Red Top, Red Mist, Red Card

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 29 August 2016 at The Memorial Ground
Result	Little Oakley 2 Biggleswade 2 (Biggleswade win 4-1 on penalties)
Competition	FA Trophy First Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground #815 on the lifetime list, and I am here randomishly because of the roll of a die, in the manner of the early days of this blog, almost 600 blogposts ago.
Context
Both teams play at Step 4, the hosts in the Isthmian League D1 North and the visitors in the Southern League D1 Central. Biggleswade narrowly missed promotion to Step 3 last season, and Little Oakley are playing their first ever FA Trophy fixture after their promotion as Essex Senior League champions.
Match Report
Well, for a passing neutral like me, this was compelling entertainment. Maybe not of the highest quality in terms of tactics and execution, but with a result in doubt until the closing seconds, and with an inexplicable late twist. Biggleswade led 1-0 at the interval, and on balance they deserved that. Little Oakley came back with two goals after the interval and it looked like their promising start to the season would continue. Of course, knockout competitions breed risk-taking and desperation, and Biggleswade got an equaliser in stoppage time, a neat finish by Alex Marsh. I was at the other end from this goal, and cannot tell you what provocation led the red-clad home goalkeeper James Askew to see a colour-co-ordinated mist. He made unwelcome physical contact with a Biggleswade player, pushing him to the ground. The referee consulted the assistant before showing the matching card. The clubs must have agreed that the match could go straight to penalties if drawn, and so, with all substitutes used (more of this later) the outfield substitute Joe Howard had to don the keeper’s jersey. The shootout itself was somewhat anticlimactic. Biggleswade scored their first, Little Oakley missed their first, but Biggleswade put two more good ones past the stand-in before the third home penalty was saved by George Rose (in blue). This meant that a successful fourth would win it for Biggleswade, and indeed that is what happened. How did we get to this point, you ask? Well, fortunately the rain eased off before kickoff and both teams looked positive about attacking and trying to win the game. Biggleswade winger B11 spent much of the first minute trying to turn his opposing full-back inside out, but the resulting corner came to nothing. Both teams were direct, with second balls and knockdowns of great importance, but occasionally each team would string together a sequence of one-touch passes on the break. Biggleswade’s opening goal after 25 minutes was a neat left-foot strike by Adam Hunt. The end-to-end exchanges continued. Who knows what was said in the dressing rooms at half-time but Little Oakley emerged with four substitutes in play. They could have equalised in the first minute after the restart. Then there was a comedy moment (except maybe for the club treasurer) when a ball was cleared into an adjacent garden only for the replacement ball to bounce over the same fence a few seconds later. The action continued with a disallowed Biggleswade goal – the home defence had stepped upfield just in time – and at this point both teams looked like they might score. Little Oakley had to press and this left space for Biggleswade on the break. The home side were maybe getting a bit more desperate now but it needed two interventions in quick succession from Rose to protect the lead. However, the equaliser came just after the hour, a textbook header by Jack Ladbrook from a training ground routine which involved all the players initially huddled together with the density of a neutron star. Conversation in the stands now turned to whether anyone knew whether it would be extra-time and/or penalties and/or a replay, but was curtailed when sub Jordi Papple rounded Rose to make the score 2-1. Rose soon made another excellent save to deny the home side their third. What a result that would have been for these Step 4 newcomers, but the denouement, as explained above was savage. Thanks to the home volunteers who were very welcoming. I left quickly for another tricky drive around the M25 with low sun and rain, but the roll of the die this morning had certainly given me an entertaining game to watch. As would be expected, the ground itself is in transition now between Step 5 and Step 4 requirements.
So What?
Cliché time : Biggleswade are in the proverbial hat for the next round, Little Oakley are not.
Pre-match Entertainment
Plans for a quayside walk thwarted but not by traffic this week. This time, a mighty deluge meaning that a good Duolingo session in the car was a more attractive option. Spot the differences between The North Sea and the Mediterranean
Pix
I’d left my Canon compact at home so I had to make do with my mobile phone this week … hosts in blue-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, a rare appearance for Red, lining up against Blue. The result is enough to demote Red in the colour league table, mainly because it is a small sample size. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (107 from 221)
What Next?
Hopefully another ground ticked off on Bank Holiday Monday. No decision made as yet, will depend on weather. I’ve added Workington to my priority list for the season – I had forgotten that they have a temporary home with their rugby league counterparts for a season or two.

