Love 2, Actually

Specimen Programme from a recent game

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 23 April 2018 at The Spencer Recreation Ground
Result	Sandridge Rovers 2 Ware Sports 1
Competition	Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division (Step 7)
Hopstats	Ground 643 on the lifetime list, and I am here for a Monday evening kickoff in the sunshine because I’m up-to-date with my marking and for a long-overdue visit to a ground close to home.
Context
Both teams doing well in the division, and Sandridge will be seeking revenge for a big defeat in the reverse fixture.
In one sentence
Credit to both teams as you wouldn’t have known this was an end-of-season fixture played mainly for pride, and it was a game settled by an unusual free-kick.
So what?
The teams are 5th and 2nd in the league, with Bovingdon romping away to the title.  A few teams have an insane number of fixtures to complete.  Unofficially I predict both teams could get overtaken by one of them to end the season 6th and 3rd, but no lower.
Match Report
The match started in breezy conditions and both teams took a few minutes to get used to the flight and bounce of the ball.  Sandridge took the lead with a cross from the left wing.  Sean Mboto had already made his presence felt with speed and directness, and his cross was poked in from close range by Stuart Love. Rayston Whyte was the standout player for Ware early on and his efforts in midfield created their first good chance, blocked by Warren Bell in the home goal.  It remained a good contest throughout the half, with plenty of effort and commitment. 1-0 Ware Sports improved after the break.  They were a few cm taller and newtons heavier (proper units for weight in this blog, oh yes) on average.  A Ware header just wide was followed by a rattling of the crossbar at the other end.  Bell then made a superb one-handed stop from a close range shot as the visitors gained control.  The equaliser was around the hour mark and a looping placed header from #5 who had stayed upfield after the corner.  1-1 at that stage was a fair reflection of the play, and I don’t think too many people would have complained if it had stayed that way. The winner had an element of surprise in that it came from a freekick given by the assistant referee when the away keeper had carried the ball out of his own area during a clearance.  You don’t see them given very often – I was at the other end so can’t comment further.  In the gathering gloom, Love kept the shot low (maybe as the wall jumped, I can’t be sure) and it found the bottom corner for his second goal.  Meanwhile, a jazz band was moving into the village hall for practice as the game came to an end.  The hectic and relentless pace of Hertfordshire life continues.  A good win for Sandridge and a sense of what might have been for Ware Sports. As a postscript, I’ve mentioned before in this blog that Sandridge have a couple of Yapps on the playing staff, and I was able to meet their father in the clubhouse afterwards.  A quick check of mutual family history knowledge and it is clear that there is a fair chance that we are related, maybe about eight generations back would be my guess subject to more research.  It’s a small world, but we are in the process of taking over the south-east en route to world domination. Thanks too to the very welcoming club officials who gave me some past programmes.  Much appreciated, gents.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Sandridge in the black-and-white.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Orange at home to an eyeball-searing abomination that has to go in the Fire Cracker group.  Good job it is horses and not bulls in the adjacent field is all I am saying. Results so far after 143 fixtures: 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. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper 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 that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Blue 37.1 16.0 7.0 14.1 52.0 14.0 73.0 1.968 Grey 45.5 21.0 10.0 14.5 73.5 12.0 59.5 1.308 Green 74.0 36.0 10.0 28.0 123.0 19.0 90.0 1.216 Purple 14.0 6.0 3.0 5.0 31.0 4.0 10.0 0.714 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 31.5 10.0 7.0 14.5 50.5 6.0 16.5 0.524 Radioactive Bile 15.0 7.0 0.0 8.0 30.0 2.0 1.0 0.067 Yellow 31.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 65.0 5.0 -9.0 -0.290 Pink 15.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 30.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.533 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.600 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Nothing specific planned as yet.

