Trains and Boats and Planes

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 3 September 2022 at the Sunseeker International County Ground
Result	Hamworthy United 0 Gosport Borough 0
Competition	FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 756 on the lifetime list, chosen pragmatically this time as one of only two grounds on my priority list hosting a cup game today, and choosing this one allowed me to tick off one of the longer journeys while the weather is good.
Context
Hamworthy arrive on my Step 4 priority list this season having arrived in Southern Division 1 South (or whatever it’s called these days) as Wessex League Champions. Gosport play at Step 3 in the Southern Premier South. They sit in the upper half of their table after six games and enter the competition at this stage. Hamworthy have already despatched Bradford Town (4-0 away) and Badshot Lea (3-2 home) in earlier rounds and are going well with an undefeated start in the league after four games.
In One Sentence
Sometimes dour, sometimes tetchy, always competitive.
So What?
Replay on Wednesday, draw for the next round on Monday.
Pre-match Entertainment
A stroll along London’s South Bank between trains, followed by a stroll through Hamworthy Park to Poole Quays with views over Poole Harbour.
Match Report
Gosport got into their rhythms quicker and fashioned the first couple of half-chances, but nothing really close. Hamworthy gradually got themselves into the contest, but goal efforts for both sides tended to be high or wide. The game was largely fought between the defensive lines and it was honourably goalless at the break. The game turned potentially when Gosport’s keeper Patrick O’Flaherty was sent off for clattering an opponent just outside the box. I was at the other end so can’t comment in detail other than to say that the ref consulted his assistant first. Number 9 Dan Wooden became the new occupant of the shirt – literally – in the first example I’ve seen (see below) of the high-performing Green keeper top staying on the pitch when its occupant was dismissed… (by the way, new readers, don’t take me too seriously).   Gosport showed some character with spirited defending and blocking as Hamworthy tried to take advantage. A B-52 bomber and some of the Red Arrows display were also visible in the distance as a nil-nil stalemate looked more and more likely. Gosport had a half-chance in stoppage time but a low shot was saved comfortably enough, and the sides will meet again in midweek.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Post-Match Entertainment
Glimpses from the Bournemouth Air Show had been a feature of the afternoon, and the Red Arrows passed directly overhead moments after the final whistle. Then it was back to Hertfordshire via the South Bank again, where no-one, as yet, is worrying about turning off the lights.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 257 matches is here, on this separate page. Today was a contest between Radioactive Bile and Green. Clean sheet for each. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 45% (50 from 112) 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, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! At some point I have to get to Plymouth Parkway to re-complete “everywhere down to Step 3” and there are 20 more grounds for “everywhere down to Step 4”, but including some long journeys that might not be practical in the winter months, even without budget considerations.

Report from the Borough Surveyor

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 26 August 2013 at Privett Park (3pm)
Result	Gosport Borough 1 Dorchester Town 1
Competition	Conference South (Step 2)
Hopping	Number 522 on the lifetime list. I am here to re-complete “The 160” (all the current English grounds down to Conference North and South) – I need to do this because Gosport were promoted from Step 3 last season and I have not been here before.  It is the afternoon half of a Bank Holiday double.
Pre-match preparation
Newly-promoted Gosport got their first league point on Saturday with a draw at Bath, but visitors Dorchester have had an awful, pointless start to the season and arrive on the back of a 2-6 home defeat to Whitehawk.  I recognised the names of Paul Hinshelwood (Junior, I assume!) and Sammy Igoe on the bench for Gosport.  No sign of Steve Claridge this season!
This match in one sentence
Maybe a lapse in concentration cost them the Dorchester equaliser, but Gosport are proving they can at least compete credibly at this level.
So what?
Maybe relegation battles ahead for both teams (although it is very early in the season) – they are the only teams ahead of Farnborough, who may even be kicked out of the league altogether.
The drama unfolds
The first quarter of the game was pretty even.  Dorchester had a lot of the ball, but Gosport got into the opposing six-yard box more often.  The home side gradually grew in confidence, and Dan Wooden was involved in two good attacks.  First, he was released on the right, pulled Dorchester’s towering centre-back Steve Walker out to the flank, and then crossed for Mike Gosney.  Alan Walker-Harris did well to tip the header over the bar.  Then Wooden himself came close before another long through ball gave him a clear chance, and this time he finished calmly.  1-0 after 22 minutes My scene-setter clip is taken from the shade of the newer stand and comes from the half-hour mark.  Gosport are in yellow. Gosport’s Tom Dunford teed himself up a long-distance shot, again tipped over by Walker-Harris, and then Andy Forbes hit the bar with a header from the resulting corner.  This short clip has a disallowed goal at the other end, just before the break.  1-0 at half-time Dorchester nearly scored a classy equaliser as Ben Watson headed down to Charlie Clough, whose first-time lob cleared the bar.  As time went on, the game remained too close to call.  I felt that Borough would need the second to be safe, and that if Dorchester could get one then they could well go on to win.  As things turned out, the game turned with around 20 minutes left.  An innocuous challenge on the left wing left Gosport full back Luke King on the floor.  No blame could be attached to the attacker, but it was clear that King was badly injured.  To my surprise, the ref brandished the yellow card at him as soon as he was on the stretcher and the game restarted with a Dorchester free-kick.  The ball was headed down and Walker had an easy chance.  Distracted by their team-mate’s injury? Maybe, but harsh on Gosport at that point.  1-1 after 72 minutes To their credit, Gosport nearly scored soon after with a neat move involving James Beasley, Nick Crittenden and Jamie Gleeson.  Likewise, Dorchester had this set-piece chance with a minute to go. There was still time for a great block by Walker-Harris to deny Gosney again after a pass by Beasley.  Probably a fair result overall.  Final score 1-1
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Something Random
Current groundshares by Coventry City (at Northampton), Gloucester City (at Cheltenham) and Worcester City (at Kidderminster) mean that “The 160” actually only consists of 157 venues at this precise moment in time.  I am not sure that anyone knows what will happen with Coventry.  Gloucester are certainly trying hard to get a new home sorted out, and Worcester also have the plans if not the resources.  Under my own personal hopping rules I count these teams as “ticked” because I have seen a competitive game at the stadium.
Huddle Stats
Both huddled.  Stalemate. Synchronised Huddling 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 11 5 2 4 13 11 17 1.55 Huddlers 9 2 4 3 6 8 10 1.11
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
We had blue (Gosport) against grey (Dorchester) for the second time today! The Spinnaker Tower is visible on the horizon 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L CS(5pts) GA(-1 each) Pts Pts per Game Yellow 3 2 1 0 2 3 7 2.33 Grey 5 2 2 1 2 3 7 1.40 Green 5 2 0 3 1 7 -2 -0.40 Orange 1 0 0 0 0 1 -1 -1.00 Blue 2 0 1 1 0 2 -2 -1.00 Radioactive Bile 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 -2.00 Pink 3 0 2 1 0 6 -6 -2.00
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  No concrete plans as I have to turn my attention to professional stuff this week, but I have a choice of 82 FA Cup ties next Saturday and I am pretty certain I will be at one of them.