Trophy is Shaded by the Shaymen

 

It’s a (very good) double reverse-orientation programme

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 21 May 2023 at Wembley
Result	Gateshead 0 FC Halifax Town 1
Competition	FA Trophy Final
Hopstats	Second part of my 27th visit to the refurbished Wembley stadium, and the 30th game (there having been two previous double-headers).
Context
Both these Step 1 clubs were in mid-table at the end of the Conference season. Both needed more than one penalty shoot-out on the cup run, including both the semi-finals where Gateshead beat Barnet and Halifax defeated Altrincham. Halifax had the edge in the two league meetings with a 2-0 home win and a 0-0 draw away.
In One Sentence
Tight and tense at times, Halifax won the game with a goal that was slightly fortuitous but created for them by a short backpass.
Pre-Match
The interval between the two games is the main reason why I have skipped this event many times. No exit or re-admission is allowed, and on my first such occasion I was disgusted by the prices and the range of refreshments on offer. On other occasions the time passed more agreeably because I was part of a group, although one year anything that I would choose for food or drink ran out. I had low expectations that anything would be different, and I was largely right. The inter-game entertainment consisted of loud dance music and another pitchside interview with Stuart Pearce, who performed his regular (but very genuine) ritual blessing on the non-league world. This year, I have Duolingo to hand, and my mastery of the subjunctive tense in Spanish increased significantly before kickoff as I surged up my Diamond League. If you know, you know. You wouldn’t see a happier Owl outside of Sheffield this week. The stadium was segregated into four main zones. I’d been with the animated Newport Pagnell faithful for the first match. (I always Go West if I have the chance, so as not to be sunblasted.) Now, there were more stewards than spectators. There were literally six of us in an entire seating block for the Trophy game. I estimated a total of around 300 remaining on the Vase side of the ground. Halifax outnumbered Gateshead in about the same proportion as NPT had outnumbered Ascot. I’d say 17000 out of the day’s 27000 were still here. In summary, this event doesn’t quite work as a double-header, but I dare say I will tolerate it if it gives players from these sides a chance to play here. My recommendations would be – get rid of extra-time for the Vase final, go straight to penalties if need be. Speed up the presentation and get rid of the pointless pyrotechnics. Reduce the length of the gap between the two games. I’m predicting here and now that none of this will happen, no matter how many times fans give the feedback. Scroll back one post in the blog for the report on the FA Vase final.
The Match Report
I’ll be brief because this match has been well-covered elsewhere now. It was a frantic start, with Halifax on top territorially, but the defences of both sides were well-organised and efficient and I didn’t record any gilt-edged chances for either side. James Montgomery in the Gateshead goal had to be alert and dived bravely at the feet of Rob Harker, but then calamity struck just before half-time, leading to what turned out to be the game’s only goal. A backpass was hit too weakly – Montgomery got to the ball first but his clearance was charged down by Jamie Cooke. The ball looped up gently and bounced into the net. Gateshead responded as you would expect and a header by Owen Bailey flashed just wide. Then Montgomery prevented a second goal for Halifax with a close-range reflex save from Jack Hunter. Although the game was never “over” as a contest at any point, the Halifax defending was effective and resolute. Gateshead created a couple of shooting chances but on both occasions the final shots were weak. As the desperation increased, Halifax keeper Sam Johnson was needed to make a good save from Adam Campbell in the 86th minute, and there would be one more near-miss before the final whistle. I couldn’t face another long wait for a stage-managed presentation so I headed out to walk the four miles back to the Yappmobile at Harrow-on-the-Hill, burning off the over-priced carbs from earlier in the day.
Match Pix
Halifax in Blue.
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 test of statistical significance, it looks like an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test will be appropriate. The full keeper top performance table from my last 279 matches is here, on this separate page, and I’ll organise the test when we reach 300 pieces of evidence. The Halifax keeper top is an unusual one, dominated by Orange & Black from front and back respectively. It’s not the first such event, and the points are divided evenly between the two colours. Either colour would have been predicted to beat the Gateshead Yellow in any event. The two sides of Sam Johnson Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: FC Halifax Town Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 47% (63 from 134)
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! EFL Playoff weekend coming up next and I will try to get to all three games. Two out of three tickets secured so far. I may have to befriend someone from Yorkshire later in the week.