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Depleted Croydon crumble to loss against Mitcham 2

Croydon 1 took on Mitcham 2 at Trinity School with a last minute change in personnel with Lynda Barker coming in for the ill Lorna Elliott in defence alongside Anna Jeanes (c), Andy Withers and Vernon Ellis. In attack Croydon had Zak Omar, Dan Pratt, Julia Johnson and Jane Belfourd. Mitcham had a stronger team than last time with Dave Synott playing down one end and some more experienced girls but this was still a team with a mix of age and experience.

Croydon started the brighter with Omar sinking a nice middle distance shot after losing his opponent, Pratt followed this up after 8 minutes with a penalty after Peter Teague fouled him as he ran round. Pratt then turned provider as he launched a ball to the other end to Ellis who slotted under the post. Ten minutes gone: 0-3. Teague scored the first of his four penalties of the day though after another foul but Omar dropped off soon after to restore Croydon's 3 goal lead.

Next it was Synott who got on the sheet with a nicely worked goal but Withers replied straight after with a shot from distance that seemed to surprise the Mitcham bench. Teague was doing a great job at coaching the referee and was awarded another penalty after Belfourd fouled on a free-pass but Pratt scored another of his own and with Croydon still 3 up this was a crucial period in the match. Despite the vociferous crowd cheering many a fancy pass that didn't result in a goal, Croydon continued to plug away and score their chances, Belfourd doing just that after 23 minutes.

Mitcham started to come back into it though as Croydon let themselves feel victimised by the referee and played as if they were 3 goals down rather than 3 up. Pratt's player found some confidence and to the delight of the crowd scored 2 from distance but it was left to Omar to steady the ship with the last goal of the half: 6-8.

Mitcham 2 started the half with an immediate running in shot from Teague as Croydon failed to get going but Ellis scored one of his own from the back of the basket and Pratt converted another penalty as man of the match Omar continued to run his player ragged.

With 10 minutes gone, Pratt scored an effortless goal from distance to give Croydon a 4 goal cushion but Mitcham fought straight back with 2 goals from their boys. Again Croydon pushed on though with Omar and Pratt doing the damage and after another running in shot from Ellis Croydon stretched their lead to 9-14 with only 12 minutes remaining.

How the visitors lost from here is anyone's guess but within 5 minutes Croydon conceded 5 goals: Pratt's young opponent again found the back of the basket, two of the girls scored from close range and Teague scored his 3rd and 4th penalties.

Croydon called a time-out to steady the nerves but their attack lacked any tempo or rhythm whilst Mitcham worked a drop-off for Synott who didn't miss. Johnson had a chance to get a draw for Croydon but her running in shot fell agonisingly short. A further time-out was called to bring some calm before the final attack but Croydon somewhat rushed their attempt and Pratt's huge long shot missed. There was still time for an Omar free-pass but the ball dropped out and the chance and the match was gone.

Referee Morgan made some bizarre decisions at times but Croydon can't blame the referee for this defeat, they had been scoring freely up until the last 12 minutes before suddenly Mitcham 2 found the basket and applied the pressure that ultimately secured them the match.


Match Report by Andy | Updated by Andy

  
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Final Score: Mitcham 2 15 vs 14 Croydon 1


D Pratt (5)

Z Omar (4)

V Ellis (3)

A Withers (1)

J Belfourd (1)

L Barker (0)

A Jeanes (0)

J Johnson (0)

Submitted by Sarah | Scoring Breakdown |

Croydon 2 flogged by Nomads 2

Match report not written yet


Final Score: Nomads 2 18 vs 3 Croydon 2


M Irving (1)

A Champion (0)

E Chaney (0)

B Hale (0)

H Hale (1)

Z Shewell (1)

K James (0)

G Stimpson (0)

Submitted by Andy | Scoring Breakdown |

Croydon 4 almost defeat Bec 5 but settle for a draw

Croydon 4 took on Nomads 5 at Ernest Bevin College (which is incorrectly shown on all maps). Not a problem for most of the team but Mike did slide in with just five minutes to go.
Croydon showed their usual early generosity and let Nomads in for two (not so easy) goals, both lucky long shots. That was enough of a start and Mike pegged one back with a long shot. Half time 2-1 down but not out of it at all.
I could say that Croydon showed yet more generosity by missing two penalties, but it seemed Nomads were having trouble as well. With great defending at both ends, and some brilliant collects from Charlotte, goals were scarce, but eventually Nomads extended their lead to 3-1 with another lucky long shot. Three goals without reply followed for Croydon. Dom firstly scored from a free throw (at the second attempt), before Sarah scored a well worked running in shot with quick passing between herself and Charlotte.
Then Mike sent the three Croydon fans (all Luke’s crew) wild, by scoring another sublime long shot to take the score to 4-3 to Croydon with less than 5 minutes left. However, Jon was blown up a couple of times for befriending the post and then inexplicably for marking a girl two metres away when he was facing the other way. But inbetween Nomads scored a well worked equaliser with a running in shot bringing the game square. Croydon hearts stopped as Nomads were awarded a penalty with the last move of the game, but to their great relief the penalty was missed and the game finished 4-4.
We came away thinking we could have won the game, especially having missed 2 penalties and having a goal disallowed, but we’ve now turned a corner and are definitely working better as a team.


Match Report by Kathy


Final Score: Bec 5 4 vs 4 Croydon 4


M Lavine (2)

D Bradford (1)

J Dean (0)

L James (0)

S Hole (1)

K Dean (0)

C Feakins (0)

H Rand (0)

Submitted by Kathy | Scoring Breakdown |