With the season currently on a two-week hiatus, we have looked back at the campaign and picked out some of the best statistics, numbers and data from the 2020/21 season so far.
It’s been a unique season which has seen a delayed start, late goals and postponements galore.
a disjointed campaign
A combination of Covid-19 issues and weather have created a huge backlog of fixtures over the course of the first four months of the season. A total of 126 fixtures have been postponed in 2020/21 so far across the National League North, with the huge number of 60 in January heavily inflated due to the ongoing fortnight break.
December has witnessed the fewest postponements with just 14 games falling victim, with November’s total of 52 successfully played matches a high over the opening months.
162 scheduled games have been played since October, with a mere 11% of those being played in the month of January.
In terms of Moors’ involvement in the league this season, it’s been a stop/start campaign to date. Spennymoor have played 13 times in the National League North, which is fewer than 17 of the other 21 teams in the division. That means that 77% of the league has played more times than Moors.
In fact, only York (12), Hereford (12) and Darlington (11) have played on fewer occasions.
LATE GOALS FOR AND AGAINST
It’s been a season of the late show. Moors have benefited from a host of goals coming late in games, predominantly in the final fifteen minutes of contests. However, there have also been late killer blows against, with late winners for AFC Fylde and Brackley Town leading to agonising 1-0 defeats respectively.
There have been 14 goals scored for and against after the 72nd minute across Spennymoor’s 13 league games in 2020/21. It’s an even split, with 7 for and 7 against. Interestingly, Moors have netted 38% of their 18 league goals in the final eight minutes, however, 43% of the 14 conceded has occurred in the same period.
Glen Taylor has made a habit of scoring vital late goals this season, earning three draws for Moors courtesy of goals in the 86th, 84th, 84th minutes respectively.
Both Nathan Buddle and Ben McKenna have scored past the 89th minute mark against Chester and Curzon Ashton respectively, goals which remain their only one this season.
TAYLOR AND RAMSHAW IMPORTANCE CONTINUES
The duo of Glen Taylor and Rob Ramshaw have been two vital cogs in the Spennymoor team for a number of years now, and their numbers in terms of league goals reflects that.
Taylor (8) and Ramshaw (5) have netted 72.2% of Moors’ league goals in 2020/21. They have averaged a combined goal contribution of 38.4% in the three previous National League North campaigns since promotion in 2017, with their 42.9% total in 2019/20 their best full season total to date.
Taylor’s goals alone have played a huge part in Moors’ success in recent times. Only Hereford’s Lenell Nicholas John-Lewis can match Taylor’s 44.4% contribution to their teams overall total so far this season.
RELATIVELY SPEAKING
This one is a little complicated, but it shines a light on how Moors are in a slightly false position given the number of games played across the division to date.
You can calculate a ‘Relative Performance Index‘ score by multiplying the team’s Points per Game (PPG) by the combined PPG average of their played opponents (Away PPG of opponents played at home and Home PPG of opponents played away).
Moors would jump up four places from 12th to 8th in the National League North table based on the RPI formula. League leaders Gloucester stay top, while AFC Fylde and Chester swap places in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Brackley jump one place to 4th, while Leamington’s impressive form means they go from 8th to 5th.
Kidderminster drop two places to 6th, Boston one to 7th and then Moors who benefit from a PPG of 1.54 and their opponents average PPG of 1.35. Confused yet?…
