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An own goal from Nomads crowns comfortable win for Croydon

Nomads 2 were the hosts for Croydon 1's first game of the decade at Epsom College. Croydon needed a win to keep their promotion push going. They lined up with Anna Jeanes (c), Lorna Elliott, Andy Withers and Vernon Ellis in defence and Dan Pratt, Zak Omar, Jane Belfourd and Julia Johnson in attack.

Nomads started the faster as they swept to a 2 goal lead after Elliott was found wanting from a couple of well worked running in shots and Terry Forde was on hand to stretch their lead further with a goal from downtown. It got worse after Belfourd was adjudged to have fouled her player and a penalty given instead of a defended shot that Croydon were expecting. Coach Paul Jeanes managed to drop his pad violently at that point too. Justice was done though as the penalty was missed and Ellis dropped off into space to put Croydon on the board. Withers madea hash of a penalty to the visitors too and it just got worse as Nomads ran in 2 more to lead 5-1 after 12 minutes.

Ellis got the comeback started though with a running in shot that would surely have been a penalty if not scored and then Withers scored from distance. Nomads replied but Johnson threw up a pancake special and in it went. Unfortunately she was turned in the feed by Cara Allan and an "oh 'shoot'" didn't save her blushes. With 5 minutes remaining though Croydon turned on the gas and Elliott scored a drop-off and Belfourd sank one from the back of the court. Half time: 7-6 to Nomads but the momentum was with Croydon.

Referee Morgan started the 2nd half with no Nomads players in sight so Ellis quickly fed Withers for the most undefended shot in history but somehow the ref was having none of it. It was unclear whether he realised Withers should have been defending rather than attacking but by then Nomads were back and the half got under way for the 2nd time! It wasn't long before Croydon got their goal though with a classic snapshot from Johnson from the side - and this time it was Allan do the swearing. Croydon were working the attacks well now and as a shot from Jeanes fell shot it fell into the hands of Elliott who said "oh", followed by another "oh" from her player and then an "oh" as she popped it home. Bizarre but they all count. Ellis was getting more into the action at this point and scored from the back corner followed by a blam on Brian Carswell which may have influenced his replacement by Richard Burrows some minutes later.

Next up was the own goal spectacular: Forde was trying to pass out of defence from about 6 metres behind the post but Pratt got a piece of it and in the ball went. Laughter all round, except for most of the home crowd who had gone strangely quiet by this point! Belfourd rounded off Croydon's 6th goal in a row with a training ground move and suddenly Croydon were pretty much home and hosed at 7-11. Omar was adjudged to have fouled his player a couple of times to allow Nomads back in but his riposte was a drop-off and Pratt steadied the ship with a pen after a foul on Belfourd.

With time running out a couple of goals were traded but the goal of the match was a long ball from Pratt into Ellis at the back of the court: bounce pass to Withers swooping in for the easy lay-up. Exhibition stuff. Final score: 12-16

Croydon started slowly but after the first 15 minutes they were always in control of this match. By the end Nomads were resigned to the defeat as Croydon's defence snuffed out most of their attacking options and they ran out of ideas, while on the other end the goals flowed freely from the visitors from all over the pitch. Job done.


Match Report by Andy | Updated by Andy

  
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Final Score: Nomads 2 12 vs 16 Croydon 1


D Pratt (4)

V Ellis (3)

A Withers (2)

Z Omar (1)

J Belfourd (2)

L Elliott (2)

J Johnson (2)

A Jeanes (0)

Submitted by Sarah | Scoring Breakdown |

Penalty Practice Required for Croydon 4 after Nomads 5 loss

Croydon 4’s today hoped to avenge their defeat by Nomads 6, by beating Nomads 5! Starting in attack were Dom Bradford, Luke James, Charlotte Feakins and Sarah Hole, with Kathy and Jon Dean (c), Hayley Rand and Phil Aish in defence.

After a shaky first few minutes, Sarah got the ball rolling (not literally) with a lovely shot, bringing the score to 1-1. Much to his annoyance Jon missed the penalty awarded to him but soon made up for it with a 4 metre shot to once again bring the scores level at 2-2.

Had Hayley and Dom’s goals been allowed and not defended, we may have drawn even at half time but obviously this threw Dom’s concentration as he still had time to miss a penalty. Half time: 4-2.

The 4th’s again had a slow start to the second half, conceding 3 further goals in the first 5 minutes but Charlotte won a penalty and Luke was volunteered to take it - with a similar outcome to the other penalties.

However, all credit to Croydon 4’s whose play dominated the last 15 minutes of the game, with better passes, lots of shots and 2 late goals from Phil and Sarah.

The team had obviously been paying too much attention to the predicted score as it finished as expected: 7-4.


Match Report by Kathy | Updated by Andy


Final Score: Nomads 5 7 vs 4 Croydon 4


P Aish (1)

J Dean (1)

D Bradford (0)

L James (0)

S Hole (2)

K Dean (0)

C Feakins (0)

H Rand (0)

Submitted by KarenJ | Scoring Breakdown |