Croydon 1 misfire but still beat newly promoted Kwiek Croydon 1 made heavy weather of beating Kwiek 1 11-17 in this opening encounter of the BKA National League campaign. Anna Jeanes' late arrival, due to her refereeing a game in West London and then having to run the gauntlet of the South Circular, was off-putting for Croydon's pre-match preparation, particularly as she was bringing the team's shirts and balls. Although Jeanes did arrive just before throw-off, coach Peter Allan rightly started with Mandy Furlano. The lack of a proper warm-up showed as both Croydon's divisions struggled with their passing and shooting in the first half - at best it was wayward and at worst distinctly ragged, to put it kindly. Yet Croydon still opened up a 2 or 3 goal lead for a large part of the half. Eventually the newly-promoted Kwiek seemed to notice that their more experienced opponents might just be there for the taking, and were able to bring the score back to 7-7 by half time. The visitors had enough wise old heads not to panic, and Allan devoted most of the half-time period to giving the team some much-needed shooting practice. Jeanes came on for Furlano, and in the second half Croydon began to pull away as the goals came more easily. Defence was tighter too, and Kwiek struggled to mount more than single-shot attacks as they had little control of the post. Allan gave a late debut to newcomer Saskia de Jager, in place of Lorna Elliott, and although she will probably prefer not to be reminded of the penalty awarded against her for encroachment at a free pass, she did find the scoresheet with a well-taken distance shot. Croydon can probably be grateful that the fixture computer paired them with a team who never looked likely to take advantage of their poor form, particularly in the first half. There are still some positives to take out of the match, notably the performance of Ross Carr-Taylor who brought a much-needed measure of control to his division as well as four goals; and the second-half defensive performance, conceding only four goals. In the long run it was probably also good for the team that the final scoreline did reflect the disappointing first half display, as it will remind them that there is still plenty of room for improvement. Meanwhile Kwiek look to have a long, difficult season ahead of them, and confirmed their status as relegation favourites. Yet it would still not be a complete surprise if they do manage to collect the odd win, particularly at Fort Pitt School where very few of their opponents are likely to have played before.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Kwiek 1 11 vs 17 Croydon 1D Butters (4)R Carr-Taylor (4)S Jones (4)I Aquino (2)S Withers (2)K Jones (0)L MacKay-Elliott (0)A Furlano (0)A Jeanes (0)S de Jager (1)Submitted by Sarah on 16 Nov 03Croydon 2 swamp Kingfisher 2 to claim easy away win Croydon 2 took a strong side to deepest Kent to take on an inexperienced Kingfisher side. Starting in attack were Nigel Hudpisth, Andy Withers, Anna Jeanes and newbie Saskia de Jager with Paul Jeanes, Nick Collier, Lynda Barker and Julia Johnson in defence. Kingfisher got off to a great start with a early drop-off goal conceded by Paul Jeanes, however this lead was short-lived and they would only add two further goals the rest of the match as Croydon ran riot in the first half. Goals were spread throughout the team as Kingfisher struggled to pass the ball in the tight confines of Westborough Sports Centre. The floor was also slippery making defending difficult. The half time score was 16-3 to the visitors. Paul Jeanes was replaced by Dan Moore in the 2nd half but strangely only 7 goals were scored in the second half as Kingfisher continued to struggle and Croydon's 2nd attack faltered with the score stuck on 19-3 for some ten minutes or more. Finally the crowd were put out of their misery by a goal from Collier and Johnson. The game came to its conclusion with the score 23-3 to Croydon. Croydon will be pleased with such a comprehensive victory although they seemed to loose their killer instinct in the 2nd half. On this display Kingfisher have a tough season ahead of them.