Conference Call on 116

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 10 August 2013 at The Hive
Result	Barnet 3 Chester 0
Competition	The Conference (Step 1)
Hopping	I am here to restore my “116” – this is Barnet’s new home after they made the hard decision to leave Underhill.  It is number 515 on my lifetime list.  This is the first competitive game at The Hive and the programme is a special edition.
Pre-match preparation
Dutch international Edgar Davids has remained as Head Coach of Barnet.  They were relegated from the League Two on the last day of 2012-13 and are today meeting a side who are entering the Conference for the first time in the upward direction.  Chester have been promoted on three successive occasions now since their reformation – I saw their clinching victory at Stockbridge Park in 2011-12.  Both teams, as is now the norm, have several new signings around a retained core.  Mr Davids is keen to point out in the programme that he is still happy to win games even if performances are not pretty.
This match in one sentence
Chester faded after a promising start and in the end Barnet’s victory was well deserved.
So what?
I refuse to make predictions this early in the season.  Oh, alright then – Barnet will make the playoffs at least and Chester will avoid relegation.
The drama unfolds
Chester had two very early chances as Barnet’s passing game started nervously – it took ten minutes before a slick home move gave a glimpse of the future.  Slowly but surely Barnet began to impose themselves on the game.  Four yellow cards (two for each side) were shown for tackles that were incompetent rather than malicious.  My scene-setter clip was taken around the half-hour mark.  Graham Stack was fairly busy in the Barnet goal during the first half. Chester continued to look dangerous from set-pieces, especially fast inswinger crosses delivered by Kevin McIntyre.  Parity at the interval was entirely fair on the balance of play.  0-0 at half-time Barnet opened the floodgates within a minute of the restart.  Luke Gambin finished neatly with his left foot even if there was an element of luck involved with the final pass of a swift move down the left.  1-0 after 46 mins Stack preserved the lead with a sharp close-range save around the hour mark.  Barnet fans near me were getting fed up with patient build-up play and ball retention, especially backward passes, but from one such move Mark Byrne turned on the shoulder of his marker and broke free down the right.  Jake Hyde couldn’t miss as the ball was delivered into the 6-yard box.  2-0 after 63 mins Chester’s fans threw smoke canisters on to the pitch and caused a short delay.  I have decided not to reward them with a photo of this petulant pointlessness.  Their side was soon three down – a great move through the middle and a neat dink to finish from Hyde again.  3-0 after 72 mins That was it, really … Barnet picked up two more yellows, Chester almost had a consolation goal, but McIntyre almost had (from where I was sat) a red card for grabbing at the referee’s arm.  Police had arrived in time to watch Chester fans streaming out, and it was another 40 minutes before I managed to get out of the car park.  To be fair, the vast majority of the visiting fans were brilliantly supportive of their team's effort, all afternoon.  Final score 3-0
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Something random
If you are coming to Barnet in the near future, I’d advise getting your tickets online and printing them at home.  That worked well.  Around 20 people missed the kickoff today as they were still queuing to buy or pick up tickets at the kiosk.  I thought the £5 special edition programme for this first competitive game at The Hive was fair enough, well-produced and a good read, but £5 for parking on top of my £21 ticket makes me happy that I will be back in steps 3,4 and 5 soon.
Huddle Stats
New this season on MHR – let’s find out whether the pre-match huddle makes a difference. We will only learn something if one team huddles and the other doesn’t.  Never mind, it will give science a start until CERN have found all their missing particles.  Today, there were no huddles. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 5 2 2 1 7 6 8 1.60 Huddlers 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Also new for this season. I vaguely remember Petr Cech having a theory that orange was the best colour for goalkeeping tops.  Let’s find out whether there is any substance to it.  We have an early lead for yellow tops.  Today, Barnet’s Graham Stack played in yellow and Chester’s John Danby was in traditional green. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L CS(5pts) GA(-1 each) Pts Pts per Game Yellow 3 2 1 0 2 3 7 2.33 Grey 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 -1.00 Pink 1 0 1 0 0 3 -3 -3.00 Green 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 -3.00
Hopping for Moorfields Update
Just waiting for a few sponsors to return from their summer holiday but I hope very soon to be sending a big cheque to Moorfields Eye Charity which, when some Gift Aid is applied, will be worth almost £900 to them.  It’s not too late to make a small contribution – remember the original idea of this is that LOTS of people would give small amounts – and this recent post tells you how to go about it.  Thanks in advance, and thanks too to all the sponsors who have already paid up. http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/hopping-for-moorfields-call-for-payment.html
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for announcements!  Very tempted by the FA Cup tie at Worksop Parramore (work commitments allowing) on Friday.

