Nottingham City KC 20 v 15 Croydon KC Nottingham entertained Croydon in this hugely important match for the lower end of the National League table. Croydon were unable to field their strongest line-up with Steve Jones and Janine Collier absent but they started the stronger, stretching out a 1-4 lead with goals from Kim Jones, Paul Jeanes and Dave Butters with the impressive Vicki Kellaway scoring Nottingham's opener. However from then on Nottingham scored 7 goals without reply as Croydon were unable to contain their host's simple feeding style and general on-court aggression. The turning point was perhaps at 3-4 when Alan Burrows was booked for his complaint at a penalty but after the card was handed out, Butters was unable to convert the penalty. Nottingham went down the other end and Kellaway promptly scored to bring Nottingham level for the first time. At half time, Croydon had made some amends by bringing the score back to 11-7 with the game still largely up for grabs. Indeed, Croydon quickly pulled two goals back via a long shot from Ivan Aquino and a Butters running-in shot. However, Nottingham were not to be denied and rather than Croydon's building momentum, goals were traded at both ends and Nottingham stayed at least two goals in front. Andy Withers was brought on for Richard Crabb part way through the 2nd half but this substitution made little difference as the hosts were able to obtain cheap free-passes and penalties and the visitors' heads started to go down. Towards the end of the match as Croydon searched for goals whilst Nottingham slowed the ball down, Nottingham were able to find a good collect and take and score some long shots. Both teams were upset with some unusual decisions from the referee but in general the decisions went both ways and Croydon cannot blame the referee for another loss this campaign. Nottingham meanwhile will be on their way to securing their Premiership status, something they can confirm if they can get a result against Trojans. Croydon goals: K Jones (1), K van der Buntova (3), P Jeanes (3), R Crabb (1), I Aquino (2), D Butters (4), A Rotheram (1), J Allen(0), A Withers (sub,0), S George (sub,0) Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nottingham City 1 20 vs 15 Croydon 1There were no Croydon scorers in this game.Submitted by on 23 Oct 05
