Biggleswade Don't Deliver the Goods

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	1 January 2024 at JSJ Stadium, New Roker Park
Result	Stotfold 6 Biggleswade 0
Competition	Southern League Division 1 Central (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 772 on the lifetime list and I am here because Stotfold were able to confirm “Game On” before any of the other teams on today’s shortlist.
Context
A mid-table fixture with the visitors a little higher. A local derby (the teams are about six miles apart) for the bank holiday Monday. They haven’t yet played each other this season. Biggleswade not to be confused with either Biggleswade Town (also in this division) or Biggleswade United, playing at Step 5 in the Spartan South Midlands Premier. If there is a smaller town with three senior men’s teams, I’d be surprised.
In One Sentence
Game over after 15 minutes when the score was already 4-0.
So What?
13th and 11th at the end of the day but Biggleswade have played two games fewer.
Match Report
The first goal after five minutes was from Stotfold’s second good chance. The bad week for goalkeepers in Purple continued even after Tyler Josephs had made one good block. The second came almost immediately from a narrow angle, and the third was a surgical strike down the right leading to a crossfield pass with the scorer in square decametres of space (take that, Jacob Rees-Mogg). When the fourth went in from a superbly struck direct free-kick on the quarter-hour mark, I wondered why I was still standing as far away from the action as I could have been. The fifth was scored after 35 minutes, the ref playing advantage to good effect. So, half-time, and then the rains came. The playing and watching conditions after the interval were unpleasant and Stotfold charitably added just the one more. Biggleswade had been pretty toothless without looking dispirited, Stotfold had been clinical, Josephs had been very busy. For the record the goalscorers were: James Peters, Henry Snee, Callum Kane, Matt Ball, Robbie Buchanan and Snee again.
Ground Pix
Visit the Non-League Bins Facebook Group
Match Pix
Sorry about the quality. Stotfold in yellow-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Threads just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable test of statistical significance, it looks like an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test will be appropriate. The full keeper top performance table from my last 287 matches is here, on this separate page, and I’ll organise the test when we reach 300 pieces of evidence. Today a big win and a clean sheet for Grey over Purple. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far (48%) 68 from 142
What Next?
Weather conditions will decide whether I can get to a Saturday game, but whatever happens I am heading for WBA v Aldershot on Sunday. My first visit to The Hawthorns for several seasons now, and my grandson’s first match. The West Brom genes have come good.