No, I Won't Remember Raynes Park

PROGRAMME SOLD OUT SO A TURNSTILE ENTRANCE PIC INSTEAD:

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 9 April 2015 at Prince Georges Fields, Grand Drive
Result	Raynes Park Vale 0 Guildford City 1
Competition	Combined Counties League Premier Division (Step 5)
Hopping	Ground 562, chosen for geographical and logistic reasons, which brings me up to seven from seven days in this run!
Pre-match preparation
Guildford City are in greater need of the points.
This match in one sentence
Guildford grabbed a goal and managed to defend it.
So what?
Guildford remain 20th of 21 but have two games in hand on Knaphill, 2pts above.  Raynes Park Vale are 17th but also have games in hand on those around them and should be safe whatever happens.
The drama unfolds
The potholes on the approach road to the ground are a danger to shipping, never mind cars and it was impossible not to “ground” the Yappmobile on the way in and out.  I’d waited patiently in the car park for the turnstile to open, which it did just after 7.15pm, and was disappointed as third man in that the programmes had already sold out in the clubhouse, which had no obvious entry or welcome sign.  Together with the grim exterior of this venue, all this conspired to make me very grumpy and uninterested as the match kicked off – late. I took a scene-setter clip after about 15 minutes.  The home side are in blue. Just after this, Guildford forced a series of corners, leading to a jolly song from the jolly visitors, along the lines of, “Oh when the beans, come out the tin (repeat), then put some bread in the toaster, Oh when the beans come out the tin.”  I have no idea why, but I hope it catches on. It was 0-0 at half-time and I had noted nothing else of interest at that point. The second half followed a similar pattern, and I watched from the old wooden stand.  There was no lack of effort, and the fitness levels of the players allowed both sides to play at a high tempo.  However, the final ball lacked penetration or quality and there were few really clear opportunities.  The first one after the interval fell to Guildford but Anthony Baker’s first-touch was just too heavy.  Then there was a dipping shot for RPV which is at the end of the next clip. The winning goal came after perseverance in the box by Dan Stewart, who turned and squirmed and managed to tuck a low left-foot shot into the corner.  0-1 after 67 mins Guildford managed to defend that lead for the rest of the game.  Either side might have scored during the closing phase, but Guildford’s travelling support were very happy with this away win, which helps greatly in the relegation battle, even though there was much talk in the main stand of reprieves to come this season anyway.  Time will tell.  Final score 0-1 PS I hope someone will pick up the obscure musical reference in the blogpost title!
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Nothing to offer tonight!
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
A choice of seating or standing:
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Red loses to Green, and that’s another Clean Green Sheet. The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet.  GC=goals conceded  CS=clean sheet  PPG=pts per game P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Purple 5.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 9.0 2.0 11.0 2.20 Green 28.0 14.0 2.0 12.0 37.0 10.0 57.0 2.04 Grey 25.5 11.0 7.0 7.5 34.5 7.0 40.5 1.59 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.50 Red 5.0 2.0 0.0 3.0 6.0 1.0 5.0 1.00 Blue 11.0 4.0 3.0 4.0 17.0 3.0 13.0 1.18 Orange 7.5 2.0 2.0 3.5 10.5 2.0 7.5 1.00 Yellow 12.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 21.0 3.0 7.0 0.58 Radioactive Bile 6.0 2.0 0.0 4.0 12.0 0.0 -6.0 -1.00 Pink 7.0 1.0 3.0 3.0 16.0 0.0 -10.0 -1.43 Black 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 -2.0 -2.00
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Heading to Cambridge this weekend.

A Rugby Football Diversion for Non-League Day

Rainbow!

