Sittingbourne Pretty as the Crows Plummet Out of the Trophy

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 20 September 2025 at the Charles Century Community Stadium, Fermor Road
Result	Crowborough Athletic 1 Sittingbourne 6
Competition	FA Trophy 2nd Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground #808 on the lifetime list. One of my thirty-odd Step 4 target grounds for this season. Headed south today because of the Met Office yellow warning for the north-west.
Context
Mixed season so far for the hosts, newly promoted from Step 5. Mid-table (Isthmian Division One South-East) and out of the FA Cup, but they set this tie up with an away win at Hassocks in the previous round. Sittingbourne are in the same division and reached last season’s playoff final. They have had a decent start in the league but are also out of the FA Cup. They beat Faversham Town 2-1 in the previous round of the Trophy and will probably start the day as favourites here.
Match Report
Sittingbourne could have been four or five up in the first half-hour. As it was their wastefulness meant that they had just the two. A neat finish into the bottom left corner by Jack Steventon to round off the first attack of the game, and a slightly bizarre stooped headed goal for experienced debutant Derek Asamoah after the ball had ricocheted around the six-yard box. The movement of the Sittingbourne strike force caused issues for the home defence, especially that of Asamoah. The visiting fans were in good voice and absolutely loved the determination of their new signing in winning the ball back in midfield. Sittingbourne were soon to go three up as Jean-Baptiste Fischer glanced in a header from a freekick. Crowborough finally caused a bit of action in the Sittingbourne box just before half-time, but nothing came of it. It would be important for Crowborough to get the next goal, and they did. The second half started as a mirror image of the first with a good low shot into the same corner of the same goal. Rushaar Samuel-Smikle the scorer. So, some hope of a challenge. That hope was snuffed out on 70 minutes with Sittingbourne’s fourth, Richard Hamill’s curling shot just evading the keeper’s outstretched hand. The fifth was an 80th minute screamer from Eman Robe, and the sixth from Ellis Brown in stoppage time wasn’t too shabby either. And so, back to the M25 and the Dartford Crossing (yes, the A282 before some pedant points it out). Nice ground, nice people, shame about the game – as a passing neutral I enjoy it more when the result is in doubt for longer. All credit to Sittingbourne, though – that was clinical. Someone press CTRL-ALT-DEL for Crowborough. They will have better days than this.
So What?
Usual cliché here about Crows concentrating on the league and Sittingbourne in the hat for the next round etc etc.
Pix
Crowborough in blue-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today a catastrophic defeat for Purple, a win for Orange. Enough to make Purple drop two places. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (98 from 195)
What Next?
Simple answer - no idea. Last-minute decisions based on the weather and work commitments will be the usual method this season. I have Everton and Worcester City to visit to restore "everywhere down to Step 3 in England" and just over 30 Step 4 grounds to go.

 

