Three Brown Finishes Putting the Redhill Gloss on a Visit to Green Lane

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 7 August 2021 at Green Lane
Result	CB Hounslow United 0 Redhill 3
Competition	FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Hopstats	Ground #720 on the lifetime list and I am here pragmatically rather than randomly. This is the closest FA Cup tie at an unvisited ground.
Context
First competitive game of the season for Hounslow. Redhill scored a very, very late winner in their first league game in midweek. Both teams are in the Combined Counties League at Step 5, but in different divisions : Hounslow are in the North and Redhill in the South. The CB stands for Cater Bank, a link with one of the club's founders.
In One Sentence
A comfortable and deserved win in the end, thanks to a well-taken hat-trick, but the home side were in the game for the first hour while the deficit was only one goal.
So What?
Redhill will welcome Deal Town in the Preliminary Round in a fortnight.
Pre-match Entertainment
Not a lot. Sitting in the Yappmobile learning Spanish on Duolingo during a downpour was as good as it got today.
Match Report
The match kicked off underneath an Airbus 350, Flight SQ308 from Singapore. Even during this pandemic, there was to be a steady stream of aircraft providing alternative geek interest as they lumbered overhead. There was a gusty breeze and Redhill did the early pressing. It took a few minutes for the home side to settle into a pattern – for the first fifteen they saw very little of the ball, and committed a few fouls to give Redhill hope from set pieces. Three players (two home, one away) went into the book for mistimed tackles. On the half-hour, a good right-wing cross from Redhill’s Noe Vendrells fell nicely for Nathan Hogan, who was unlucky to see his cushioned volley come back off the crossbar. It took until the 42nd minute before the deadlock was broken, and it was a deserved lead for Redhill on balance of play. Arlie Tallboys combined well with Vendrells who crossed low this time. The ball broke to Aidan Brown who had time to pick his spot for a low left-foot shot into the bottom right corner. Redhill should probably have had a second before half-time. Vendrells played in Tallboys who shot over the bar. At the half-time whistle, I speculated in my notes whether Redhill would rue these missed chances when playing with the wind in the other direction. Half Time: CB Hounslow Utd 0 Redhill 1 The home keeper kept his side in the game soon after the restart. A towering header by Redhill’s No.6 from a corner was touched on to the woodwork and then away. It needed a penalty just after the hour to calm any Redhill nervousness. Vendrells was brought down at the edge of the area, and Brown calmly sent the keeper the wrong way to score. The incident was on the opposite side from me, but the referee was well placed. Within three minutes Brown had completed his hat-trick, holding off a defender on the break to round the keeper and shoot home to remove any final lingering doubt about the outcome of the contest. He celebrated with a somersault this time. Three calm and composed finishes represent a good day’s work. CB Hounslow should have had a consolation goal at least. Their No.9 looked useful but today he was living off scraps and the wind didn’t help hold-up play. The last twenty minutes remained entertaining and end-to-end but by now the result was no longer in doubt. The rain returned on my journey home along the dreaded M25 western section, but at least with the consolation of a spectacular double rainbow, still good to see even when you know the physics!
Match Pix
CB Hounslow United in green.
Ground Pix
This is a newly refurbished venue, with a good playing surface, sitting almost directly underneath the final approach to one of the Heathrow runways. It is in good order except for the PA system, which from the far side (with my dodgy hearing) sounded like Pingu playing the baritone kazoo.
Health & Safety
Covid case prevalence is higher than at the time of my last hop in December 2020, but of course this time the numbers are falling and a large number of people are double-vaccinated. So, even without hand sanitisers, temperature checks, one-way systems and the like, this felt safe enough and low risk. People were sensible and respected the space for others as necessary. A stiff breeze kept the stand well-ventilated. To be brutally honest, this was less risky than going to work as a teacher back in June and July. Until case numbers drop even lower, I will be avoiding clubhouses and staying outside, which is a pity because CB Hounslow United seem to have a very good new one!
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 221 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Blue gets a win and a clean sheet, defeating Yellow. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 49% (37 from 76) 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 undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league 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 (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! I have 29 grounds on my priority list this year. Brentford and AFC Wimbledon would restore “The 92” and “The 115” and there are new Step 2 venues at Boston United, Gloucester City and York City. At Step 3, there is just one, at Wimborne Town. The other 23 are dotted around Step 4, many of them longish journeys from Chateau Yapp so this could take a couple of seasons unless I am lucky with weather and fixtures. Covid case numbers will also play a part (but hopefully minor) in decisions, at least at the start of the season, and I will re-introduce the blog’s signature random element as soon as possible.

