Bala Palaver

Llanelli in the all-red strip

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Sunday 19 September 2011 at Maes Tegid
Result	Bala Town 2 (Loughlin 64, Darlington 88) Llanelli 4 (Griffiths 7,13, 71 Moses 63)
Competition	Welsh Premier League
Hopping	This was the only accessible game for me today.  #422 on the lifetime list.
This match in one sentence
Entertaining throughout, but never exciting, because Llanelli had a two-goal cushion for 75 minutes and a hat-trick hero up front.
So what?
Bala Town drop to second in the table on goal difference after this first league defeat of the season – they have been a surprise package after escaping relegation through a reprieve last season. Llanelli stay fourth, but are now only three points behind.
Something random
Learn Welsh through football (acknowledgement to the programme!) Manager – Rheolwr Programme – Rhaglen Football – Pêl-Droed Referee – Dyfarnwr A good game – Am gêm dda
The drama unfolds
The match was preceded, of course, by an impeccable minute of silence to show respect for the loss of life of four miners in South Wales this week. Llanelli took the game by the scruff of the neck and were two up after only fourteen minutes, pretty much killing it as a contest.  My first clip is from early on and contains a fine “nutmeg” about forty seconds in. Rhys Griffiths ran on to a through ball over the top for the first goal and finished neatly.  The first pic shows just how much time and space he had.  0-1 1-0, and Griffiths wheels away for a low-key celebration The same player headed in to the roof of the net via the outstretched hand of Bala keeper Terry McCormick for the second.  0-2 The second clip is taken from this part of the game. Bala worked hard to try to get back into the match, but Llanelli looked strong defensively.  As a shower began, I spent most of the rest of the half trying to get a nice rainbow-and-football photograph!  At one point, Bala broke through for a two-on-one moment but the flag was up for offside.  Llanelli nearly added a third from a lob that looked in for a moment from the far end.  0-2 at half-time Llanelli used their high-line defence to catch Bala offside several times in the second half.  Although the home side had a fair share of possession, it was another Llanelli goal after 63 minutes that underlined where the points were going.  It was a good low shot from the edge of the box by Craig Moses, who was in the right place when the ball broke to him.  0-3 Bala got one back almost immediately.  This was excellent target-man work by Lee Hunt, who held the ball up intelligently in the area and laid off a precision pass to Liam Loughlin.  1-3 However, any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out by another header from Griffiths, this time from a left-wing cross.  1-4 There was time for a very good consolation goal for Bala’s substitute Rhys Darlington, who cut in on the Bala left, made room and then finished well with a shot across the keeper to the far corner.  Final score 2-4
Man-of-the-Match
Rhys Griffiths of Llanelli.  He needs to work on his celebrations though – the first was greeted with the same level of animation as one would show on the arrival of a mug of Horlicks.
Snippets from the programme
Two things caught the eye.  Mark Pitman’s piece on the Welsh national team included a paragraph or two on former West Brom youngster Danny Gabbidon, now with QPR via Cardiff City and West Ham.  Danny had retired from international football with 44 caps but was persuaded to return by the new management under Gary Speed.  However, by all accounts he had a bad time against Australia in a friendly.  “Despite this, the easy decision for Speed would have been to play Gabbidon against Montenegro.  The strong, in-form and experienced opponents would surely find Gabbidon a far tougher physical challenge than young Darcy Blake, but more importantly for Speed, he would not have left himself open for criticism if an expected defeat had followed.  The manager stuck to his belief and principle however, Blake would have a much bigger part to play in future years with Wales than Gabbidon, and Gabbidon had no reason to merit a place in the side after an awful display against Australia.  Blake played, Wales won, Speed had taken a significant step forward in becoming a manager.” The programme also noted that 21 clubs have applied for the necessary licence to be a Welsh Premier League club next year.  At the moment there are only 14, the current 12, Haverfordwest (relegated last year) and Llandudno.  FAW’s Andrew Howard said, “The (feeder league) is getting more and more competitive … it is vital for the WPL to have active promotion and relegation annually.”  An issue seems to be that 7 of the 9 second-tier applicants are from the north of the principality.  Clubs are assessed on their infrastructure, stadium, youth development, legal, financial and coach qualifications, personnel and club charters.
What I learned today
A brief trainspotting moment … the 1325 from Bala to Llanuwchllyn. The B4396/B4391 route from Shrewsbury to Bala via Knockin (where the village store is really called The Knockin Shop) is a delightful drive in the autumn sunshine as the greens are turning to red, orange and brown and there is yellow gorse and violet heather too.  Who says men can’t do colours? I can count six there for starters. Maes Tegid really is a lovely location for a football match.  It should be on every hopper's must-do list.  If you look closely in this pic you can see the rainbow.  Blue and indigo in there too, so we're up to eight colours for the day.
What Next?
No idea – watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details.  Thinking about an FA Cup replay somewhere on Tuesday, but will depend on the in-tray at work!