In case you missed this last month because your season started today, here is a recent "football game nostalgia" post - do you remember "Soccerboss"?

http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/soccerboss-living-dream.html

I hope you’ll enjoy the 2013-14 format for the MHR blog.  I have tried to freshen it up without losing its essential tongue-in-cheekiness, and to reflect the fact that I am now out of semi-retirement and back in the classroom full-time.  In particular, the video clips were receiving very few hits so I have scaled back on these apart from an essential scene-setter.  You may also have to put up with a rant on educational issues from time to time.  Thanks as ever for your support and interest.  This season I will complete my coverage down to all of step 3 at least, as well as paying plenty of attention again to the early rounds of the FA Cup and the FA Vase.

Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape (Three-Hop Deluxe)

Groundhopper ritual teamsheet completion

Maltby Main v Parkgate

Stocksbridge Park Steels v Chester

Worsbrough Bridge Athletic v Rossington Main

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 7 April 2012 in Yorkshire
Result & Competition	See below for individual match details
Hopping	Today’s programme takes in the morning and evening matches from Groundhop UK’s Northern Counties East hop (sadly, I could not get to yesterday’s games) interspersed with a new step 3 ground.  I now have five triples and one quadruple on my lifetime list, and these are grounds #456, #457 and #458.  Thanks to Groundhop UK and the NCEL for making this day possible.
Maltby Main v Parkgate - The drama unfolds from 10.30am The Maltby Miners Welfare Ground, Muglet Lane Northern Counties East League Premier Division – step 5
In one sentence:  An unexpected but deserved win for the home side which improves their chances of avoiding relegation to step six. The local home supporters were pessimistic about the prospects for this local derby and they would not have been cheered when their captain soon went into the ref’s notebook for a late challenge.  However, the Parkgate defence showed early signs of dithering despite the bumpy pitch and they were still drowsy when Thomas Something-Brown gave them the lead rather against the run of playafter 10 mins.  The “Something” is Foltym, Foylten or Folyton depending on whether you believe the cub website, the league website or the ground whiteboard.  1-0 Thomas Variable-Name puts Maltby 1-0 up After 25 minutes, Parkgate’s Danny Cardwell went into the book for dissent and his manager failed to look surprised by this.  He was always in the game with forays down the left and long throws into the box.  The game was now very even and I spotted a replica gorilla on the porch of a nearby house that caused me to check whether the Maltby Main coffee should be a class A drug. Exhibit 1, M'lud - gorilla identified by arrow The home side should have gone two up after 27 minutes but an outstanding block by Matthew Needham denied Rob Branagan, who had broken the offside trap.  The party piece routine from the resulting corner failed to function. Here is a scene-setter clip from this stage of the game.  Parkgate are getting back on top, pressing for an equaliser, and ‘keeper Andrew Carney is busy. Maltby Main are in red-and-black. That equaliser duly came after 41 minutes.  Full-back Jonathan Wragg neatly but accidentally sent a glancing header from a corner into his own net.  1-1 at half-time Both number 11s were involved immediately after the restart.  Cardwell fell over as the result of an alleged trip but there was no second yellow even after he told one of the spectators to go forth and multiply.  Craig Gladwin’s fierce cross-shot for Maltby Main was at a nice height for Jamie Bailey to beat down. Here are two more clips.  Is it just me or is that dog near me shouting, “Ref!!” repeatedly?  If so, he fits in well. On 58 minutes, an overhead kick out of nowhere by Branagan gave Maltby Main the lead.  A great goal and deserving of a good crowd to see it.  2-1 After 77 minutes, the home side sealed the win with a breakaway goal that significantly improves their chances of avoiding relegation.  The scorer was Gladwin.  3-1 There was time for Carney to make the save of the day - a superb block from Parkgate substitute Nathan Forbes-Swindell.  In an open final phase, Maltby Main came close to adding a fourth but this was a great result for them.  I went in search of a plastic gorilla en route to Stocksbridge as the bulk of the crowd went off to Staveley and Hallam.  I would see them again later.  Final score 3-1 So what?  Parkgate are 7th.  Maltby Main are still bottom-but-one but have a must-win home game next Saturday against the team immediately above them (Lincoln Moorlands Railway). Exhibit 2: I rest my case, m'lud
