Bourne Equality

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Monday 31 August 2026 at Mortgages For You Stadium, Tattershall Road
Result	Boston Town 1 Bourne Town 1
Competition	Northern Premier League Division One Midlands (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground #817 on my lifetime list. Here rather than elsewhere with a one-in-four chance as shown in the video clip above.
The Randomness
The “castle” on the Czech 10-koruna coin turns out on further research to be the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul in Brno. The obverse is indeed a rather rampant heraldic Lion. The Irish penny coin has a Celtic harp obverse and a hen-and-chick parade on the reverse.
Context
It was only just before kickoff that I realised that my visit to Bourne Town in May 2025 was probably the last time that these clubs met. On that day, Bourne won promotion on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the playoff. Boston Town got automatic promotion from the United Counties League last season, so now both clubs have reached Step 4.
Match Report
Bourne were forced into a very early substitution and it wasn’t long before they conceded. Zak Munton’s neat curling shot into the far corner gave the keeper no chance. Boston had two more shooting chances before the Bourne equaliser. The ball fell nicely for Zac Allen after a long throw and he made no mistake. 1-1 The game now settled into a very even and end-to-end contest. Both sides created half-chances but generally defences did well. It was never a dull encounter. For a while, Bourne played the more measured on-the-floor approaches in contrast to more directness down the channels from Boston. There were no further goals before the interval. The second half provided more of the same. I made a note after about 70 minutes that Bourne were very slightly in ascendance, but with very little in it. The game continued at a good pace. Both keepers were well-protected by their defences and they did what they had to do, often looking for early release of counter-attacks. Credit to both sides for not settling for the draw. This could have gone either way in the final few stretched and frantic minutes. Probably a fair result but both sides will have recollections of half-chances that could have won all three points.
So What?
Still very early days for league tables as some clubs have played more cup games than others, or had matches postponed due to cup involvement by their opponents. Boston Town are mid-table with seven points from five games, Bourne Town are lower with four points but they have only played three league games.
Pre-match Entertainment
A walk around Boston town centre in the lunchtime sunshine. I found it somewhat ironic that a town so closely associated with migration based largely on religious affiliation should now have a number of St George flags hanging pathetically here and there around the place. None but the brave deserve the (Boston) Fair !
Pix
This ground is now in transition between Step 5 and Step 4 requirements and more work will be needed if the team stays at this level. Staff and volunteers were universally friendly and helpful, but the teacher in me would love the spelling errors to be corrected before too long! The ground has some interesting features such as the press box and has plenty of cover against the eastern England breezes. The pitch was decent enough to allow each team to play its chosen style.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, Pink (Sam Edwards) v Yellow (Will Lakin). Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (108 from 223)
What Next?
Probably London City Lionesses v Manchester United Women on Friday evening in Bromley, unless I try for a Herts Senior League game later today. In other news, @ModusHRandom on Twitter has been re-started and at the time of writing I have precisely one follower. I do understand, I’m increasingly niche these days!

 

 

Churchmen Celebrate Two Conversions

Hopperational details
Date & Venue:
Saturday 2 August 2014 at The Coppice Colliery Ground.
Result:  Heath Hayes 0 Alvechurch 2
Competition:
The Step 5 Premier Division of the newly constituted Midland Football League.
Hopping:
First of the season, and lifetime ground #537.

Pre-Match Preparation
This was a chance to return to the blog’s random roots, and here’s the evidence …


Then a quick skim of the match programme reveals that the home side’s keeper is a teacher and there are three WBA supporters in the squad.  That is all I need to know.

This Match in One Sentence
Heath Hayes weathered early pressure but eventually conceded defeat to two late goals.

So What?
Too early to say as this is the first round of fixtures of the new league season.

The Drama Unfolds 
Alvechurch imposed their greater physical presence on the first few minutes and they probably should have taken the lead.  By the time I took these clips at the midway point the game had settled into a more even midfield battle.  To be honest, it was undistinguished early-season stuff at this stage with very few chances to speak of.  Heath Hayes are in blue-and-white.




Half-time: Heath Hayes 0 Alvechurch 0

Heath Hayes took greater control after the break and dominated territory though the Alvechurch keeper remained relatively untroubled.  The game, a tad more entertaining now, was heading towards 0-0 when Alex Scott was harshly penalised (in my opinion) for a foul just outside the area.  This photo shows the ball on the way to the top right-hand corner from the set piece, beautifully struck by Connor Deards.  The episode left home keeper Danny Ware screaming in frustration at his defenders.  0-1 after 81 mins

There was a chance at each end before Deards slotted home the second goal with three minutes left, to remove all doubt about the result.  Final Score 0-2

Ground Pix

Match Pix

Something You Don’t Get in the Premier League

At PL grounds the Rollers would all be in the players' car park #satire

Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Last season’s statistical work confirmed that huddles are pointless and you need not pay any more than 40p these days for a Mars Bar.  These two facts are undeniable so I can let the surveys go.  However, the goalkeeper top database was inconclusive so I will keep the survey going for longer.  Today an orange keeper kept a clean sheet whilst a red one let in two.  I will put an updated table in the blog once a month or so.  Remember, all this stems from an explanation from Chelsea's Petr Cech that orange was the best colour for goalkeepers.

Soapbox Section
Last season my blogging record was patchy as I have returned to a full-time position of significant responsibility in a secondary school.  This season I will try to keep up a weekly Saturday hop but midweek jaunts in term-time are a thing of the past.  I may have to be pragmatic rather than truly random with a higher proportion of my game choices.  However, I also reserve author’s right this season to try to catch readers’ interest from time to time with other stuff.  Notice the position of the apostrophe showing my optimism that there is more than one of you out there at any given time.  I dare say some of it will be about education, science or mathematics.  Humour me.

This week, something provocative for starters.  My sons are now well into their twenties, and both West Brom fans, as am I (nominally).  West Bromwich is the town of my birth, and the Yapplets were exposed occasionally during their formative years to life at The Hawthorns with an occasional away jaunt thrown in.  I am sure they will always remember that Championship playoff semi-final second leg win against Wolves, for example.  I have never been a big spender in the club shop, though, as I felt that I was spending enough on the journey, the tickets and the programmes.  At that time (before my first retirement!) I was fortunate to earn a head teacher’s salary that at least gave us the option of having such a day out from time to time.

I just wouldn’t do it now.  Even on that same salary.  If you are a parent of two interested children, I just don’t know how you can look yourself in the mirror these days and tell yourself you are doing the best by them if you are paying Premier League prices and getting through a three-figure sum every time you go out of the door.  There are so many more things you could do with those funds to have a more lasting impact on those youngsters and give them more choices and opportunities in their later lives.  The people who are running the game now have broken the link between top clubs and their communities and their decisions are based on the principles of business rather than sport.

I therefore hope that you will pay attention to Non-League Day on 6 September and, if you have youngsters, take them along too.

What Next?
No idea, follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  Looking forward, however, to the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup in two weeks.

The Classic Dichotomy

Where Shall I Go Tonight?

WARNING : HIGH RISK OF PRETENTIOUSNESS

Do Not Take Seriously

A Tongue-in-Cheek Production for modushopperrandom

Wardrobe by George

Make-up by Polyfilla

Hair by growing it myself

Script by making it up as I go along

MHR MMX