East Meets West in the Southern League

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 20 January 2018 at Ladysmead
Result	Tiverton Town 2 St Ives Town 3
Competition	Southern League Premier Division (Step 3)
Hopstats	Ground 632, which completes this division and leaves me with three Northern grounds to complete everywhere-in-England-down-to-Step-3 aka The 232.  Not random today – this was the only unvisited Step 3 ground with an unapocalyptic weather forecast and the club helpfully tweeted the positive result of an early pitch inspection by the match referee.
Context
5th against 21st in the division so “on paper” a home banker.  Insert joke about playing on grass here.  That being said, Tiverton have had a rotten January with their only points being from a thumping of bottom side Gosport Borough.
In one sentence
St Ives made Tiverton pay a heavy price for a wasteful first half and won it from two down with a last-minute worldie from a sub.
So what?
Still 5th against 21st.  However, Slough Town in 6th have a ridiculous number of games in hand and this result is a blow to play-off hopes.  St Ives are also still plenty of points short of 20th place but there are two clubs in a very poor position below them this season so they should be safe.
Match Report
I was actually pleasantly surprised to read that the game had been given the green light by the match referee at 8.30am.  I drove through plenty of rain on the way to Devon and I was slightly concerned when I saw how much the pitch cut up during the warm-ups.  Thankfully, everyone seemed happy enough to get the game done and dusted and as a long-distance visitor I am grateful for that.  It was great entertainment for the passing neutral, but I suspect that the locals will have stereotypically consumed their own body weights in consolation cider and/or cream teas whilst I drove home.  That’s what I would be doing in their position.  I envisage head-scratching too. The match started in bright sunshine as both sides traded early chances, getting both keepers grubby.  Tiverton appealed strongly for a penalty after a direct freekick after 15 minutes.  Their claim was the defender in the wall had moved an arm or shoulder towards the ball.  The home side had gradually gained the ascendancy but there was a bit of defensive generosity about the opening goal.  Levi Landricombe found himself in a lot of space in the box with no offside flag as the ball arrived from midfield and it was a fairly easy finish. There were two other really good Tiverton chances before half-time.  One needed a goal-line clearance from Daniel Moyes and the other a good save by Tim Trebes from a shot by Jared Lewington.  The 1-0 interval scoreline was fair enough and in no way flattering to Tiverton. Their second goal came very early after the restart.  From a corner, Jamie Price headed against the upright and maybe it was slightly fortunate that it rebounded straight back off him and in.  How deliberate, I couldn’t say.  If I’m honest, I expected St Ives’ heads to drop as the pitch became increasingly heavy and difficult, but I know nothing. The pitch played a role in the visitors’ first goal.  A through ball dropped in the area with all the finesse of a British Mars Lander, made a crater and got stuck under an attacker’s feet just before the said attacker was then felled by an incoming defender.  Danny Watson buried the spot kick to keep the game interesting for neutrals. Tiverton tried to restore the two-goal margin and Landricombe (Levi, that is, as there is also a Michael) nearly had his second when he turned his defender in the mud and fired just over.  So close, and ultimately so expensive.  Just a couple of minutes later, two St Ives attackers had the freedom of Tiverton on the right and Oliver Snaith scored the equaliser.  The last 15 minutes was therefore set up to become VERY interesting. With just under ten minutes to go, Trebes had to take a booking for a cheeky pull on an attacker – again the pitch contributed to this by making the keeper fluff the clearance outside the box.  Then the rain started, more or less horizontally.  The finale was superb if you are from the East of England.  Tiverton had three subs all named Rogers, but it was St Ives’ sub of the same name, Declan, who scored a stunning left-foot shot from distance into the corner, with the scoreboard showing 89 minutes gone.  An absolute cracker, a points-stealer, a what-might-have-beener.  I’m just glad I was there to see it, and that the match took place at all.  On a trivial note, I wonder whether there has ever been another game where four of the ten subs had the same surname?
Ground Pix
Good clubhouse, seating all down the opposite side, and both ends covered.  Easy to park but read the website directions first because the actual entrance is not easily spotted from the main road.
Match Pix
Tiverton in yellow.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Orange loses to blue, but no clean sheets (or clean kit).  No change to the existing rank order, now based on the last 132 games that I’ve seen.  Sooner or later this will become statistically significant and it has been quite a while now since a change in the pecking order. Results so far: 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, and it deserves to be last, trust me.  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 Maroon 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 6.0 1.0 6.0 1.500 Blue 31.1 13.0 6.0 12.1 49.0 10.0 46.0 1.479 Grey 43.5 20.0 9.0 14.5 72.5 11.0 51.5 1.184 Green 71.0 35.0 9.0 27.0 121.0 18.0 83.0 1.169 Orange 29.5 9.0 6.0 14.5 49.5 5.0 8.5 0.288 Purple 11.0 5.0 2.0 4.0 25.0 2.0 2.0 0.182 Radioactive Bile 13.0 6.0 0.0 7.0 26.0 2.0 2.0 0.154 Yellow 28.0 8.0 6.0 14.0 58.0 5.0 -3.0 -0.107 Pink 15.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 30.0 1.0 -8.0 -0.533 Black 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 14.0 0.0 -8.0 -1.600 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105 Fire Cracker 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -4.000
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  The three northern priorities are Ashton United, Whitby Town and Athersley Recreation (Shaw Lane’s landlords).

