Sunday's Always a Godiva a Hop to Coventry

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Sunday 10 September 2017 at Butts Park Arena
Result	Coventry United 3 Tipton Town 1
Competition	FA Vase 1st Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground 616 on the lifetime list, and an impulsive non-random decision to get out more.  New ground for this team, shared with rugby sides from two codes.
Context
Both teams have started pretty well in their respective leagues.  Coventry United now have Step 5 status in the Midlands Football League, with Tipton two levels below in the West Midlands Regional Division One.  I’ve seen Tipton punching above their weight in knockout football before, on a 2010 run in the FA Cup.  The rise of Coventry United has been well documented – indeed they are the subject of a feature in today’s Non-League Paper. This is their first season sharing with two rugby teams at Butts Park, and they will inevitably start as favourites.
In one sentence
Tipton gave a spirited showing but couldn’t hold on to their gifted half-time lead, and in the end this was a comfortable enough win for the home side.
If only …
… a 70th minute scramble had produced a Tipton goal with the home keeper James Behan well off his line – a first shot was somehow blocked and he recovered to stop the second.
So what?
Another West Midlands Regional side, Stone Old Alleynians, will come here for the second round qualifying.  United will start as favourites for that one too and might even see themselves going a long way in this competition this season.
Match Report
Coventry United started to boss the game from the whistle, restricting Tipton to the occasional break.  Number 9 Aaron Opoku featured frequently using his physical strength in some effective link-up play with back to goal.  It was his shot that was well saved after five minutes by Josh Morgan, who had a busy afternoon ahead.  This pattern continued for some time.  Maybe Coventry were a bit too deliberate and slow in their build-up, and there were some heroic blocks from Tipton defenders.  The visitors took the lead after 41 minutes through a gift.  Debutant keeper James Behan’s touch let him down and he presented the ball and an open goal to a gleeful attacker. Conditions worsened during the halftime break.  The rain grew heavier and the wind strengthened in Coventry’s favour.  Sadly for Tipton, the hosts levelled in six minutes.  A curled cross-shot by Chris Cox from the right found its way past everyone into the far corner.  There was an element of good fortune about the goal but it changed the tone.  Craig Read missed a good chance but it proved unimportant once Coventry took the lead on the hour.  Opoku will get the assist as he teed up Joshua O’Grady for an unstoppable shot. Behan looked uncertain but Tipton were unable to capitalise on a couple of occasions where he’d ended up very out of position.  O’Grady went on a mazy run in the last ten minutes and put the result beyond doubt with his second of the game.  All credit to Tipton for a valiant effort in keeping the result in doubt for so long.
Ground Pix
Coventry Rugby (at Coundon Road) were a huge force in the Midlands in the amateur days of rugby union in the 70s.  They never really seemed to step up in the professional era and nowadays play in the game’s third tier.  I remember famous names such as Cotton, Duckham and Rossborough from watching the Five Nations (not yet Six in those days) on BBC Grandstand in my teenage years.  The side now plays at Butts Park Arena, shared among them, Coventry United, and Coventry Bears, the city’s rugby league side.  Today’s early-season surface was not the best I have seen this season and time will tell whether wear-and-tear will be an issue.  The main stand is excellent and comfortable, with good facilities underneath.  The site itself certainly has some room for expansion.  It will be interesting to see how far United can climb, but National League level looks a realistic ambition for starters.  I was given a pocket guide at the gate which sets out core values and principles for the club’s full range of activity, and it is impressive. If you have to move the goalposts, wheels will certainly help...
Match Pix
United are in the red and green. Train! 3-1 late on as O'Grady waltzes through the Tipton back line
Any Other Business
I was slightly surprised to find that programmes had run out already by the time of my arrival at 2.10pm, but I am appeased by the complimentary copy of the one from their first league game at their new home.  There were a good number of hoppers in attendance.  The presence of an adjacent raised train line will have caused further excitement for the trainspotterhoppers of the community. In other matters, I’d like to recommend a trip on the Coventry Ring Road for loosening up any blockages you may have in your digestive tract.  I’ve been round it several times now over the years, usually laughing hysterically by the end of each trip.  The local drivers are unsympathetic to the fact that newbies have half a nanosecond to choose lanes and exits.  Satnavs give up and say, “You’re on your own, pal”.  The best approach is to be like a proton in the Large Hadron Collider and do several laps before spitting yourself out at the right exit.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Fluorescent versions of green (home) and orange (away) but no clean sheets for either.  Red remains in the lead with green in 5th and orange 6th.  Full league table will appear again in the blog from time to time.
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Next Saturday, I am likely to be either at an FA Cup tie in the Midlands or in North Berkshire, depending on other family commitments.

A Win for the Tipton Ten at Studley

Nice touch to give the lino a private beach (and well done Studley for getting the game on)