 

Biggleswade Don't Deliver the Goods

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	1 January 2024 at JSJ Stadium, New Roker Park
Result	Stotfold 6 Biggleswade 0
Competition	Southern League Division 1 Central (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 772 on the lifetime list and I am here because Stotfold were able to confirm “Game On” before any of the other teams on today’s shortlist.
Context
A mid-table fixture with the visitors a little higher. A local derby (the teams are about six miles apart) for the bank holiday Monday. They haven’t yet played each other this season. Biggleswade not to be confused with either Biggleswade Town (also in this division) or Biggleswade United, playing at Step 5 in the Spartan South Midlands Premier. If there is a smaller town with three senior men’s teams, I’d be surprised.
In One Sentence
Game over after 15 minutes when the score was already 4-0.
So What?
13th and 11th at the end of the day but Biggleswade have played two games fewer.
Match Report
The first goal after five minutes was from Stotfold’s second good chance. The bad week for goalkeepers in Purple continued even after Tyler Josephs had made one good block. The second came almost immediately from a narrow angle, and the third was a surgical strike down the right leading to a crossfield pass with the scorer in square decametres of space (take that, Jacob Rees-Mogg). When the fourth went in from a superbly struck direct free-kick on the quarter-hour mark, I wondered why I was still standing as far away from the action as I could have been. The fifth was scored after 35 minutes, the ref playing advantage to good effect. So, half-time, and then the rains came. The playing and watching conditions after the interval were unpleasant and Stotfold charitably added just the one more. Biggleswade had been pretty toothless without looking dispirited, Stotfold had been clinical, Josephs had been very busy. For the record the goalscorers were: James Peters, Henry Snee, Callum Kane, Matt Ball, Robbie Buchanan and Snee again.
Ground Pix
Visit the Non-League Bins Facebook Group
Match Pix
Sorry about the quality. Stotfold in yellow-and-black.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Threads just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable test of statistical significance, it looks like an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test will be appropriate. The full keeper top performance table from my last 287 matches is here, on this separate page, and I’ll organise the test when we reach 300 pieces of evidence. Today a big win and a clean sheet for Grey over Purple. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far (48%) 68 from 142
What Next?
Weather conditions will decide whether I can get to a Saturday game, but whatever happens I am heading for WBA v Aldershot on Sunday. My first visit to The Hawthorns for several seasons now, and my grandson’s first match. The West Brom genes have come good.

 

