Nottingham City 2 vs Croydon 2 After a bus journey, a Wimpey (definitely a poor man's Burger King) and a 45 minute wait in a smokey pub round the corner Croydon 2 were ready to give Nottingham 2 a run for their money.The game started off with quick and even exchange of goals as the teams sized each other up; in Zu's case this meant working out exactly how many inches bigger his opponent's chest size was. After a matter of minutes, Nigel Hudspith's goal could have been a move from training as a blinding pass from Becky Pratt caught Paul Blood off balance and allowed Nigel to slot it in. Dan Pratt and Leah Palfreyman worked with those two to keep their players busy and it was a good start. Nottingham scored so it was the turn of Zu Omar, Vernon Ellis, Julia Johnson and Lynda Barker to get some goals. Zu obliged sharpish as he tricked his defender into thinking he was actually going to feed (Lynda was not fooled so easily having "experienced" playing with Zu before) and converted the awarded penalty. In what was to be the characteristic of their game, Notts then scored twice from distance and then got a runner to pull ahead. The game was into a rhythm now and Croydon struggled somewhat to block feeds in defence but Notts failed to capitalise and didn't recycle their missed shots. At the attacking end the ball was flying around and a good middle distance shot from Vernon perfectly set up Lynda to get a cheeky one from underneath the basket. Notts came back with another long shot but Becky Pratt converted her collection from the front into a little shot and goal. At half time it was 9-8 and for the taking. Notts started with a goal almost immediately but Croydon kept to the plan and worked their players hard. The attacking play did not sink to predictability but continued to have some flair as the defenders were kept guessing. Nottingham's passes got even loopier than they had been in the first half (at one point every Notts player had their hand in the air apparently pointing at the ceiling which was where the ball was going) and Croydon were able to steal some balls going out of defence. Leah pulled Croydon to within 2 goals again with a mid-range shot that was apparently little effort to her. Both sides were trying to play tricks round the post but with little success, as those plastic baskets just wouldn't let the shots drop in. After a short dry spell Notts long shots did start dropping from all over the place and they pulled away. Jane Belfourd came on and scored an uncharacteristic drop off the back. Croydon kept working but some silly passing and overly ambitious play meant that Notts came out on top at 19-13. The team were disappointed but the cosiness of the minibus with chauffer Vernon meant that it was all soon forgotten. Time flew by as we listened to Dan's music, Becky Pratt's dramatic lovelife, her vision of a perfect male korfballer (she's already met him by the way) and who could forget Lynda's lesson on what is, and is not, a swear word. Miss FF may well have to add a new nickname to her profile soon. Jane Belfourd Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nottingham City 2 19 vs 13 Croydon 2Z Omar (4)V Ellis (1)N Hudspith (1)D Pratt (1)L Barker (2)B Sinclair (1)J Johnson (0)L Palfreyman (2)J Hudspith (1)Submitted by Sarah on 03 Feb 07
