Saturday 24 February 2018

Meantime, Here is the News from Greenwich


Hopperational details
Date & Venue
Saturday 24 February 2018 at The DGS Stadium.  Cray Valley (PM) are groundsharers here.


Result
Greenwich Borough 1 Chipstead 0
Competition
Isthmian League Division One South (Step 4)
Hopstats
Ground 636 on the lifetime list.  Not enough time for a long Step 3 drive today so chose my nearest Step 4 unvisited ground and made it through the Blackwell Tunnel in time.
Context
Greenwich Borough have been in the top six for most of the season but arrive at today with a run of two defeats. Chipstead are mid-table but have won their last three, so it should be a competitive game.
In one sentence
Not a classic on a bright and cold day, but Greenwich breached a stubborn Chipstead defence with a scruffy late goal to take the points.
So what?
The teams finish the day in 5th and 14th place respectively.
Match Report
There was not much to write about in the first quarter.  On a very cold but bright day, Chipstead started with the wind and down the slope, and too many passes were overhit.  They were more direct and through-the-middle than the home side, who used their wide players more.  However, Chipstead’s defence was strong and well-organised.  Other than a two-on-two which Greenwich failed to use, the first half-hour passed without much goalmouth action.  Chipstead conceded (and complained about) a number of free-kicks in midfield, and again a good deal of overt dissent was ignored by the referee.

On 32 minutes, Borough’s Jack Barham showed great skill in controlling a flick-on, then turning and volleying to bring a good save from Chipstead keeper Michael Sibley.  However, Chipstead had their best two chances before the interval.  Michael Campbell latched on to a through ball and lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper Michael McEntegart, but also just over the bar.  Then Sam Bell headed wide, presumably not realising that Sam Page was better placed just behind him.  So, goalless at the half-way point.

In the second half, Greenwich began to build the pressure, but the Chipstead defenders were more often than not able to protect their keeper by blocking shots at source.  The home side were running with the ball rather than playing passes into the channels.  Sibley made a great save to deny Barham and it looked as if Chipstead had weathered the storm.  Their own occasional breaks were snuffed out easily enough but it looked like the game was heading for a draw.

With seven minutes of normal time, Greenwich substitute Omari Delgardo-Hibbert showed strength and perseverance to get the ball under control near the byeline.  He smashed the ball very hard into the six-yard box and it was deflected over the line at the near post.  They all count, and this one settled the game.  Three hard-earned points for Borough and no reward for a hard afternoon for the Chipstead defence.

Ground Pix
The ground is a work-in-progress following Greenwich Borough’s arrival this season.  It is now predominantly branded in the club’s red-and-black though Cray Valley (PM) remain as the other groundsharers.  Some very deep potholes at the entrance to the car park so groundhoppers with Ferraris or Lamborghinis are advised to use their mopeds instead.






Match Pix
Greenwich Borough in red-and-black.













Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
Blue beats Yellow with a clean sheet too and jumps one place in the table.  Michael McEntegart is (as far as I know) the first keeper I have seen twice in one season wearing different colours.  Last month he was in pink for Ashford United at Faversham, and he must have joined his manager Paul Barnes in making this recent move.

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.  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
Fire Cracker
2.0
1.0
0.0
1.0
4.0
1.0
4.0
2.000
Blue
32.1
14.0
6.0
12.1
49.0
11.0
54.0
1.682
Maroon
4.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
6.0
1.0
6.0
1.500
Green
73.0
36.0
10.0
27.0
122.0
19.0
91.0
1.247
Grey
43.5
20.0
9.0
14.5
72.5
11.0
51.5
1.184
Orange
29.5
9.0
6.0
14.5
49.5
5.0
8.5
0.288
Radioactive Bile
13.0
6.0
0.0
7.0
26.0
2.0
2.0
0.154
Yellow
31.0
8.0
7.0
16.0
65.0
5.0
-9.0
-0.290
Purple
12.0
5.0
2.0
5.0
31.0
2.0
-4.0
-0.333
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


What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter for details!  I am back to science teaching three days a week again for the foreseeable future, so may have to defer some of the longer journeys until later in the season.


No comments:

Post a Comment