Defeat to on form Bec Final Score: Croydon 1 12 vs 40 Bec 1T Clarke (2)N Hudspith (1)V Ellis (0)A Withers (2)R Carr-Taylor (0)G Codd (3)C Browne (1)H Robinson (1)J Hudspith (2)S Wright (0)Submitted by Jane on 19 Jan 14Croydon suffer through Bec victoryOn a difficult day for Croydon 2 Ryan, Susan, Pete and the last minute addition Sarah H started in attack. This left Simon, Ed, Kathy and Beccy D in first defence. The game was incredibly close for the first 15 minutes or so but Bec then started to pull away and Croydon couldn't keep up with Bec's scoring ratio. Midway through the first half an injury caused Bec to make a substitution and bring on their young talisman Blake. This proved to be a pivotal moment in the game as Blake took the game by the scruff of the neck and ended up scoring 12 goals for his team in 3/4 of a game. Croydon had their own injury worry at half time with Ryan having to be withdrawn with a finger injury, which brought Ross into the match, but this had little effect on the way Bec dominated the second half. Croydon looked like they may need to find another boy from somewhere midway through the second half with Captain Simon struggling with what appeared to be either a touch of cramp or a slight muscle strain. However, he managed to battle through to the end (much to my relief as I was the next boy in line to have to step up!!!!!!) So in all fairness it isn't the result Croydon were looking for; it was a strong Bec team but Croydon would have hoped to have scored more and conceded a lot less. Bec seemed to score almost every shot they took and Croydon faded pretty quickly. However, some positives from the game: Sarah Hole scoring even though drafted in very late, Susan making it through the game having only got back from Holland a couple of hours before, Beccy on scoing a cracking goal after a good performance in partnership with her sister Kathy. So well tried seconds, but its back to the drawing board before next weeks fixture!!! Match Report by Dom Final Score: Croydon 2 7 vs 32 Bec 2P Lindsey (2)E Chaney (1)S Mills (0)R Dring (1)R Carr-Taylor (0)S Hole (1)B Lockett (1)S Wright (1)K Bradford (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Croydon 3 nearly let Bec back into the gameStarting in attack was Annie, Martin (who kindly lead us with pre game stretches), Paul and myself leaving the beefcake defense of Adam, Anna, Dom and Keri, Ha ha. If you've seen my post you'll know that Kathy beautifully wrote scorers and type of shots down on the page I let Bec have, I know poor show, sorry guys. I do remember our fabulous start to the game though. Straight off from only the third pass of game me throwing up a long shot and score! and then back to normal but lucky for us our beefcakes kept up and eventually Paul scored yeah all change and we continued to dominate the game. Anna (who got MPV cos she could've had it last week and I thought we all played really well and worked hard this week) in the section were trying moves from training without success, Keri was screaming she was free and took her chances - it will come. Annie also at training was mix of shots but missing the lovely runner which left goals to the rest of us. Anna - cracking long shot of beat that, Adam - smooth finish of give me the space and see my aim, Martin, Dom, Paul and myself - a mix of doubles We thirds get a week off matches but hopefully will all be at training to expand on the game as yes moves were tried and some not and I did worry that we were going to let Bec into the game as our 4 - 8 lead evaporated. Everyone should be happy and hopefully enjoyed the game and Keri won the red face competition! xMatch Report by Lorna Final Score: Croydon 3 10 vs 8 Bec 4D Bradford (2)M James (2)P Jeanes (2)A Stevens (1)L MacKay-Elliott (2)A Jeanes (1)K Akif (0)A Campbell (0)Submitted by Lorna on 19 Jan 14Croydon 4 struggle against Mitcham's 7Fresh from their victory over title rivals Swans, Croydon 4 faced another difficult opponent in the shape of Mitcham 2. The team lined up for the early fixture at Trinity school with Phil Aish, Janine Bovey, Jon Dean (c) and Ellen Swygart in first attack while Charlotte Feakins, David Hughes, Craig Stevens and Kay Swygart took first defence. Croydon were a little slow out of the blocks and paid the price after just a minute in. Despite Mitcham failing to score from a runner they duly tucked away the short shot from the resulting rebound. Croydon started to wake up and were back level several minutes later when captain Dean put away a fine long-range effort. The game remained tight and it