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Kingfisher 2 3 vs 23 Croydon 2N Collier (4)A Withers (4)N Hudspith (3)P Jeanes (4)D Moore (0)J Johnson (4)S de Jager (3)A Jeanes (1)L Barker (0)Submitted by Andy on 16 Nov 03Croydon 3 fightback to hold Pelham 1 to a draw Croydon 3 took on an experienced Pelham side at Epsom College fielding a family mixture of youth an experience as they lined up with father and son, Steve and Dan Pratt with Debbie Holland and Suzanne Robinson in attack and father and son, Mike and Dan Moore with Judi Sloman and Beccy Pratt in defence. The team got off to a fine start taking an early lead before being pegged back by the veteran Pelham side to trail 6-2 at the interval. A rousing team talk by Moore Snr during this break brought about a change in tactics and more flowing display to leave Croydon winning the half 6-2. Consequently for those mathematicians out there, the game finished tied, at 8 a piece. The team remain unbeaten with this their second draw of the season. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Pelham 1 8 vs 8 Croydon 3D Pratt (4)D Moore (2)M Moore (1)S Pratt (0)B Sinclair (1)D Holland (0)S Robinson (0)J Sloman (0)Submitted by Andy on 16 Nov 03
Croydon 2 swamp Kingfisher 2 to claim easy away win Croydon 2 took a strong side to deepest Kent to take on an inexperienced Kingfisher side. Starting in attack were Nigel Hudpisth, Andy Withers, Anna Jeanes and newbie Saskia de Jager with Paul Jeanes, Nick Collier, Lynda Barker and Julia Johnson in defence. Kingfisher got off to a great start with a early drop-off goal conceded by Paul Jeanes, however this lead was short-lived and they would only add two further goals the rest of the match as Croydon ran riot in the first half. Goals were spread throughout the team as Kingfisher struggled to pass the ball in the tight confines of Westborough Sports Centre. The floor was also slippery making defending difficult. The half time score was 16-3 to the visitors. Paul Jeanes was replaced by Dan Moore in the 2nd half but strangely only 7 goals were scored in the second half as Kingfisher continued to struggle and Croydon's 2nd attack faltered with the score stuck on 19-3 for some ten minutes or more. Finally the crowd were put out of their misery by a goal from Collier and Johnson. The game came to its conclusion with the score 23-3 to Croydon. Croydon will be pleased with such a comprehensive victory although they seemed to loose their killer instinct in the 2nd half. On this display Kingfisher have a tough season ahead of them.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Kingfisher 2 3 vs 23 Croydon 2N Collier (4)A Withers (4)N Hudspith (3)P Jeanes (4)D Moore (0)J Johnson (4)S de Jager (3)A Jeanes (1)L Barker (0)Submitted by Andy on 16 Nov 03Croydon 3 fightback to hold Pelham 1 to a draw Croydon 3 took on an experienced Pelham side at Epsom College fielding a family mixture of youth an experience as they lined up with father and son, Steve and Dan Pratt with Debbie Holland and Suzanne Robinson in attack and father and son, Mike and Dan Moore with Judi Sloman and Beccy Pratt in defence. The team got off to a fine start taking an early lead before being pegged back by the veteran Pelham side to trail 6-2 at the interval. A rousing team talk by Moore Snr during this break brought about a change in tactics and more flowing display to leave Croydon winning the half 6-2. Consequently for those mathematicians out there, the game finished tied, at 8 a piece. The team remain unbeaten with this their second draw of the season. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Pelham 1 8 vs 8 Croydon 3D Pratt (4)D Moore (2)M Moore (1)S Pratt (0)B Sinclair (1)D Holland (0)S Robinson (0)J Sloman (0)Submitted by Andy on 16 Nov 03
Croydon 3 fightback to hold Pelham 1 to a draw Croydon 3 took on an experienced Pelham side at Epsom College fielding a family mixture of youth an experience as they lined up with father and son, Steve and Dan Pratt with Debbie Holland and Suzanne Robinson in attack and father and son, Mike and Dan Moore with Judi Sloman and Beccy Pratt in defence. The team got off to a fine start taking an early lead before being pegged back by the veteran Pelham side to trail 6-2 at the interval. A rousing team talk by Moore Snr during this break brought about a change in tactics and more flowing display to leave Croydon winning the half 6-2. Consequently for those mathematicians out there, the game finished tied, at 8 a piece. The team remain unbeaten with this their second draw of the season. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Pelham 1 8 vs 8 Croydon 3D Pratt (4)D Moore (2)M Moore (1)S Pratt (0)B Sinclair (1)D Holland (0)S Robinson (0)J Sloman (0)Submitted by Andy on 16 Nov 03
