That River Crouch Blogpost

 

No programme pic to start with this time - that will often be the case from now on, I suspect. 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 1 September 2020 at Lower Road
Result	Hullbridge Sports 0 Hadley 2
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Hopstats	Ground #707 on the lifetime list
Context
Step 4 Isthmian League Division One North hosts Step 5 Essex Senior League in the first competitive game of the new season for either side. Too many other variables to make any sensible comment. Generally, I will be avoiding the indoor spaces and taking myself to the quieter areas of the grounds this season, so don’t expect any embedding-in-the-Ultras posts from me anytime soon! I’m also more likely to stay in one position, so there will be less variation in the photos. It will all depend on how other people are behaving.
In One Sentence
Hadley deserved the win but it was somewhat gift-wrapped by defensive stumbles and a missed Hullbridge penalty.
So What?
Hadley get a boost to the coffers from the competition prize fund and a day at The Seasiders on Saturday 12 September, with a trip to FC Clacton in the Preliminary Round. Hullbridge, as they say, will concentrate on the league.
Pre-match Entertainment
A stroll along the southern bank of the River Crouch to Brandy Hole, site of 19th century smuggling. This area of salt marsh is not the prettiest site in the world but it is ecologically very important for many species of birds and fish. The beetle is probably Gastrophysa viridula, the green dock beetle, liked by farmers but not gardners for their eating habits, apparently. (Note for new readers: science and mathematics are never far away from this blog.)   All together now ... If you were the only gull in the world, and I was the only buoy ...
Match Report
There was plenty of bluster and effort in the first twenty minutes, but not so much to report in the way of clear chances or goalmouth incident. A bit of niggle crept in, and this blurry challenge earned a harsh yellow card for the Hadley defender.  We came closer to a goal just before half-time. Solomon Ofori drilled a low shot just wide to the left for Hadley, and for Hullbridge Dan Walker took a fraction too long to get a shot away and the ball was nicked off his toes at the last moment. Hullbridge finished the half with a succession of corners and would have been frustrated not to be one up at half time. Half-time: Hullbridge 0 Hadley 0 The opening goal (53’) was gifted through a defensive misunderstanding. Ofori pounced and gave Hadley the lead, triggering a pile-on celebration by the corner flag in which social distancing would be conveniently measured in nanometres. The second came just two minutes later from Sam Edwards’ direct free-kick. This had arisen from a foul resulting from some more defensive hesitation. I think it is fair to say that Hullbridge were stunned but by no means yet defeated at this point. They created the chance to get back in the game when a trip led to a penalty kick around half-way through the second half. Kieran Bishop’s low shot was well saved by Luke Ward. Hadley opted to defend their position and coped well enough as the clock ticked down. Chances were few in number, but a third goal could have gone either way as Hullbridge were forced to get numbers forward and leave spaces at the back. Credit to the visitors – they competed well against their higher-ranked opponents and in the end were good value for the win.
Pix
Hullbridge in the blue-and-white stripes.
Opinion
This was my first game of the season and I want to congratulate the Hullbridge club on its management of the event. It felt organised and safe, right from the publication and prompt communications around pre-match ticket purchasing, stewarding on arrival and through to the very helpful bar staff who went the extra mile to reunite me with my mobile phone, dropped somewhere on my way out. Thanks too to whoever handed it in. Although it is clear that groups of family and friends are generally making their own decisions about social distancing, especially in the younger age ranges, people were considerate to others. All the sensible arrangements for queueing, temperature checks and test-and-trace details were in place. I will not be able to say the same in my next blogpost, so all credit to the hosts.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. I am working towards being able to complete a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The latest full up-to-date keeper top performance table is here, on this separate page. It is updated at the very least every time there is a change in league table position of the colours. Today, Lewis Greene in Purple (whatever happened to nominative determinism?) faces Luke Ward in Green. Green (not Greene) takes the win and a clean sheet. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 52% (33 from 63) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! A trip to Park View v Hashtag United follows the next night, and I have 53 possibilities for a competitive Step 5 league game on Saturday.