Stocksbridge Park Steels v Chester The drama unfolds from 10.10am The Look Local Stadium, Bracken Moor Northern Premier League – step 3
In one sentence: Chester did enough damage to the scoreline early on and hung on to the three points for another big step towards the divisional title. I joined a large crowd at Stocksbridge Park Steels in time to watch the large contingent of visiting supporters mercilessly take the proverbial out of the home side’s pre-match shooting practice.  The only time I ever watched these things with interest was when Kevin Phillips played for West Brom, and there was one time at Kenilworth Road, Luton, when I should have watched because “Super” Bob Taylor smacked me painfully on the head from behind.  Today’s drill can have done nothing for the players’ confidence and all recent results suggested an away win as Chester close in on the championship Chester took the lead after 6 minutes.  Chris Simm broke clear, rounded the keeper, rode a challenge and slotted in.  0-1 Here’s a scene-setting clip from the early minutes of the game.  There are no gorillas, plastic or otherwise. The second clip has a good save from Ben Scott and then Chester’s deflected second goal, given to Robbie Booth and timed at 18 minutes.  They are in the blue-and-white stripes.  The home players protested long and hard, but the goal stood.  0-2 Chester were comfortable for the rest of the half and even the visiting fans stopped singing as they sensed job done … perhaps they were all planning ahead for the Easter Monday fixture.  Stocksbridge had a couple of half-chances but the saves they forced from Matt Glennon were easy enough, and Michael Taylor had to intervene on one occasion to block Jack Muldoon.  0-2 at half-time Happily for this passing neutral (now repositioned on a bank at one end) Stocksbridge upped their game and got a goal back after 52 minutes, and here’s the clip.  Daryl Weston is the scorer.  1-2 I also have a very short “if only” clip as the balance of power shifted in the game and Chester were put on the back foot. The final clip is from the closing minutes, with Stocksbridge having plenty of pressure and possession.  Chester defended well and hung on for the win, though not without the odd scare.  Final score 1-2 So what?  Chester play second placed Northwich Victoria at home on Easter Monday and a win or draw gives them a second successive title on the day.  Stocksbridge have slipped into the relegation zone and still have some work to do this season.
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic v Rossington Main The drama unfolds from 7.45pm Park Road, Worsbrough Bridge The Northern Counties East League Division One – step 6
In one sentence: Four unanswered goals after a forgettable first half gave a scoreline which brooks no argument. The main incident of note in the first half at Worsbrough Bridge was the retrieval of a ball with a net on a pole from the adjacent stream.  It was a game with 0-0 written all over it.  Rossington Main had one headed chance after 25 minutes, and Worsbrough Bridge had a shooting chance just before half-time, but that was it.  0-0 at half-time Things improved greatly in the second half and it was a super goal that gave Worsbrough Bridge the lead after 51 mins.  Spencer Goff’s turn and dipping shot was a great moment for him and the crowd. Here are a couple of clips to set the scene - Worsbrough are in red-and-black. The home side scored three more goals.  Tom Copping (according the the club website) headed into the roof of the net after 66 minutes.  2-0  After 72 minutes, Scott Ruthven scored with a glancing header from a corner and added his second four minutes later.  It ended up as a very comfortable win for the home side.  3-0 and 4-0 So what?  The clubs switch places and are now 7th (Worsbrough) and 8th (Rossington) respectively.
What Next?
Premier League ice hockey second leg playoff quarter final – Manchester Phoenix v Swindon Wildcats – an Easter Sunday confrontation in Altrincham.