No-Messing Nomads Into the Next Round

No printed programme, but available for online viewing. Here's a screenshot of the front cover.

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 31 August 2024 at Cropston Road
Result	Anstey Nomads 3 Alvechurch 1
Competition	FA Cup First Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 791 on the lifetime list. Here because I wanted to tick off an unvisited Step 4 ground and this seemed a good choice for an FA Cup game as the visitors were from Step 3 in a different league. Nomads play in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division and Alvechurch are in the Southern Premier Central.
Context
Alvechurch enter the competition at this stage. Nomads had a thumping 5-0 win away at Grimsby Borough in the Preliminary Round.
Match Report
Anstey scored in the first minute through Leo Brown with their first attack, but for me this result was decided on the hour when Alvechurch striker Dan Sweeney had two good chances in quick succession with the score at 3-1. The first was a header straight at the keeper Conrad Logan, and the second was a shot that rolled just wide. If either or both of those had gone in, the last half-hour would have been more interesting, but as it was the Nomads were able to hold on fairly comfortably while still looking strong themselves on the break. This was an open and entertaining game for the passing neutral, with end-to-end passages of play and a good contest between attacking threat and defensive strength. The Anstey supporters had redefined optimism with their chant of, “We’re the famous Anstey Nomads and we’re going to Wemb-er-lee” just before the Alvechurch equaliser. This came when a defensive slip near halfway allowed Dylan Allen-Hadley to run unchallenged for a calm and composed finish with 25 minutes on the watch. The Anstey response was immediate, however, and they re-took the lead within a minute through Kyle Tomlin, and the score stayed that way until half-time. With hindsight, Alvechurch will rue missing two good first half opportunities. On one occasion they sliced open the home defence on their left flank but the cross from the byeline came in too close to Logan. The other was from a superb turn from Kieran Wakefield but his shot was then saved by Logan’s feet. The third Nomads goal was a peach, and came just five minutes into the second half. It was beautifully worked on the break through the centre and James Tague cut inside to curl a great shot in off the bar. They might have got a fourth but a deflected shot pinged back off the crossbar. By the way, well done to whoever chooses the eclectic pre-match music playlist. You are clearly dedicated to expanding the musical horizons of anybody under 30 years of age. Good work. Also thanks to the Anstey and Alvechurch social media streams for help in identifying scorers.
Pix
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, Green beats Orange, as predicted, but no clean sheets. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 49% (83 from 170)
What Next?
Hopefully something next weekend from my priority list, but the length of journey will depend on how I’m feeling at the end of my first week in a new teaching job!

When Herts Refuse to Be Beaten

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 6 November 2021 at New Cuthbury
Result	Wimborne Town 3 Kings Langley 3
Competition	Southern League Premier Division South (Step 3)
Hopstats	Ground 734 on the lifetime list. Wimborne’s new ground is the only one currently left for me at this level, and this is the first fixture here since I completed the new Step 2 grounds at York, Gloucester and Bolton earlier this season. So this isn’t random, but it completes “The 243” which is all the grounds in the first seven tiers in England. There are 245 teams in those divisions but two (Cray Wanderers & Kingstonian) are currently groundsharing with grounds already counted in that total. Another three (Hendon, Truro City and Rushden & Diamonds) share with clubs who operate in a lower tier.
Context
The clubs occupy the bottom two places in the division with six points each, although Wimborne do have two games in hand.
In One Sentence
A very entertaining game for the passing neutral, and a red card didn’t stop the visitors from grabbing a point with a very late equaliser.
So What?
Both on seven points, closing the gap by one to Merthyr Town who lost today.
Match Report
I’d only just finished tweeting the #keepertopcolourstats prediction when Wimborne had the lead. The ball was turned in from close range by Lewis Beale. Kings Langley had the ball in the net themselves within a minute but there was an offside call. After this crazy start the game settled, and the visitors started probing, enjoying the major share of possession. However, they wasted a couple of set pieces from good positions and when Beale scored again after 18 minutes it looked as if Kings Langley were going to be all style and no substance. The incident was on the far side of the ground from me (a regular occurrence this season) but Wimborne’s Charlie Gunson was perhaps slightly fortunate that the ref waved yellow rather than red after a moment of retaliation. The home side then had a good chance for a third before the visitors got on the scoresheet to make a game of it. It was a good finish across the goalkeeper to the top corner (pictured) by Harrison Crawford, leaving debutant Ryan Hall with no chance to save. Half-time arrived with the result still in doubt, just the way that us neutrals like it. After the break, Kings Langley continued with their policy of playing out from the back, with the ball on the deck for the most part. With only 50 minutes on the clock, Crawford slotted home his second and the equaliser from a very neat move, triangles everywhere. However, in less than a minute, Wimborne had the lead again. There was a push in the penalty area and Beale completed a hat-trick by converting the spot-kick. Kings Langley were not yet beaten. Hall had to be alert to smother the ball at the feet of Crawford, who could then have had his own hat-trick. His header, from another neat passing move down the left, went just wide. As we entered the final quarter, Wimborne exerted some pressure of their own, presumably having decided that three might not be enough. Then came the red card for Crawford, adjudged to have made a dangerous challenge. Wimborne pushed again for their fourth but Kings Langley did just enough to hold on, and we had reached stoppage time before another lovely flowing move down the left ended up with two subs queuing up at the far post to score. It was Will Hoskins with the final touch, whose name will be familiar to quite a few EFL supporters from his earlier career exploits. Even that wasn’t the end of the action, and just before the final whistle it took a sharp save from keeper Alfie Marriott at the other end to protect the hard-won point. I think both sides will feel they could and should have won, it was that sort of occasion.
Match Pix
Wimborne in white and black.
Ground Pix
Very well-appointed new build as you would expect. Grass pitch with an adjacent artificial surface for training.
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 235 matches is here, on this separate page. This week, two shades of blue share a draw and there is no change in the positions, a result which also brings the prediction success rate back to 50%. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 50% (45 from 90) 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! There are now 15 Step 4 grounds on my priority list which would complete the ninth tier. We are moving into the season of potential weather disruption, though, so there may have to be late, pragmatic decisions if I am to get through them all this season. Random or randomish decisions will be back whenever possible.

