Croydon vs Mitcham in the BKA Cup Semi Final First division champions, Croydon, took on Premier division champions, Mitcham, in the 1st semi final of the BKA Cup played at the Stantonbury Campus, Milton Keynes. Croydon had 2 changes in the defensive section: coach Dave Butters chose to rest himself in place of Nigel Hudspith and the unavailable Becky Pratt was replaced by Croydon 3 captain, Lorna Elliott, leaving Grace Stimpson and Zu Omar to complete the section. At the other end Croydon had a more settled 4 of Gary Heath, Andy Withers, Jane Belfourd and captain Anna Jeanes. It was not clear whether Mitcham picked their team based on straws as they apparently did in the previous round. Mitcham got off to a flyer with Carly Holness scoring from mid court but given the gulf in teams league positions, Croydon had a game plan of patient korfball, working hard to create the right chance. This tactic worked early on as Mitcham were kept in defence for a few minute long attacks but when Mitcham did get the ball they were quick to make use of it early on with Ross Bower scoring from back court. Ella Wright then scored a running in shot and Karen Sparrow got on the scoresheet. Butters called a time-out with the score at 4-0 after 7 minutes and Croydon's defensive work improved as they kept the champs out for the next 5 minutes but after this lull Mitcham stated to flow and they moved to an 8-0 lead after 18 minutes. Heath got Croydon on the board with a long shot but Croydon were made to pay with some cheap goals as Mitcham took advantage of some gifts and some poor passing. Belfourd netted after 28 minutes but Mitcham scored 2 more at the end of the half to bring the score to 13-2. Croydon got off to the best possible start in the 2nd half as Elliott scored an easy running in shot but Holness replied from under the basket and Steve Green finally got on the board with a long shot. Mitcham continued to exert themselves in attack and Dean Woods scored the first of a couple of penalties. With 20 minutes remaining, Croydon looked to blood some of their squad players so first Heath and then Withers were replaced by Vernon Ellis and Paul Jeanes and for the girls, Stimpson and Elliott, were replaced by Becky Tobbitt and Sarah Withers, in her first match since a serious ankle injury in December. Omar scored a neat drop off from the feed but Sparrow followed up with an even neater version of her own. Mitcham used their bench as well to be fair but Croydon enjoyed a period of superiority in defence from here on in with the scores locked on 19-4 for some 10 minutes. Mitcham did break through in the end but the Croydon bench enjoyed the final Belfourd running in shot with Elliott's cries of "NO EDGES!!!". Final score: 23-5. For Croydon this result cannot deflect from a great season under the stewardish of new coach Dave Butters but it does indicate there is a good way to next season and the club will be looking to make the most of some summer signings that have been rumoured of late. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Mitcham 1 23 vs 5 Croydon 1Z Omar (1)N Hudspith (0)G Heath (1)A Withers (0)V Ellis (0)P Jeanes (0)J Hudspith (2)A Jeanes (0)L MacKay-Elliott (1)G Codd (0)B Tobitt (0)S Withers (0)Submitted by Andy on 22 Apr 07
