Gloucester 'Ave A New Manager, Avenue Manage A Point

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 9 October 2021 at New Meadow Park
Result	Gloucester City 0 Bradford PA 0
Competition	National League North (Step 2)
Hopstats	Ground 731 on my lifetime list is not random at all. It’s the only current unvisited Step 2 ground on my list. Gloucester City went through many years of groundsharing after catastrophic flooding at their former home, and this is their first season with a home of their own since 2007. This hop restores "The 160" for me, except that it is currently "The 158" after the demise of Macclesfield Town and Bury, leaving two divisions of the pyramid one club short for this season.
Context
Neither side is setting the division alight, and Gloucester have had a recent change of manager after four consecutive league defeats, parting company with ex-WBA player Paul Groves. This is a game of 21st plays 18th but we can be encouraged by the fact that a recent meeting between the teams ended up in a 4-4 goalfest. (Post-match edit: I jinxed it…) Both sides are likely to start with at least one debutant.
In One Sentence
Bradford’s defence is not easily breached, and when it was, the woodwork was in the way.
So What?
It’s now 20th and 18th respectively for these two sides, but still only about one-fifth of the season completed.
Pre-match Entertainment
Firstly, a trip to the Jet Age Museum which is at the boundary edge of Gloucester Airport, a few miles outside the city. The volunteers who run the place deserve a mention. This is another little gem of a collection with both local and national interest, with the artefacts displayed and explained to a high standard. Well worth a visit and a voluntary donation. Flying visits – literally – are possible if you taxi your plane off the runway at the right point!   Secondly a walk around the redeveloped dock area and the city centre. It’s quite possible my great-great-great grandfather Jasper Saul, a horse-trader turned boatman, passed through here working the boats up towards the West Midlands, where he eventually settled on Canal Side Cottages near the phosphorus works in Oldbury.
Match Report
I suppose it is one of life’s inevitabilities that substitutes are more likely to kick a ball out of the ground than the chosen eleven. Just before kickoff, I really felt for the Bradford official (or volunteer) that had to slosh around in the mud puddles on wasteland behind the stand when his team’s hapless subs launched several footballs out of the ground in quick succession. The home side, under the new interim management of Lee Mansell, started well and their first ping of the crossbar came via Leon Chambers-Parillion after only six minutes. However, for the next half-hour the teams largely cancelled each other out. Midfield was congested. Gloucester were slightly more adept at working triangles and reaching the byline, but with no end product. Kevin Dawson completed one such run just before the half-hour but no-one was there for his pull back. At the other end, home keeper Jake Cole was untroubled by Dylan Mottley-Henry’s header as it drifted wide. Neither keeper had been really tested until Bradford’s Jonathan Saltmer had to be alert to push away an effort from close range after a long throw had caused problems. Gloucester were on top for these closing minutes of the first half and it took both a good saving tackle from Luca Havern and the width of a post to deny them. An excellent shot from distance hit the woodwork and Saltmer showed good reactions to catch and smother the rebound. The second half followed a similar pattern but Bradford continued to be well-organised defensively. Again the sides rather neutralised each other in the middle third. A superb flowing move from the right flank led to Gloucester hitting the bar again through Jordan Young. By now I was resigned to a nil-nil scoreline, though Bradford did cause a few scary moments in the closing minutes. At one point keeper Jake Cole was treated by the physios having ended up flat out in the goal net. There were several minutes of added time before the final whistle confirmed a share of the points.
Match Pix
Gloucester City in red.
Ground Pix
Tidy and well-appointed as you would expect, with an artificial surface. Good montage of flags and banners at the T-End. I parked at the Castle Mead Way car park which was £6 for the day. It was close to the docks and centre for my pre-match perambulations and about 10-15 minutes from the stadium.
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 232 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, two colours from the top end of the table share the points and both get a clean sheet. No change in the positions. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (42 from 87) 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! As it happens I have only one new ground to restore complete coverage of Step 3, and that is Wimborne Town. My next realistic chance to go there is not until 6th November due to other commitments, so in the meantime I might be able to pick off another Step 4 ground or two by randomish means. On my list, Guernsey is the ground that will need most forward planning (and expense).

 

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.