Pickering Galvanised to Beat Nailers

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 30 March 2019 at The Silver X Stadium
Result	Belper Town 1 Pickering Town 2
Competition	Northern Premier League Division One East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 690 on the lifetime list, and I am here because I had to abandon an attempted journey to Atherton Collieries due to taking three hours for the first hundred miles on the M1 northbound.  Nevertheless, this is another of my priority grounds and one I knew to be a goodie from other hoppers’ pix.  Therefore, I happily diverted to Derbyshire in plenty of time for a programme and a pie.
Context
No pre-match research done except for a quick look at the table.  The teams are 8th and 15th respectively.  The points tallies suggest a must-win fixture for Belper (aka The Nailers) if they are to stay mathematically in a play-off hunt, and a don’t-lose one for Pickering as they are only four points above bottom place.
In one sentence
Pickering weathered the early pressure and in many ways this was a classic away performance, not very pretty but effective enough to hold Belper at bay.
So what?
This vital win for the visitors is a big step towards survival in the division, and Belper look set for a mid-table finish too.
Match Report
Belper started well and forced several corners in quick succession.  Pickering threatened on the break and won a few of their own.  Both defences looked somewhat shaky.  Pickering opened the scoring through Danny Earl after 24 minutes but the lead lasted less than ten more.  Danny South wearing number 9 was frequently a traditional target man for Belper.  His flick-on went through to Alex Peterson who swivelled and shot to net the equaliser.  Probably fair enough at that point on balance of play. Harrison Foulkes tipped over a snap shot from South and then a Belper defender cleared a shot off the line with his keeper stranded.   By this time I noticed that many of my match photos were very similar, containing 14 or so players in the six-yard box trying to get on the end of a set piece.  There was little variation of approach and the teams were level at 1-1 when the half-time whistle was blown.  Unusually for me, I stayed in the same seat for the second half.  I’m careful about catching too much direct sunlight these days! The winning goal was buried in the net at the far post by Joe Danby.  He was alert enough to react when a teammate in front of him failed to make contact with a teasing right-wing cross.  With over half an hour still to go, there would be plenty of time for more goals, but in the event a mixture of decent defending and wayward shooting kept the score at 1-2.  The result was always in doubt, always a plus point for me as a neutral, but the performances today had a touch of end-of-season about them.  I’d made very few notes.  Pickering needed the points more than Belper, who clearly had a decent first half of the season.
Pix
Belper in Yellow.  This is a fabulous location with interesting views.  The initials on the adjacent Mill building denote the English Sewing Cotton Company.  This kind of thing is why I am a daylight groundhopper in the main these days.  The ground is a short walk from both the station and the town centre and public transport is a viable hoption.  Every hopper should visit here, and indeed many already have.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course. Today, no clean sheets but a win for Orange over Green, pushing the prediction average ever nearer the “expected” 50% after the early-season euphoria. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 54% (25 from 46) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.5 5.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.5 24.0 2.286 Grey 50.5 24.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 15.0 77.5 1.535 Blue 47.1 21.0 7.0 19.1 76.0 14.0 64.0 1.359 Green 105.0 52.0 12.0 41.0 183.0 23.0 100.0 0.952 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Orange 54.5 20.0 12.0 22.5 93.5 10.0 28.5 0.523 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 36.0 9.0 8.0 19.0 77.0 6.0 -12.0 -0.333 Radioactive Bile 23.0 9.0 0.0 14.0 51.0 3.0 -9.0 -0.391 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  If all goes to plan, something a little different next Saturday.

