Arnold Will Be Back in the Next Round

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 20 August 2013 at Eagle Valley
Result	Arnold Town 2 Stewarts & Lloyds Corby 1
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay.  Arnold play in the step 6 East Midlands Counties League and S&L are from the step 5 United Counties Premier.
Hopping	Number 517 on the lifetime list, not random this time but pragmatic as I have been visiting the ancestral home today and this was the nearest tie at a new ground.
Pre-match preparation
Carried out in The Fox & Crown, as recommended by @BeatTheFirstMan.  The price of this pint of Bowman's Bitter began with a 2.  Unbelievably good value.  The Nottingham Post revealed that Arnold's manager was not happy with the draw at Corby before going on to distract me with other vital news items (see Something Random, below).  S&L took the lead on a sloping pitch in windy conditions but Arnold equalised just before half-time.  Home accounts suggest that the Arnold keeper had very little to do during the second half but there were no more goals so we are back here for the replay.
This match in one sentence
Arnold left it late – they finally scored two goals in the last four minutes to break the hearts of the visitors who had been resolutely defending their first-half lead.
So what?
Arnold Town will play Brigg Town in the next round at the end of the month.
The drama unfolds
We kicked off a few minutes late – S&L had had a stressful journey.  I took my scene-setter clip midway through the first half.  The home side had been generally on top, but lacking an effective final ball.  Neither keeper had had to make a serious save so far.  The linos have the same surname.  Sadly I was unable to establish whether they are a father-and-son combo or whether this was a case of “When Cloning Goes Wrong”.  Arnold are in maroon. S&L took the lead with a towering header from Aaron Davies, who rose at the far post to meet a left-wing cross and placed the ball firmly back across the keeper.  0-1 after 24 minutes Arnold continued to dominate possession and attacking but the visiting defence held out comfortably enough.  0-1 at half-time The one-way traffic continued and S&L will look back now at their one chance to get the decisive second goal.  On the break, they reached the byline but the ball went wide from a narrow angle.  Midway through the half, Arnold equalised – or so they thought.  You Are The Ref – can you see what he spotted? At 9.22pm precisely, the International Space Station was passing overhead, and this coincides with You Are The Ref Again.  Would you have given this?  (The ISS is the bright dot moving from R to L in a straight line over the course of the clip…) Here’s what happened from the spotkick.  Well done to Dave Allen in the pink. The equaliser did arrive, however, and to be honest it had been coming.  Liam Corrigan smacked the ball in from about ten yards after more sustained pressure and I resigned myself to extra-time.  1-1 after 86 minutes Arnold had other ideas.  Here’s the winning goal, which only just creeps over the line (or does it?).  Danny Hayes is the scorer, meaning I could get home by midnight.  Fair enough on the balance of attacking play, but harsh, harsh, harsh after some great defending by the S&L back line.  2-1 after 88 minutes There was still time for S&L’s Adam Saunders to pick up a second yellow card and trudge off to the changing rooms, and Arnold held on comfortably for a dramatic win.  Final score 2-1
Ground Pix
This may be the first sighting of a Step 6 cappuccino
Match Pix
Something Random: Sentences That Have Never Ever Before Been Uttered in the History of Human Civilisation #1:
“A man who has broken world records for balancing things on his head claims he was mistreated by airport officials after returning from a beer festival in Israel.”  The Nottingham Post, 20/08/2013, page 7.
Huddle Stats
Both teams huddled, so we learn nothing new… 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 4 1 0 3 3 6 3 0.75
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Petr Cech would be happy with this orange top for the S&L keeper.  His opposite number was in the pink, the colour that remains at the bottom of the table. 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 Orange 1 0 0 0 0 1 -1 -1.00 Radioactive Bile 1 0 0 2 0 2 -2 -2.00 Pink 2 0 1 1 0 5 -5 -2.50
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Cheques totalling £819.30 will be winging their way to Moorfields.  When an element of Gift Aid is added to part of this, the final total for the charity will be £933.11.  This will go to help fund leading-edge research into a variety of eye conditions.  Well done, everyone, and thank you again.  I will publish the acknowledgement in due course.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  The plan is Southend Manor v Basildon United on Wednesday evening, and (if I can complete GCSE-related duties in time) Wivenhoe Town v Ipswich Wanderers on Thursday.  Meanwhile, you still have a few days left to hear @BeatTheFirstMan and I reporting from Worksop Parramore, near the end of the BBC Non-League Show on iPlayer.  See if you can detect the moment the lights went out on us.