Trial of the Winslow Boys

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 7 October (Non League Day) 2017 at Winslow Sports Club
Result	Winslow United 2 Bedford 1
Competition	Spartan South Midlands League Division One (Step 6)
Hopstats	Ground 621. I have to be local(ish) today because of an evening reunion event from my early days of teaching at Fearnhill School in Letchworth.  (Hello to any former pupils stumbling across this, and yes I am still going …)
Context
5th against 13th in a 20-team division, but that hides the fact that the reverse fixture already happened in late September and Winslow delivered an 8-0 thumping to today’s visitors.  There have never been fewer than four goals in a game so far this season, so I am packing a pencil sharpener.  Will it be revenge or damage limitation?
In one sentence
An attritional battle became interesting for the last 20 minutes as Bedford threatened to snatch a draw.
So what?
Winslow United rise to 3rd and Bedford drop a place to 14th.
Match Report
I made very few notes for the first half-hour, somewhat distracted and delighted by adjacent croquet and overhead red kites.  Meanwhile, defences were on top as a midfield battle unfolded.  Neither keeper really had that much to do other than routine catches and clearances.  Both teams struggled to control the bouncing ball and there was a lot of safety-first.  Probably with expectations of another win after the reverse result, Winslow had a bit more of the play and the pressure, but didn’t create much until the relief of an opening goal after 35 minutes.  Sean Coles rounded the keeper Jack Mudge to break the deadlock. The second goal, however, was a peach.  A run down the left flank, a flick and a volley by Mitchell Collins.  Right on the whistle for the end of the first half too, a great time to score and cause the stereotypical ripping up of interval team talks. In the second half, Winslow missed a lobbed chance when one-on-one, and were to do so again later.  The game was interrupted by foul after foul and the level of dissent and gamesmanship steadily increased, as did the yellow card count.  Then with about 20 mins to go, a good turn and shot by substitute Aaron Jarvis pulled one back for Bedford.  Winslow responded by forcing a good save from Mudge, and then opposite number Aaron White did the same before Bedford hit the woodwork with the rebound.  So close, and if only… In the end, Winslow were able to hold on to the points, but they’d been made to work hard by the visitors.  In truth there was not a lot between the sides today.
Ground Pix
No longer rare in these parts. The distinctive V-shaped forked tail of the Red Kite, coming soon to a bird table near you.
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
Croquet, ladies and gentlemen.  Maybe this is the future, I haven’t played since reaching the quarter-finals of the Cambridge University Open Pairs Championship in 1979.  Honest.  The main rule then was that the matches had to finish by mutual agreement at 5.55pm in time for the bar to open at six.   Croquet to the left adjacent to the football match in progress. Risk assessments, anyone? Croquet is a brilliant game, trust me.  We need more of it.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
A full table was printed in the previous blogpost.  Today, in the 120th tracked game, Green beats Pink to stay 5th, with the latter dropping one place to 10th, below Radioactive Bile. 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, and it deserves to be last, trust me.  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 9.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 9.0 3.0 19.0 2.111 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.500 Blue 30.1 12.0 6.0 12.1 47.0 10.0 45.0 1.495 Grey 40.5 20.0 8.0 12.5 66.5 11.0 56.5 1.395 Green 62.0 30.0 7.0 25.0 108.0 16.0 69.0 1.113 Orange 24.5 9.0 4.0 11.5 38.5 5.0 17.5 0.714 Purple 11.0 5.0 2.0 4.0 25.0 2.0 2.0 0.182 Yellow 25.0 7.0 6.0 12.0 48.0 5.0 4.0 0.160 Pink 14.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 29.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.571 Radioactive Bile 12.0 5.0 0.0 7.0 26.0 1.0 -6.0 -0.500 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 Fire Cracker 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -4.000
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  A trip to Spennymoor Town to re-complete The 160 (Everywhere Down to Step 2) is high on my priority list, but there is still plenty of Cup, Vase and Trophy football to be played at unvisited grounds.

A Win for the Winslow Boys

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday, May the Fourth (Be With You) at Ampthill Town FC, a step 6 venue (Spartan South Midlands Div One)
Result	Winslow United 2 The 61FC (Luton) 0
Competition	Spartan South Midlands Division Two Cup Final (for teams in this step 7 league)
Hopping	Lifetime list #398, and I am here for practical reasons of distance and time.
This match in one sentence
Winslow United scored a good goal and a scruffy one before the interval, and then defended well enough when necessary to resist the attempted comeback.
So what?
Winslow United get their name on this trophy for the second time – their last win was in 2003-4.
The drama unfolds
Winslow began to look the more threatening of the two sides from the early stages, and here is a scene-setter clip.  The backdrop of trees behind the ground’s main stand was looking as gorgeous as anything I’ve seen on my hops. The buildup to the first goal after 32 minutes had an element of controversy.  In a moment of confusion between ref and lino, both sides thought they had a free-kick.  61FC thought they had one for offside, but the lino had flagged for a foul in Winslow’s favour.  Winslow tried to take it quickly, but the ref called them back, I think because it had been taken from the wrong place.  However, they seemed to be allowed to take it quickly again and a neat curling shot was soon nestling in the back of the net from number 6.  1-0 Three minutes later, this happened – and to be fair the ref is well placed and he got this one right.  2-0 at half-time In the second half, 61FC managed to pose more of an attacking threat and a goal would have made the game more interesting for the neutral!  They came close-ish on a number of occasions, such as the following: However, as time began to run out, Winslow looked just as likely to add a third.  Another powerful freekick from number 6 (who is a name as well as a number, I am sure, but I don’t know what it is – sorry!) whistled just wide after 80 minutes, and the last few minutes had the air of inevitability about them.  Final score 2-0
Alternative activity of equal excitement for tourists in Ampthill
How about the smack of leather on willow at the cricket club next door?
A snippet from the programme
Here is each club’s “Route to the Final” for the records, with both finalists not having a home-tie all season. Round One Risborough Rangers 2 The 61FC (Luton) 3 Totternhoe 1 Winslow United 3 Round Two Bletchley Town 0 The 61 FC (Luton) 3 Aston Clinton 1 Winslow United 3 – (Aston Clinton were the holders) Semi-Finals Kent Athletic 1 The 61FC (Luton) 2 Padbury United 0 Winslow United 2 (This season's league champions Padbury United got revenge for that semi-final defeat by beating Winslow United on the last day of the season, and Aston Clinton's win on the same day meant that they pinched the final promotion spot.)
What I learned today
This ground is in a splendid setting on the edge of Ampthill Park, which has an interesting history.  Henry VIII sent his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, to live there in 1532 after annulling the marriage, and used a hunting lodge there.  Many of the mature trees date from plantings by Capability Brown.  However, the sandstone which causes this ridge to stand out from the lowlands around it is easily eroded and the park is in some need of restoration after a few centuries of use for leisure purposes.  Part of the plan will be to restore grazing by animals – trees have moved in (so to speak) and obscured the views in certain areas that were part of the original design.
What Next?
Something on Saturday for #399.