took until the 11th minute before Croydon added to the score line with a neatly finished short shot from Stevens. The game seemed to be heading towards a low scoring affair until 5 minutes from the break when there was suddenly a flurry of goals; Stevens adding another short (1-3), Mitcham this time converting a runner before scoring a long shot to even things out (3-3), Kay Swygart then converted a lovely looping runner (3-4), Hughes with a short (3-5), two more short shots again both converted from running in chances from Mitcham (5-5) and finally a smooth finish from behind by Aish to nudge Croydon into a 6-5 lead as everyone tried to catch their breath at half time! Acting coach for the day Mills was pleased with the first half display, while asking the team to focus on three things going into the second half. To cut out making long risky passes from defence to attack which had seen Croydon lose the ball several times, to stay post side of their attacker and to work the ball round the sides rather than make risky passes directly through the middle in attack. As the second half resumed it seemed it would follow a similar pattern from the first with just two goals in the first 15 minutes, unfortunately both Mitcham goals; a short and another runner. With Croydon now trailing 7 goals to 6, things were complicated further when one of the Mitcham boys was forced off with injury and Hughes section were up against 3. Unfortunately Croydon found it difficult to adjust to this and in the process of trying to adapt conceded two goals in just as many minutes as the home side now found themselves 4 goals ahead with again a short shot and a runner. As the clock counted down Croydon finally seemed to settle in defence, the attack was putting up shots but couldn't seem to find the accuracy needed before Hughes finally converted a runner. The goal seemed to give the visitors hope and Aish added to the excitement with another lovely drop off shot just moments later. Croydon now needed just two goals with just a few minutes remaining. Sadly the revival ended there. Croydon who had worked extremely hard seemed to run out of puff, they started making silly mistakes and after an extremely risky long ball from defence was intercepted Mitcham instantly punished them with a runner. The goal seemed to flatten Croydon, who then surrendered a short goal and a runner within a minute before the final whistle ended the tie. Final score Mitcham (2) 12 - 8 Croydon (4). Croydon 4 can take a lot of positives from this game, they worked extremely hard and in truth over the 50 minutes the score line flattered Mitcham. Some work on playing against a section of 3 would be extremely beneficial, as the side struggled to work out how to adapt to such a situation. Some great individual performances today, with a particular highlight being another fine performance from the Swygart sisters early in their Korfball careers. Both would have once again been worthy winners of MVP but that honour nods towards Kay who scored an excellent running in shot on top of a very busy performance. Match Report by Simon | Updated by Simon Previous photo Next photo1 of 13 Final Score: Mitcham 2 12 vs 8 Croydon 4P Aish (2)D Hughes (2)C Stevens (2)J Dean (1)K Swygart (1)J Bovey (0)C Feakins (0)E Swygart (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Swans battle back to stay in the hunt.After last weeks close defeat to Croydon 4, the Swans knew that 2 points was essential this week against Woking if they were to keep pace with the other league leaders. Rog, Joe, Sturge and Joce started in first attack, with Ben, Leo, Jess and Wends in first defence. Woking started quickly and got themselves a quick fire double to go 2-0 up. Swans hit back through top scorer Walsh, who followed up his own shot with a well taken runner to half the deficit. It was a tight game and chances were at a premium with both sides defending well. Despite all the team working hard, Woking extended their lead on the stroke of half time to go into the break 3-1 up. Despite the two goal deficit the Swans were still upbeat. Walsh called for a slight change in tactics but couldn't fault the efforts of his players, who were keeping an experienced and lively Woking within arms reach. The Swans started the second half brightly and were rewarded early on as Rog dropped off collecting a Sturgess shot and found the Korf from 3 metres. Woking responded quickly with a well taken long shot to keep their two goal advantage. Not to be outdone Ben hit back for the Swans with his own long ranger from down town! Woking's