Croydon 1 lose against Trojans 1Croydon 1 travelled to Trinity late on Tuesday evening to take on title contenders Trojans 1, with Dave Butters sitting this one out to coach from the sidelines. Croydon started with Vernon Ellis, Nigel Hudspith, Anna Jeanes (c) and Jane Belfourd in attack, Paul Jeanes, Zu Omar, Grace Stimpson and Dawn Aindow in defence. Both teams started slowly, working the ball round the sections to shake off any festive rust, it was Trojans though that seemed to be more comfortable early managing to grab the first goal of the game. Croydon were just warming up too, Ellis managed to turn his player in the feed to score a great goal to level up the scores. Croydon had the chance to take a suprise lead soon after when they were awarded a penalty, P.Jeanes stepped up to the line and as always comfortably slotted away to leave the scores at 2-1 to the visitors. The lead didn't last long though as Trojans scored quickly to level the scores once again. At this point decisions seemed to go against Croydon as a very dubious penalty was awarded against P.Jeanes with the hosts scoring from the spot. Soon after another another decision went against Croydon when Stimpson was run so close to the feed cutting should surely be called, but no whistle and the resulting shot ended in another Trojans goal to leave the scores at 4-2. Croydon kept their heads despite things going against them and their positive attacking play was rewarded when Omar burst past his marker to score with a running in shot. Trojans were managing to find space in attack with overhead passes causing Croydon's defence problems with the extra time and space Trojans took advantage and scored with a long shot to make the scores 5-3, at this point coach Dave Butters wanted to talk things over calling a time-out. With the restart Croydon fell further behind after letting in another long shot and Trojans looked like they could be pulling away, Croydon though had other ideas and Belfourd rounded her player only to be battered whilst taking her shot. Up stepped Hudspith to try and reverse his luck from the spot, he had no trouble this time and brought the scores back to 6-4. With 5 minutes left in the half Croydon were looking to shut Trojans out but much to their despair the goals kept coming with another overhead pass leading to a drop off goal for the hosts. Stimpson almost replied instantly narrowly missing from long range. With 20 seconds left in the half the game was stopped as Belfourd had pulled up suddenly with cramp and it was a while before the game could restart. Croydon only had to hold out Trojans for a short while but it wasn't to be as the hosts scored from middle distance to leave the scores at 8-4 going into the half. After the break both sides struggled to find any attacking momentum, even when Trojans managed to find the back of the net it was disallowed for a fould under the post, they didn't learn their lesson and gave away the same foul moents later to give Croydon a chance to attack, Ellis needed no second chance as he buried a shot from longe range. Trojans had the chance to reply after another dubious penalty against P.Jeanes but Trojans missed. Croydon couldn't capitalise though and Trojans went on a scoring run, firstly a long shot and then soon after scored another drop off shot to make the scores 10-5, unfortunately it didn't stop there, another penalty was awarded and there was no mistake this time. Further misery was put on Croydon as another long shot and yet another penalty were tucked away to give Trojans an eight goal lead at 13-5. At this point Croydon finally seemed to be shutting Trojans attacking options down, Belfourd though was hit with another bout of cramp and had to be helped before getting back to her feet. Trojans brought fresh legs on midway through the second half and it improved their attacking flow, the subsitute scoring a running in shot within a minute of coming on but unfortunately landed on a team mates foot twiting her ankle and had to take some time to recover. When the game once again resumed Trojans were quickest out of the blocks again, their overhead passing was picking apart Croydon's defence and it led to another fine drop off shot to bring the scores to 15-5. Trojans were at it again scoring two quick goals, both running in shots to further extend their lead to 17-5. With 5 minutes to go the game saw yet another injury with Omar forced off with a bad toe, he was replaced with Dan Pratt seeing his second game of the day. He didn't have much time to influence the game in attack as Trojans scored twice in quick succesion firstly with a long shot and then with yet another long shot. Coach Butters said he was looking to keep them to under 20 goals and with 3 minutes left it was going to take a big effort from Croydon's weary defence, in attack though Belfourd was still going strong and was fouled after getting past her player again, Hudspith just doing enough to put the resulting penalty away. Croydon managed to close the game out with the scores at 19-6. Not for the first time this season the score did not reflect the performance Croydon gave as they pushed Trojans close for a long time and it was only a long scoring spell that saw the result looking comfortable for Trojans.Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Zuton Final Score: Trojans 1 19 vs 6 Croydon 1V Ellis (2)N Hudspith (2)P Jeanes (1)Z Omar (1)D Pratt (0)D Aindow (0)G Codd (0)J Hudspith (0)A Jeanes (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 09 Jan 08Croydon 2 lose to Trojans 2Croydon 2 took on Trojans 2, a match which was always going to be tough with many of the opposition made up of GB players and one of the best female players in the country playing down. Croydon started with Dan Pratt (c), Peter Lindsay, Julia Johnson and Emma Butters in attack, Ben Hale, Adam Champion, Lynda Barker and Hannah Evans in defence. Trojans started the brightest in the cold hall scoring twice with no reply to take control early on. Croydon replied shortly after with Hale scoring a good long distance shot under pressure, but the hosts continued to put Croydon's defene to the test scoring a further 2 unanswered goals to take the scores to 4-1 and the visitors looked to be struggling. In attack Croydon were beginning to find more space and after some neat moves from Butters she scored from mid range. Croydon continued their comeback with Hale scoring from distance again to bring them back within one. Trojans though were not going to be caught in a battle and had no problem finding space in attack, the pressure proved to be too much and they went on to score a further 3 goals leaving the scores at 7-3. Croydon were struggling to find space and it was only after Pratt was stripped of the ball whilst trying to feed in Butters to earn them a penalty did they have a chance on goal. Pratt stepped up to the line to convert the penalty with ease. Trojans in their next attack earnt a penalty of their own but failed to convert it, Croydon though were not expecting the miss and were far too slow to react to find their players leading to an easy running in shot for the hosts. Croydon allowed a further 3 goals before they were let off by the half time whistle, going into the break at 11-4. Croydon looked better after the break despite letting in another goal early on and continued pressure in attack through Lindsay and Johnson's shooting paired with Pratt doing well in collect gave Croydon extended possesion and it paid off when Pratt collected a Lindsay miss and scored dropping off his player. Trojans were briefly slowed in attack but the introduction of 2 subsitutes gave them renewed energy, scoring twice without reply gave them a commanding 14-5 lead, Champion did his best to lift the side scoring from distance but it was not enough to stop the hosts as they went on another scoring run managing to score 4 in a row this time. Croydon's problems were compounded as Evans was forced off with an injury, fortunately Croydon had a replacement waiting Karen James making her third appearance for the 2nds. Soon after Lindsay got himself on the score sheet with only minutes left to bring the scores to 18-7 it was Trojans though who closed the game out scoring again from distance to end the game with Croydon on the wrong side of a 19-7 scoreline.Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Sicknote Final Score: Trojans 2 19 vs 7 Croydon 2B Hale (2)D Pratt (2)A Champion (1)P Lindsey (1)E Butters (1)L Barker (0)J Johnson (0)H Evans (0)K James (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 09 Jan 08
Croydon 2 lose to Trojans 2Croydon 2 took on Trojans 2, a match which was always going to be tough with many of the opposition made up of GB players and one of the best female players in the country playing down. Croydon started with Dan Pratt (c), Peter Lindsay, Julia Johnson and Emma Butters in attack, Ben Hale, Adam Champion, Lynda Barker and Hannah Evans in defence. Trojans started the brightest in the cold hall scoring twice with no reply to take control early on. Croydon replied shortly after with Hale scoring a good long distance shot under pressure, but the hosts continued to put Croydon's defene to the test scoring a further 2 unanswered goals to take the scores to 4-1 and the visitors looked to be struggling. In attack Croydon were beginning to find more space and after some neat moves from Butters she scored from mid range. Croydon continued their comeback with Hale scoring from distance again to bring them back within one. Trojans though were not going to be caught in a battle and had no problem finding space in attack, the pressure proved to be too much and they went on to score a further 3 goals leaving the scores at 7-3. Croydon were struggling to find space and it was only after Pratt was stripped of the ball whilst trying to feed in Butters to earn them a penalty did they have a chance on goal. Pratt stepped up to the line to convert the penalty with ease. Trojans in their next attack earnt a penalty of their own but failed to convert it, Croydon though were not expecting the miss and were far too slow to react to find their players leading to an easy running in shot for the hosts. Croydon allowed a further 3 goals before they were let off by the half time whistle, going into the break at 11-4. Croydon looked better after the break despite letting in another goal early on and continued pressure in attack through Lindsay and Johnson's shooting paired with Pratt doing well in collect gave Croydon extended possesion and it paid off when Pratt collected a Lindsay miss and scored dropping off his player. Trojans were briefly slowed in attack but the introduction of 2 subsitutes gave them renewed energy, scoring twice without reply gave them a commanding 14-5 lead, Champion did his best to lift the side scoring from distance but it was not enough to stop the hosts as they went on another scoring run managing to score 4 in a row this time. Croydon's problems were compounded as Evans was forced off with an injury, fortunately Croydon had a replacement waiting Karen James making her third appearance for the 2nds. Soon after Lindsay got himself on the score sheet with only minutes left to bring the scores to 18-7 it was Trojans though who closed the game out scoring again from distance to end the game with Croydon on the wrong side of a 19-7 scoreline.Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Sicknote Final Score: Trojans 2 19 vs 7 Croydon 2B Hale (2)D Pratt (2)A Champion (1)P Lindsey (1)E Butters (1)L Barker (0)J Johnson (0)H Evans (0)K James (0)Submitted by Sicknote on 09 Jan 08