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 13 October – NON-LEAGUE DAY 2012 – at Butlin Road
Result	Rugby Town 6 Guildford City 1
Competition	Southern League Div One Central (Step 4)
Hopping	I am here because I had to abandon a journey to Buxton, which had been set up because England beat San Marino exactly 5-0 on Friday night.  The previous blogpost explains all.  However, best-laid plans and all that - an accident a mile ahead on the M1 Northbound kept me switched off and stationary just south of the Watford Gap for the best part of three hours.  By the time we got moving, Rugby Town was my only realistic chance of a "new" ground.  Buxton, I will be back as soon as possible, it's only fair.  This one is number 484 on the lifetime list.  It is an impressively tidy ground that would hold its own a few tiers up.
Pre-match preparation
None whatsoever (see above).  A quick skim of the programme showed that Rugby are mid-table but with two wins this week and some returning faces, and Guildford bring a 100% (7/7) league record to the party.
This match in one sentence
All over before I'd finished my coffee, with some good goals to make up for the lack of competitiveness.
So what?
Guildford don't have a 100% league record any more.  (Sometimes I amaze myself with my grasp of numbers.)  They drop a place to third while Rugby climb to sixth.
The drama unfolds
This hop started impressively - easy car parking, great clubhouse, excellent stand with view of train line.  Guildford threatened in the first few seconds but were caught offside, and that turned out to be one of their very few chances.  In the next minute, Sam Youngs seemed to have plenty of time to place a neat shot in the bottom right corner. Coffee cup still full and camera in pocket. 1-0 Then, with 7 mins on the clock and coffee-cup half-full (be fair, it was very hot to start with...) David Kolodynski twisted and turned in the area before smashing a shot high into the net.  2-0 The third goal after 17 mins was even better.  A weak clearance was played back into midfield and Youngs hit it first time and curled it over the Guildford keeper's outstretched hand.  3-0 Here's a scene-setter clip taken from the back row of the main stand as a hailstorm arrived on 30 minutes to add to the entertainment.  Rugby are in light blue and the noise is the hail hitting the roof! The next clip, from 34 minutes, was originally started to capture the rainbow moment, but as we all know at the end of every rainbow there is a comedy defensive mix-up leading to a tap-in.  Youngs was the scorer to complete a first-half hat-trick.  4-0 With ten minutes to go before half-time, Austin Gachery showed great strength perseverance in the area and got Guildford on the scoresheet.  4-1 at half-time I moved behind the goal for the second half, which started in the second hailstorm of the day.  Here's a general clip. On the hour, Kolodynski got his second of the day.  He may have been a bit fortunate with how the ball broke for him out of a tackle but it was a superb finish which would grace any DVD of Dinks.  5-1 He nearly had another ten minutes later but this time he overdinked.  He likes dinks, does Kolodynski.  Guildford's number 8 was close to a spectacular goal with a dipping and swerving shot just wide after 83 minutes, but his team-mate number 4 soon saw a second yellow and a red for his trip on Kolodynski which then led to this ... The scorer was Kolodynski to complete his hat-trick, untroubled by defenders.  6-1 He had yet another chance before the end, from a lovely curved cross from the left, but this time the ball spun wide off his foot.  Final score 6-1 Sorry that I can't identify some of the Guildford players - to quote their website this morning.  "You don't want to know.  We don't want to talk about it.  Everyone's happy."
The programme
Something random
I am quite fond of freaking people out at non-league tea huts when they are trying to add prices together in their head by saying, "Is this a good time to mention that I was a maths teacher?"  Experience shows that it never is.  Today however I accepted my (incorrect) change in stunned silence after a calculator was used to work out £2.50 plus £1.00 and the change from a tenner.  The club deserve the extra 50p, as they had embraced Non-League Day and were very friendly and welcoming. Also random this week - Guildford's travelling toys, one inflatable orca and one stuffed leopard.
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Although I haven’t produced a separate blogpost, Hitchin Town’s midweek 1-2 home FA Cup loss to Hastings United has added three goals and a three-goal game to the tally, plus today's seven.  So far there have been 86 goals in 21 games.  Any more pledges? It's never too late.
What Next?
Buxton, Castlecroft Rangers and Hemel Hempstead are high on the priority list (the last two because of Hopping for Moorfields pledges) but no definite plans as yet.  I have 4 FA Cup ties at unvisited grounds to choose from next weekend (Fylde, Hastings, South Park, Yate) and I feel something randomly tetrahedral may happen.