Croydon 1 run close by Highbury 2Croydon took on Highbury 2 in the first of their two Cup games and many were expecting an easy win. Starting in attack was new recruit Ben Hale alongside Andy & Sarah Withers and Anna Jeanes; fellow new-comer Dawn Aindow started in defence with Grace Stimpson, Zu Omar and, player-coach, Dave Butters. Croydon started nervously but Sarah managed to settle a few of those nerves by scoring a running in shot after a good attack. In defence Croydon looked more sure of themselves closing down Highbury's attacking options with Dave covering for Zu after a little slip up, good defending gave the attack more time and Ben doubled their lead after a good fake left his defender for dead and he put his chance away with ease. Highbury had to wait 10 minutes before they even put a shot up, when they did manage to shoot and score it was given as defended. However Highbury were beginning to put the pressure on and it paid off when Ben fouled his player to give them a penalty, Highbury didn't take advantage of it missing from the spot (with a pretty unorthodox penalty) but Andy came in too before the ball was released and the penalty had to be retaken, no mistake the second time though bringing the score to 2-1. Croydon seemed rattled and after a mix up whilst switching Highbury levelled the scores. Croydon were looking a bit shakey and the half time whistle gave them time to regroup. Highbury brought on some fresh legs during the break but it was Croydon who started brightest, Sarah and Ben worked well to create a runner for Sarah who had time and space to finish well. But sloppy defence led to Highbury pegging the scores back to 3-3. Zu managed to intercept a restart and he found Dave who was running past his defender, he coolly put the shot away to give the lead to Croydon again. The referee awarded a somewhat dubious penalty as Anna was adjudged to contact her player midshot, the penalty was put away and it was all level 4-4. Croydon replied quickly with a long shot from Sarah whose shooting was on form. Anna was fouled from behind whilst she was taking a running in shot but the referee was in the wrong place to give the blatant penalty. Croydon decided that with the game so tight that a change was needed, Ben and Sarah coming off for Vernon and Hannah, it seemed to breathe new life into the team with Dawn managing to find Dave in space who scored from distance. Highbury were running out of ideas as Croydon seemed to be making chances easily but just couldn't find the goal that would effectively kill off the game. Vernon was showing his defensive prowess as he denied his player any room, Hannah also was doing well, she managed to get back in time to defend, but the ref decided against it and awarded yet another penalty which was put away making the scores even at 6-6. Hannah soon made up for it winning a penalty of her own, Dave stepped up to the spot and always cool put the ball through to give the lead back to Croydon. With time running down the attack had a flurry of chances but they couldn't convert any of them leaving Highbury to equalise with just under two minutes left to play. Croydon didn't let their heads drop though and after Zu's shot missed Dave grabbed the rebound and found himself in space, he punished his defender for allowing him room by scoring a neat drop off shot. Seconds later the full time whistle went and Croydon managed to scrape by 8-7 against a spirited Highbury side. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 14 Final Score: Croydon 1 8 vs 7 Highbury 2D Butters (3)A Withers (1)Z Omar (0)B Hale (1)V Ellis (0)D Aindow (0)G Codd (0)A Jeanes (0)S Withers (3)H Evans (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07Croydon 1 purr past Cardiff City 1 in EKA CupIn their second game of the day Croydon took on Cardiff City, who were also wearing blue and so were made to wear some rather unpleasant smelling training bibs! With Highbury beating them 10-4 earlier Croydon needed only a draw to go through to the next round but they would be hoping for more. Croydon set out their sections the same way as they did in the first game and it seemed a good move as Ben scored with the first shot of the game to give Croydon the boost they needed as Sarah continuing her good scoring as she netted from long range. After the switch Croydon continued to dominate as Dave showed his dominance around the post collecting shot after shot and keeping the attack going, even managing to feed Zu with an audacious through the legs bounce pass, unfortunately Zu could not finish the great period of play. Cardiff capitalised on a mix up in defence burying a shot from 5m, but Grace soon restored things when she won a penalty after she sliced through the Cardiff defence but was fouled trying to finish, Dave stepped up and scored the penalty to give Croydon a two goal advantage again. Croydon had another moment of madness as the ball rolled through the section with no-one picking it up, so it fell to a Cardiff player who shot but missed, a real let off for Croydon. However they refocussed and Sarah put them further ahead putting in another long shot that took the scores to 4-1. Sarah scored again but this time the defender got there in time and the goal was disallowed, not to be denied though Sarah set up Anna for a good running in shot, and from this point Croydon looked comfortable with the attack having good possesion and Dave making scoring from the corner of the section look easy. Dave added his third of the game after taking the rebound and ending up between his player and the post before calmly putting the ball in to make it 7-1. With Croydon sailing the half time whistle came at the wrong time but after the break they started where they left off winning a free pass in the first attack but Ben's shot comes up short however Anna scores with a beautiful long shot though, she adds another with a well timed running in shot to give Croydon a 9-1 lead to get the half off to a great start. Dawn gets her