03Feb02: Bec v Croydon Croydon produced their most spirited performance of the season to beat Bec in the Premier League encounter at Dulwich College. Coach Steve Jones was forced to make use of his squad. Dave Butters was only able to play for a few minutes due to illness, while Ivan Aquino's late arrival meant that he was dropped to the bench. Ryan Dring came on for Butters, and Paul Jeanes started. For Bec, Richard Crabbe was on the bench but otherwise looked to have their strongest eight available. Steve Jones, in recent weeks playing some of his best korfball, gave Croydon an excellent start with two penalties and a drop-off shot. Bec clawed the score back to 4-3, with about ten minutes gone, when Janine Collier turned her ankle and was forced to leave the pitch (to be replaced by Jennie Allen). Jacqui Hoare quickly levelled the score for Bec, and all of a sudden Croydon looked like they could be in danger. With three first team players on the bench, Bec might have had a chance to cause an upset. Yet there seemed to be a strange lack of spirit both on the court and on the Bec bench. Bec made few chances against an unusually robust Croydon defence - so much so that Bec could only score 2 more goals to half time. For their part, Croydon scored five more, including 3 for Paul Jeanes, to make the half time score 9-6. Allen scored the crucial first goal after half time for Croydon, taking their lead to four. Bec coach Jane Abbey hoped to provoke a response from her side by introducing Richard Crabbe and Sarah Stalker in place of Steve Johnson and Cathy Clarkson. Stalker made an immediate impact with a running in shot, but Croydon responded with the next three goals, to make the score 13-7. Croydon had their customary 50th minute wobble, losing three quick goals to a Duncan Jefford penalty, Mel Meshkat and Tonya Clarke. But Croydon's player of the week, Alison Rotheram, eased any worries with her second goal of the game. Kim Jones, Dring and Rotheram rounded up the game for Croydon, making the final score 17-10 to Croydon. Once they realised that they might not be able to rely on scoring heavily this week, Croydon put in an outstanding defensive performance this week. Steve Jones will have been particularly pleased to see that there is sufficient depth in his squad to allow the team to cope without three of their top players for most of the game. As for Bec, they seem to lack goal-scoring power, at least on the evidence of the two games against Croydon this season. Aside from four in the first ten minutes, and three in about five minutes around the 50th minute, Bec only scored three more goals. As much as anything, they seem short of a little pace and movement in attack - something for Jane Abbey to work on over the rest of the season. 03Feb02: Bec 2 v Croydon 2 - Match Abandoned. The first half of this match was distinctly sterile, as Bec struggled to put the ball in the basket and Croydon struggled to put passes together. Half-time score was 4-0 to the home side. Mercifully for those watching, but to the understandable annoyance of those playing, the match was abandoned a few minutes into the second half. In scenes of high farce, Richard Crabbe walked onto the pitch and told a bemused referee Gary Brookes that the players would have to leave the pitch. It seemed that Dulwich College had double-booked the hall. The Bec third team match straight after had already been called off, and quite why the sports hall management wouldn't allow the second team match to run its course is something Bec will doubtless want to ask them in the coming week. Croydon generously agreed to replay the match at a later date. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Bec 1 10 vs 17 Croydon 1There were no Croydon scorers in this game.Submitted by on 23 Oct 05
