A Field Guide to Wasps, Kites and Bees of the Hellenic League

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 20 April 2019 at (a) Longburrow Park (b) Chinnor Community Stadium and (c) Long Crendon Community Centre
Result	(a) Stokenchurch 0 Chalfont Wasps 3 (b) Chinnor 1 Holyport 4 (c) Long Crendon 0 Yateley United 0
Competition	Hellenic League (a) & (c): Division Two East (Step 7) (b): Division One East (Step 6)
Hopstats	Grounds 693-695 on the lifetime list.
Context
I am joining the Hellenic Easter Hop on Easter Saturday at the fifth game in.  Stokenchurch v Wasps is a mid-table v lower-placed contest, and Chinnor v Holyport is the reverse.  Chinnor have struggled this season and Holyport lie fourth.  Long Crendon are still in with a shout for the title with a game in hand in second place, and Yateley will supply decent opposition in fifth.  Long Crendon have been groundsharing elsewhere but this match is on their true home patch.
In one sentence each
A superb early save by the Wasps keeper laid a foundation for a deserved win. Holyport coasted to a big away win following two early goals, with red kites proving a distraction for several hoppers. Long Crendon and Yateley fought out an entertaining draw with defences on top, and neither side deserved to lose.
So what?
In Division One East, Holyport remain fourth and Chinnor remain 13th (bottom).  In Division Two East, Long Crendon go top on goal difference. Yateley are 5th, Stokenchurch 6th and Wasps 14th.
Match Report
At Stokenchurch, I watched the game from the shade of a large tree, with red kites circling overhead.  Maybe the turning point of the game was as early as the tenth minute with this reflex save from visiting keeper Will Stratford, pushing a powerful shot on to the bar. The game developed as a pretty even contest, on a decent surface.  All the day's games were played on fairly hard bouncy pitches.  On the half-hour mark, Mikey Benning released Nigel Mpofu down the right and the break led to a corner.  Tom Letterman scored with a header to open the scoring for Chalfont Wasps.   Mpofu was also involved with the break just before the interval - his cross was not dealt with and eventually Letterman found himself with time and space to bury a second. Stokenchurch's half-time recovery and team talk took place under a neighbouring tree.  Whatever was said was rendered pointless within two minutes of the restart as striker Tauran Williams just beat the home keeper Steve Kirkland to a through ball and lobbed it gently and teasingly into the net for Wasps' third.  Kirkland went on to make a superb save in the dying moments to prevent a fourth, but the away win had long since been secured. At Chinnor, the red kites were more fearless and landed occasionally on the adjacent area.  I was safely tucked away in the shade of a stand.  Several hoppers, myself included, spent time trying to get kite photos once it soon became clear that this match was going to be a routine Away Win for Holyport.  Dan Rapley got the first of a hat-trick from a rebound as early as the fourth minute, and Fabian Driffill got a second after some penalty-area pinball just after the quarter-hour.  Rapley's second was a neat volley just before the half-time whistle. All credit to Chinnor for making more of a contest of the second half.  They pulled a goal back through Ben Knowler only to see Rapley complete his personal treble from a narrow angle two minutes later. Long Crendon have been groundsharing but this game was staged in their home village, at the most visually interesting location of the day.  Wildlife interest was provided this time by the mainly ankle-high presence of an estimated 120,000 ground bees, swarming around aimiably, randomly and seemingly pointlessly over the turf.  Much like Saloman Rondon in his time as lone striker under Tony Pulis at WBA, but I digress.  The club had organised a superb cake stall alongside above-average beer-and-burger standards.  I again sought the shade of a tree. Yateley made it clear that they were going to provide a good test for the title-chaser hosts.  They had the two best early chances with a lob just over and a flick just wide. Long Crendon fought back with a near miss after the keeper had been rounded, and a header just wide (though there was cover on the post).  Defences remained on top throughout the second half which, although entertaining, is mainly of note because of my first encounter of a sin-bin.  In the closing quarter, both sides had spells with ten men as some punishments for dissent were handed out.  The two step 7 Hellenic Divisions (Two East and Two West) are part of the FA trial for a sin-bin process that is expected to be extended next season).  The home side had the last chance of the game, but it was yet another case of "just wide".  Although goalless this was arguably the sporting game of the day because the outcome was in doubt right to the final whistle. A very good day, with credit as usual to the host clubs, the league and the organisers.
Pix
From Stokenchurch: Home side in Green and Black. From Chinnor: Home side in Blue. From Long Crendon: Home side in Green.
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. Today: At Stokenchurch, Green beats Orange and keeps a clean sheet. At Chinnor, Green beats Orange again but no clean sheet this time. At Long Crendon, clean sheets for both Radioactive Bile and Grey. Pre-match Predictions based on Keeper Top Colour: Predictions: Away Win, Away Win, Away Win Was the prediction correct? Yes, Yes, No % of correct predictions so far 57% (29 from 51) 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 half-and-half tops or 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 that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. Full table will be reprinted in the next post.  Today's results see no change in the league table positions.  Table based on 196 matches at this point.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  A second post to come to cover the Easter Sunday games, and if all goes to plan, a football and cricket sporting double header next weekend.

