Hard to See Any Silver Lining for Becks This Time

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 30 August at Eden Park Avenue
Result	Beckenham Town 2 Egham Town 3
Competition	FA Cup 1st Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground 805 on the lifetime list.
Context
Both teams play at Step 4 but in different divisions within the Isthmian League. Neither team has started that well in the league, with both looking for a first win, but in knockout games Beckenham won 1-0 at Hassocks in the preliminary round. This is Egham’s fourth FA Cup game of the season. They won 1-0 at Northwood in the extra preliminary round and then needed a replay to beat Corinthian convincingly 4-0 after a 2-2 draw. They are, however, already out of the FA Trophy after a home defeat by Margate.
Match Report
Spacetime is bent in Beckenham. You see the ground on the left as the train pulls into the station from London and when you turn left in the subway you’ll be on the wrong side of the tracks in suburbia. Never mind, just a slightly longer pre-match stroll as a result, and then you see how close the clubhouse is to the trainline. Nice ground, friendly welcome, printed programme, the comfiest clubhouse seats of all time, bit of a slope on the pitch. All good. I check the teams on soc med and note that Egham (The Sarnies) have a “Starting IX” which if true is going to make life difficult. Then the fun starts on the pitch. Grimly fascinating for this passing neutral but entirely frustrating for supporters of both teams. As an honest blogger, I have to record that this was technically the poorest game I’ve seen this season – so many unforced errors, but so many chances created. The xG calculators would be in meltdown. Not too much playing out from the back, but channels, aerial battles and second balls. Both teams have at least a couple of direct runners. Very hard-fought and competitive. Great stuff. Becks should have been more comfortably ahead at the interval. Tyler Tobin, in purple in the Sarnies’ goal, was busy. He made a great save with his legs on 16 minutes from Louie Theophanous, but it should have been a goal. Just before the half-hour Tobin was adjudged to have brought down an attacker at the byeline. He redeemed himself superbly by blocking both Theophanous’ spot-kick and Steve Townsend’s rebound. Although Egham fashioned their best chance just before the break with a glancing header from a freekick, instead of 2-0 it was still 0-0 when the whistle went. Becks made two changes to their lineup and then lost defender Mudiaga Wanogho to injury. Meanwhile, Egham had reminded us of their presence by almost scoring from a corner. On the hour, the first goal. Egham lost the ball in a central position and Theophanous found himself in the clear. This time he buried the chance. He would shoot wide on the break again before the equaliser came. The lead had lasted five manic minutes. Egham substitute Luke Hennaghan had a shot deflected just wide as the visitors responded. He then rolled in a penalty given for handball – there had been a goalline clearance but I think the offence must have been just before that, I can’t be certain. However, 1-1 and now a very open game, and just two more minutes this time before Hennaghan turned the scoreline around with a very cool finish. Now, with Becks having to press forward, the chance and unforced error count went even higher. An Egham defender completely missed a kick. Both teams fluffed one-on-ones. Egham’s Connor Cullen could (should?) have had a couple of goals as the home defence weakened, one effort shaving the post. Finally, with just a few minutes left he tucked away the third goal. We weren’t finished. Theophanous scored again as we entered stoppage time, and even then there was time for another half chance. Egham held on for the win. Both teams will feel that they should have won this more comfortably, it was that kind of game. I ended my day with a cross-London walk between my trains, as usual trying to think of the traditional pun for the post’s title. Decide to go with an obscure musical reference rather than something about takeaways and sarnies. Thanks, as ever, for reading. Follow @ModusHRandom for more of this stuff - current follower count stands at ... 1 ... after I abandoned my previous account on there.
So What?
Beckenham have a midweek league game before they go to Northwood in the FA Trophy next Saturday. Egham go into the proverbial hat for the next round and may not play again until mid-Sept unless something is rearranged.
Pix
Beckenham in Orange, Egham in Green.  First part of Tyler Tobin's double save to deny Becks The equaliser
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today Green played Purple. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (91 from 190) I'm not the only person ever to have looked at this, by the way. Here's the outcome of a cheeky post-match Google search ...
What Next?
The start of the Autumn term in the nation’s secondary schools, so I may have to concentrate on physics, chemistry and mathematics for a while! Many of my priority grounds involve long journeys so there will also be an element of weather dependence.