sub girl was proving to be a handful and her fresh legs were causing havoc, however firstly Jess and then Wends rode out the storm and muted her attacking presence with some outstanding defensive play. The Swans were pushing hard for an equaliser but were dealt a blow as they conceded a penalty, which was cooly put away to give Woking a 5-3 lead with 15 minutes left. Rog gave the Swans hope with a carbon copy of his first goal as he scored another drop off this time from a Jocelyn shot who along with Sturge had taken more attacking responsibility in the second half in their four. Buoyed by this the Swans drew level through a trademark one hander from from 4 metres courtesy of Joe. Sensing victory the Swans went for it and with little under 5 minutes remaining Ben completed his hat trick. Standing in the feed position the ball was fizzed into him, with his defender over committing he took the ball and in one motion swivelled into a lay up to complete the comeback and send the Swans into the lead for the first time in the game. With time running out it was the Swans who looked most likely to extend their lead, as Yearwood went close with two attempts in quick succession. With the defence holding firm and some great battling at the post in attack the Swans held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Coach Walsh hailed the performance as his sides best of the season against a very competitive opposition. The never say die attitude and players united commitment to the cause had to be the most pleasing aspects and epitomised just how far the team has progressed this season. MVP - Wends a great game defensively against two very experienced and quality korfers. Match Report by Roger Final Score: Woking 2 5 vs 6 Croydon SwansB Walsh (3)R White (2)J Smith (1)L Yearwood (0)J Galloway (0)J Green (0)E Sturgess (0)W White (0)Submitted by Ben on 19 Jan 14
Croydon suffer through Bec victoryOn a difficult day for Croydon 2 Ryan, Susan, Pete and the last minute addition Sarah H started in attack. This left Simon, Ed, Kathy and Beccy D in first defence. The game was incredibly close for the first 15 minutes or so but Bec then started to pull away and Croydon couldn't keep up with Bec's scoring ratio. Midway through the first half an injury caused Bec to make a substitution and bring on their young talisman Blake. This proved to be a pivotal moment in the game as Blake took the game by the scruff of the neck and ended up scoring 12 goals for his team in 3/4 of a game. Croydon had their own injury worry at half time with Ryan having to be withdrawn with a finger injury, which brought Ross into the match, but this had little effect on the way Bec dominated the second half. Croydon looked like they may need to find another boy from somewhere midway through the second half with Captain Simon struggling with what appeared to be either a touch of cramp or a slight muscle strain. However, he managed to battle through to the end (much to my relief as I was the next boy in line to have to step up!!!!!!) So in all fairness it isn't the result Croydon were looking for; it was a strong Bec team but Croydon would have hoped to have scored more and conceded a lot less. Bec seemed to score almost every shot they took and Croydon faded pretty quickly. However, some positives from the game: Sarah Hole scoring even though drafted in very late, Susan making it through the game having only got back from Holland a couple of hours before, Beccy on scoing a cracking goal after a good performance in partnership with her sister Kathy. So well tried seconds, but its back to the drawing board before next weeks fixture!!! Match Report by Dom Final Score: Croydon 2 7 vs 32 Bec 2P Lindsey (2)E Chaney (1)S Mills (0)R Dring (1)R Carr-Taylor (0)S Hole (1)B Lockett (1)S Wright (1)K Bradford (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Croydon 3 nearly let Bec back into the gameStarting in attack was Annie, Martin (who kindly lead us with pre game stretches), Paul and myself leaving the beefcake defense of Adam, Anna, Dom and Keri, Ha ha. If you've seen my post you'll know that Kathy beautifully wrote scorers and type of shots down on the page I let Bec have, I know poor show, sorry guys. I do remember our fabulous start to the game though. Straight off from only the third pass of game me throwing up a long shot and score! and then back to normal but lucky for us our beefcakes kept up and eventually Paul scored yeah all change and we continued to dominate the game. Anna (who got MPV cos she could've had it last week and I thought we all played