-table clash and scored a win and a clean sheet. The overall colour league table positions remain unchanged. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 49% (44 from 89) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! Provisional plan is to re-complete “everywhere in the top seven tiers” by going to Wimborne Town’s new ground next Saturday, but all will be dependent on weather (and CV19, of course). That will leave me fifteen Step 4 grounds to complete the eighth tier, one of which is Guernsey and will need a bit of planning.