Things Looking Up for Tigers

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 15 April 2014 at Avenue Park
Result	London Tigers 4 Tring Athletic 0
Competition	South Midlands League Premier Division (Step 5)
Hopping	First of 2014 after a work-enforced break, making #530 on the lifetime list and all current grounds now completed for this division.
Pre-match preparation
Both teams safe from relegation and with no chance of promotion.  Mid-table clash.  Interesting stuff in the programme (other than a full-page warning about the colour of sock tape) - the Tigers' former coach (Giorgi Minashvilli) is now coaching Dynamo Tbilisi in Georgia and there are several former players around the top leagues in Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Libya, Norway and Sweden (not forgetting the Conference South).
This match in one sentence
Tring never recovered from going two goals down in three minutes.
So what?
Tigers are 13th, three points and three places behind Tring.
The drama unfolds
Tigers pounced in the very first minute.  There were protests for offside as Pedro Cotelo and his day-glo yellow boots seemed to have forever to get the ball under control and shoot.  I wasn’t in line, but the lino seemed well-positioned and I see no reason to argue.  1-0 after 1 min Cotelo again had plenty of time to fire in a second at the near post within two minutes.  Shocking start for Tring.  2-0 after 3 mins I took my scene-setter clip with the score at 2-0. The visitors wasted a free header but gradually clawed themselves back into the game. Then a superb weighted pass inside the full-back allowed Cotelo to turn provider as he squared the ball across goal to be turned in by Jabir Laraba.  3-0 after 26 mins A Tring freekick was beaten away by Tigers’ keeper Jamie Adim, and it appeared that Tigers were not going to lose a lead in the style of West Bromwich Albion.  This incident saw the first booking for dissent.  Cotelo also picked one up later on to spoil an otherwise excellent evening.  3-0 at half-time Sadly, the only Mars on offer was the real red planet.  Any neutrals in the sparse crowd would want a strong start to the second half from Tring.  It wasn’t to be – a goalbound attempt was superbly cleared off the line after six minutes of effort, and soon afterwards Tigers added a fourth on the break through Omar El-Bakkali.  4-0 after 54 mins With the result no longer in doubt, I turned my attention skywards and the second clip features the International Space Station (the bright moving dot which passed over west to east on schedule at 9.03pm), the Moon (you’d recognise it anywhere), Mars (a bright dot up and a bit to the right of the Moon) and then, after a swivel, Jupiter (as another bright dot above the trees).  The match then rather petered out, and Tring would be glad to hear the final whistle on a forgettable evening for them.  Final score 4-0 Another win for Tigers in 2013 A better night for Tring back in 2010 Other Hops around the South Midlands Premier
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
Tigers huddled briefly but effectively, Tring didn’t. Huddlers go top. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Huddlers 13 5 4 4 13 9 19 1.46 Non-Huddlers 22 9 3 10 31 35 30 1.36 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Tigers had a grey-clad keeper who ended up with a clean sheet.  The blue-clad Tring keeper has let in four goals. 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 Red 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Grey 10 6 2 2 9 5 36 3.60 Green 7 3 0 4 8 2 11 1.57 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Pink 5 1 3 1 10 0 -4 -0.80 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Holmer Green Party Thwarted by Tiger Poop

Unenforced Signs of Great Britain Number 357

 

Things to do at half-time: undertake Owl Census.  (0)

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 9 April 2013 at Airedale Park
Result	Holmer Green 2 London Tigers 3
Competition	Spartan South Midlands Premier League (Step 5)
Hopping	Quick change of plan when it turned out that a cup semi-final (see my last post) was being held at a neutral venue that I have already visited.  This ground is #512 on the lifetime list.  One more ground (London Tigers!) for me to do in this division.
Pre-match preparation
Holmer Green are bottom of the league table and need a miracle to avoid relegation.  Their last game was a 4-6 defeat at Hadley (in front of a crowd of 11) after they had been 4-1 up!  Tigers sit a few places above and will probably be safe whatever happens.
This match in one sentence
Heartbreak after a spirited performance from Holmer Green had seen them draw level from two goals down, but a 96th minute winner took the points for Tigers.
So what?
Unofficially, I believe that this result mathematically confirms Holmer Green’s relegation.  They could still avoid last place by overtaking Hatfield, but they can’t overtake Hertford.  Tigers need one more point (or for Hatfield to drop points) to be mathematically safe.
The drama unfolds
Holmer Green attacked from the whistle and shot narrowly over within seconds to announce their intent.  They played positively and with heads up in an even contest.  They encouraged teammates, more so than Tigers who tended to berate each other as the game went on.  My scene-setter clip comes from around 15 minutes into the game.  Green are in green! The second clip has the game’s opening goal.  Holmer Green lost concentration after a lengthy stoppage for an injury, and Tigers took advantage with this strike.  The scorer is either Terence Cariba or Jabir Laraba … (see later.)  0-1 after 29 minutes The home side regrouped and to their credit this was not the signal for floodgates to open.  My final first-half clip shows their best chance of an equaliser before the break – Joe Gleeson’s shot is straight at the keeper.  0-1 at half-time Holmer Green kept pressing in the second half.  They had plenty of possession but not all of it in dangerous areas, and Tigers looked fairly comfortable at the back.  When the home side found a way through, they found a keeper, Adam Atour, in good form, as the next two clips show.  Flying saves for goalkeeper fans out there.  These are at 60 and 70 minutes respectively. They had an even better chance when an excellent diagonal through ball from Joe da Silva in midfield was then played through to Dean Allen, but Atour saved with his legs at close range.  The tally of missed chances was now starting to mount up. Therefore it came to pass that a dipping and swerving shot from distance seemed to deceive the home goalkeeper and the ball pinged off the left-hand post to nestle in the opposite corner and Tigers were two up with only 14 minutes left.  The scorer was Terence Cariba – he scored twice but I am not sure whether this was the first or second.  0-2 after 76 minutes The shout on the pitch was, “We can still do this!” and Holmer Green got back into the game immediately with an excellent low finish from Allen who has now scored for five games on the trot.  1-2 after 77 minutes They almost had a leveller soon afterwards as Tigers began to look jittery at the back.  This clip comes from the 84-minute mark and has some corner carnage. There was another lengthy stoppage for an injury and it was the 90th minute on my watch when this freekick led to the equalising goal.  The scorer is Michael Green, who is pleasingly wearing Green and playing for Green.  (By the way, the referee was Mr Corner, who should be a lino really so his nominative determinism can be fine-tuned.)  2-2 after 90 minutes Unbelievably, however, they gave away the points and their last hold on a place in the division by conceding a goal in the 6th minute of stoppage time.  Tigers had players lined up on the edge of the area and there was not much that Dan Little could do as the winner was smacked in.  The scorer was either Terence Cariba or Jabir Laraba (whichever one didn’t score the first!).  Credit to both teams – a great game for the passing neutral and I hope Holmer Green keep their heads up for next season in Step 6.  Final score 2-3 Apologies for the confusion over identifying the Tigers' goalscorers this time.
The programme
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Tallies up to 185 goals from 53 games which remains around 3.5 per game.
Mars Bar Watch 2013
A standard 58g bar cost a season-standard 60p in the clubhouse.  Standard.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for further hopping announcements.