A Cup Draw from Long Eaton

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 17 September at Grange Park
Result	Long Eaton United 1 Gainsborough Trinity 1
Competition	FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground #757 on the lifetime list. I am here a week later than originally scheduled, but all games were postponed as is well understood. The original reason for my choice of venue was a randomish event, as Twitter followers will have seen. The new Prime Minister used the word “deliver” or one of its derivatives exactly three times from her first speech in Downing Street. Only two and I would have been at Sheppey United, another one and it would have been Lancing. It seems a long time ago now, and rather insignificant. For the record, she stated that the previous bloke had delivered something, she was going to focus to delivering things, and in the final sentence she was determined to deliver. Buy shares in moped manufacturers immediately. Anyway …
Context
Gainsborough sit mid-table in the Step 3 Northern Premier and beat Loughborough United in the last round to get here. Long Eaton United came up to Step 4 from the United Counties Premier North as last season’s champions, and are mid-table at Step 4 in the Northern Premier Division One East (or something like that).  They’ve beaten Sherwood Colliery (after a replay), Quorn (convincingly) and Hednesford Town (away) and also beat Gresley Rovers in the rearranged FA Trophy game in midweek – the match I would have attended but for postponement.
In One Sentence
A hard-fought and reasonably entertaining game with defences generally on top, with the visitors scoring a late equaliser.
So What?
Both teams are in the proverbial hat for the next round draw, and there will be a replay in midweek.
Pre-match Entertainment
Pause for a short walk and a bonus ice-cream cone at Trent Lock, near the confluence of Trent and Soar, where some of my ancestors may well have paddled around and plied their trades.
Match Report
A minute’s silence in reflection of the life of HM the Queen was observed before kickoff. It was clear that Long Eaton were not going to be overawed by the status of their visitors, just as in the previous round at Hednesford. Defences were well on top, albeit with some brave blocks and headers from both teams. It was interesting to watch Clayton Donaldson at work for Trinity. He has dropped another tier since I last saw him at York City, and fair play to him for still going strong. As with Grant Holt whom I saw at Wroxham last season, he made up for reduced pace and energy with positioning and vision. Having said that he would have been disappointed to see a long-distance first-half effort drift wide with the home keeper out of position. The best chance of the half fell to Long Eaton after 38 minutes. A surge break down the left ended up with a chance and a good block by the keeper. The home side, though, took the lead from the resulting corner, Alex Marshall hooking the ball in from close range, to give Long Eaton the half-time advantage. Gainsborough’s management made a double substitution at half time, and their third also came before Long Eaton made any change. The game followed the same general pattern. Long Eaton missed a chance for a second when Marshall’s attempted lob when through was easily caught. Gainsborough began to commit more men forward and I made a note that this was going to be 2-0 or 1-1. It was to be the latter. Donaldson’s persistence at the byline led to a loose ball in the six-yard box and it is his happy face in the background as substitute Tom Cursons hammers the ball into the net at the far post.   With about ten minutes left including stoppage time, it looked as if the visitors had been spurred into action. However, the match finished in a tense and tetchy atmosphere after the circumstances over a home free-kick were loudly disputed from the bench. The kick rebounded off a player who looked to be too close, but equally it looked as if the ball had been deliberately struck at him. The ref allowed play to continue, and Gainsborough rather wasted the gift chance of a break. That’s now history and the teams will meet again on Tuesday.
Other Match Pix - Long Eaton in blue & black stripes
Ground Pix
This is a neat-and-tidy ground with a very good playing surface.
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 258 matches is here, on this separate page. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 44% (50 from 113) 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 twenty priority grounds, that is to say Plymouth Parkway who are now in Step 3, and nineteen other Step 4 grounds to go. No definite plans for next week at this point.

 

 

Trains and Boats and Planes

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 3 September 2022 at the Sunseeker International County Ground
Result	Hamworthy United 0 Gosport Borough 0
Competition	FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Hopstats	Ground 756 on the lifetime list, chosen pragmatically this time as one of only two grounds on my priority list hosting a cup game today, and choosing this one allowed me to tick off one of the longer journeys while the weather is good.
Context
Hamworthy arrive on my Step 4 priority list this season having arrived in Southern Division 1 South (or whatever it’s called these days) as Wessex League Champions. Gosport play at Step 3 in the Southern Premier South. They sit in the upper half of their table after six games and enter the competition at this stage. Hamworthy have already despatched Bradford Town (4-0 away) and Badshot Lea (3-2 home) in earlier rounds and are going well with an undefeated start in the league after four games.
In One Sentence
Sometimes dour, sometimes tetchy, always competitive.
So What?
Replay on Wednesday, draw for the next round on Monday.
Pre-match Entertainment
A stroll along London’s South Bank between trains, followed by a stroll through Hamworthy Park to Poole Quays with views over Poole Harbour.
Match Report
Gosport got into their rhythms quicker and fashioned the first couple of half-chances, but nothing really close. Hamworthy gradually got themselves into the contest, but goal efforts for both sides tended to be high or wide. The game was largely fought between the defensive lines and it was honourably goalless at the break. The game turned potentially when Gosport’s keeper Patrick O’Flaherty was sent off for clattering an opponent just outside the box. I was at the other end so can’t comment in detail other than to say that the ref consulted his assistant first. Number 9 Dan Wooden became the new occupant of the shirt – literally – in the first example I’ve seen (see below) of the high-performing Green keeper top staying on the pitch when its occupant was dismissed… (by the way, new readers, don’t take me too seriously).   Gosport showed some character with spirited defending and blocking as Hamworthy tried to take advantage. A B-52 bomber and some of the Red Arrows display were also visible in the distance as a nil-nil stalemate looked more and more likely. Gosport had a half-chance in stoppage time but a low shot was saved comfortably enough, and the sides will meet again in midweek.
Ground Pix
Match Pix
Post-Match Entertainment
Glimpses from the Bournemouth Air Show had been a feature of the afternoon, and the Red Arrows passed directly overhead moments after the final whistle. Then it was back to Hertfordshire via the South Bank again, where no-one, as yet, is worrying about turning off the lights.
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 257 matches is here, on this separate page. Today was a contest between Radioactive Bile and Green. Clean sheet for each. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Away Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 45% (50 from 112) 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! At some point I have to get to Plymouth Parkway to re-complete “everywhere down to Step 3” and there are 20 more grounds for “everywhere down to Step 4”, but including some long journeys that might not be practical in the winter months, even without budget considerations.