really well and worked hard this week) in the section were trying moves from training without success, Keri was screaming she was free and took her chances - it will come. Annie also at training was mix of shots but missing the lovely runner which left goals to the rest of us. Anna - cracking long shot of beat that, Adam - smooth finish of give me the space and see my aim, Martin, Dom, Paul and myself - a mix of doubles We thirds get a week off matches but hopefully will all be at training to expand on the game as yes moves were tried and some not and I did worry that we were going to let Bec into the game as our 4 - 8 lead evaporated. Everyone should be happy and hopefully enjoyed the game and Keri won the red face competition! xMatch Report by Lorna Final Score: Croydon 3 10 vs 8 Bec 4D Bradford (2)M James (2)P Jeanes (2)A Stevens (1)L MacKay-Elliott (2)A Jeanes (1)K Akif (0)A Campbell (0)Submitted by Lorna on 19 Jan 14Croydon 4 struggle against Mitcham's 7Fresh from their victory over title rivals Swans, Croydon 4 faced another difficult opponent in the shape of Mitcham 2. The team lined up for the early fixture at Trinity school with Phil Aish, Janine Bovey, Jon Dean (c) and Ellen Swygart in first attack while Charlotte Feakins, David Hughes, Craig Stevens and Kay Swygart took first defence. Croydon were a little slow out of the blocks and paid the price after just a minute in. Despite Mitcham failing to score from a runner they duly tucked away the short shot from the resulting rebound. Croydon started to wake up and were back level several minutes later when captain Dean put away a fine long-range effort. The game remained tight and it took until the 11th minute before Croydon added to the score line with a neatly finished short shot from Stevens. The game seemed to be heading towards a low scoring affair until 5 minutes from the break when there was suddenly a flurry of goals; Stevens adding another short (1-3), Mitcham this time converting a runner before scoring a long shot to even things out (3-3), Kay Swygart then converted a lovely looping runner (3-4), Hughes with a short (3-5), two more short shots again both converted from running in chances from Mitcham (5-5) and finally a smooth finish from behind by Aish to nudge Croydon into a 6-5 lead as everyone tried to catch their breath at half time! Acting coach for the day Mills was pleased with the first half display, while asking the team to focus on three things going into the second half. To cut out making long risky passes from defence to attack which had seen Croydon lose the ball several times, to stay post side of their attacker and to work the ball round the sides rather than make risky passes directly through the middle in attack. As the second half resumed it seemed it would follow a similar pattern from the first with just two goals in the first 15 minutes, unfortunately both Mitcham goals; a short and another runner. With Croydon now trailing 7 goals to 6, things were complicated further when one of the Mitcham boys was forced off with injury and Hughes section were up against 3. Unfortunately Croydon found it difficult to adjust to this and in the process of trying to adapt conceded two goals in just as many minutes as the home side now found themselves 4 goals ahead with again a short shot and a runner. As the clock counted down Croydon finally seemed to settle in defence, the attack was putting up shots but couldn't seem to find the accuracy needed before Hughes finally converted a runner. The goal seemed to give the visitors hope and Aish added to the excitement with another lovely drop off shot just moments later. Croydon now needed just two goals with just a few minutes remaining. Sadly the revival ended there. Croydon who had worked extremely hard seemed to run out of puff, they started making silly mistakes and after an extremely risky long ball from defence was intercepted Mitcham instantly punished them with a runner. The goal seemed to flatten Croydon, who then surrendered a short goal and a runner within a minute before the final whistle ended the tie. Final score Mitcham (2) 12 - 8 Croydon (4). Croydon 4 can take a lot of positives from this game, they worked extremely hard and in truth over the 50 minutes the score line flattered Mitcham. Some work on playing against a section of 3 would be extremely beneficial, as the side struggled to work out how to adapt to such a situation. Some great individual performances today, with a particular highlight being another fine performance from the Swygart sisters early in their Korfball