Croydon into the semis after edging past Bec 3On paper, Croydon appeared to have one of the easier quarter final matches of the 2009 EKA Cup against London 2 league's Bec 3. But how it looks like on paper is by no way a reflection of what happens on the pitch... Croydon’s sections consisted of Jane Belfourd, Grace Stimpson, Andy Withers, and Dan Pratt in defence. In attack was Anna Jeanes (c), Hannah Evans, Zak Omar, and Dave Butters. Neither team managed to score with their first couple of attacks, and so it fell to Bec 3 to get the first goal of the game from a mid distance shot. Croydon responded quickly when Butters was fouled on a running-in shot, and he neatly tucked the penalty away to bring the scores to 1 a piece. Croydon attacked well and produced a number of chances to pull ahead, but failed to capitalise on them. Pratt’s mid-range efforts were either called defended or flew wide, Belfourd’s trade-mark start-stop-start running in shot bounced away, whilst Stimpson’s long-range shots bounced everywhere but through the centre of the basket. Croydon’s defence worked well for a period to block Bec out, with some great intercepts from Jeanes and the speedy Evans, plus strong collections from Butters and Omar, but their efforts were thwarted when a Bec girl scored a seemingly defended mid-shot. Croydon won themselves a free-pass, but the ref disallowed the goal for pushing in the collect. Bec’s chance to score from their free-pass was sabotaged by Evans’ charge down on the shooter. Jeanes in particular looked fired up for this match, and was beating her player to intercept passes and send the ball back in to the attack. Pratt was fouled as he ducked and dived near the post to shoot, and stepped up to take the penalty himself. Rare to recent form though, the ball missed the target and Bec secured possession. In defence Omar was deemed to have fouled his player whilst jumping in collect, and Bec 3 were awarded the free-pass. Not to worry though, as Evans again charged down the shooter and was awarded the restart when her player barged in to her. Eventually, Belfourd got Croydon back on track with a mid-range effort, bringing the scores to 2 all. Pratt was being noticeably bustled by his player, and the ref spotted the shove to Pratt’s back, awarding Croydon the restart. The calls from the Croydon fans for a penalty fell on deaf ears. However Bec 3 started to pull ahead, and some Croydon heads appeared to drop. They scored 3 unanswered goals through two mid-range shots by their girls, and a neat under the basket switch and shoot by their boys. The whistle blew for half time, with the score as Bec 3 5, Croydon 2. The half-time break gave Croydon the chance to gather themselves, and they started brightly with some good movement to free Pratt to shoot. However, Bec’s tight marking meant the shot was called as defended. Croydon kept applying pressure as Stimpson’s girl continued to drop off her, allowing Stimpson to shoot from distance. Despite some shots going agonisingly close, Croydon failed to score. Croydon were awarded a couple of restarts for physical infringements around the post. A free-pass was missed by both sides before Croydon finally got their shooting boots on as Pratt tricked his player under the post to score. It was captain Jeanes' turn now, as she lost her girl for a running in shot, but halted out of range of the switching Bec girl to score 3 metres out from under the post. Another free-pass was awarded to Croydon, and the practised training ground move worked as Jeanes brought Croydon back in to the game, the scores now level at 5 each. Every Bec 3 attack left the Croydon fans holding their breath, but the defence was up to the challenge as Evans charged down yet another free-pass to stop Bec from scoring. Croydon had the opportunity to take the lead when Belfourd was fouled running in, but Pratt’s effort bounced back and forth and out of the basket. The Croydon fans may have felt like smacking the back of his head, but Pratt did it for them when he reverse head-butted the post jumping in a collect. A couple of seconds in the foetal position and he was raring to go again. The bang obviously awoke Pratt’s penalty taking skills, as Croydon were awarded another chance which he coolly slotted away to take Croydon ahead 5-6. The Croydon defence was working hard to pressure Bec and maintain their goal lead, but the ref considered one effort an infringement and awarded Bec the free-pass. A little luck was clearly on Croydon’s side this time, as the free pass and some follow up mid-distance chances soared wide. Entering the last few minutes, Croydon grabbed themselves some breathing space as Pratt collected and then scored under the post. The whistle blew shortly afterwards, and the Croydon fans erupted into cheers at Croydon’s win – 7 goals to Bec 3’s 5. The match was a clear tale of two halves. Bec 3 had come to fight, and it’s fair to say they dominated the first half. But Croydon weren’t about to give up on this one, and while their defence recorded a 2nd half shut-out, the attack also found the basket after some unfortunate misses in the first half. Croydon were now in the semis. Match Report by Zoe | Updated by Andy Previous photo Next photo1 of 23 Final Score: Bec 3 5 vs 7 Croydon 1D Pratt (3)D Butters (1)Z Omar (0)A Withers (0)A Jeanes (2)J Hudspith (1)G Codd (0)H Evans (0)Submitted by Sarah on 25 Apr 09