Keep Your Eye on the Round Ball

Hopperational details

Sunday 26 September, Neath 3  Bala Town 1 at The Gnoll in the Welsh Premier League, after a walk in gorgeous morning sunshine around the Gnoll Estate. Mosshouse Wood Reservoir on The Gnoll Estate

This match in one sentence

The result of this disappointing game was never in doubt, but Neath look better going forward than in defence.

So what?

The big spenders of Neath go third, ten points behind Bangor City but with a game in hand.  Bala Town are bottom of the table.

Who caught the eye on the pitch?

Some eyebrows were raised when former Swansea City fans’ favourite Lee Trundle joined Neath in the close season, but it is by no means his first experience outside the English Football League.  He did not enter League football until signing for Brian Flynn at Wrexham at the age of 24.  A move to Swansea under the same manager followed, and I remember when he was said to be the first footballer outside the Premiership with an “image rights” deal.  He is now 33, and his goals-to-games ratio was very impressive up to 2006-7.  Neath’s opening league game of the season had a record crowd of over 800, and his contributions today were warmly received by the home crowd.  I guess that this could be a win-win arrangement for player and club if the Neath management have done their sums correctly.  The Bentley with the personalised number plate was tucked away discreetly at the top of the car park, and he delivered a man-of-the-match performance. Lee Trundle scores from the spot to make it 2-0 to Neath The first goal (from another ex-Swan Kristian O’Leary) came as a result of a Trundle corner, and the third (a spectacular shot by Chris Jones) was served up on a plate by his clever flick, and much enjoyed by those spectators still awake.  Trundle himself was tripped for the penalty that he converted for the second.  He did most of his best work with his back to goal, receiving the ball to feet and holding it up before bringing a runner into play with a clever flick or layoff.  He occasionally showed frustration with his team-mates’ lack of vision or execution, and one display of petulance was taken as dissent by the referee who yellow-carded him.  He was indeed the star of a poor game. A swan from the Gnoll Estate An ex-Swan from The Gnoll

This match had the same effect on my pulse rate as …

… sitting in front of a tank of freshwater tropical fish with a mug of cocoa.

A snippet from the programme

I was aware that the Welsh Premier League had restructured (see my earlier post from Airbus UK v TNS) but I noticed that three of Neath’s first five competitive games have been against Haverfordwest County.  A premier league victory was followed by an aggregate defeat over two legs in the Loosemores League Cup.  English clubs and fans have very mixed feelings about their Carling Cup, which has just had a resurgent week after giant-killing by Brentford and Northampton.  The competition format has had several tweaks over recent seasons, with sides in Europe being exempt until R3.  Lower league Scottish teams will play at least one match in the CIS Insurance Cup and the Alba Challenge Cup before their league programme starts.  It seems to me as a casual observer that three games out of five against the same opposition is not a structure that will spark the interest of fans in this rugby union stronghold.  The Welsh authorities have taken a brave step with the 6:6 split in January, and perhaps their league cup now needs a remodelling too.

What I learned today

Neath is undoubtedly a rugby town.  Six hundred spectators were herded into the shade of the main stand for today’s game.  However, several thousand will no doubt be here on all sides for reigning national champions Neath RFC’s upcoming game against Pontypridd.  Neath FC’s move to The Gnoll will hopefully have spin-off benefits for both clubs, and arguably they are showing ambition through the signings of Trundle and O’Leary.  The sharing arrangements at Vicarage Road (Watford/Saracens), Adams Park (Wycombe Wanderers/Wasps) and the Madejski Stadium (Reading/London Irish) have all lasted for several seasons and seem to prove that co-existence can be beneficial.  I am sure there are others that I have missed.  As a Hertfordshire resident, I know that there are occasional mutterings about the pitch at Watford, but many realistic fans are said to be anxious that Saracens have been looking elsewhere.

Modus Hopper Random Talking Point

Don’t get me started about the colours of the football boots worn by the youngsters who took part in the half-time entertainment.  I blame the parents, and in the meantime will send the incriminating evidence once again to @BeatTheFirstMan for his Fancy Dan blog at http://fancydanboots.tumblr.com/ ... and finally, a blurred nuthatch (I hope) from The Gnoll as a tribute to my equally but differently obsessed brother Martyn who, as @BlurredBirding on Twitter and through his blog http://yapp2607.blogspot.com/ keeps us up to date with feathered friends.  He taught me everything I know about gulls.