 

Yapp's Ruff Guide to Barking

This beautifully and professional A4 size programme will mess up a lot of non-league filing systems!

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 18 August 2015 at Mayesbrook Park
Result	Barking 3 Felixstowe & Walton 1 (aet, 1-1 at 90min)
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Hopping	Ground 575, and I am here because it is my nearest unvisited ground hosting an FA Cup replay.
Pre-match preparation
These two clubs are at Step 5.  Barking are in the Essex Senior League and Felixstowe & Walton are in the Eastern Counties Premier.  Saturday’s game was a 1-1 draw, with Barking having originally taken the lead.  I also did some skim-reading of a manual and will have a play around with some non-auto settings on the new(ish) camera!
This match in one sentence
A controversial 90th minute red card and goal did not in the end prove costly for Barking who coped well with having ten men in extra time.
So what?
A home tie with Haringey Borough awaits Barking in the next round.
The drama unfolds
The visitors had the better of the early exchanges without creating a gilt-edged chance.  Duane Wright came closest with two chances in quick succession.  Wale Odedoyun had been unluckily penalised for handball by a referee who gradually became the centre of attention as the evening went on.  The freekick eventually led to a scuffed shot and then there was a header just wide.  The sunset on the western horizon formed a great backdrop as Barking got back in the game and started to make better use of their size and pace up front.  Here is a scene-and-sun-setter clip with Barking in blue. Barking finished the first half on top except for one missed chance by Felixstowe’s Daniel Shy just before the whistle.  To be fair be probably expected an attacker in front of him to head the ball first.  0-0 at halftime I said a quick hello to @essexfootie filming in the stand and went to join a handful of F&W supporters behind the goal.  We saw Miles Powell shoot just over after Wright won a rare header to flick the ball on.  On the whole, however, the pace and power of Toby Adesina & Lindisipho Mtyanda looked more likely to score for Barking.  The opening goal was a straightforward header by Adesina from a right-wing corner.  1-0 after 66 mins It looked for a long time to be sufficient.  As the minutes ticked by, the referee showed a yellow card to Billy Rix for timewasting, and then bemused him by showing a red.  He correctly protested that he had not already been booked – the ref checked with his lino – oh, how we laughed.  Or not.  In stoppage time, however, the red card was produced again, also after checking with the assistant – a “straight” one for a lunging tackle by Mtyanda.  From the resulting freekick, the ball was cleared off the line but after pinging around a few times it was diverted into the roof of the net for the most dramatic of equalisers.  No idea of the scorer at the time of writing.  Extra time, then.  1-1 after 90 mins The visitors had the better of the next fifteen minutes.  Sub Armani Shaar shot over but there were no goals to report.  1-1 at half-time in extra time Barking keeper Jason Willis made a good double save to keep the scores level.  Felixstowe played a high defensive line to pin Barking back, but the ten men took the lead from a set piece.  Adesina lost his marker just long enough to plant this header past Danny Crump into the net.  If you saw my incorrect tweet at this point, many apologies.  Simple incompetence on my part.  2-1 after 117 mins Crump came up to join the attack for several corners as Felixstowe were forced forward but he was left in no-man’s land from a break and another Barking sub, Eden Nelson, scored an easy goal to win the tie.  Final score 3-1 This was a great game for the passing neutral.  Really the only thing F&W did wrong was not to have won the first game with home advantage. Commiserations to F&W.  As they say in the vernacular, "Go again!"
Ground Pix
Mayesbrook Park is a collection of huts and containers at the moment and will not win any beauty contests anytime soon.  However, we did have a very nice sunset…
Match Pix
Connor Field's (12) last-ditch header goes just wide ... Danny Crump (in yellow) is stranded upfield in Felixstowe's last attack
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
No clean sheets, but a win for GREY over YELLOW.  Full table to come at the end of the month.
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Next "priority" ground for me is FC United of Manchester to restore "Everything Down to Step 2" but prep for the new term is also needed so I am likely to be making last minute decisions, and maybe some random ones among them.