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 31 December 2011 at The Beehive
Result	Studley 1 Tipton Town 3
Competition	Midland Alliance (Step 5)
Hopping	Second game of the day after the dramatic finish at Bloxwich United earlier – see previous post for details.
This match in one sentence
A day to forget for Studley as they missed a penalty with the scores level and then failed to capitalise when Tipton went down to ten men.
So what?
Studley are 15th and Tipton Town are 6th in the division.
The drama unfolds
Tipton Town had the first chance of the game and Craig Bannister pinged the post while I was still interviewing a cheeseburger.  (It passed.)  Studley’s new keeper Richard Taylor was soon in meaningful action again, saving low to his right as the visitors looked more likely to score.  My scene-setting clip, from 27 minutes, actually starts with the handball decision and the penalty kick that gave Tipton a deserved lead.  Dave Bate is the scorer.  Studley are in blue.  0-1 A super tackle by a Studley forward tracking back was needed to stop a direct run from the Tipton midfield, and then a home centre-back made an acrobatic clearance.  Then, somewhat against the run-of-play, Studley got to the other end and another penalty was awarded for handball.  Here it is (from a distance).  Chris Collins is beaten by Lei Brown.  1-1 The officials were coming under constant pressure and yellow cards were traded after a minor altercation.  The Tipton player was Mitch Plows and his caution was for his retaliation after a bad tackle.  The ref, however, always presented an image of calm control and from a neutral’s perspective I thought he handled the occasion well.  The visiting fans in particular would not agree!  There were no other goals before the interval.  1-1 at half-time There was another big shout by Tipton for a penalty (nailed-on handball, the Black Country fans would say in a nod to their industrial heritage) before the third spot-kick of the game was awarded … to Studley a few minutes later, after 58.  However, keeper Collins did his job in saving from Brown this time, as the clip shows. Tipton then lost Plows to a second yellow card for a tackle within two minutes, so home optimism was renewed, as was visiting disdain for the officials.  Studley did not reckon on a route one goal from Tipton’s impressive Nathan Waite after 67 minutes.  He controlled the ball well and got into a shooting position.  Taylor got a hand to it, but it curled in just inside the post.  1-2 The ten men had just over 20 minutes to survive, and they started to come under pressure.  Shouts of “Don’t give up!” echoed among the home side’s players.  Tipton brought on an extra (and sizeable) defender and re-organised, and I have two more short clips from the closing moments as Studley pressed (and I was wandering round towards the exit, as the positioning shows!). From one attack, a clearance fell to Tipton substitute Leigh Downing just beyond half way and he rode his luck to advance and smack in an insult-to-injury goal as we entered stoppage time.  1-3 Incredibly, there was still time for Studley to hit the bar with the final action of the game.  It was not their day.  Final score 1-3 Acknowledgement to Tipton Town website for assistance in identifying players' names.  Apologies that I have picked up fewer Studley names but I will work on this and will amend the post as details become available.
Man-of-the-Match
The Chris Collins' penalty save was a turning point but Nathan Waite’s goal just earns him this arbitrary honour today.
A snippet from the programme
I shall sulk about the fact that an interesting article about the career of Ossie Ardiles makes no mention of his Wembley promotion play-off win in 1992-3 as manager of West Bromwich Albion that led to the team returning to the second tier, and earned him the chance to manage Tottenham Hotspur.  I’d forgotten that the Falklands conflict had brought about a loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain in 1982-3. It’s a double-header programme (for which the editor apologises, but it’s understandable!) and I will pinch one of the questions from “Chris’s Quiz Time” for your entertainment.  Name the six football league teams with North, South, East or West in their name.  (Answer below!)
Something Random
Hereford & Worcester had the highest per capita concentration of Yapps in the 19th century censuses.  I have managed to trace my own ancestral line to the county, but sadly I cannot yet prove any link to the Yapps who delivered the milk in Studley in the 1950s.
What Next?
As things turned out, an aborted trip to Colwyn Bay on New Year’s Day, but I am still hoping that something or somethings local will survive for Bank Holiday Monday.

Quiz Q answer: Northampton Town, Preston North End, Southampton, Southend United, West Bromwich Albion and West Ham.

Forging a Link to the Steel City

Hopperational Details


Saturday 23 October, 2010 at the BT Local Business Stadium, Dronfield for Sheffield 2 Tipton Town 2 in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, and this time something approaching a proper match report for my friends at therealfacup which can be found here:


http://therealfacup.co.uk/2010/10/24/sheffield-draw/

Tipton Two Lets Them Tiptoe into Round 4

Child labour is still practised in the Black Country

Hopperational details
Wednesday 13 October 2010 at the Tipton Sports Academy, Tipton Town 2 Radcliffe Olympic 0 in an FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round replay.  Match attended in the company of younger brother Martyn, known elsewhere in a self-explanatory way as @BlurredBirding.


This match in one sentence
A comfortable enough win, with a goal in each half for the home side after the visitors missed several decent opportunities in the first 45 minutes.


So what?
Tipton Town of step 5 head off to Sheffield of step 4 in the next round, and Radcliffe Olympic bow out with honour as the side from step 6 to last longest in the competition this season.


Who caught the eye on the pitch?
Tipton’s #9 Jozsef Jakab was calm and composed in the area as he scored the second goal, effectively ending the game as a contest.  However, Martyn and I agreed that their #3 Ross Brown was noticeable for some nice technical touches.  In addition to defensive duties, he was often the outlet for a pass followed by a cross, and his dummy runs from rehearsed corner routines almost led to a first half goal.  No-one really stood out for us on the Radcliffe side on this occasion.


This match had the same effect on my pulse rate as … 
… finding out that Ermintrude from the Magic Roundabout obtained a court injunction this morning to veto my half-time purchase of a beefburger. 


A snippet from the programme

John Hill (Manager, Tipton Town) referring to the previous Saturday’s 3-3 draw between these sides:
“We had previously had Radcliffe watched on two separate occasions so went into the game with a fair bit of knowledge about our opponents.  But the beauty of football is that obviously scouting reports are a vital part of the game but when your opponents turn up and each and every one of them are totally committed to the cause then at times scouting reports can go out the window.”


What I learned today
… if ever I am driving along in the Black Country and I see Martyn approaching in a van from any direction, I should get out of the way immediately and preferably hide behind something solid.


Modus Hopper Random Talking Point
Stadia with running tracks just never seem to have the same atmosphere.  Not a discussion point really, they just don’t.  West Ham fans should be very concerned about any move into an unmodified Olympic venue.