Going to Sussex, Back in Two Ticks

 Match 1 : No printed programme, this is a screenshot from the e-programme pdf.

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 17 August 2024 at Birchwood Ground, Shooting Field
Result	Steyning Town Community 3 Crawley Town Gatwick 1
Competition	FA Cup Preliminary Round
Hopstats	Ground 786 on the lifetime list, and here pragmatically in order to make a double with tomorrow’s fixture.
Other Things in Life Besides Football
For this match, nothing whatsoever except sitting on the M25 western section and the Leatherhead by pass in a long-line of slow-moving traffic.
Context
In the previous round, Steyning beat Hilltop 4-0 at home while Crawley Down Gatwick won 1-0 at Holmesdale.
Brief Match Report
The visitors embraced the play-out-from-the-back style that is possible on an artificial surface and took an early lead, which they held until the interval. Steyning had hit the post with a deflected shot, and the ref had been clattered in a player sandwich. Credit to him for getting up sharply as if nothing had happened. Presumably he didn’t touch the ball, as play continued. Steyning turned the game around with two goals in ten minutes after half-time. In both cases the attackers had a lot of time, but the hinge point of the game was after 65 minutes. Crawley Down claimed loudly for a penalty after an alleged foul challenge by the Steyning keeper. The ref said no and I’m not really in a position to comment definitively either way. Within a minute at the other end the third goal was hooked in by Mark Goldson (who’d also scored the second) and that was that. Steyning will have their third home tie on the trot when they host Merstham in the next round.
Pix : Steyning in Red

 

Match 2 : No printed programme, this is a screenshot from the e-programme pdf.

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 18 August 2024 at The Sportsfield
Result	Littlehampton Town 2 Faversham Town 3
Competition	FA Cup Preliminary Round
Hopstats	Ground 787 on the lifetime list. Littlehampton have a three-sided ground adjacent to the town’s cricket (and croquet) facility so this tie was switched to Sunday, making this Sussex weekend double a possibility.
Other Things in Life Besides Football
A morning walk around Littlehampton town centre, which seems to be suffering in the way that many English seaside towns are at the present, but is architecturally more interesting than most. The changes since my youth are sad to see, but I don’t honestly have a solution. I didn’t spend much mainly because I had no vaping, hair or nailcare needs at that time, and I think I counted four funeral directors within half a mile or so. Later, a walk along the promenade, alongside the pebble beach and being careful not to get in the way of the tractor-train that trundles along at  the speed of an arthritic sloth.
Context
Littlehampton beat Tooting & Mitcham 1-0 at home in the previous round, and Faversham won by the same scoreline at Bexhill United.
Brief Match Report
There’s an argument for two hinge points in this game, but Littlehampton coped so well after a first-half red card for Matthew Astle (for a high tackle) that I am choosing the second Faversham equaliser as my key moment. This was a curling left-footed freekick by Sam Hasler in the 86th minute, captured below. The teams had been level at 1-1 at the interval. Littlehampton’s lead came from a header as Alex Laing’s intelligent second-phase run to the far post was not picked up. The equaliser came not long after the red card, another good header, this time by Fran Collin. Faversham missed two other decent chances from close range, but Littlehampton responded well. They took the lead in the second half with Laing’s second goal after a good move down the right. I suppose the ten men of Littlehampton just ran out of the proverbial steam as Faversham committed more men forward. That hinge-point equaliser paved the way for Collin’s even later winner, his second close-range header of the day   in stoppage time. Knockout football, great for the passing neutrals but either joy or pain for everybody else. Thanks for reading this far, your interest is appreciated. Faversham will travel to Broadbridge Heath in the next round.
Other Pix : Littlehampton in Gold

 

Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update

The background to all this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. By coincidence, both matches featured Purple v Green. Pre-match Predictions based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Wins x2 Was the prediction correct? No and Yes respectively % of correct predictions so far 49% (81 from 166)

What Next?

Hopping priorities for this year are new grounds for Truro City (Step 2) and Cray Wanderers (Step 3) alongside Plymouth Parkway. Those would restore my “everywhere down to Step 3” list. Then there are over thirty more current Step 4 grounds still to be visited. The list keeps changing with promotions and relegations, of course, and many would be long journeys needing me to be sure of the weather forecast before setting out. I doubt whether I can realistically complete this in one season.

... Madly Crawley (Down) ...

The signage has not yet caught up with this season's name change for the club.

A goalkeeper, and a 'plane landing at Gatwick.  The comma is important, even though there could be a goalkeeper on the 'plane for all we know.  But then I'd need the plural, so best not to ask.

 

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 27 August 2012 (3pm) at The Haven Centre
Result	Crawley Down Gatwick 3 Dulwich Hamlet 1
Competition	Isthmian League Division 1 South (step 4)
Hopping	I am here because Crawley rhymes with Horley, where I was unable to go at 11am because of the latter’s FA Cup stalemate with Leatherhead.  At this stage it is a rhyming couplet, I suppose.
Pre-match preparation
Crawley Down and Dulwich are nominally top and second in the league with two wins from two.  Crawley are out of the FA Cup but Dulwich through to the next round, but those Saturday outcomes are clear enough to mean this fixture goes ahead and I am not searching for more teams ending in –ley.  Joy.
This match in one sentence
Better finishing and scoring at the right time were key factors in bringing about a home win in a match between two good, strong and skilful sides.
So what?
Crawley Down stay top on goal difference from Folkestone Invicta who jump over Dulwich who drop to third in the fledgling league table.
The drama unfolds
Crawley Down's defender Jack Page lasted all of two minutes before turning an ankle.  The first action of his replacement Tom Graves was to clatter Ellis Green but the freekick came to nothing.  Here's a scene-setter clip.  Crawley Down are in red. The first goal of the game was this header by Gabi Odunaike.  It was rather against the territorial run of play but Hamlet had been in the habit of leaving space at the back.  1-0 The first chance to equalise came soon enough, but this direct freekick from Dean Carpenter was over the bar. Jamie Cade should have put the home side two up from Luke Blewden's pass from the left into the six-yard box, and ten minutes before the interval Odunaike presented him with an easier one from the same direction.  No mistake this time, and the lead was protected until the interval.  2-0 at half-time Dulwich started the second half with plenty of attacking intent.  Craig Richards chopped down Nyron Clunis after 52 minutes - Anthony di Bernardo initially saved Carl Wilson-Dennis' penalty but the striker just got to the rebound first.  2-1 The initial penalty was saved but rebounded just enough to allow the follow-up score Dulwich centre-back Josh Turner then missed a free header - it was to be the first of several spurned chances.  However, Crawley Down restored their two-goal cushion soon enough - the defence was breached and Ross Morley, right in the centre, had an age to decide where to place the ball.  Phil Wilson got a hand to it, but to no avail.  This was the killer moment as it turned out.  3-1 When Wilson-Dennis controlled a high cross superbly but then poked the ball over the bar with 20 minutes still to go, you suspected that this was Crawley Down's day.  Peter Adeniyi scooped a shot over too and in the end the visiting challenge rather faded away.  Final score 3-1
The programme
Something random
Brilliant to bump into the Sarf London bloggers @ThePigeonStands who have, like me, been involved in this season’s work of fiction that is The Fake FA Cup.  See our mutual friends at therealfacup.co.uk for details.  Having spotted that they were there through live tweeting, I was initially worried that my "man with specs and blue rucksack" self-description in response might not be distinctive enough with so many bank holiday hoppers on the loose.
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Another four goals to add to the tally.
What Next?
M23/M25/M4 towards Henley Town who have helpfully created an evening kickoff to allow a Bank Holiday rhyming triple.