Red Top, Red Mist, Red Card

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 29 August 2016 at The Memorial Ground
Result	Little Oakley 2 Biggleswade 2 (Biggleswade win 4-1 on penalties)
Competition	FA Trophy First Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground #815 on the lifetime list, and I am here randomishly because of the roll of a die, in the manner of the early days of this blog, almost 600 blogposts ago.
Context
Both teams play at Step 4, the hosts in the Isthmian League D1 North and the visitors in the Southern League D1 Central. Biggleswade narrowly missed promotion to Step 3 last season, and Little Oakley are playing their first ever FA Trophy fixture after their promotion as Essex Senior League champions.
Match Report
Well, for a passing neutral like me, this was compelling entertainment. Maybe not of the highest quality in terms of tactics and execution, but with a result in doubt until the closing seconds, and with an inexplicable late twist. Biggleswade led 1-0 at the interval, and on balance they deserved that. Little Oakley came back with two goals after the interval and it looked like their promising start to the season would continue. Of course, knockout competitions breed risk-taking and desperation, and Biggleswade got an equaliser in stoppage time, a neat finish by Alex Marsh. I was at the other end from this goal, and cannot tell you what provocation led the red-clad home goalkeeper James Askew to see a colour-co-ordinated mist. He made unwelcome physical contact with a Biggleswade player, pushing him to the ground. The referee consulted the assistant before showing the matching card. The clubs must have agreed that the match could go straight to penalties if drawn, and so, with all substitutes used (more of this later) the outfield substitute Joe Howard had to don the keeper’s jersey. The shootout itself was somewhat anticlimactic. Biggleswade scored their first, Little Oakley missed their first, but Biggleswade put two more good ones past the stand-in before the third home penalty was saved by George Rose (in blue). This meant that a successful fourth would win it for Biggleswade, and indeed that is what happened. How did we get to this point, you ask? Well, fortunately the rain eased off before kickoff and both teams looked positive about attacking and trying to win the game. Biggleswade winger B11 spent much of the first minute trying to turn his opposing full-back inside out, but the resulting corner came to nothing. Both teams were direct, with second balls and knockdowns of great importance, but occasionally each team would string together a sequence of one-touch passes on the break. Biggleswade’s opening goal after 25 minutes was a neat left-foot strike by Adam Hunt. The end-to-end exchanges continued. Who knows what was said in the dressing rooms at half-time but Little Oakley emerged with four substitutes in play. They could have equalised in the first minute after the restart. Then there was a comedy moment (except maybe for the club treasurer) when a ball was cleared into an adjacent garden only for the replacement ball to bounce over the same fence a few seconds later. The action continued with a disallowed Biggleswade goal – the home defence had stepped upfield just in time – and at this point both teams looked like they might score. Little Oakley had to press and this left space for Biggleswade on the break. The home side were maybe getting a bit more desperate now but it needed two interventions in quick succession from Rose to protect the lead. However, the equaliser came just after the hour, a textbook header by Jack Ladbrook from a training ground routine which involved all the players initially huddled together with the density of a neutron star. Conversation in the stands now turned to whether anyone knew whether it would be extra-time and/or penalties and/or a replay, but was curtailed when sub Jordi Papple rounded Rose to make the score 2-1. Rose soon made another excellent save to deny the home side their third. What a result that would have been for these Step 4 newcomers, but the denouement, as explained above was savage. Thanks to the home volunteers who were very welcoming. I left quickly for another tricky drive around the M25 with low sun and rain, but the roll of the die this morning had certainly given me an entertaining game to watch. As would be expected, the ground itself is in transition now between Step 5 and Step 4 requirements.
So What?
Cliché time : Biggleswade are in the proverbial hat for the next round, Little Oakley are not.
Pre-match Entertainment
Plans for a quayside walk thwarted but not by traffic this week. This time, a mighty deluge meaning that a good Duolingo session in the car was a more attractive option. Spot the differences between The North Sea and the Mediterranean
Pix
I’d left my Canon compact at home so I had to make do with my mobile phone this week … hosts in blue-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, a rare appearance for Red, lining up against Blue. The result is enough to demote Red in the colour league table, mainly because it is a small sample size. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (107 from 221)
What Next?
Hopefully another ground ticked off on Bank Holiday Monday. No decision made as yet, will depend on weather. I’ve added Workington to my priority list for the season – I had forgotten that they have a temporary home with their rugby league counterparts for a season or two.

 

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.