first goal for Croydon after she is left in space when she brings down the rebound. However Croydon seemed to take their foot off the gas a bit and Cardiff took advantage adding two quick goals to make it 10-3. Ben and Anna link up well and he sets Anna up for another runner, it turns out to be Ben's last contribution as he and Sarah come off again for Vernon and Hannah. With the defence doing well Cardiff resorted to taking half chances and Croydon were having a huge percentage of possesion and it paid off as Dawn added her second and took Croydon 12-3 with a shot from long range. Dave performs another under the legs bounce pass and this time finds Grace who is fouled as she tries to put a finish to Dave's impressive assist, Dave steps up and once again puts away the penalty for his fourth of the game. Anna goes one better and scores from the halfway line to bring her tally up to 5. Cardiff did get a late goal after the defence went missing but it's not the last action of the game as Dawn speeds past her player and gets a pass from Zu to make the scores 15-4. The final whistle goes and Croydon go through to the next round of the cup, they will be hoping that they can get their league season going the same way against Kwiek next week. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 14 Final Score: Croydon 1 15 vs 4 Cardiff CityD Butters (4)Z Omar (0)A Withers (0)B Hale (1)V Ellis (0)A Jeanes (5)D Aindow (3)G Codd (0)S Withers (2)H Evans (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07Supernova 2 take their chances against Croydon 3Croydon 3 faced Supernova 2 but it looked like they had a few members of their first team to bolster their chances against the hosts. The referee was late turning up so Dan stepped up to officiate the game in their absence. Croydon started with Zoe Shewell, Lorna Elliott, Dave Hall and Mick Moore in attack, Newbie Sean Fellows, Andy Burnham, Steph Robinson and, fresh out of retirement, Sue Baker started in defence. Supernova started the strongest racing to a 3 goal advantage with Croydon seeming to still be warming up but Dave restored some hope with a good drop off shot to make it 3-1. Supernova's girls were making it difficult for Croydon's defence getting free for running in shots regularly and it paid off as they scored two straight. Andy and Sean were finding space out front shooting at will and Andy made one of those shots count bringing Croydon back within 3 again. It didn't last long though as Supernova were awarded a penalty, they scored it and then continued to pile on the misery with a further two unanswered goals brining the scores to 8-2. Dave added his second and Croydon's third of the game but it didn't stop Supernova's rampant attack as they added two more before the half time whistle blew. Croydon started the second half a lot better than the previous half with Sean getting a goal on his debut, scoring from the halfway line, Lorna skipped past her player to score a runnning in shot and when Croydon were awarded a penalty it seemed a comeback was on the cards but when Dave took the penalty his foot went over the line and his goal didn't count, this spelt the end of Croydon's hopes as they struggled, having to rely on long shots to create any chances, they were starting to look tired and Supernova capitalised scoring the final 5 goals of the game. Croydon will hope that results will improve but the scoreline was flattering to Supernova and Croydon will take heart from their performance. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 2 Final Score: Croydon 3 5 vs 15 Supernova 2D Hall (2)A Burnham (1)S Fellows (1)M Moore (0)L MacKay-Elliott (1)S Baker (0)S Robinson (0)Z Shewell (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07
Croydon 1 purr past Cardiff City 1 in EKA CupIn their second game of the day Croydon took on Cardiff City, who were also wearing blue and so were made to wear some rather unpleasant smelling training bibs! With Highbury beating them 10-4 earlier Croydon needed only a draw to go through to the next round but they would be hoping for more. Croydon set out their sections the same way as they did in the first game and it seemed a good move as Ben scored with the first shot of the game to give Croydon the boost they needed as Sarah continuing her good scoring as she netted from long range. After the switch Croydon continued to dominate as Dave showed his dominance around the post collecting shot after shot and keeping the attack going, even managing to feed Zu with an audacious through the legs bounce pass, unfortunately Zu could not finish the great period of play. Cardiff capitalised on a mix up in defence burying a shot from 5m, but Grace soon restored things when she won a penalty after she sliced through the Cardiff defence but was fouled trying to finish, Dave stepped up and scored the penalty to give Croydon a two goal advantage again. Croydon had another moment of madness as the ball rolled through the section with no-one picking it up, so it fell to a Cardiff player who shot but missed, a real let off for Croydon. However they refocussed and Sarah put them further ahead putting in another long shot that took the scores to 4-1. Sarah scored again but this time the defender got there in time and the goal was disallowed, not to be denied though Sarah set up Anna for a good running in shot, and from this point Croydon looked comfortable with the attack having good possesion and Dave making scoring from the corner of the section look easy. Dave added his third of the game after taking the rebound and ending up between his player and the post before calmly putting the ball in to make it 7-1. With Croydon sailing the half time whistle came at the wrong time but after the break they started where they left off winning a free pass in the first attack but Ben's shot comes up short however Anna scores with a beautiful long shot though, she adds another with a well timed running in shot to give Croydon a 9-1 lead to get the half off to a