23 Hmm - meanest wart hog! (anag)

Merstham's pre-match huddle was the least huddliest huddle I have ever seen

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Tuesday 6 September at Runnymede Stadium
Result	Egham Town 2 Merstham 3
Competition	FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay
Hopping	See the previous post for details – I am here because England U21, Israel U21, Brazil & Ghana scored six goals between them last night.
This match in one sentence
Merstham asserted their status in the second half but Egham Town, from a step lower in the non-league world, gave a good account of themselves and may even consider themselves unlucky.
So what?
Walton & Hersham manager Chuck Martini (a spectator this evening and mentioned elsewhere earlier blogposts) will take his team to Merstham in the next round.  Merstham’s Andy Martin should be a bit happier and may stop shouting at his players by about Thursday.  I recommend a cuddle with Charlie – see below.
Something random
Hello to Charlie from Merstham, this blog’s first dog-in-kit.  I look forward to meeting him again when my random life takes me to Merstham, even though he distracted me at the moment their third goal went in.  Beatrix Potter could have learned a thing or two about animal fashion from this – she left us no information whatsoever about the teams supported by Jeremy Fisher and Peter Rabbit, although we do know the Flopsy Bunnies turned out in the all-white of Leeds United.
The drama unfolds
Egham’s goalkeeper Paul Borg was the busier in the first quarter of an hour, with two meaningful saves.  Merstham’s manager Andy Martin’s unhappiness with his side’s performance was carried over from Saturday.  By all accounts he confused fans with a half-time triple substitution in the first game which even the club’s own website described as bizarre.  Tonight he was concerned about the space found by the mobile Egham midfielders, and repeatedly barked instructions about who-should-mark-whom. The first clip is a scene-setter, and the second shows Egham almost grabbing the lead after 20 minutes.  Egham are in red.  The free-kick, given by the lino, had been loudly disputed.  Borg was called into action again though soon afterwards, and the game settled into a pattern.  Egham’s attacks, usually down the right were pacy and mobile but without ever really creating a gilt-edged chance or causing a tricky save.  Midfielders #8 for Egham (Marcus Moody, I believe) and Omar Folkes for Merstham caught the eye most often.  The third is another Egham  near-miss from the first half. 0-0  at half-time Merstham took hold of the game by grabbing the lead in the 47th minute.  Dan Harding made no mistake when the chance fell to him.  0-1 However, Moody was able to level the score straight from the restart with another effective run through the middle of the defence.  1-1 The turning point of the game came in the 67th minute.  Roscoe Dsane scored this spot-kick after a foul in the area – the defender escaped with a yellow, as it was one of those where the ball was running away from the goal at the moment of contact.  1-2 Merstham got a deflected third within a few minutes and looked safe.  Harry Ottaway was claiming the credit, if a little sheepishly.  I was distracted by Charlie the dog at this precise moment so can shed no more light on the circumstances.  1-3 The neutrals, however, licked their lips in anticipation as Egham’s Aaron Taylor bundled in a headed second goal from a cross with eight minutes left.  2-3 My final clips come from the closing moments. The first starts with an aeroplane (the ground was underneath the Heathrow takeoff path tonight) and the second is just before the whistle.  I really wish Borg had headed to the opposing penalty area – that has been a feature sadly lacking in my cupties so far this season.  I returned to my car to learn that the England v Wales game had been another Wembley anti-climax.  Final score 2-3 Acknowledgement to the Merstham website for helping me to identify scorers.  You can also cross-check my opinions with @putajumperon on Twitter - he and I watched the second half together and I have no doubt we will cross paths on another hop sometime!
Man-of-the-Match
I am sure there were several worthy performances from the visitors, but I will give this accolade in misty-eyed fashion to Egham Town’s #8, whom I believe to be Marcus Moody.  His all-action performance from midfield, with great movement, caused all sorts of problems for defenders.  Merstham manager Alan Martin kept berating his defenders for losing him.  Honourable mention too to the Egham Town goalkeeper Paul Borg.
A snippet from the programme
The Egham Town motto is “Ut Homines Liberi Scint” which really should mean “Those men leave here with no money” but actually means, “That men may know Freedom”.  Except for opposing attackers in the penalty box of course.
What I learned today
I really should go to Runnymede sometime – it’s one of those odd omissions from my days out over the years that I have never been to the place where King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 to placate the revolting barons.  I have had no connection with the Magna Carta School, and I have never taken refreshment at either the Magna Carta Tearoom or the Magna Carta Tandoori, all of which are nearby.
What Next?
Not a clue as yet, watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for any announcements.