Arundel Boys Win but it Wasn't Cushty

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 26 August 2013 at Mill Lane (11am)
Result	Arundel 1 Pagham 0
Competition	Sussex League Division One (Step 5)
Hopping	Number 521, I am here for pragmatic geographical and timing reasons – it is the morning half of a Bank Holiday double hop.
Pre-match preparation
Three games into the league season, and Arundel have made the better start with two wins to Pagham’s one.  Both arrive at today’s game having scored four on Saturday in home wins.  Bound to be 0-0 then.
This match in one sentence
Pagham will be wondering how they left Mill Lane without at least one point.
So what?
Arundel climb to second in the league table, and Pagham slip to 17th, but it is still early doors or days.  Early something, anyway.
The drama unfolds
The game was played to the incessant drone and buzz of a helicopter overhead – flights were on offer from the top of the hill as part of the town’s Festival.  Pagham’s players and bench seemed notably grumpy with each other from a very early stage as they tried to impose themselves, but it was Arundel who struck first.  The game’s only goal turned out to be a good one – a left-wing cross from Dan Gibb found the head of Scott Tipper who made no mistake.  Someone (see below) would have got a good pic of his celebratory posing!  1-0 after 11 minutes I took my scene-setter clip after about half an hour – apologies if any naughty Pagham pagan language is audible!  Arundel are in red. I was wandering round the perimeter taking photos here and there.  After 41 minutes I was at the other end when Pagham's Joe Briggs hit the side netting, and it looked to have been a clear chance.  1-0 at half-time Pagham pressed and pressed during the second half.  They had many half-chances and an equalising goal looked on the cards for long periods.  Tipper had to come off with a nasty looking cut to the head, and we had a chat with the man whose job it is to use a custom-made implement to retrieve the ball from adjacent hedges and ditches.  As time went on, it began to look like Arundel could hold on, as the Pagham attacks became more predictable.  And so it proved.  Pagham will feel somewhat aggrieved.  Final score 1-0
Ground Pix
It has to be said – this must be one of the great settings for non-league football in England.
Match Pix
Something Random
The two vaguely familiar gentlemen lurking behind one goal during the first half turned out to be none other than Danny (European Football Weekends) Last and Stuart (The Ball is Round) Fuller.  They are two of several people who encouraged me greatly with RTs and comments in my early days as a non-league blogger.  Thanks again, and great to have met you, especially in random circumstances!
Huddle Stats
No huddles, so we don’t learn anything. 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 7 2 2 3 5 7 8 1.14
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Today we had grey (Arundel) and the first blue of the season (Pagham). 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 4 2 1 1 2 2 8 2.00 Green 4 2 0 3 1 7 -2 -0.50 Orange 1 0 0 0 0 1 -1 -1.00 Blue 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 -1.00 Radioactive Bile 1 0 0 2 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.