Getting the Beers In at Waltham Forest

Nice old-school artwork - who remembers footballs like that?

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 17 April 2014 at Match Day Centre, Wadham Lodge
Result	Waltham Forest 1 Thurrock 2
Competition	Isthmian League D1 North (Step 4)
Hopping	Ground #531 on the lifetime list, chosen for practical travel reasons today.
Pre-match preparation
Waltham Forest are one of many teams playing two midweek matches this week to catch up on postponement backlog and their relegation from this division was mathematically confirmed on Monday with a loss at Barkingside.  Thurrock are chasing a play-off place and will see this as a must-win game.
This match in one sentence
Thurrock had a comfortable first half and did just enough to win the game despite a more spirited performance from the hosts after the interval.
So what?
Forest have three more games to play for pride and see what happens in the end-of-season shake up, but their chances of going up a place are now slim.  Thurrock are three points behind Needham Market with a game in hand.  Thurrock’s games are all against teams in the lower half of the table, whereas Needham Market host Harlow Town (5th v 3rd) this coming Saturday in a match that will help decide playoff venues.
The drama unfolds
Thurrock took the lead after only 3 minutes with a corner that was technically illegally taken, as my photo shows: The lino was on the other side of the ground.  Maybe we need five officials … oh, wait.  I need to think this through more.  Anyway, Forest failed to deal with the inswinging corner and it was touched in by the head of Kurt Smith.  0-1 after 3 mins Here's my scene-setter clip. Forest looked panicky and there followed a horrible sliced clearance across the penalty area which made neutrals fear an evening of embarrassment for the home side.  Smith headed over, unchallenged, but the second goal came soon enough, Lewwis Spence (yes, I have checked and all sources have the double-w) scoring inside the left-hand post.  0-2 after 21 mins Thurrock were comfortable.  They had a goal disallowed for offside just before the break but that must have been as easy a 45 minutes as they would have had all season.  I exchanged a cheery word with a sub relieving himself discreetly against the hoardings, and reflected on how much better the Premier League would be if this practice were encouraged at a higher level.  0-2 at half-time For the first time ever, I won a prize in the half-time draw, so I was in a good mood as the second half began.  Thurrock went close twice as the ball whizzed through the six-yard box but then Thurrock got one back.  It was an excellent finish from substitute L’Hereux Menga after a fast and direct move through the centre.  1-2 after 54 mins Here's a second clip.  Not much happening from a corner, but it's in HD if that's any consolation.  (Thinks: does anyone ever watch these?) Game on!  Forest were now competing more on level terms without really troubling the Thurrock goalkeeper.  Thurrock had another goal disallowed.  With ten minutes left, an end-to-end passage of play saw Menga do well to create a Forest chance followed by a great defensive block to deny Thurrock at the other end, who then hit the post.  Thurrock will feel that they had the better chances overall, but the game ended just after a last-ditch tackle had ended a Forest attack and left the player down.  That was a close call for Thurrock, closer than we had expected an hour ago.  Final score 1-2
Ground Pix
Hmmm ... I had to discard several vid clips for this family blog because of local "singing" ... I vaguely remember something about "composition" in classical photography
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
No huddles tonight.  Huddling as an activity is looking pretty insignificant. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Huddlers 13 5 4 4 13 9 19 1.46 Non-Huddlers 24 10 3 11 34 38 33 1.38 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Waltham Forest’s GK was in red so the defeat allows the colour grey back to the top of the table.  Thurrock’s was in green which continues its solid performance over the season. 2013-14 Summary so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (5 each) Pts Pts per Game Grey 10 6 2 2 9 5 36 3.60 Red 2 1 0 1 2 1 6 3.00 Green 8 4 0 4 9 2 13 1.63 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Pink 5 1 3 1 10 0 -4 -0.80 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!