Vickers in a Title Twist

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 19 April 2014 at Oakwood
Result	VCD Athletic 1 AFC Sudbury 2
Competition	Isthmian League D1 North (Step 4)
Hopping	Ground 534 on the list, chosen for practical travel reasons today.
Pre-match preparation
VCD are chasing automatic promotion and have everything to play for.  VCD recently beat Witham Town, who now lead the division by a point having used up games in hand.  Since then, VCD lost at home but won 6-1 away last time out.  Meanwhile, Sudbury have lost their last two, fielding young and inexperienced sides and handing out lots of debuts.  They are just above mid-table.
This match in one sentence
A game of the proverbial two halves, with the wind favouring one direction, but Sudbury managed to hold on to their lead despite considerable second half pressure from VCD. Two-goal hero James Akintunde
So what?
The result will annoy VCD even more as Witham Town lost to a last-minute goal elsewhere.  There is one point in it, but Witham have the destiny in their own hands but will probably have to win away at Cheshunt on the last day of the season to be sure.  Sudbury will finish in the top half.
The drama unfolds
Playing “with the wind”, Sudbury had early territorial advantage but the first save of note came at the other end.  Then, after a VCD corner, Sudbury broke quickly and we had a goal-of-the-season contender from James Akintunde.  He ran half the length of the pitch, cut in from the right wing and hammered his shot into the top left corner.  A brilliant goal, which gave the visiting fans a chance to start up their air-raid siren.  0-1 after 12 mins Lightning struck twice – from another VCD corner, Akintunde led the break again, and though keeper Nick Blue came out to challenge (in pink, not blue - whatever happened to nominative determinism?), a neat flicked finish doubled the lead.  0-2 after 16 mins Sherwin Stanley could have got one back for VCD but he shot over with the goalie Alex Archer out of position.  VCD were trying to play out on the floor from the back, but a combination of the wind and a high pressing response from Sudbury meant that they were not always comfortable.  I took the scene-setter clip just before half-time.  VCD are in green-and-white. Just after this, Akintunde created another chance through his physical presence and a teammate hit the bar, but Sudbury would have been happy enough with the interval score.  0-2 at halftime VCD huddled before the start of the second half.  They started to make better use of the conditions, and Sudbury seemed content to play on the break.  Just before the hour mark, James Duckworth chested the ball down on the left wing.  He was forced inside but kept his balance and rode the tackles to get to a central position before blasting home a superb goal,  1-2 after 57 mins The second clip records the Sudbury siren (and old-school rattle) for posterity. For most of the rest of the game, Sudbury were kept on the back foot.  VCD could not quite find the telling final pass.  A header from Stanley hit the side netting, Archer took a yellow card for timewasting, but the visitors held on.  Here are some clips from late in the game, finishing with the final whistle. The Sudbury supporters heading out of the ground were all expressing pleasant surprise – they really had not expected anything from this game.  Final score 1-2
Ground Pix
Action about to start on the adjacent pitch ...
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
A new category needed because VCD huddled just before the start of the second half.  They “won the half” but this counts for nothing in the harsh results-driven world of huddling. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L F A Pts PPG Huddlers 13 5 4 4 13 9 19 1.46 Non-Huddlers 29 13 3 13 45 48 42 1.45 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00 2nd Half Huddlers 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Another success for grey (over pink this time) but nevertheless grey drops to third on PPG ratio.  Grey has been far and away the most successful shirt of the more popular colours. 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 Purple 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Red 2 1 0 1 2 1 6 3.00 Grey 12 7 2 3 13 5 35 2.92 Green 9 5 0 4 11 2 14 1.56 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43 Blue 3 0 1 2 6 0 -5 -1.67
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Boxing Day Lacks Knockout Punch in Suffolk

The Shed - where I installed myself for the duration of proceedings!

 

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 26 December 2012 at The MEL Group Stadium
Result	AFC Sudbury 0 Needham Market 0
Competition	Isthmian League Division One North (Step 4)
Hopping	Here at 3pm because of the proximity to the 11am kickoffs of the Eastern Counties League,  for the second half of a double hop and ground 499 on the lifetime list.
Pre-match preparation
18th v 12th in the table, but past form may not apply in this local derby!
This match in one sentence
The two teams did enough to cancel each other out in continuous rain.
So what?
No change in league position for the visitors, but the home side climb two places for the moment at least.  They should avoid relegation as there are three sides already distinctly adrift.
The drama unfolds
I spent a few minutes trying to decide whether Sudbury were playing a midfield diamond, a formation that never worked for me in earlier years of Championship Manager.  They certainly had D'Arcy De'ath sitting in front of the back four, but with a magnificent name like that I imagine he can sit wherever he likes.  Unfortunately he was injured in a tackle after half an hour so ended up sat in the dugout.  Needham Market were willing to commit full-backs to forward positions and often relied on just two at the back when in possession further forward.  Both teams worked hard but stifled each other as the rain got heavier.  Sudbury had the first half chance but James Baker's shot on the turn was beaten away by Louis Johnson.  Here's the scene-setter clip from midway through the first half - Sudbury are in the yellow shirts - followed by another one from about five minutes later. To be honest, there was not much to report in the way of critical incident, shot on target or plague of frogs before the break.  The last-mentioned would have been the most likely.  (I told you that I am determined not to get too mainstream.)  0-0 at half-time Alex Archer, keeping goal for Sudbury, was in action twice in the first minute of the second half.  First he beat away a cross-shot and then caught a close-range header.  At the other end, his opposite number Johnson came out and missed a ball at the edge of the area but Ryan Henshaw's header looped wide. My final clip is midway through the half.  The surface is getting trickier, players are getting tired and occasionally fractious, and there is still no sign of the frogs. As the game neared the end, Needham Market were pressing the more of the two teams but there was no golden or gilt-edged chance, and I was not at all surprised with the second goalless scoreline of the day.  Fair play to the club for getting the fixture on and to both teams for the efforts needed to play an entertaining game.  0-0 at full-time
The programme
Something random
This is a very impressive setup at step 4 and there cannot be many better places to watch a non-league game in the pouring rain.  The clubhouse is new and spacious and there is covered standing on all four sides of the ground.  The pitch held up well considering, and even the moles warmed up outside the touchline.
Hopping for Moorfields Update
The second goalless draw of the day is not too bad for the pot as a couple of sponsors helpfully chose to compensate me for 0-0 draws!  The average number of goals per game is now down to a little over 3.3 but this is still well within the bounds predicted at the start of the season and we have plenty of time.
What Next?
Ground Number 500! Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for the landmark event in due course.