Croydon Korfball Club - Korfball in South London | Super Friendly and Competitive Sport

Croydon 1 notch up first win against Bearsted 1

Croydon 1 travelled down the motorway to Kent to take on fellow strugglers Bearsted. This was a must win game for the team, and expectations were high.

Captain Hudspith N started in defence with Ellis, Driver, and Stimpson, leaving Withers, Mills, Jeanes and Hudspith J in attack.

The longer than normal warm up and the extra springy floor seemed to suit the away team, and it was a matter of minutes before Jeanes, in a rare surge of speed, forced a penalty, which she calmly converted. Croydon seemed a little surprised to be in the lead, but managed to keep their heads, playing some good attacking Korfball and working hard in defence to stop the Kent side from scoring. After a relatively short time, Croydon forced a free pass, and this was also scored putting the visitors 2-0 up.

The change of ends, didn't stop the flowing Korfball, and despite some close shots from Bearsted, Croydon slotted 2 more goals home, and suddenly found themselves in the unusual position of being 4-0 ahead. It was becoming harder to shoot and score, as Bearsted started pushing out more, but Croydon still managed to sneak in another goal.

Croydon took their foot off the pedal slightly at this point and let Bearsted back in slightly. They scored a couple of goals, and suddenly there really was a game going on with both sides determined to take the vital points. Half time 3-6.

During the second half, Bearsted fought hardest and found themselves drawing level at 7-7 with less than 10 minutes to go. Croydon had to do something if they wanted to secure this match. With shots going close but not in, Croydon were recyling ball through the work of Hudspith N, dominating the post. Stimpson was strong in the feed and taking cheeky shots as well, whilst Driver and Ellis were all over the pitch, making space to put their shots up. It was a tense time, but Croydon weren't going to let this game go, and their team work paid off with Ellis forcing his defender to overcommit before popping in an underhand mid-distance shot. There were only minutes to go and the Croydon defence were making a nuisance of themselves, giving their attack much of the ball time. With only 2 minutes left on the clock, the Bearsted defence made contact on the feed, and Stimpson stepped up to take the free throw. Everyone held their breath.

And she scorrrrreeeeeedddddd.

Croydon didn't let that lead go, and finished the game 9-7 winners.

It was a great feeling and one that the team savoured.

Match Report by Anna | Updated by Andy