Cambridge Tigers vs Croydon 1 Croydon lined up against Cambridge Tigers at Perse School, Cambridge for the Londoners' first league game of the season and the first of a Cambridge double header. On this performance there is a lot of work to be done. Croydon had Ingmar Otter, Gary Heath, Sarah Withers and Grace Stimpson in attack with Dave Butters, Dan Pratt, Anna Jeanes (c) and Jane Belfourd in defence. Tigers started the brighter in a drab first half with a long shot and they followed this up with a second to "race" to a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes. Croydon hadn't really got going but got themselves back into the match via 2 Butters penalties. Otter went down for a few minutes after clashing with Alex Beavan under the post and this seemed to restrict his movement for the rest of the match. Tigers continued to look dangerous from distance in the spacious hall though and scored a 3rd long shot and then a free-pass from the experienced Nick Armitage. Croydon called a time-out to try to settle themselves down but the half began to peter away with neither side able to trouble the scorer until Pratt scored a long shot to leave Tigers narrowly up 4-3 at the break. Belfourd scored a neat running in shot to bring parity early in the 2nd half but Croydon's passing was letting them down and Tigers scored another 2 with Armitage taking advantage of a slip by Pratt. Tigers called a time-out with 20 minutes left but it was Croydon who showed more steel as Belfourd scraped home another runner. Tigers brought on Hugh Barker for the tiring Beavan but Croydon were defending resolutely and it was Butters who sank a long shot to bring the sides level at 6-all. However with 15 minutes left Tigers' Alex Ford took a quick chance from mid range to give the home side the lead again. Stalemate ensued for a few minutes as Croydon struggled to make an attack pay but finally Croydon's first attack found the basket for the first and only time in the macth, as Otter, wide open, netted from middle distance. Next Belfourd scored another mid range goal and the visitors were ahead for the first time in the match with only a few minutes remaining. Croydon should have been trying to run the clock down but they continued to attack and Pratt secured his side a dubious penalty in the dying seconds which Butters gladly gobbled up. Final score: 7-9.Tigers must be feeling robbed after having their noses ahead for so much of this game but in truth they were never more than 2 goals in front in this low scoring match and Croydon managed to sneak the win in the last few minutes. On this showing the league is wide open as the pre-season favourites looked somewhat mediocre in this closely fought match. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Cambridge Tigers 1 7 vs 9 Croydon 1D Butters (4)I Otter (1)D Pratt (1)G Heath (0)J Hudspith (3)G Codd (0)A Jeanes (0)S Withers (0)Submitted by on 26 Nov 06