Moneyfields Three-Two Tight to Mention

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 31 October 2020 at Moneyfields Sports Ground
Result	Moneyfields 3 Kidlington 2
Competition	FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 718 on the lifetime list, and I am here pragmatically because very few of my seasonal target grounds are in the lowest tier of Covid-19 designations.
Context
Both teams entered the competition in the last round, and both arrive at this fixture via 2-1 home wins. Moneyfields beat Basingstoke Town and Kidlington defeated Didcot Town. These sides are both in Step 4 Southern League divisions, but geographically separated with the hosts in Division One South and the visitors from Division One Central.
In One Sentence
Moneyfields came from behind to win with two very late goals after a red card for a key Kidlington defender.
So What?
Time for the usual sentence to go here, the one about Moneyfields in the hat for the next round and Kidlington concentrating on the league.
Pre-match Entertainment
After a horrendous drive down south in monsoon conditions, a pint down the road at The Jolly Taxpayer, putting the world to rights with a couple of strangers I met off the internet. You know who you are, and it was great to catch up with you!
Match Report
Thankfully the weather conditions improved as forecast and this turned out to be a compelling, competitive game with a dramatic twist at the end. It started out oddly enough with one of the assistant referees slipping on the muddy touchline and getting a match-ending injury. It didn’t look good. The call went over the PA for a replacement, and one was found fairly quickly. I think my FA Class 3 badge has lapsed now so I didn’t even think about it. I’m also sixty-two, with the mobility of a supertanker and a sensitivity to abuse concerning my sexuality and parentage, so not a good match for modern lino duty. Both teams had tried to stay warm during the ten-minute delay but Moneyfields were caught cold from the restart. Callum Harvey hooked in acrobatically at the far post to give Kidlington the lead. We saw a couple of great saves from the Kidlington keeper Christian Lawrence but on the second occasion Kieran Roberts was able to fire in an equaliser to send the sides in level at half-time. Good contest at this point, not much either way and defences on top though both sides looking to dictate. Half-time: Moneyfields 1 Kidlington 1 The end-to-end action continued as Lawrence saved well from a one-on-one (with a hint of offside) just before Kidlington took the lead through Jacob Davidge, with just over twenty minutes to go. Moneyfields had to respond quickly and so nearly equalised with a slick move down the right, but the attacking player sliding in at the far post could not make enough contact as the ball skidded across the box. Then came the turning point of the game. A red card was given to Kidlington’s Tom Franklin and it was a tad too long before he started the walk. The gentleman scribbling furiously on the clipboard nearby at this point may well have been a referee’s assessor. I can’t confirm whether it was straight red or second yellow, but it changed the game. The absence of Franklin’s aerial defensive qualities was arguably a factor in the denouement. Kidlington held firm until there were only two minutes left on the clock. Lawrence half-stopped a shot but Roberts was in the right spot to poke in the equaliser. With a penalty shootout now looking likely (as I had mischievously suggested at 3pm on Twitter from the keepertopcolourstats) there was to be one final plot twist. A stoppage time corner for Moneyfields was initially repelled but the second cross found its way to the far post where Steve Hutchings headed in. A really good game, and in good company, to end this phase of football-watching for the season. Great effort from both sides in tricky conditions and a club that is well worth a visit for any groundhoppers.
Pix
All taken from one vantage point this week. Moneyfields in yellow shirts, Kidlington in some kind of luminous green. The pitch invaders had no effect on the play. Keep your football-is-not-for-gulls jokes to yourself please ;) Black-headed gull in winter plumage in the holding midfield position (Reliable source: Martyn Y)
CV19 Comment
Lots of sensible procedures in place – track and trace details collected, one way systems in the bar, table service, helpful tweets before the game with download details for the relevant apps. Two conclusions to be made once again, as they have been at every match I’ve been to this year. The clubs have done everything asked of them but a significant number of people, especially the under-30s, are largely paying no attention. Secondly, for me personally this is a safer activity than going to work at school, but only because this district is in the lowest tier of CV prevalence. The same behaviour in a Tier 3 district would almost certainly have been a spreading event, and the reaction to scientists Whitty and Vallance on social media as I write (on Saturday evening) shows over and over again that the general public aren’t accepting what they are being shown through the numbers. Sadly, I won’t be around to see what historians make of all this. I doubt whether it will be complimentary.
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 219 matches is here, on this separate page. Custodian with floodlight, rooftops and diesel multiple-unit (2020) This week Black beats Orange, but no clean sheets and no change in the league table positions. Again slightly surprised to see a top that clashes with the referee's kit. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win (on Penalties) Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 49% (36 from 74) 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?
As you will understand, not much. The spreadsheet shows fourteen grounds on my “everywhere down to and including Step 4” priority list, but there is no sensible way to plan, and for some grounds such as Brentford I would be way down the ticket priority list when attendance is allowed again. Thank you for reading the blog this season. I will pick up the threads again as soon as Covid-19 arrangements allow. In the meantime, stamp collecting beckons.

