My Tavistock Tick as They Clock Up a Trophy Win

Front cover of e-programme (sent by email on request as a pdf file)

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 25 September 2022 at Langsford Park
Result	Tavistock 1 Didcot Town 0
Competition	FA Trophy 2nd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 758 on the lifetime list. Nothing random this time, I just wanted to make this long journey (the longest on my priority list) on a weekend with decent weather.
Context
Tavistock joined my priority list on their promotion from Step 5 last season as Western League champions. Both of these teams are going well in different divisions of the Southern League, and in this competition both needed penalties in rearranged midweek ties in the last round. Tavistock won at Kidlington, and Didcot saw off Hamworthy United at home.
In One Sentence
Tavistock created the clearer chances and deserved the win, but the result was always in doubt.
So What?
The usual cliché about Tavistock being in the hat for the next round and Didcot going home with nothing. No, sorry, that’s Weakest Link. I meant concentrating on the league.
Pre-match Entertainment
Not much time. It was very frustrating to get caught up in car park gridlock after a 5-hr drive, albeit a very scenically rewarding one past Stonehenge and along the edge of Dartmoor. So I just had time for a short walk around the pannier market and the Butcher’s Hall market. This town is well worth a visit. There’s a lot of history, a lovely atmosphere and some interesting architecture, as you would expect from a World Heritage site.
Match Report
Just as in several recent games for me, the two teams largely cancelled each other out in the opening stages. I think it reflects how strong and well-organised teams at Step 4 tend to be these days. I had just noted that Didcot were very marginally looking stronger when Tavistock took the lead a few minutes before the break. They broke from midfield, straight down the centre, and with the defence backing off the ball was played unselfishly to Iestyn Harris who completed a textbook dink finish. Before half-time, Tavistock had also hit the post and clipped the bar, but they also survived a huge shout for handball. I was at the other end (what’s new?) so can’t shed any light, but there were significant remonstrations from Didcot staff towards the officials, who delayed their walk off the field at half-time. In the second half, Tavistock hit the post again, but there had also been a couple of goal-line clearances needed in order to hold the lead. There was another excellent penalty claim for the visitors, this time at my end, and they had every right to feel aggrieved over that one. Didcot never gave up, but didn’t really have a cutting edge in attack. I felt that the closing moments lacked some of the frantic excitement and panic that you often see in knockout football when there is only one goal in it. I hope one day I’ll see a goalkeeper score a last-minute equaliser. I’d also written down, “This will be 1-1 or 2-0” earlier. What do I know? Another 5hrs later my 500-mile round trip was complete, and I live to tell the tale. Don't get me started about the current standard of driving on England's motorways, and the terrible standards of their service stations.
Match Pix
Ground Pix
There must be a story behind the four figurines that sit on the rail in front of the main stand, and I’m sorry that I can’t share it. I’ll edit this if someone lets me know. Other than that, nice location, sunny day, good facilities, decent car park. Nice ground making the transition to this level. Those 'hoppers who insist on a traditional printed programme are missing out.
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 259 matches is here, on this separate page. Today sees a classic Grey beating a rare White. White drops one place in the table. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 45% (51 from 114) 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! My priorities this season are Plymouth Parkway (another long trip to the wild west!) and eighteen Step 4 grounds all over the country. The first is to re-complete my “everything down to Step 3” list, as they were promoted last season from Step 4 before I could visit.

 

A Cup Draw from Long Eaton

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 17 September at Grange Park
Result	Long Eaton United 1 Gainsborough Trinity 1
Competition	FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground #757 on the lifetime list. I am here a week later than originally scheduled, but all games were postponed as is well understood. The original reason for my choice of venue was a randomish event, as Twitter followers will have seen. The new Prime Minister used the word “deliver” or one of its derivatives exactly three times from her first speech in Downing Street. Only two and I would have been at Sheppey United, another one and it would have been Lancing. It seems a long time ago now, and rather insignificant. For the record, she stated that the previous bloke had delivered something, she was going to focus to delivering things, and in the final sentence she was determined to deliver. Buy shares in moped manufacturers immediately. Anyway …
Context
Gainsborough sit mid-table in the Step 3 Northern Premier and beat Loughborough United in the last round to get here. Long Eaton United came up to Step 4 from the United Counties Premier North as last season’s champions, and are mid-table at Step 4 in the Northern Premier Division One East (or something like that).  They’ve beaten Sherwood Colliery (after a replay), Quorn (convincingly) and Hednesford Town (away) and also beat Gresley Rovers in the rearranged FA Trophy game in midweek – the match I would have attended but for postponement.
In One Sentence
A hard-fought and reasonably entertaining game with defences generally on top, with the visitors scoring a late equaliser.
So What?
Both teams are in the proverbial hat for the next round draw, and there will be a replay in midweek.
Pre-match Entertainment
Pause for a short walk and a bonus ice-cream cone at Trent Lock, near the confluence of Trent and Soar, where some of my ancestors may well have paddled around and plied their trades.
Match Report
A minute’s silence in reflection of the life of HM the Queen was observed before kickoff. It was clear that Long Eaton were not going to be overawed by the status of their visitors, just as in the previous round at Hednesford. Defences were well on top, albeit with some brave blocks and headers from both teams. It was interesting to watch Clayton Donaldson at work for Trinity. He has dropped another tier since I last saw him at York City, and fair play to him for still going strong. As with Grant Holt whom I saw at Wroxham last season, he made up for reduced pace and energy with positioning and vision. Having said that he would have been disappointed to see a long-distance first-half effort drift wide with the home keeper out of position. The best chance of the half fell to Long Eaton after 38 minutes. A surge break down the left ended up with a chance and a good block by the keeper. The home side, though, took the lead from the resulting corner, Alex Marshall hooking the ball in from close range, to give Long Eaton the half-time advantage. Gainsborough’s management made a double substitution at half time, and their third also came before Long Eaton made any change. The game followed the same general pattern. Long Eaton missed a chance for a second when Marshall’s attempted lob when through was easily caught. Gainsborough began to commit more men forward and I made a note that this was going to be 2-0 or 1-1. It was to be the latter. Donaldson’s persistence at the byline led to a loose ball in the six-yard box and it is his happy face in the background as substitute Tom Cursons hammers the ball into the net at the far post.   With about ten minutes left including stoppage time, it looked as if the visitors had been spurred into action. However, the match finished in a tense and tetchy atmosphere after the circumstances over a home free-kick were loudly disputed from the bench. The kick rebounded off a player who looked to be too close, but equally it looked as if the ball had been deliberately struck at him. The ref allowed play to continue, and Gainsborough rather wasted the gift chance of a break. That’s now history and the teams will meet again on Tuesday.
Other Match Pix - Long Eaton in blue & black stripes
Ground Pix
This is a neat-and-tidy ground with a very good playing surface.
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 258 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 44% (50 from 113) 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! I have twenty priority grounds, that is to say Plymouth Parkway who are now in Step 3, and nineteen other Step 4 grounds to go. No definite plans for next week at this point.