careers. Both would have once again been worthy winners of MVP but that honour nods towards Kay who scored an excellent running in shot on top of a very busy performance. Match Report by Simon | Updated by Simon Previous photo Next photo1 of 13 Final Score: Mitcham 2 12 vs 8 Croydon 4P Aish (2)D Hughes (2)C Stevens (2)J Dean (1)K Swygart (1)J Bovey (0)C Feakins (0)E Swygart (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Swans battle back to stay in the hunt.After last weeks close defeat to Croydon 4, the Swans knew that 2 points was essential this week against Woking if they were to keep pace with the other league leaders. Rog, Joe, Sturge and Joce started in first attack, with Ben, Leo, Jess and Wends in first defence. Woking started quickly and got themselves a quick fire double to go 2-0 up. Swans hit back through top scorer Walsh, who followed up his own shot with a well taken runner to half the deficit. It was a tight game and chances were at a premium with both sides defending well. Despite all the team working hard, Woking extended their lead on the stroke of half time to go into the break 3-1 up. Despite the two goal deficit the Swans were still upbeat. Walsh called for a slight change in tactics but couldn't fault the efforts of his players, who were keeping an experienced and lively Woking within arms reach. The Swans started the second half brightly and were rewarded early on as Rog dropped off collecting a Sturgess shot and found the Korf from 3 metres. Woking responded quickly with a well taken long shot to keep their two goal advantage. Not to be outdone Ben hit back for the Swans with his own long ranger from down town! Woking's sub girl was proving to be a handful and her fresh legs were causing havoc, however firstly Jess and then Wends rode out the storm and muted her attacking presence with some outstanding defensive play. The Swans were pushing hard for an equaliser but were dealt a blow as they conceded a penalty, which was cooly put away to give Woking a 5-3 lead with 15 minutes left. Rog gave the Swans hope with a carbon copy of his first goal as he scored another drop off this time from a Jocelyn shot who along with Sturge had taken more attacking responsibility in the second half in their four. Buoyed by this the Swans drew level through a trademark one hander from from 4 metres courtesy of Joe. Sensing victory the Swans went for it and with little under 5 minutes remaining Ben completed his hat trick. Standing in the feed position the ball was fizzed into him, with his defender over committing he took the ball and in one motion swivelled into a lay up to complete the comeback and send the Swans into the lead for the first time in the game. With time running out it was the Swans who looked most likely to extend their lead, as Yearwood went close with two attempts in quick succession. With the defence holding firm and some great battling at the post in attack the Swans held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Coach Walsh hailed the performance as his sides best of the season against a very competitive opposition. The never say die attitude and players united commitment to the cause had to be the most pleasing aspects and epitomised just how far the team has progressed this season. MVP - Wends a great game defensively against two very experienced and quality korfers. Match Report by Roger Final Score: Woking 2 5 vs 6 Croydon SwansB Walsh (3)R White (2)J Smith (1)L Yearwood (0)J Galloway (0)J Green (0)E Sturgess (0)W White (0)Submitted by Ben on 19 Jan 14
Croydon 3 nearly let Bec back into the gameStarting in attack was Annie, Martin (who kindly lead us with pre game stretches), Paul and myself leaving the beefcake defense of Adam, Anna, Dom and Keri, Ha ha. If you've seen my post you'll know that Kathy beautifully wrote scorers and type of shots down on the page I let Bec have, I know poor show, sorry guys. I do remember our fabulous start to the game though. Straight off from only the third pass of game me throwing up a long shot and score! and then back to normal but lucky for us our beefcakes kept up and eventually Paul scored yeah all change and we continued to dominate the game. Anna (who got MPV cos she could've had it last week and I thought we all played really well and worked hard this week) in the section were trying moves from training without success, Keri was screaming she was free and took her chances - it will come. Annie also at training was mix of shots but missing the lovely runner which left goals to the rest of us. Anna - cracking long shot of beat