Why I'm Seeing A Goalless Draw at Redhill

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 30 August 2014 at Kiln Brow
Result	Redhill 0 Horsham YMCA 0
Competition	FA Cup Preliminary Round
Hopping	Ground 543 on the lifetime list, more pragmatic than random today as I felt like a change from driving round the M25. Thus, the Yappmobile has been abandoned at the station and I am letting the train take the strain today.
Pre-match preparation
Redhill are in the lower reaches of the Step 4 Isthmian League D1 South although their games have all had close scorelines.  They were promoted the season before from the Sussex league, and had a reprieve from relegation last season.  Horsham YMCA are in Step 5, mid-table in the Sussex County Premier, and they are here after coming from behind twice to beat Alton Town 3-2 in the previous round.  Redhill are entering the competition at this stage.  Other than this, most of the prep has been about studying train timetables and fare structures!
This match in one sentence
To be brutally honest, forgettable apart from the last-seconds controversy of a disallowed Redhill goal.
So what?
A replay on Wednesday evening which will decide who hosts Carshalton Athletic in the next round.
The drama unfolds
Horsham YMCA started better and Jordon Anderson was in the right place to make a goal-line clearance.  Redhill’s debutant goalkeeper Michael Hunter was on the ground out of position having made a good block already, and between them the kept the visitors out.  Dave Brown, prominent in early attacks, also screwed a shot wide from a good position as Redhill struggled to get into the game.  My clip is from midway through the first half as the home side finally turn up and it has Anderson’s header at the other end well saved by Simon Lockwood.  Redhill are in red-and-white. Then Horsham YMCA got lucky.  Some defensive dithering alongside Tyrone Pink making a nuisance of himself led to the ball being set up nicely for Tre Mitford.  Flight BA123 from Gatwick to Tenerife was in more danger than the back of the net.  Just before half-time, Pink, having drawn the keeper, set up Chris O’Flaherty and he also missed by a mile.  0-0 at halftime The second half was even, but nothing much of particular note.  Both keepers had to do some work, but much of it routine.  Redhill sub Fiachra McArdle came on for his debut and immediately added some guile to the attack playing more from attacking midfield rather than as a target man right up front.  Even as I wrote that note (82mins) we then had groans at the other end as YMCA missed a decent chance.  Redhill fluffed a break after 88mins and then we had the only real moment of drama.  A Redhill cross from the left was cleared vertically and spinning high into the air, and it dropped into the six-yard box with snow on it.  Lockwood appeared to fumble it and it bounced in off Redhill sub Gavin Gordon – but the ref called a foul on Lockwood (I think) and so the teams have to do it all again.  Final score 0-0
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League
Nationwide attention to your rubbish bins. https://www.facebook.com/groups/271732876311415/
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
A clean sheet each for yellow and purple.  Here, as promised, is an update.  Purple goes top after today’s result.  The story so far: 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, -1pt for a goal conceded and +5pts for a clean sheet P W D L GA (-1 each) CS (5 each) Pts Pts per Game Purple 4 2 1 1 8 2 9 2.25 Grey 16 7 3 6 23 5 26 1.63 Green 15 8 1 6 21 4 24 1.60 Red 4 2 0 2 5 1 6 1.50 Orange 4 2 1 1 6 1 6 1.50 Yellow 8 2 3 3 11 2 8 1.00 Blue 8 3 2 3 14 2 7 0.88 Radioactive Bile 6 2 0 4 12 0 -6 -1.00 Maroon 2 1 0 1 5 0 -2 -1.00 Pink 7 1 3 3 16 0 -10 -1.43
Soapbox Section
Back to school on Monday, and lots about the purpose of education in the media again this last week.  A damning report on the failure of the “system” to improve so-called “social mobility” appeared, from a commission led by Alan Milburn.  The report and its findings have been quickly criticised as “lazy stereotyping” by the organisation representing the headteachers of leading independent schools.  Here is the BBC’s initial coverage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28953881 If I ever do get round to writing down a proper autobiography (though who on earth would want to read it is another matter entirely) I will have to think a lot about this stuff to make sense of what has happened to me.  When I look at my family tree, pieced together over several years, I see lots of large families with very little chance to do anything other than work hard in the factories of the Black Country, and, in the case of the women, spend their whole lives raising children and grandchildren.  It was educational success, measured in those days only by being able to remember stuff for exams, that gave me some choice and control in life that my ancestors never had.  My current GCSE classes are probably already fed up of me referring to this (but I am not going to stop anytime soon).  There is no doubt that getting to study Natural Sciences at Cambridge shaped my life. I do not hanker after a golden era of education from the 70s, 80s or 90s.  Trust me, there wasn’t one, except for a few.  I joined the profession to help change it.  The nearest we got since then was a brave Conservative decision to give school funding control to heads and governors (in the late 80s) followed by the Labour changes which (at that time) reined in some of the excesses of market forces. But that will be for another soapbox section entirely, when important matters of goalkeeper top colour impact have been settled. Meanwhile, the excellent NewsBiscuit parody site has given us a reversal of the Milburn findings! http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2014/08/29/reality-tv-needs-to-be-more-inclusive-for-eton-oxbridge-graduates/
What Next?
I am at a wedding next Saturday and so will miss the formalities of Non-League Day this time round.  Looking further ahead I will be taking in all four games of the North Berkshire League Hop on 20 September.