Moneyfields Three-Two Tight to Mention

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 31 October 2020 at Moneyfields Sports Ground
Result	Moneyfields 3 Kidlington 2
Competition	FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 718 on the lifetime list, and I am here pragmatically because very few of my seasonal target grounds are in the lowest tier of Covid-19 designations.
Context
Both teams entered the competition in the last round, and both arrive at this fixture via 2-1 home wins. Moneyfields beat Basingstoke Town and Kidlington defeated Didcot Town. These sides are both in Step 4 Southern League divisions, but geographically separated with the hosts in Division One South and the visitors from Division One Central.
In One Sentence
Moneyfields came from behind to win with two very late goals after a red card for a key Kidlington defender.
So What?
Time for the usual sentence to go here, the one about Moneyfields in the hat for the next round and Kidlington concentrating on the league.
Pre-match Entertainment
After a horrendous drive down south in monsoon conditions, a pint down the road at The Jolly Taxpayer, putting the world to rights with a couple of strangers I met off the internet. You know who you are, and it was great to catch up with you!
Match Report
Thankfully the weather conditions improved as forecast and this turned out to be a compelling, competitive game with a dramatic twist at the end. It started out oddly enough with one of the assistant referees slipping on the muddy touchline and getting a match-ending injury. It didn’t look good. The call went over the PA for a replacement, and one was found fairly quickly. I think my FA Class 3 badge has lapsed now so I didn’t even think about it. I’m also sixty-two, with the mobility of a supertanker and a sensitivity to abuse concerning my sexuality and parentage, so not a good match for modern lino duty. Both teams had tried to stay warm during the ten-minute delay but Moneyfields were caught cold from the restart. Callum Harvey hooked in acrobatically at the far post to give Kidlington the lead. We saw a couple of great saves from the Kidlington keeper Christian Lawrence but on the second occasion Kieran Roberts was able to fire in an equaliser to send the sides in level at half-time. Good contest at this point, not much either way and defences on top though both sides looking to dictate. Half-time: Moneyfields 1 Kidlington 1 The end-to-end action continued as Lawrence saved well from a one-on-one (with a hint of offside) just before Kidlington took the lead through Jacob Davidge, with just over twenty minutes to go. Moneyfields had to respond quickly and so nearly equalised with a slick move down the right, but the attacking player sliding in at the far post could not make enough contact as the ball skidded across the box. Then came the turning point of the game. A red card was given to Kidlington’s Tom Franklin and it was a tad too long before he started the walk. The gentleman scribbling furiously on the clipboard nearby at this point may well have been a referee’s assessor. I can’t confirm whether it was straight red or second yellow, but it changed the game. The absence of Franklin’s aerial defensive qualities was arguably a factor in the denouement. Kidlington held firm until there were only two minutes left on the clock. Lawrence half-stopped a shot but Roberts was in the right spot to poke in the equaliser. With a penalty shootout now looking likely (as I had mischievously suggested at 3pm on Twitter from the keepertopcolourstats) there was to be one final plot twist. A stoppage time corner for Moneyfields was initially repelled but the second cross found its way to the far post where Steve Hutchings headed in. A really good game, and in good company, to end this phase of football-watching for the season. Great effort from both sides in tricky conditions and a club that is well worth a visit for any groundhoppers.
Pix
All taken from one vantage point this week. Moneyfields in yellow shirts, Kidlington in some kind of luminous green. The pitch invaders had no effect on the play. Keep your football-is-not-for-gulls jokes to yourself please ;) Black-headed gull in winter plumage in the holding midfield position (Reliable source: Martyn Y)
CV19 Comment
Lots of sensible procedures in place – track and trace details collected, one way systems in the bar, table service, helpful tweets before the game with download details for the relevant apps. Two conclusions to be made once again, as they have been at every match I’ve been to this year. The clubs have done everything asked of them but a significant number of people, especially the under-30s, are largely paying no attention. Secondly, for me personally this is a safer activity than going to work at school, but only because this district is in the lowest tier of CV prevalence. The same behaviour in a Tier 3 district would almost certainly have been a spreading event, and the reaction to scientists Whitty and Vallance on social media as I write (on Saturday evening) shows over and over again that the general public aren’t accepting what they are being shown through the numbers. Sadly, I won’t be around to see what historians make of all this. I doubt whether it will be complimentary.
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 219 matches is here, on this separate page. Custodian with floodlight, rooftops and diesel multiple-unit (2020) This week Black beats Orange, but no clean sheets and no change in the league table positions. Again slightly surprised to see a top that clashes with the referee's kit. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win (on Penalties) Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 49% (36 from 74) 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?
As you will understand, not much. The spreadsheet shows fourteen grounds on my “everywhere down to and including Step 4” priority list, but there is no sensible way to plan, and for some grounds such as Brentford I would be way down the ticket priority list when attendance is allowed again. Thank you for reading the blog this season. I will pick up the threads again as soon as Covid-19 arrangements allow. In the meantime, stamp collecting beckons.

