Croydon stroll past Bec Revolution? Not this season. Croydon put Bec to the sword at St Mary's College in Twickenham on Sunday as their first half display knocked the Christmas stuffing out of a young and vibrant Bec side. Croydon dropped Andy Withers to the reverses with Dave Butters returned to the side but spring-chicken Lynda Barker kept her place with Lorna Elliot and Sarah George on the bench. Bec's line-up included the experienced Jackie Hoare amongst the youngsters. The game started at a ferocious pace with Bec taking an early lead much to the home crowd's delight. Indeed after a penalty in reply from Croydon, Bec again edged ahead to lead 2-1 after 3 minutes. This was to be the high point of the match for them as they failed to cope with Steve Jones who scored two in quick succession to repair the damage, shortly followed by a pair from Ross Carr-Taylor. A goal from John Bracey gave the home team some hope as they called a time-out with the scores at 3-7. Clearly this did not have the desired effect as Bec scored only the one goal the rest of the half whilst Croydon registered with goals from Anna Jeanes, Ivan Aquino and a brace from Kim Jones to leave the visitors 4-15 ahead at half-time. The second half was less favourable for the visitors as they seemed to lift the foot from the pedal, as evidenced by the rare sight of a blam on Steve Jones. Bec made the most of this respite in pressure to bring some respectability to their score-line as they scored some well-worked goals. Croydon kept the scoreboard ticking over though with typical rough-and-tumble goals from Butters and two more from Jones and a bizarre assist from Aquino's head giving Butters an opening. Aquino was shortly substituted for the 4th game running to be replaced by Dan Moore. George also replaced Barker and both held their own as the game petered out. Final score 11-23. Bec may now be regretting their pre-season rhetoric about a "revolution" after a series of league defeats and their shock exit from the BKA Cup at the hands of North Downs last week. Croydon started slowly but were clearly motivated by others' dismissive opinion of the team and their chances this season. Croydon's results over the next few matches will show where they sit in the Korfball hierarchy as they take on Mitcham before Christmas and Trojans and Nottingham shortly afterwards.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Bec 1 11 vs 23 Croydon 1D Butters (4)R Carr-Taylor (4)S Jones (3)I Aquino (3)D Moore (1)K Jones (4)S de Jager (3)A Jeanes (1)L Barker (0)S Withers (0)Submitted by Andy on 14 Dec 03Croydon 2 tough out another close win Croydon 2 are making a happy habit of holding on and edging out tough games this season. This game was just one of those, as they didn't play their best but ignored the home crowd, kept their composure and ended up securing the points. Croydon were bolstered by Sarah George joining Julia Johnson, Paul Jeanes and Dan Moore in defence and Janine Collier partnering Mandy Furlano with Andy Withers and Nigel Hudspith in attack. The two sides were fairly evenly matched with Croydon edging it but never able to pull out a large enough lead. The home defence was perhaps a little jumpy as the referee blew for four first half penalties before giving goals as the ball still nestled in the net each time. Several of Croydon's players were below par as balls were dropped and passes thrown out or to the opposition. In a low scoring first half the teams left the court for the break at 6-8 to the visitors. The second half was no better as the teams scored scrappy goals and neither team dominated. Experience eventually paid though as Croydon pulled two ahead with a brace of goals from Colossus Jeanes and the side were able to slow down their play and eat into Bec's time. A well-won penalty from Collier, converted by Withers, sealed the result and whilst Bec had their chances late on, they were not able to overhaul the visitors. For Croydon this means a rare visit to the top of the league. Indeed the team will be rueing a first game loss to Trojans that could have cemented their place. Bec for their part are a season short of achieving their potential but in seasons to come this young side may well challenging for top honours.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Bec 2 14 vs 17 Croydon 2P Jeanes (4)A Withers (4)D Moore (1)N Hudspith (0)J Collier (3)S Withers (3)A Furlano (0)L MacKay-Elliott (2)J Johnson (0)Submitted by Andy on 14 Dec 03Croydon 3 toil hard but lose to Mitcham 3 Croydon 3 fought valiantly but the loss of Mickey Moore proved crucial as the home side had to call upon injured veteran Mike Etheridge who had just played the 4th team game! Despite a goal from both Etheridges, Mitcham's old guard triumphed 7-12.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 3 7 vs 12 Mitcham 3D Pratt (2)N Collier (1)C Etheridge (1)M Etheridge (1)M Moore (0)S Robinson (1)B Sinclair (1)L Burney (0)J Johnson (0)Submitted by Andy on 05 Jan 04Croydon 4 lose out to Nomads 4 Croydon 4 toiled valiantly but ultimately lost to Nomads 4 in a thrilling encounter at Epsom College. Croydon put out a scratch side with the team having to accommodate Ross Carr-Taylor and Mandy Furlano. Despite these obvious weak links and goals from Carr-Taylor and Steve Pratt, the team started well and were on contention for much of the first half but Nomads eased away and finished the match 8-4 to the good. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 4 8 vs 4 Croydon 4R Carr-Taylor (3)S Pratt (1)P Aish (0)C Etheridge (0)A Furlano (0)D Holland (0)H Mansfield (0)B Sinclair (0)Submitted by Andy on 15 Dec 03
