Trojans 2 out shoot Croydon 2 despite strong first half

D Bradford (2)	J Oosterling (2)	E Chaney (1)	A Champion (0)
H Robinson (1)	K Bradford (0)	J Johnson (0)	S Wright (0)

M25 cannot stop Croydon speedsters but Woking 2 can

Multiple lane closures on the M25 were not enough to stop Croydon 4 getting to the game on time by some nifty cross country navigating. However, there was little time to warm up as the previous match on Woking's tiny court only finished 5 minutes before the game was due.

First defence were Jon, Mike, Beccy and Julie with Phil, Keri, Charlotte and David in first attack. Woking caught Croydon napping scoring with a long shot following the first pass which Jon did not close down but after that there was a long period with no scoring as both defences were very tight. Eventually David scored to level things off and later he scored again so that at half time the score had leaped on to 2-2.

There were good performances all round which continued into the second half. Keri was energetic in her defence of a very experienced opponent and won the ball several times and David was bouncing around the post getting many collects against a much taller opponent. Phil got a few shots away but was penalised by overzealous use of the 'defended' rule. Julie, Beccy and Charlotte were all working hard for the ball but were struggling to get past speedy defenders as was Jon, against the second highest scorer in the division.
Mike was always running into space and his long reach was invaluable in collect.

So Croydon thought they had taken the lead in the second half but David's goal was ruled defended. He went on to miss a penalty but made amends by slotting his third of the game. By now however, Woking had scored 7 and Mike's long range goal at the end was only a consolation.

It was particularly pleasing that Croydon mounted long phases of attack, recycling the ball well at both ends but it is fair the say that they should have capitalized more on their shooting opportunities.
Maybe David has the answer-with a 12-30 start he had to have a picnic lunch in his car beforehand which naturally consisted of a steak and ale pie-certainly sharpened up his shooting.

So next up....Woking (!) but at home we will make use of the space and it will be a whole new ball game.

Match Report by JonD | Updated by JonD


Final Score: Woking 2 7 vs 4 Croydon 4

D Hughes (3)	M Lockett (1)	P Aish (0)	J Dean (0)
K Akif (0)	C Feakins (0)	J Green (0)	B Lockett (0)

Submitted by JonD on 10 Feb 13