Police Nick the Win at Blackfield and Langley

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 17 August 2019 at Gang Warily
Result	Blackfield & Langley 3 Metropolitan Police 4
Competition	Southern Premier League South
Hopstats	Ground 701 on the lifetime list. I had originally planned a simple coin-toss to decide between here and Radcliffe today, but the latter’s 10am pitch inspection was too late for me to travel realistically. The M25/M3/M27 combo did its best to thwart me with a longer-than-expected journey but I was safely installed, with programme, in the main stand at kick-off time.
Context
Blackfield & Langley had a second successive promotion at the end of last season, and have started well with two wins from two games. Met Police missed out on promotion to Step 2 at the super-playoff stage last season and have one point from their first two games.
In one sentence
The late winner will hurt the home team, who failed to manage the last phase of the game having built a 3-1 lead.
So what?
Still too early in the season to make any sensible comment. Therefore, unlike MotD and Sky and their ilk, I will not take up any more of your valuable time with speculative punditry.
Match Report
Let me start by saying that this is a very friendly, welcoming club. It has climbed the leagues in recent years and has the space to develop further if they can establish themselves at this level. It has good facilities and a very decent playing surface.  The stacks and vents in the background are from the Fawley Oil Refinery. The home side took the lead on 11 mins through Hisham Kasimu. He ran powerfully and directly from the right flank, eased past the keeper and found the net. The equaliser came from the penalty spot just before the half-hour mark. I was at the other end so can’t comment on the decision that there had been a push. Jack Mazzone was the taker. Blackfield & Langley restored their lead after 36 mins with a goal from Joshua Harfield.  The first-half had been played at a good tempo, with direct running and a few bruising tackles. It was only five minutes into the second half before we had a two-goal margin. A very neat placed header did the job, and unfortunately it has gone into the annals as an own goal by Jeremy Arthur. I suspect most people thought that the result was now more or less decided.  Met Police had other ideas. On the hour, a floated free-kick drew the home keeper out of position and the visitors pulled a goal back with a looping header by sub Hani Berchiche back into the far corner. With fifteen minutes to go, a loudly disputed freekick was hoisted into the area and this time Oliver Robinson was in the right place to head home and level the match. By this time there was a certain amount of dissent and frustration being shown and had there been sin bins at this level we would have needed revolving doors. I exchanged tweets with the home team to the effect that this was great stuff for the passing neutral and the visitors might yet get a fourth.  So it proved only seconds later as the game entered stoppage time.  It was an excellent low left-foot shot from just outside the box from another sub, Bilal Sayoud, and a worthy winning goal. Acknowledgement: League Website for checking the goalscorers
Other Pix
Blackfield & Langley are in green.  "Take our picture!", they said. Well, would be rude not to! Hello Malcolm in the background getting better photos as usual!
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Today, Orange loses to Yellow and there are no clean sheets.  No change in rank order but the prediction success rate continues to regress back towards 50%.  The table is based on the last 202 games watched. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 53% (30 from 57) 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 half-and-half tops or 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 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 11.5 6.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 4.5 32.0 2.783 Grey 53.5 25.0 12.0 16.5 84.5 16.0 82.5 1.542 Blue 49.1 22.0 8.0 19.1 78.0 14.0 66.0 1.344 Green 110.0 55.0 12.0 43.0 191.0 25.0 111.0 1.009 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Purple 22.0 8.0 5.0 9.0 45.0 6.0 14.0 0.636 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 60.5 21.0 13.0 26.5 106.5 11.0 24.5 0.405 Radioactive Bile 24.0 9.0 1.0 14.0 51.0 4.0 -3.0 -0.125 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 39.0 10.0 9.0 20.0 88.0 7.0 -14.0 -0.359 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! Atherton Collieries, Horsham and Radcliffe are my remaining Step 3 grounds and of course I am waiting for a chance to get in at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium. Then I will turn my attention to 19 remaining Step 4 venues.