Nessun Dorma in St Ives

Hopperational details
Date & Venue	Saturday 28 December 2013 at ProEdge Westwood Road
Result	St Ives Town 4 Ashford Town (Mdx) 0
Competition	Southern League Division One Central (Step 4)
Hopping	Number 529 on the lifetime list, at the first club within travelling distance to declare “game definitely on” on my Twitter feed this morning.
Pre-match preparation
St Ives are in mid-table in their first season at this level, and Ashford Town are bottom of the division.
This match in one sentence
St Ives took their chances and lasted the distance on a very heavy pitch – the win was straightforward but maybe not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
So what?
Order is preserved – St Ives will survive in Step 4 but Ashford Town (along with Chertsey Town) are now very detached from the pack.
The drama unfolds
The Ashford defence were looking into the low sun for the first half.  The first goal was a neat header from a curling free-kick – Lee Ellison the scorer and Jon Stead the provider from the right wing.  1-0  after 5 mins I took my scene-setter clip in the shadow of one of the floodlight posts to try to get the correct exposure levels. Avelino Viera caused problems for the Ashford defence all afternoon, often initiating attacks from the right-wing.  He provided the assist for the second goal, a header for Karl Gibbs.  2-0 after 21 mins The home side were in complete control of the game.  They had a third goal disallowed for a push, and there was a narrow escape for Ashford when the ball bounced randomly around the six-yard box.  However, the visitors finished the half strongly and had two half-chances just before the whistle.  2-0 at half-time Viera had an early second-half chance but Ashford’s keeper Tyler Tobin did well to block the fierce shot.  Ashford then had a chance of their own after a slip in midfield on the worsening pitch.  Barney McLaughin was forced into a full-length save and gathered the ball at the second attempt.  Both sides created and missed a number of chances in an end-to-end game.  Jon Stead certainly should have scored one, but he was not the only player to fire high and/or wide.  Viera continued to be central to the best St Ives moves. Ellison was left injured in the penalty area after one attack, and with the crowd yelling at the ref for ignoring a head injury, the physio was eventually called on – to treat his ankle after all.  Who’d be a ref?  Shortly afterwards, Viera got his goal, a tap-in after a decisive move down the left.  3-0 after 80 mins There was time for one more, a deft finish by Dan Banister as Ashford rather faded.  St Ives deserved their win, for sure, but Ashford really should have got themselves on the scoresheet.  4-0 after 87 mins and at full-time Thanks to the St Ives Town Twitter feed for helping with player identification.
Ground Pix
For my GCSE Science/Chemistry pupil stalkers (I know you are out there) – note this fine example of galvanising – placing a sacrificial layer of zinc on to the iron beneath in order to protect the valuable floodlight posts from rusting.  The thin layer of zinc often shows up as a “spangled” crystalline layer which is an indication of the regular arrangement of the zinc atoms in the metallic structure.  For a grade A you need to be able to explain why zinc is chosen for this particular task, and why metals have classic "metallic" properties such as strength, and conduction of electricity.  I keep telling you, science is all around you.  So is Latin - see below.  "Sudore non Supore" means "by labour, not (by) sleep" and is an exemplary use of the ablative case.  Might adopt this as the motto for my revision lessons next term ...
Match Pix
Huddle Stats
No huddling today. 2013-14 Summary so far: P W D L GF GA Pts Pts per Game Non-Huddlers 21 9 3 9 31 31 30 1.42 Huddlers 12 4 4 4 9 9 16 1.33 Twin Huddlers 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 1.00
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
The St Ives’ keeper wore green and Ashford Town’s wore yellow.  The two colours swap places in the table after this result. 2013-14 Summary 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 Red 1 1 0 0 0 1 8 8.00 Grey 9 5 2 2 9 4 28 3.11 Green 7 3 0 4 8 2 11 1.57 Yellow 4 1 1 2 8 1 1 0.25 Blue 2 0 1 1 2 0 -1 -0.50 Orange 3 1 1 1 6 0 -2 -0.67 Pink 5 1 3 1 10 0 -4 -0.80 Radioactive Bile 3 1 0 2 6 0 -3 -1.00
What Next?
Watch @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!