Croydon 2 tough out another close win Croydon 2 are making a happy habit of holding on and edging out tough games this season. This game was just one of those, as they didn't play their best but ignored the home crowd, kept their composure and ended up securing the points. Croydon were bolstered by Sarah George joining Julia Johnson, Paul Jeanes and Dan Moore in defence and Janine Collier partnering Mandy Furlano with Andy Withers and Nigel Hudspith in attack. The two sides were fairly evenly matched with Croydon edging it but never able to pull out a large enough lead. The home defence was perhaps a little jumpy as the referee blew for four first half penalties before giving goals as the ball still nestled in the net each time. Several of Croydon's players were below par as balls were dropped and passes thrown out or to the opposition. In a low scoring first half the teams left the court for the break at 6-8 to the visitors. The second half was no better as the teams scored scrappy goals and neither team dominated. Experience eventually paid though as Croydon pulled two ahead with a brace of goals from Colossus Jeanes and the side were able to slow down their play and eat into Bec's time. A well-won penalty from Collier, converted by Withers, sealed the result and whilst Bec had their chances late on, they were not able to overhaul the visitors. For Croydon this means a rare visit to the top of the league. Indeed the team will be rueing a first game loss to Trojans that could have cemented their place. Bec for their part are a season short of achieving their potential but in seasons to come this young side may well challenging for top honours.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Bec 2 14 vs 17 Croydon 2P Jeanes (4)A Withers (4)D Moore (1)N Hudspith (0)J Collier (3)S Withers (3)A Furlano (0)L MacKay-Elliott (2)J Johnson (0)Submitted by Andy on 14 Dec 03Croydon 3 toil hard but lose to Mitcham 3 Croydon 3 fought valiantly but the loss of Mickey Moore proved crucial as the home side had to call upon injured veteran Mike Etheridge who had just played the 4th team game! Despite a goal from both Etheridges, Mitcham's old guard triumphed 7-12.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 3 7 vs 12 Mitcham 3D Pratt (2)N Collier (1)C Etheridge (1)M Etheridge (1)M Moore (0)S Robinson (1)B Sinclair (1)L Burney (0)J Johnson (0)Submitted by Andy on 05 Jan 04Croydon 4 lose out to Nomads 4 Croydon 4 toiled valiantly but ultimately lost to Nomads 4 in a thrilling encounter at Epsom College. Croydon put out a scratch side with the team having to accommodate Ross Carr-Taylor and Mandy Furlano. Despite these obvious weak links and goals from Carr-Taylor and Steve Pratt, the team started well and were on contention for much of the first half but Nomads eased away and finished the match 8-4 to the good. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 4 8 vs 4 Croydon 4R Carr-Taylor (3)S Pratt (1)P Aish (0)C Etheridge (0)A Furlano (0)D Holland (0)H Mansfield (0)B Sinclair (0)Submitted by Andy on 15 Dec 03
Croydon 3 toil hard but lose to Mitcham 3 Croydon 3 fought valiantly but the loss of Mickey Moore proved crucial as the home side had to call upon injured veteran Mike Etheridge who had just played the 4th team game! Despite a goal from both Etheridges, Mitcham's old guard triumphed 7-12.Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 3 7 vs 12 Mitcham 3D Pratt (2)N Collier (1)C Etheridge (1)M Etheridge (1)M Moore (0)S Robinson (1)B Sinclair (1)L Burney (0)J Johnson (0)Submitted by Andy on 05 Jan 04Croydon 4 lose out to Nomads 4 Croydon 4 toiled valiantly but ultimately lost to Nomads 4 in a thrilling encounter at Epsom College. Croydon put out a scratch side with the team having to accommodate Ross Carr-Taylor and Mandy Furlano. Despite these obvious weak links and goals from Carr-Taylor and Steve Pratt, the team started well and were on contention for much of the first half but Nomads eased away and finished the match 8-4 to the good. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 4 8 vs 4 Croydon 4R Carr-Taylor (3)S Pratt (1)P Aish (0)C Etheridge (0)A Furlano (0)D Holland (0)H Mansfield (0)B Sinclair (0)Submitted by Andy on 15 Dec 03
Croydon 4 lose out to Nomads 4 Croydon 4 toiled valiantly but ultimately lost to Nomads 4 in a thrilling encounter at Epsom College. Croydon put out a scratch side with the team having to accommodate Ross Carr-Taylor and Mandy Furlano. Despite these obvious weak links and goals from Carr-Taylor and Steve Pratt, the team started well and were on contention for much of the first half but Nomads eased away and finished the match 8-4 to the good. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 4 8 vs 4 Croydon 4R Carr-Taylor (3)S Pratt (1)P Aish (0)C Etheridge (0)A Furlano (0)D Holland (0)H Mansfield (0)B Sinclair (0)Submitted by Andy on 15 Dec 03
