No-Messing Nomads Into the Next Round

No printed programme, but available for online viewing. Here's a screenshot of the front cover.

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 31 August 2024 at Cropston Road
Result	Anstey Nomads 3 Alvechurch 1
Competition	FA Cup First Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 791 on the lifetime list. Here because I wanted to tick off an unvisited Step 4 ground and this seemed a good choice for an FA Cup game as the visitors were from Step 3 in a different league. Nomads play in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division and Alvechurch are in the Southern Premier Central.
Context
Alvechurch enter the competition at this stage. Nomads had a thumping 5-0 win away at Grimsby Borough in the Preliminary Round.
Match Report
Anstey scored in the first minute through Leo Brown with their first attack, but for me this result was decided on the hour when Alvechurch striker Dan Sweeney had two good chances in quick succession with the score at 3-1. The first was a header straight at the keeper Conrad Logan, and the second was a shot that rolled just wide. If either or both of those had gone in, the last half-hour would have been more interesting, but as it was the Nomads were able to hold on fairly comfortably while still looking strong themselves on the break. This was an open and entertaining game for the passing neutral, with end-to-end passages of play and a good contest between attacking threat and defensive strength. The Anstey supporters had redefined optimism with their chant of, “We’re the famous Anstey Nomads and we’re going to Wemb-er-lee” just before the Alvechurch equaliser. This came when a defensive slip near halfway allowed Dylan Allen-Hadley to run unchallenged for a calm and composed finish with 25 minutes on the watch. The Anstey response was immediate, however, and they re-took the lead within a minute through Kyle Tomlin, and the score stayed that way until half-time. With hindsight, Alvechurch will rue missing two good first half opportunities. On one occasion they sliced open the home defence on their left flank but the cross from the byeline came in too close to Logan. The other was from a superb turn from Kieran Wakefield but his shot was then saved by Logan’s feet. The third Nomads goal was a peach, and came just five minutes into the second half. It was beautifully worked on the break through the centre and James Tague cut inside to curl a great shot in off the bar. They might have got a fourth but a deflected shot pinged back off the crossbar. By the way, well done to whoever chooses the eclectic pre-match music playlist. You are clearly dedicated to expanding the musical horizons of anybody under 30 years of age. Good work. Also thanks to the Anstey and Alvechurch social media streams for help in identifying scorers.
Pix
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, Green beats Orange, as predicted, but no clean sheets. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 49% (83 from 170)
What Next?
Hopefully something next weekend from my priority list, but the length of journey will depend on how I’m feeling at the end of my first week in a new teaching job!

Steelmen at the Next Stratos-Ferric Level

It’s an online programme.  Here’s the link and a picture of the front cover on my PC screen.  Have mixed feelings about this.  Completely understand why this is happening, but printing it out for the collection will be a pain.

http://www.alvechurchfc.club/news/match-day-programme-corby-town-2349497.html

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 22 September 2018 at Lye Meadow
Result	Alvechurch 1 Corby Town 4
Competition	FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round.  Two Southern League teams – Step 3 (Premier Central) at home to Step 4 (Division One Central.)
Hopstats	656 on the lifetime list.  Here because this is the penultimate ground that I need to visit for Step 3.  A kind FA Cup draw had given me the chance to see Alvechurch at home today.
Context
Alvechurch beat neighbours Bromsgrove Sporting 4-3 and then won 1-0 at Stratford Town in the previous rounds, and are mid-table in the league.  Corby Town beat Dunstable Town 4-0 away after a 3-3 draw, and then Hertford Town 2-0.  They are also unbeaten in their league.
In one sentence
Two well-taken goals early in the second half killed off any Alvechurch hope of a comeback.
So what?
Corby Town take the £9000 prize money for the round and are of course in the draw for the next round.
Match Report
A Corby contingent were already in good voice in the bar as I arrived, and they remained so as home keeper Paul Evans gifted them the lead.  The scorer was Joel Carta.  At the other end, counterpart keeper Dan George also had a couple of dodgy moments with clearances and chargedowns, but he got away with them. This was an open game.  Corby played a high defensive line and occasionally found themselves chasing attackers who had timed their run perfectly.  They also looked a bit vague at corners, and it was no real surprise when Alvechurch equalised through Kieron Cook.  He had time to steady himself at the edge of the area before firing a low shot into the corner. However, the switch of momentum didn’t materialise and before half-time Carta scored again for Corby to restore the lead, with a low shot into the corner from the edge of the area. One imagined forthright words and finger-pointing in the home teamtalk at the interval, but if there were, they didn’t work this time.  Corby went 4-1 uip through two good goals, indirectly from set pieces.  A volley from Carta for his hat-trick goal, followed by a half-volley from Jamie Anton, removed any lingering hopes of a comeback. Carta completes the hat-trick Alvechurch never gave up.  Josh March had a chance, but it was saved by the feet of George.  A shot was deflected just over, while Corby also wasted their best one-to-one chance on a break.  Alvechurch were denied a late consolation goal by a clearance off the line, but they can’t really complain about this result.  The better team won on the day.
Pix
This is a ground with a distinct slope, and is deserving of a daylight visit because of its gorgeous rural setting.  Alvechurch in yellow-and-black.
Rant
I almost didn’t get there.  Setting off from Hertfordshire in late morning I first encountered issues on the M1 Northbound.  I made it with just fifteen minutes to spare, having had comedy moments at Northamptonshire roundabouts where Doris the Satnav was saying turn left and the Google Maps Lady was saying turn right.  The Google Maps Lady was also draining my mobile faster than the Corby fans drained the Alvechurch bar, so my phone was long dead before Doris failed to recall that the A5 is currently impassable at Towcester on the journey home.  At the third attempt I found a road headed in the right direction only to encounter two more holdups on the M1 Southbound.  Don’t get me started about the state of Newport Pagnell services.
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. This week, Pink loses to Green but no clean sheet for either.  No change in league positions, now based on my last 157 games. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 75% (9 from 12) 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. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper 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.  It may not be statistically significant as yet, but football coverage ignores this point as a matter of routine. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Blue 39.1 17.0 7.0 15.1 55.0 14.0 73.0 1.867 Grey 47.5 22.0 10.0 15.5 79.5 13.0 61.5 1.295 Green 83.0 42.0 10.0 31.0 139.0 21.0 102.0 1.229 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 Purple 17.0 7.0 3.0 7.0 38.0 4.0 6.0 0.353 Radioactive Bile 19.0 9.0 0.0 10.0 37.0 3.0 5.0 0.263 Orange 35.5 11.0 7.0 17.5 63.5 6.0 6.5 0.183 Yellow 31.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 65.0 5.0 -9.0 -0.290 Pink 17.0 5.0 5.0 7.0 35.0 1.0 -10.0 -0.588 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.600 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  All being well, I complete “The 248” (meaning everywhere in England from Premier League to Step 3) next Saturday at Bamber Bridge v Stafford Rangers.