Frimley Not So Green, Take a Point at Villa

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 6 August 2013 at Rectory Meadow
Result	Hanworth Villa 3 Frimley Green 3
Competition	Combined Counties Premier League (Step 5)
Hopping	Ground 514, not random but the nearest “unvisited” ground with a game for me this evening as I was in the dentist’s chair until 5.00pm!
Pre-match preparation
Both clubs lost their opening fixtures on Saturday.  Hanworth were missing the manager, the assistant (both on holiday) and several players for various reasons, so by all accounts put out an inexperienced side in their defeat by South Park.  Frimley Green were promoted as champions of the League’s Division One last season and lost at home to Croydon in their first game.  I saw Hanworth during their epic FA Cup run of 2011-12 http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/totton-up-prize-money.html but this is the first time I have seen Frimley Green.
This match in one sentence
Credit to Frimley Green for taking the lead initially and then coming back from a 3-1 deficit to earn a point with two late goals in a crazy ending to the game.
So what?
Both sides are off the mark for the season, and it’s still too early to make any sensible predictions.
The drama unfolds
Hanworth started positively but Frimley Green were not overawed and by the time the visitors took the lead it did not feel like a surprise.  As I saw it, a header from a corner was deflected and it probably goes down as an unlucky own goal for Adam Turner, though Frimley have credited it to Bobby Hogg.  0-1 after 18 minutes Centre-back Dan Griffiths was on hand to protect the lead after keeper Matthew Watson came outside the box but his clearance rebounded off an attacker towards the goal.  I took my scene-setter clip after about half-an-hour at which point Hanworth were waking up and realising they were in a game.  Hanworth are in red-and-white. I made a note that I thought the home side would go on to win the game.  Nevertheless Frimley Green had the two next best chances, only for Hanworth to then hit the bar with a shot from Andrew Juett and then equalise moments before half-time with a dominant header from Lee Higgs.  1-1 at half-time Hanworth created a good chance right after the restart but then so did Frimley.  The goal to give the lead to the home side was a proverbial screamer.  I reckon Levi King’s curling and dipping volley was from thirty of your pre-decimal proper yards and a great, great goal.  2-1 after 55 minutes The game should have been settled by the third goal.  Good work by Juett ultimately led to a tap-in for King’s second of the night, looking suspiciously offside from my viewing angle.  To be fair, the lino was better placed.  3-1 after 64 minutes Where did it all go wrong? Well, Frimley made some substitutions and “had a go” as they say.  They scored two in two minutes to take a share of the points.  Louis Hibbert and Martin Girling combined well and the latter’s shot beat the keeper and a retreating defender could not keep it out.  Both club websites seem to have this down as an own goal.  3-2 after 85 minutes I tweeted the news of that goal just in time to see Frimley slice through the centre of Hanworth’s defences and score through Matt Griffiths.  3-3 after 86 minutes There was still time for a second yellow for a Hanworth player with two minutes to go (I think it was Juett, apologies if I am mistaken) which meant Frimley Green were able to exert some more closing pressure in a bad-tempered ending to the game.  Final score 3-3
Ground Pix
This ground is under a Heathrow flight path and so close to a main road at one end that the screening trees are right up against the pitch boundary.  Can’t shed any more light on the Marilyn Monroe connections except that she was also spotted here back in December:  http://laurencereade.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/marilyn/
Match Pix
Something random
For what it’s worth, I draw the attention of the occupants of the covered standing to their own ground rule 2(b) as set out in the programme.  It would not be a part of the ground for a parent or grandparent to take a young supporter unless they are prepared for some vocabulary challenges later.  I watch a lot of football in a lot of places and this was one of the worst for loud foul and abusive language.  I couldn’t use my second half clip on here unless I’d set it to music.  The sexist jokes in the programme aren’t funny either.  It’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.  No apologies.
Huddle Stats
New this season on MHR – let’s find out whether the pre-match huddle makes a difference. Neither team huddled.  This makes me realise a possible flaw in my methodology – we will only learn something if one team huddles and the other doesn’t.  Never mind, it will give science a start until CERN have found all their missing particles. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts PPG Non-Huddlers 3 1 2 0 4 3 5 1.67 Huddlers 1 0 0 1 0 1 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. 2013-14 Summary so far: (Note - early error now discovered and corrected on later posts - sorry!)
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Just waiting for a few sponsors to return from their summer holiday but I hope very soon to be sending a big cheque to Moorfields Eye Charity which, when some Gift Aid is applied, will be worth over £800 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.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  I may head for Barnet in the Conference in order to recomplete my 116 (92+24).  Very tempted by the FA Cup tie at Worksop Parramore (work commitments allowing) on Friday week.

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 catch up on a few new venues (e.g. Barnet) and complete my lists 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.