Where to go on Easter Monday?

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Monday 6 April 2015 (11.30am) at the Bedfont Sports Recreation Ground, Hatton Road
Result	Bedfont Sports 0 Ashford Town (Mdx) 2
Competition	Combined Counties League Premier Division (Step 5)
Hopping	First half of a double bank holiday hop, ground 558, and chosen for geographical reasons.  This ground is just down the road from Bedfont & Feltham FC.
Pre-match preparation
Not a lot!  I’d originally planned to head elsewhere but failed to wake up in time!  Bedfont Sports are in their third season in Step 5, the Bedfont pecking order having changed since I saw Hitchin Town at the neighbouring club in a Step 4 fixture.  Ashford Town are now back in Step 5 after relegation at the end of last season.  Both teams drew on Saturday, and the visitors are higher up the table.
This match in one sentence
Three points in the sunshine for Ashford from a couple of poacher’s goals.
So what?
Bedfont Sports drop to 17th and will probably survive in this division, though they need a few more points to be sure.  Ashford Town have a faint mathematical chance of winning the league from 3rd but would need Camberley Town AND Molesey to stop getting points, which seems unlikely.
The drama unfolds
The first half was reasonably even but with no really clear-cut chances for either side.  Then Bedfont lost the ball in midfield, Jack Beadle went on a surging run and shot – he picked up his own rebound before the ball fell for striker Dan Fleming, in the right place at the right time.  0-1 after 22 mins I took a scene-setter clip before half-time, with the home side still very much in the game.  The match is played against a constant background of aircraft noise as planes land at Heathrow at the rate of more than one a minute.  Bedfont are in red-and-black. 0-1 at half-time The second clip is from midway through the second half.  The match had again been in the balance without ever being spectacular or particularly memorable, and the clip has one of the better chances.  I watched the second half from a new stand - this ground is seeing a fair bit of development to support the various Sunday and youth sides too. With five minutes to go, a towering header from a set-piece put another easy finish on the proverbial plate for Fleming, and the game was won.  0-2 after 85 mins and at full-time
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
I don't like Mondays.  There's nowhere to go...
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Yellow loses to Green, Green has a clean sheet.  Will update after the next game.
What Next?
Assuming the M25 is flowing, South Park v Carshalton Athletic.  As for next week, follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!

Lamma Time, and a Decision

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Friday 15 August 2014 at Short Lane (Ashford Town FC)
Result	Staines Lammas 3 Bedfont Sports 2
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Hopping	Don’t ask.
Pre-match preparation
Listening to reports of doom and gloom re the M25 but deciding to go anyway.
This match in one sentence
You’ll have to read my contribution to www.therealfacup.co.uk if you want to know more about this epic FA Cup confrontation ... !  While you are there, click around for other reports from all over the country as like-minded enthusiasts get Cup Fever.  There is no cure. http://therealfacup.co.uk/2014/08/16/lamma-time/
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Purple beats radioactive bile.
What Next?
This:

Spelthorne Step Up

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 5 August 2014 at Spelthorne Sports Club
Result	Spelthorne Sports 2 Bedfont Sports 1
Competition	Combined Counties Premier League (Step 5)
Hopping	Chosen as the nearest unvisited Step 5 ground to Chateau Yapp from this evening’s fixtures.
Pre-match preparation
Second game of the season for each side.  Spelthorne opened with an away win at Windsor whereas Bedfont drew at Badshot Lea.  Spelthorne were promoted from Step 6 last season and this will be their first home game under floodlights.
This match in one sentence
Spelthorne dominated the game and this was a deserved win even though they had to recover from a half-time deficit.
So what?
Six points from six from Spelthorne which can’t be bad, and too early to say after two away games for Bedfont.
The drama unfolds
Spelthorne took the game to the visitors and had plenty of possession but never made the visiting keeper work too hard.  I took a scene-setter clip after 25 minutes.  The Spelly are in pale blue. Surprisingly, it was half an hour before the ball was launched over the fence on to the adjacent A308.  I then noted an excellent Spelthorne defensive tackle from a rare Bedfont attack, and then a good heading chance at the other end.  They missed another good one and so it was rather against the run of play when a bouncing ball along the proverbial Route One fell nicely after the challenge to Adam Roberts who finished very nicely indeed.  The visiting keeper was then made to do some work almost immediately to protect that lead at the interval.  0-1 after 42 minutes and at half-time Spelthorne started the second half well and it was not long before they got level.  Lee Staples got to a flick-on just before the keeper and scored with a brave header.  1-1 after 54 minutes The winning goal came from a superb right-wing cross from Jesse Atiase, and it led to an unstoppable header from Simo Mbonkwi (I think, apologies if incorrect).  2-1 after 68 minutes The home side held on reasonably comfortably for the win and they will be delighted with the start of life in this division.  There is one more short clip as they went looking for a third goal.  Final score 2-1
Ground Pix
This ground is near to Heathrow and some busy skies! For the half-time official entertainment Look closely at the numbering which blows holes in modern number theory...
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
I noticed what appeared to be plumes of black smoke rising from some trees at the far end of the ground, but a closer look revealed that these were swarms of insects.  Millions of them, I should think.  Further post-match research has shown that they were most likely to be columns of male Chironomids, non-biting midges whose larval forms are known as bloodworms.  The males would be hoping to attract the attention of females, presumably from the direction of Staines in this case.  The second image is taken from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons licence.  Now stop that scratching.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
The yellow of Spelthorne beats the radioactive bile of Bedfont. The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet.  Grey and green doing well – the most popular and the most successful colours. P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (5 each) Pts Pts per Game Grey 14 7 2 5 15 5 33 2.36 Green 13 7 1 5 16 4 26 2.00 Red 4 2 0 2 5 1 6 1.50 Orange 4 2 1 1 6 1 6 1.50 Purple 2 1 0 1 6 1 2 1.00 Yellow 6 2 2 2 10 1 3 0.50 Blue 6 2 1 3 12 1 0 0.00 Radioactive Bile 5 2 0 3 9 0 -3 -0.60 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43 Maroon 1 0 0 1 2 0 -2 -2.00
Soapbox Section
If you haven’t checked out Non-League Bins on Facebook then you really should …  https://www.facebook.com/groups/271732876311415/352784021539633
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!