You Won't Believe This Scoreline

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 10 March 2018 at Queen Street
Result	Chipperfield Corinthians 0 Sandridge Rovers 0
Competition	Herts Senior County League Premier Division (Step 7)
Hopstats	Ground 637 on the lifetime list, and here because I was forced to stay local by uncertainty over postponements elsewhere.
Context
The home side are low in the division, though probably safe enough from relegation.  The visitors are fourth and will start as favourites.  This is a late travelling decision after plans A, B, C and D were all called off or not confirmed while I still had time to travel.
In one sentence
No goals were scored, meaning that it was a goalless draw, with neither side scoring the goal that might have won the match for them, given that their opponents didn’t score either.
So what?
No change in league positions.  Sandridge could lose a place as other teams catch up on games in hand.  Chipperfield could still be in relegation danger if Evergreen win all their games in hand.
Match Report
Sandridge occasionally looked the more likely to score during the first half.  The home keeper’s clearance kicks were variable and sometimes Chipperfield were exposed at the back, but he redeemed himself with some timely clearances and punches.  Neither team had a real cutting edge, so the battle was largely fought in midfield with many, maybe most, refereeing decisions openly questioned both on the pitch and from the dugouts.  Sandridge’s centre-back (and presumably captain) used foul and abusive language every other word, but only directed at his own players so no cards were shown.  I fear for the game at this level if VAR really does eliminate honest human errors from televised games.  The officials did get a few decisions wrong in relation to throw-ins and corners particularly, and of course players know this.  The over-riding culture of the game now is to keep up as much pressure on the officials as possible whilst staying just within the rules.  I’m writing this because my other first-half notes are very thin – it was of course goalless at the interval. I bought the unexpected but welcome progamme in the club-house.  In stowing it away safely I totally failed to notice the presence of Cieran and Conor Yapp on the Sandridge squad list.  No close relation but I will have to make further enquiries – there aren’t that many of us down in the south-east.  I wonder if we have a common ancestor somewhere in Herefordshire or Shropshire from when one of the early Georges was on the throne and John Motson was just starting out. I digress.  So, in the second half, the teams seemed to be on a more equal footing.  Certainly Chipperfield nearly got caught on the break several times because they were pressing forward in numbers.  Sandridge’s failure to convert any of those one-on-ones and two-on-twos cost them the win.  Chipperfield will also point to a disallowed goal just after the 70-minute mark.  There was a long conversation between the referee and one of his assistants before the decision was made.  Other than that there were few near misses or great saves.  Mostly we watched moves break down on the edge of the area or shots blocked or deflected before troubling the keepers. In the last end-to-end phase I noted a great last-ditch tackle by a Chipperfield centre-back which saved a certain shot on goal at least, and both sides had their half-chances in the closing moments.  By that stage I’d decided that a 0-0 draw was a fair result and the only decision I needed to make was whether to add an alien abduction or volcanic eruption to spice up the match report.  In the end I decided that I don’t want the blog to be labelled as Fake News, and I’ll only go as far as a teaser clickbait tweet ;)  Thank you for reading this far.
Ground Pix
This is a little gem.  Some great views beyond the perimeter, including horses in a nearby field, and several mature Scooby-Doo trees.  Tucked away at the end of a village lane – I recommend parking near the church and enjoying the stroll from there.
Match Pix
Chipperfield in red and black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
A draw but a clean sheet each for Grey and Orange, a result that showed up a minor error for Orange in recently published versions of the table, so now all corrected with some checking formulae added to the spreadsheet.  Nobody noticed.  Anyway, Grey goes above Green as a result. Results so far after 138 matches: 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. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper 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 that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Fire Cracker 2.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 2.000 Blue 33.1 15.0 6.0 12.1 49.0 12.0 62.0 1.873 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.500 Grey 44.5 20.0 10.0 14.5 72.5 12.0 57.5 1.292 Green 74.0 36.0 10.0 28.0 123.0 19.0 90.0 1.216 Orange 30.5 9.0 7.0 14.5 49.5 6.0 14.5 0.475 Radioactive Bile 13.0 6.0 0.0 7.0 26.0 2.0 2.0 0.154 Yellow 31.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 65.0 5.0 -9.0 -0.290 Purple 12.0 5.0 2.0 5.0 31.0 2.0 -4.0 -0.333 Pink 15.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 30.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.533 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.600 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!