great start. Dawn gets her first goal for Croydon after she is left in space when she brings down the rebound. However Croydon seemed to take their foot off the gas a bit and Cardiff took advantage adding two quick goals to make it 10-3. Ben and Anna link up well and he sets Anna up for another runner, it turns out to be Ben's last contribution as he and Sarah come off again for Vernon and Hannah. With the defence doing well Cardiff resorted to taking half chances and Croydon were having a huge percentage of possesion and it paid off as Dawn added her second and took Croydon 12-3 with a shot from long range. Dave performs another under the legs bounce pass and this time finds Grace who is fouled as she tries to put a finish to Dave's impressive assist, Dave steps up and once again puts away the penalty for his fourth of the game. Anna goes one better and scores from the halfway line to bring her tally up to 5. Cardiff did get a late goal after the defence went missing but it's not the last action of the game as Dawn speeds past her player and gets a pass from Zu to make the scores 15-4. The final whistle goes and Croydon go through to the next round of the cup, they will be hoping that they can get their league season going the same way against Kwiek next week. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 14 Final Score: Croydon 1 15 vs 4 Cardiff CityD Butters (4)Z Omar (0)A Withers (0)B Hale (1)V Ellis (0)A Jeanes (5)D Aindow (3)G Codd (0)S Withers (2)H Evans (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07Supernova 2 take their chances against Croydon 3Croydon 3 faced Supernova 2 but it looked like they had a few members of their first team to bolster their chances against the hosts. The referee was late turning up so Dan stepped up to officiate the game in their absence. Croydon started with Zoe Shewell, Lorna Elliott, Dave Hall and Mick Moore in attack, Newbie Sean Fellows, Andy Burnham, Steph Robinson and, fresh out of retirement, Sue Baker started in defence. Supernova started the strongest racing to a 3 goal advantage with Croydon seeming to still be warming up but Dave restored some hope with a good drop off shot to make it 3-1. Supernova's girls were making it difficult for Croydon's defence getting free for running in shots regularly and it paid off as they scored two straight. Andy and Sean were finding space out front shooting at will and Andy made one of those shots count bringing Croydon back within 3 again. It didn't last long though as Supernova were awarded a penalty, they scored it and then continued to pile on the misery with a further two unanswered goals brining the scores to 8-2. Dave added his second and Croydon's third of the game but it didn't stop Supernova's rampant attack as they added two more before the half time whistle blew. Croydon started the second half a lot better than the previous half with Sean getting a goal on his debut, scoring from the halfway line, Lorna skipped past her player to score a runnning in shot and when Croydon were awarded a penalty it seemed a comeback was on the cards but when Dave took the penalty his foot went over the line and his goal didn't count, this spelt the end of Croydon's hopes as they struggled, having to rely on long shots to create any chances, they were starting to look tired and Supernova capitalised scoring the final 5 goals of the game. Croydon will hope that results will improve but the scoreline was flattering to Supernova and Croydon will take heart from their performance. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 2 Final Score: Croydon 3 5 vs 15 Supernova 2D Hall (2)A Burnham (1)S Fellows (1)M Moore (0)L MacKay-Elliott (1)S Baker (0)S Robinson (0)Z Shewell (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07
Supernova 2 take their chances against Croydon 3Croydon 3 faced Supernova 2 but it looked like they had a few members of their first team to bolster their chances against the hosts. The referee was late turning up so Dan stepped up to officiate the game in their absence. Croydon started with Zoe Shewell, Lorna Elliott, Dave Hall and Mick Moore in attack, Newbie Sean Fellows, Andy Burnham, Steph Robinson and, fresh out of retirement, Sue Baker started in defence. Supernova started the strongest racing to a 3 goal advantage with Croydon seeming to still be warming up but Dave restored some hope with a good drop off shot to make it 3-1. Supernova's girls were making it difficult for Croydon's defence getting free for running in shots regularly and it paid off as they scored two straight. Andy and Sean were finding space out front shooting at will and Andy made one of those shots count bringing Croydon back within 3 again. It didn't last long though as Supernova were awarded a penalty, they scored it and then continued to pile on the misery with a further two unanswered goals brining the scores to 8-2. Dave added his second and Croydon's third of the game but it didn't stop Supernova's rampant attack as they added two more before the half time whistle blew. Croydon started the second half a lot better than the previous half with Sean getting a goal on his debut, scoring from the halfway line, Lorna skipped past her player to score a runnning in shot and when Croydon were awarded a penalty it seemed a comeback was on the cards but when Dave took the penalty his foot went over the line and his goal didn't count, this spelt the end of Croydon's hopes as they struggled, having to rely on long shots to create any chances, they were starting to look tired and Supernova capitalised scoring the final 5 goals of the game. Croydon will hope that results will improve but the scoreline was flattering to Supernova and Croydon will take heart from their performance. Match Report by Sicknote Previous photo Next photo1 of 2 Final Score: Croydon 3 5 vs 15 Supernova 2D Hall (2)A Burnham (1)S Fellows (1)M Moore (0)L MacKay-Elliott (1)S Baker (0)S Robinson (0)Z Shewell (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 21 Oct 07