The Only Way (to Spend Saturday Afternoon) is in Essex

It was Saturday, honest

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 26 April 2014 at Gardiners Close
Result	Basildon United 1 Great Wakering Rovers 4
Competition	Essex Senior League (Step 5)
Hopping	Ground #535 on the lifetime list, shortest journey for me today to a game with significance.
Pre-match preparation
If Great Wakering win, the title (and promotion to step 4) will be secured.  Anything less and Haringey Borough could overtake them with a win, as (mathematically) could Enfield.  The latter would also need a massive goal swing and favourable results at BOTH other matches.  Basildon United are in mid-table but seem to have had some internal upheaval recently – they failed to fulfil a recent fixture and there has been a change of chairman and manager.  Post-match addition: I have also seen a tweet, from before kick-off, saying a sarcastic “thank you” to “players that let us down today”.  Bet that would have gone down well in Haringey and Enfield …
This match in one sentence
GWR overcame early nerves and gave a dominant performance, so that the destination of this divisional title was never in doubt.
So what?
GWR will have step 4 football next season, almost certainly in the Isthmian League.  Basildon will finish in the top half of the table.
The drama unfolds
The early pressure came from the visitors, and I took two clips to set the scene in the first fifteen minutes.  Basildon are in yellow-and-black, and doing lots of defending. The opening goal came from Billy Johnson.  He broke free of the defenders and reached a diagonal ball just before George Walsh in the home goal.  This would calm the nerves.  0-1 after 22 mins Opening goalscorer Billy Johnson Great Wakering started to pass the ball better in the final third and a neat move down the left created the space and angle for Jay Nash to fire past Walsh into the far corner.  0-2 after 34 mins Celebration time, come on!  Jay Nash gets the 'grats. Before half-time, a route one free-kick was headed against the Basildon bar but shortly afterwards this was forgotten as Walsh failed to cut out a left-wing cross and Lewis Sparrow headed in from close range.  This looked like game over and title decided.  0-3 after 42 mins Basildon offered very little except a couple of long range shots.  Adam Seal in the visiting goal had nothing much to do.  0-3 at halftime The game quickly settled into the same pattern in the second half.  Walsh made a very good one handed save, but was then lucky shortly afterwards as a clearance was charged down only for the ball to bounce just wide.  Great Wakering then clipped the bar – it was one-way traffic and the wind seemed to be increasingly helpful too.  The fourth goal came when Walsh pushed away a long-range shot by Johnson but only to Nash, who had an easy tap-in.  0-4 after 71 min Greg Akpele got a consolation goal for Basildon on the break after Great Wakering had lost the ball on the edge of the area and argued among themselves about it.  He deserved that for the enthusiasm and dedication of his performance.  1-4 after 79 mins Akpele then brought the best out of Seal, forcing him to make a magnificent one-handed save almost immediately afterwards.  The unlikely comeback was snuffed out and Great Wakering were home and dry with no further alarms.  A trophy duly appeared, and Basildon formed a classy guard of honour as the victors left the field.  Final score 1-4
Ground Pix
That is "The Onion" in the background, a water tower. Plenty of travelling support today. The GWR mascot had a relaxed afternoon ... not too many of these at Step 5!
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
Both teams huddled today, though Great Wakering’s was borderline with almost no touchy-feeliness about it.  Basildon went for the full man-cuddle experience.  It appears from the season stats that it makes no difference whatsoever. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 15 6 4 5 18 14 22 1.47 Huddlers 29 13 3 13 45 48 42 1.45 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00 2nd Half Huddlers 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Basildon have classic green while Great Wakering bring a vibrant red. 2013-14 Summary so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (5 each) Pts Pts per Game Purple 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Grey 12 7 2 3 13 5 35 2.92 Red 3 2 0 1 3 1 8 2.67 Green 10 5 0 5 15 2 10 1.00 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!