New from 'Ard Men: The Strong Rouslers

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 16 February 2019 at The Victoria Ground
Result	Bromsgrove Sporting 5 Kempston Rovers 0
Competition	Southern League Division One Central (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 679 on the lifetime list and this visit completes the division leaving 26 more Step 4 grounds for me to cover.  I saved this particular visit for a day when an overdue reunion would also be possible ... read on.
Context
Sporting (aka The Rouslers) start the day in second place and will be expected to beat their lower-placed opponents today.
In one sentence
Never in doubt – a Sporting demolition.
So what?
Big game next weekend as Sporting go to divisional leaders Peterborough Sports.  Kempston remain ten points clear of the relegation places, which ought to be enough.
Match Report
It is my pleasure to welcome the blog’s first guest writer, and a proper one at that.  Nigel Roberts reports from the Victoria Ground.  He and I go back a long way, as he will explain.  Over to you, matey, the textbox is yours ... So this was the New Year missive from my old mate and university roomie that finally took me back to Bromsgrove’s Victoria Ground yesterday, a shameful nine years after my last visit -  ‘Have a look at the Bromsgrove Sporting fixture list and pick out a Saturday that works for you. I am down to my last few Step 4 grounds now after some good recent trips and BS are the only side left to do in their division.’ When my son was small I was head coach at Finstall Juniors FC and we had a good relationship with Bromsgrove Rovers. We held our Christmas parties at the Victoria Ground, on the day of the last home match before the festivities. With over a hundred kids on the books and family members in attendance, we doubled the gate one year. My son was a season-ticket holder. Coaching staff regularly took tens of kids to the game.  The Chairman asked me once if I’d be interested in joining the board. I still shudder at the thought. Through a combination of in-fighting and appalling mismanagement, and amid dark rumours over ground ownership, Rovers hit the buffers and went bust. In the centenary year of football at the Victoria Ground, the club’s 125 year history crumbled to dust. Then in 2010, thanks to the dedication of a fans’ consortium, Bromsgrove Sporting rose from the ashes, and with the help of the local council football at the Victoria Ground was secured.  Rovers were a fine club. Runners-up to Martin O’Neill’s Wycombe Wanderers in the old Conference in season 1992-3 with gates regularly approaching 2,000, the club reached the third round of the FA Cup the following year, claiming a football league scalp en route and narrowly losing to Barnsley after having the temerity not only to take the lead but then to hold that lead until the 88th minute, with close on 5,000 shoe-horned into the ground. Former managers included Birmingham City and England goalkeeper Gil Merrick, and West Bromwich Albion legend Bobby Hope.   So when Graham’s offer came a-calling, how could I possibly say no? The opportunity to walk once more with friendly ghosts was one I was never going to refuse.  First impressions of the ground nine years on showed that the years of decline had been most assuredly reversed. Bright and well-appointed, this seemed a club on the move. Taking my lead from Graham (it was his gig after all), I was more than happy to walk several paces behind, to snap a few pics and to look for Finstall Juniors’ tots around every corner and in the stands.  The biggest upgrade was in the clubhouse. Supping a well-kept pint of Holden’s Golden, my gaze fell upon the picture of a handsome young player, prominently displayed, and a lump came into my throat.  Tom Jones was on Sporting’s books as a junior. I had been his first coach at Finstall Juniors. He was five when he joined and sometimes he was a handful. But he was a joy to work with.  Last September he started at Worcester University. He was walking home late one night in freshers’ week, down by the river, but he never reached home. His body was found in the water a week later. All of Bromsgrove mourned his passing. The Coroner gave an open verdict, and he wept as he delivered it.   Dear, dear Tom. How he loved the Finstall Juniors Christmas parties at the Rovers.  Out of the clubhouse and straight into the queue for food. An unexpected gourmet delight, and customer service of the highest order. ‘Would you like your mushy peas on your pie, or by the side of it?’ The pie was cold. But it didn’t seem to matter.  As for the game itself, it was a Sporting demolition job. By the time of the fifth goal, a thunderous strike into the top corner from outside the box, the old ground was rocking again. ‘We’re the Bromsgrove Boys, Making all the Noise, Everywhere We Go’.  Then in glorious homage to dear old Rovers, I spotted the green and black flag on the back wall. Rovers colours. ‘Green Army’ it proudly proclaimed. ‘Green Army’ sang the crowd.  Ghosts, friendly ghosts, everywhere to be seen and everywhere to be heard. Nigel’s own blog (To Belarus and Beyond) is here: https://nigelroberts23.wordpress.com/ His fourth edition of the Bradt Travel Guide to Belarus (told you he was a proper writer) has now been published.  Some of the groundhopping community have already taken advantage of the relaxation in visa rules in recent years. Bradt Guide to Belarus (Nigel Roberts) For the rivet-counters' records, Bromsgrove’s win looked likely as early as the 8th minute, as Tom Taylor buried a header from Josh Quaynor’s corner.  The two combined again in the same way with the same result after 35 minutes.  Visiting keeper James Martin was adjudged to have tripped an attacker in first-half stoppage time, and Jason Cowley scored from the spot.  Cowley got his second early in the second half, cutting in from the left to score with a low shot.  The goal of the day was an absolute rocket from sub John Pykett which would supply enough icing for several cakes.  Charlie Dowd also caught the eye on the flank for The Rouslers, who had a relatively untroubled day in defence.  The movement and unselfishness of the home attack was great to watch.  Hoppers: if you’ve not been here, move it up your list. Here are the pix to capture 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 moments:
Other Pix
The Chairman’s notes state that the ground will shortly be up to National League standard.  It’s an impressive set-up, and just over 900 were in attendance.    Careers for non-physicists #32 (I don't get mascots)
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course. Today, Grey hands out a thrashing to Green, and the clean sheet is enough to claim second place in the table, pushing blue back to third.  Green still has a secure grip on fourth place. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 63% (22 from 35) 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 half-and-half tops or 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 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 10.5 5.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.5 24.0 2.286 Grey 50.5 24.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 15.0 77.5 1.535 Blue 44.1 19.0 7.0 18.1 68.0 14.0 66.0 1.497 Green 96.0 50.0 12.0 34.0 161.0 23.0 116.0 1.208 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Orange 46.5 15.0 9.0 22.5 86.5 7.0 2.5 0.054 Radioactive Bile 22.0 9.0 0.0 13.0 48.0 3.0 -6.0 -0.273 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 35.0 9.0 7.0 19.0 77.0 5.0 -18.0 -0.514 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  Half-term week ahead so maybe even a cheeky midweek trip. Or two.