Shaftesbury Have a New Drawing-Frome Drama

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 13th September 2025 at Coppice Street
Result	Shaftesbury 1 Frome Town 1
Competition	FA Cup 2nd Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground 807 on the lifetime list.
Context
A clash between two Step 4 teams from the Southern League Division One South. This is Shaftesbury’s 10th game of the season, six of which have been in the knockout competitions. They have scored a fair few goals in the early games. A 5-0 replay win over Baffins Milton Rovers in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup followed a 1-1 draw. They then disposed of Thatcham Town (4-0 at home) and Exmouth (2-0 away) in the next two rounds to set up this tie, pausing only to win at Bristol Manor Farm in the FA Trophy. With three wins out of four league games, it’s fair to say they are enjoying a good start to the season among the leading scorers. Frome have three wins from three games in the league. In the FA Cup, they get here with a home win over Newquay in the Preliminary Round followed by a 4-0 win at Plymouth Parkway. The only blip in their season is a Trophy loss at Winchester last weekend, otherwise it’s an impressive defensive record.
Match Report
As a passing neutral, the best games are those in which the result is in doubt right to the end, and this ticked all those boxes. Tense at times, punctuated by sunshine and sharp showers, it was compelling. It could have been 1-1 after one minute. Shaftesbury hit the post with their first attack, and then the Frome keeper was in action at the other end to deal with a looping deflection. After that manic start, the game settled into mutual cancellation in midfield until Frome flashed a ball straight through the home six-yard box in the 29th minute. As we approached half-time, Shaftesbury forced some corners but they were well-defended. Then, one of those things that the young people of today call worldies. A home attack on the left flank broke down, the ball was recycled into midfield, and Alefe Santos, in plenty of space and time, fired a long-distance shot into the far right to break the match deadlock. At first, the second half followed the same pattern. The teams traded chances. Shaftesbury’s Brandon Mundy volleyed just wide and then a Frome cross was just a fraction too high for a heading opportunity. I noted that, “S will need a second (goal) here” as Frome gradually came to dominate the possession and territory. I was soon to add, “How have F not scored?”. Frome’s David Duru had an interesting few minutes. It was his persistence that created that chance, needing an amazing goalline block and clearance from a home defender to deny Charlie Holliday. This was followed by an attempted overhead kick – spectacular but wide – before he was floored with a head injury. He left the field after lengthy patching-up work and the added time was to become a big part of today’s story. Frome should have levelled sooner but substitute Sam Meakes hit the post when through one-on-one. We had goalmouth pinball, we had another pullback from Meakes go astray just behind the attacker when it should have been easier to score. It looked as if Frome were out of luck. Maybe Shaftesbury could have been better at so-called “game management”. However. At 5.03pm Meakes planted an unstoppable header from a right-wing cross to earn a deserved replay. As we left, someone loudly berated the referee about the added time to which he quipped back about giving value for money. I suspect he’s used that line before. There had been 14 or 15 minutes of added time, on top of the 4 or 5 from the first half. I won’t be able to get to the replay, but I’ll certainly look for the result. #sorrynotsorry about the blogpost title, but I have to have a pun (or two) in here somewhere, it’s the rule. It only works if you pronounce Frome like the locals!
So What?
Replay at Frome Town on Wednesday 17 September at 7.45pm.
Pre-match Entertainment
Nothing whatsoever, no time. Diversion from Hertfordshire via M4 due to closure of the M3, so yet another morning spent bumper-to-bumper on the dreaded M25 western section before joining the queue to crawl past Stonehenge on the A303. Witnessed some terrible and discourteous driving too. The other undoubted attractions of Shaftesbury will have to wait, sorry.
Pix
Shaftesbury in red-and-white.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today Yellow v Green, same as last night (West Ham Women 1-5 Arsenal Women). My last 339 games have contributed to the table. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (93 from 194)
What Next?
Not sure. Schoolwork demands really kicking in now so a lot will depend on the weather and whether my GCSE physics students have dogs with an appetite for homework.

 

Corby Press On in the Trophy

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 6th September 2025 at the Trade Tyres Community Stadium, Brownsfield Road.
Result	Lichfield City 1 Corby Town 2
Competition	FA Trophy First Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground #806 and I am here for pragmatic travelling reasons today. I was heading further north until the M1 decided against it.
Context
These two teams are both going well in the Midland Division of the Northern Premier League – 6th vs 2nd. Even though the difference is four places, at this stage of the season that is just one point. However, it’s hard to know how high each club views the FA Trophy as a priority. There is a novelty value for Lichfield – this is their first Trophy game.
Match Report
You can always get a sense on arrival at a ground as to whether a club is “on the up” or in decline. Lichfield City are clearly in the first category. They are in their first season at Step 4 having achieved promotion from the Midland Football League last season. It’s a neat and tidy ground, next to a train line, with very good spectator facilities and an artificial surface, but get there very early if you want an onsite parking space! The game overall was rather a disappointment, punctuated by frequent infringements. Corby took a lead in their first real attack when a looping deflection gave the home keeper no chance, just as I’d published the #keepertopcolourstats prediction of a home win. The teams then largely cancelled each other out and I got distracted by the retro design of the scruffy football itself. Some good defensive shadowing delayed a Lichfield shot before the rebound was netted but correctly disallowed for offside. That was the nearest to an equaliser in that first half. They came close again on 55 minutes with a shot that just passed the post but arguably Corby had even better chances from corners, one of which needed a last-ditch clearance near the goalline. Lichfield were struggling to create really clear openings and it was Corby who should have doubled their lead after 76 minutes, but the attacker stumbled for some reason. However, with ten minutes to go they did score again, and it was a good job too because Lichfield got a late consolation goal from the penalty spot with very little time left. I guess Corby will be happy with a cup win on the road, and Lichfield will be disappointed not to have done themselves justice in the attacking third.
So What?
Cliché alert : Corby go into the hat for the next round and Lichfield can concentrate on the league.
Pix
Lichfield in blue.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today Pink takes on Yellow, and the away win is enough to shift Yellow off the bottom of the colour table simply because of the number of games seen. The table also includes the result from an unblogged game last night as I was at Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea 2 Manchester City 1 in the Womens’ Super League. Grey beat Pink. 337 games altogether now in the sample. The photo shows the moment that Yellow's clean sheet was denied by Lichfield's consolation penalty. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win (Corrected from original posting) Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (92 from 192)
What Next?
No idea. Possibly a Step 4 game on Saturday 13th September if I can sneak one in around other family commitments that weekend (which also mean I can’t make the organised West Wales Hop).