Belper Town a Tad Unlucky But Grafting Brewers Hold On

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 26 January 2019 at the i2i Stadium, Ings Lane
Result	Tadcaster Albion 2 Belper Town 1
Competition	Northern Premier League Division One East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 676 on the lifetime list.  I am here randomishly today because (takes deep breath) this is my closest unvisited Step 4 ground to Varberg on the west coast of Sweden, which is the birthplace of Niclas Eliasson of Bristol City, who was the scorer of the final (and winning) goal in last night’s FA Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers.  It is highly unlikely that this sentence has ever been written before in the English language, even by an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters.  It probably won’t be needed again.  All the evidence is in the preceding blogpost or on my Twitter timeline.  The former has the calculations and the formula should any other groundhoppers wish to adopt randomishness in their travels.
Context
5th v 9th. Tadcaster are sitting in a playoff position and Belper are only three points behind, albeit having played two games more.  The home side are not in great form, with two draws following two losses in their last four league games after a long unbeaten run.  Tadcaster won the reverse fixture 3-1 away back in November.  Belper are also without a win in three, their last win being a thumping victory at Gresley on New Year’s Day.
In one sentence
The ground’s crossbars helped Tadcaster secure this hard-fought victory, backing up their decisive goals which came very early in each half.
So what?
Tadcaster stay 5th, Belper drop to 11th.
Match Report
My pre-match pie and peas came from a serving hatch with a prominent bowl of bananas and apples up front.  I commented that it is rare to see these options at football, and was told they were popular with the players.  This led on to a discussion about the emergence of “pickle juice” in the sporting world as a cramp reliever, but these northern caterers reckon that bone broth is the business. After just two minutes, Tadcaster took the lead at the other end from me with what looked like a straightforward header from a right-wing free-kick.  The club’s Twitter feed confirmed that Billy Whitehouse indeed delivered for Harry Coates to score.  Belper could have levelled immediately as Piteu Crouz swivelled in the box but shot just over the bar. The game developed as a predominantly physical and aerial battle with little between the sides.  Belper’s next chance came on 20 minutes when they hit the bar from the second corner forced in quick succession. Their aerial threat was often reinforced by the arrival of the centre-backs, which of course left them somewhat vulnerable to a break.  The equaliser proved elusive.  Home keeper James Hodges was unable to fully control a difficult backpass, itself forced by Belper pressing, but he recovered easily enough to clear as the ball trickled towards the line. The teams continued to trade half-chances.  It was tough rather than pretty.  Tadcaster wasted some opportunities of their own, but the half-time whistle arrived with the score still at 1-0. With the perfection of hindsight, the fact that the second goal came so early after the restart was crucial.  I had wandered to the other end, so once again I needed Twitter to confirm the scorer but the club was equally in the dark.  It had seemed to be a surprise goal from a left-wing corner so either it went straight in or it was an accidental or flukey flick. The record books are now showing Aiden Savory as the scorer. The Belper response was again immediate.  A penalty appeal was turned down when the ball flicked accidentally from boot to hand.  There were plenty of crunching tackles and the odd yellow card being shown too.  The visitors were, not unreasonably, sensing that at least a draw could still be salvaged.  Tadcaster held on while perhaps being pushed into defending deeper.  There were some heroic and brutal blocks in and around the box.  On 72 minutes, Crouz hit the bar with an excellent freekick.  Then Belper centre-back Isaac Assenso, again up with the attack, found himself in a right-wing position.  He delivered a superb curling cross, only for the crossbar to intervene again as the ball pinged around in the Tadcaster area.  It was not their day. As the rain arrived, Crouz eventually did get on the scoresheet for a consolation goal in stoppage time.  It had been a compelling contest for the passing neutral and I will look forward to a trip to Belper sometime in the next few months.
Pix
Tadcaster in yellow-and-blue.  Tidy ground with plenty of banners, a decent surface and good clubhouse, tucked away behind the iconic John Smith’s brewery, and hence the interesting background architecture.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction on Twitter based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course. Green v Green today so a draw was predicted.  Neither keeper kept a clean sheet so the PPG for Green has reduced slightly, but not enough to affect any of the positions of these colours, based now on 177 games. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 63% (20 of 32) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. For new readers the odd .5 was caused by a shocking half-and-half shirt and the .1 was due to a substitute goalkeeper in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.0 20.0 2.000 Blue 44.1 19.0 7.0 18.1 68.0 14.0 66.0 1.497 Grey 49.5 23.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 14.0 69.5 1.404 Green 94.0 50.0 11.0 33.0 154.0 23.0 122.0 1.298 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Orange 45.5 15.0 8.0 22.5 84.5 7.0 3.5 0.077 Radioactive Bile 21.0 9.0 0.0 12.0 45.0 3.0 -3.0 -0.143 Yellow 35.0 9.0 7.0 19.0 77.0 5.0 -18.0 -0.514 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 Black 6.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.0 -6.0 -1.000 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  29 Step 4 grounds left to do and I hope to be on the road again next Saturday.