... Deeply Henley

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 27 August 2012 (7.45pm) at The Triangle
Result	Henley Town 1 Chalfont Wasps 5
Competition	Hellenic League Division One East (step 6)
Hopping	I am here because Henley rhymes with Selsey (and Horley) and Crawley.  Several Twitter friends shared my liking for the original plan of Horley, Crawley and Henley, which sounds like a firm of solicitors.  It makes a change from the dice, and I am not working with birds again anytime soon.  This match is the third of the day and takes the lifetime list up to 474.
Pre-match preparation
Wasps are mid-table but Henley have had a disastrous start to the season, bottom of the league with four losses and a 0-19 tally in the goals columns.  The club was on the point of closing – they are in the step 6 eastern division after demotion from the premier league because of ground grading issues, presumably stemming from funding difficulties.
This match in one sentence
Valiant but at times naive, Henley’s commendable playing style got them into trouble as they tired against a more streetwise Wasps side, and though the better team won, late goals somewhat distorted the scoreline.
So what?
At least Henley have got rid of that zero in the goals (for) column.  Wasps climb to fifth.
The drama unfolds
Henley's young side could have been a goal down in the first minute but Michael Wilson shot narrowly wide.  The same player then had a sharp shot tipped onto the bar and over.  Chalfont were taking hold of the game, but there was still no score after 20 minutes.  Here's the scene-setter clip. Henley are in the white shirts. The opening goal came around the midway point of the first half, and Tom Seddon is the name on the scoresheet.  We waited to see if Henley heads would drop.  1-0 In fact, they drew level after 34 minutes with a "route one" goal.  Jason Belgrave took advantage of the merest hesitation from the goalkeeper and poked home the side's first league goal of the season.  1-1 However, they couldn't hang on till half-time.  They survived one scare from a corner, needing a goal-line clearance, but their defensive line was soon breached and Marc Holt had a very easy finish as shown in this clip.  1-2 Henley remained positive and had two more shooting chances before the break.  1-2 at half-time They started the second half trying to play the game constructively, passing the ball from the back.  The defenders were prepared to dribble and pass their way out of their area.  Most managers at this level would have apoplexy, but this appeared to be encouraged from the bench.  It was good to watch, but inexperience and fatigue led to many scary moments. Henley lasted until 69 minutes, then a direct long and straight ball from the back caused major problems.  The defence were outpaced, the goalkeeper came out but was bypassed, and Daire Stack walked the ball into the net.  1-3 The pace of Seddon was also instrumental in the next goal, six minutes later.  He manufactured a perfect pass to substitute Fred Tripp in the centre, who slid in with perfect timing.  1-4 Tripp drew a good save soon after, but the Henley fight was evaporating and Seddon got another with 10 minutes left.  The final whistle was something of a relief.  Henley captain Chris Appleby, an experienced head at centre-back, deserves a mention for his on-pitch work in supporting and encouraging his younger team-mates with the optimal balance of praise and criticism.  Final score 1-5
The programme
Something random
Groundhoppers everywhere, go and support this team of underdogs this season, especially if you have a sunny afternoon to spare.  The club is up against it and every bit of revenue will help.  This ground has the potential to be utterly charming once more, and there is a trainline right next to it for multi-obsessives.  The town is wealthy enough to support a decent football club.  If you live there and are minted (there's a fair chance), they are looking for sponsors. Always stay hydrated during serial groundhopping
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Another six goals to add to the tally which stands at 37 after 9 hops, very close to the predicted average of four per game.  The new school year starts soon, and grounds will be added at the rate of one or two a week until (weather permitting) further spurts in the October half-term and the Christmas break.  A penny-a-goal pledge should still cost you less than £3 at the end of the season.
What Next?
A night of blogpost writing to keep you entertained in a timely manner.  Thinking about Rotherham United next Saturday to restore my current 92.  Also thinking about something local tonight, but not committed yet.  Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!