A Clash of Colours in the FA Cup

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Friday 17 August 2013 at the Windsor Foodservice Stadium, Sandy Lane
Result	Worksop Parramore 2 AFC Blackpool 0
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.  These two step 5 sides play in the premier divisions of Northern Counties East and the North West Counties leagues respectively.
Hopping	Number 516 on the lifetime list, and one of my “priority” grounds for this season because it is also a step 3 venue.  Parramore are landlords in effect to Worksop Town of the Northern Premier League, who have their season-opener against FC United of Manchester on Saturday, hence the decision to move this tie to the Friday evening.
Pre-match preparation
Parramore have played two league games, losing at home and winning away.  Blackpool have played four and got their first point of the season in the last game, after three defeats.  This match will allow me to understand the difference between Amber and Tangerine.  Final research was undertaken at “The Mallard” at Worksop Station in the company of @BeatTheFirstMan.
This match in one sentence
AFC Blackpool made more of a game of it in the second half but by then the damage had been done and the result was never really in doubt.
So what?
Parramore travel to Mossley in the next round – this match (as they say) will be played on the weekend of Friday 30 August to Sunday 1 September, but will probably be at the usual time of 3pm on the Saturday.
The drama unfolds
A photographer was taking pics of everything, and I mean everything, as we arrived.  My hand has been captured for posterity at the key hopper moment of programme purchase.  It turned out later that he was working for Budweiser, who are again sponsoring the FA Cup this season.  I must get the hand insured now, and maybe an image rights deal. As @BeatTheFirstMan and I completed our pie-eating, he pointed out Parramore’s Jordan Eagers as a player to watch.  He and Parramore were well on top in the early stages.  Blackpool could not keep the ball long enough to pose any attacking threat.  We had wave after wave of Parramore attack which had everything except an effective final ball, but it was no real surprise when the home side took the lead. A free-kick was won just outside the right corner of the penalty area, and it was rolled quickly and intelligently to the aforementioned Eagers.  Blackpool were caught napping, and although the keeper was perhaps a bit unlucky that the last touch was a ricochet from his block, this goal had been coming.  1-0 after 20 minutes Here is my scene-setter clip.  Both teams are in something orangey (but see below for clarification...) Their second goal came at the killer moment, just before half-time.  Sam Smith was in the proverbial acres of space as he directed a neat header downwards from a left wing cross.  2-0 after 42 minutes and at half time Blackpool came out with more attacking verve after the break but the early goal that they needed never came.  In fact, Blackpool’s keeper made an excellent save to keep the margin at two.  It became fractious at times, and we were treated to a comedy argument between the two dugouts.  The visiting physio was told, rather unkindly, to “put his teeth in first”, and he responded that, “I’ll see you afterwards”.  As seen on a playground near you.  (They shook hands in the end once the hormones had dissipated.) Parramore’s keeper made a magnificent double save with a few minutes to go that removed any chance of an interesting finish.  Job done by the home side.  Final score 2-0 @BeatTheFirstMan and I retired to a quiet corner and recorded a brief match report - listen carefully and you'll detect the moment that the lights went out and I could no longer see my scribbled notes.  Like true professionals we kept going and completed the recording in one take with no giggles.  Hopefully coming soon to a radio programme or podcast near you as part of the BBC Non League Show if it is up to scratch.  For the record, he takes to the Token Northerner Expert Summariser role like a duck to water... watch out Kevin Kilbane.
Ground Pix
Another catapostrophe in the world of stadium labelling ...
Match Pix
Something random
Firstly, for stereotypical men everywhere, we can now establish forever the difference between Amber and Tangerine.  No longer will we need a Dulux colour chart. Tangerine (L) and Amber (R). Secondly, here is the second recorded example of the International Space Station passing over an FA Cup tie.  If they were watching from the cupola at 9.24pm they would have realised that Parramore were going through.  The ISS is that bright dot moving from W to ESE at an elevation of 76 degrees. (The first recorded example was here at Shifnal v Gornal Athletic on 25 August 2011, so the world has waited two years.  I bet it will be like buses now and another one will turn up next week...) http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/joy-of-six.html
Huddle Stats
New this season on MHR – let’s find out whether the pre-match huddle makes a difference. Today, we had a huddle for AFC Blackpool… the sample is not yet statistically significant, but who cares? Huddling appears to be bad, bad, bad and you will never win the FA Cup with huddling. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 6 3 2 1 9 6 11 1.83 Huddlers 2 0 0 2 0 3 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Also new for this season. I vaguely remember Petr Cech having a theory that orange was the best colour for goalkeeping tops.  Let’s find out whether there is any substance to it.  Today, we have green for Parramore and some kind of radioactive bile colour for Blackpool. What colour do you call THAT? 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 Green 2 1 0 1 1 3 2 1.00 Grey 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 -1.00 Radioactive Bile 1 0 0 2 0 2 -2 -2.00 Pink 1 0 1 0 0 3 -3 -3.00
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Just waiting for a few sponsors to return from their summer holiday but I will be sending a big cheque to Moorfields Eye Charity this week which, when some Gift Aid is applied, will be worth almost £900 to them.  It’s not too late to make a small contribution – remember the original idea of this is that LOTS of people would give small amounts – and this recent post tells you how to go about it.  Thanks in advance, and thanks too to all the sponsors who have already paid up. http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/hopping-for-moorfields-call-for-payment.html
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  Almost certainly a midweek FA Cup replay somewhere. UPDATE: Tempted by Ashton United v St Helens Town on Tuesday as this is a Landlord v Tenant fixture (if I can get there in time), Wednesday's hop will be decided by the time of the first goal in Monday's Man City v Newcastle game (see my Twitter feed for details) and Thursday will be Wivenhoe Town v Ipswich Wanderers.

I hope you’ll enjoy the 2013-14 format for the MHR blog.  I have tried to freshen it up without losing its essential tongue-in-cheekiness, and to reflect the fact that I am now out of semi-retirement and back in the classroom full-time.  In particular, the video clips were receiving very few hits so I have scaled back on these apart from an essential scene-setter.  You may also have to put up with a rant on educational issues from time to time.  Thanks as ever for your support and interest.  This season I will complete my coverage down to all of step 3 at least, as well as paying plenty of attention again to the early rounds of the FA Cup and the FA Vase.

So far this season:

Nostalgia: Who remembers the original "Soccerboss" board game?

http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/soccerboss-living-dream.html

Can anyone help me improve this list of 2013-14 groundshares?

http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/groundsharers-2013-14.html