that, Adam - smooth finish of give me the space and see my aim, Martin, Dom, Paul and myself - a mix of doubles We thirds get a week off matches but hopefully will all be at training to expand on the game as yes moves were tried and some not and I did worry that we were going to let Bec into the game as our 4 - 8 lead evaporated. Everyone should be happy and hopefully enjoyed the game and Keri won the red face competition! xMatch Report by Lorna Final Score: Croydon 3 10 vs 8 Bec 4D Bradford (2)M James (2)P Jeanes (2)A Stevens (1)L MacKay-Elliott (2)A Jeanes (1)K Akif (0)A Campbell (0)Submitted by Lorna on 19 Jan 14Croydon 4 struggle against Mitcham's 7Fresh from their victory over title rivals Swans, Croydon 4 faced another difficult opponent in the shape of Mitcham 2. The team lined up for the early fixture at Trinity school with Phil Aish, Janine Bovey, Jon Dean (c) and Ellen Swygart in first attack while Charlotte Feakins, David Hughes, Craig Stevens and Kay Swygart took first defence. Croydon were a little slow out of the blocks and paid the price after just a minute in. Despite Mitcham failing to score from a runner they duly tucked away the short shot from the resulting rebound. Croydon started to wake up and were back level several minutes later when captain Dean put away a fine long-range effort. The game remained tight and it took until the 11th minute before Croydon added to the score line with a neatly finished short shot from Stevens. The game seemed to be heading towards a low scoring affair until 5 minutes from the break when there was suddenly a flurry of goals; Stevens adding another short (1-3), Mitcham this time converting a runner before scoring a long shot to even things out (3-3), Kay Swygart then converted a lovely looping runner (3-4), Hughes with a short (3-5), two more short shots again both converted from running in chances from Mitcham (5-5) and finally a smooth finish from behind by Aish to nudge Croydon into a 6-5 lead as everyone tried to catch their breath at half time! Acting coach for the day Mills was pleased with the first half display, while asking the team to focus on three things going into the second half. To cut out making long risky passes from defence to attack which had seen Croydon lose the ball several times, to stay post side of their attacker and to work the ball round the sides rather than make risky passes directly through the middle in attack. As the second half resumed it seemed it would follow a similar pattern from the first with just two goals in the first 15 minutes, unfortunately both Mitcham goals; a short and another runner. With Croydon now trailing 7 goals to 6, things were complicated further when one of the Mitcham boys was forced off with injury and Hughes section were up against 3. Unfortunately Croydon found it difficult to adjust to this and in the process of trying to adapt conceded two goals in just as many minutes as the home side now found themselves 4 goals ahead with again a short shot and a runner. As the clock counted down Croydon finally seemed to settle in defence, the attack was putting up shots but couldn't seem to find the accuracy needed before Hughes finally converted a runner. The goal seemed to give the visitors hope and Aish added to the excitement with another lovely drop off shot just moments later. Croydon now needed just two goals with just a few minutes remaining. Sadly the revival ended there. Croydon who had worked extremely hard seemed to run out of puff, they started making silly mistakes and after an extremely risky long ball from defence was intercepted Mitcham instantly punished them with a runner. The goal seemed to flatten Croydon, who then surrendered a short goal and a runner within a minute before the final whistle ended the tie. Final score Mitcham (2) 12 - 8 Croydon (4). Croydon 4 can take a lot of positives from this game, they worked extremely hard and in truth over the 50 minutes the score line flattered Mitcham. Some work on playing against a section of 3 would be extremely beneficial, as the side struggled to work out how to adapt to such a situation. Some great individual performances today, with a particular highlight being another fine performance from the Swygart sisters early in their Korfball careers. Both would have once again been worthy winners of MVP but that honour nods towards Kay who scored an excellent running in shot on top of a very busy performance. Match Report by Simon | Updated by Simon Previous photo Next photo1 of 13 Final Score: Mitcham 2 12 vs 8 Croydon 4P Aish (2)D Hughes (2)C Stevens (2)J Dean (1)K Swygart (1)J Bovey (0)C Feakins (0)E Swygart (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Swans battle back to stay in the hunt.After last weeks close defeat to Croydon 4, the Swans knew that 2 points was essential this week against Woking if they were to keep pace with the other league leaders. Rog, Joe, Sturge and Joce started in first attack, with Ben, Leo, Jess and Wends in first defence. Woking started quickly and got themselves a quick fire double to go 2-0 up. Swans hit back through top scorer Walsh, who followed up his own shot with a well taken runner to half the deficit. It was a tight game and chances were at a premium with both sides defending well. Despite all the team working hard, Woking extended their lead on the stroke of half time to go into the break 3-1 up. Despite the two goal deficit the Swans were still upbeat. Walsh called for a slight change in tactics but couldn't fault the efforts of his players, who were keeping an experienced and lively Woking within arms reach. The Swans started the second half brightly and were rewarded early on as Rog dropped off collecting a Sturgess shot and found the Korf from 3 metres. Woking responded quickly with a well taken long shot to keep their two goal advantage. Not to be outdone Ben hit back for the Swans with his own long ranger from down town! Woking's sub girl was proving to be a handful and her fresh legs were causing havoc, however firstly Jess and then Wends rode out the storm and muted her attacking presence with some outstanding defensive play. The Swans were pushing hard for an equaliser but were dealt a blow as they conceded a penalty, which was cooly put away to give Woking a 5-3 lead with 15 minutes left. Rog gave the Swans hope with a carbon copy of his first goal as he scored another drop off this time from a Jocelyn shot who along with Sturge had taken more attacking responsibility in the second half in their four. Buoyed by this the Swans drew level through a trademark one hander from from 4 metres courtesy of Joe. Sensing victory the Swans went for it and with little under 5 minutes remaining Ben completed his hat trick. Standing in the feed position the ball was fizzed into him, with his defender over committing he took the ball and in one motion swivelled into a lay up to complete the comeback and send the Swans into the lead for the first time in the game. With time running out it was the Swans who looked most likely to extend their lead, as Yearwood went close with two attempts in quick succession. With the defence holding firm and some great battling at the post in attack the Swans held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Coach Walsh hailed the performance as his sides best of the season against a very competitive opposition. The never say die attitude and players united commitment to the cause had to be the most pleasing aspects and epitomised just how far the team has progressed this season. MVP - Wends a great game defensively against two very experienced and quality korfers. Match Report by Roger Final Score: Woking 2 5 vs 6 Croydon SwansB Walsh (3)R White (2)J Smith (1)L Yearwood (0)J Galloway (0)J Green (0)E Sturgess (0)W White (0)Submitted by Ben on 19 Jan 14
Croydon 4 struggle against Mitcham's 7Fresh from their victory over title rivals Swans, Croydon 4 faced another difficult opponent in the shape of Mitcham 2. The team lined up for the early fixture at Trinity school with Phil Aish, Janine Bovey, Jon Dean (c) and Ellen Swygart in first attack while Charlotte Feakins, David Hughes, Craig Stevens and Kay Swygart took first defence. Croydon were a little slow out of the blocks and paid the price after just a minute in. Despite Mitcham failing to score from a runner they duly tucked away the short shot from the resulting rebound. Croydon started to wake up and were back level several minutes later when captain Dean put away a fine long-range effort. The game remained tight and it took until the 11th minute before Croydon added to the score line with a neatly finished short shot from Stevens. The game seemed to be heading towards a low scoring affair until 5 minutes from the break when there was suddenly a flurry of goals; Stevens adding another short (1-3), Mitcham this time converting a runner before scoring a long shot to even things out (3-3), Kay Swygart then converted a lovely looping runner (3-4), Hughes with a short (3-5), two more short shots again both converted from running in chances from Mitcham (5-5) and finally a smooth finish from behind by Aish to nudge Croydon into a 6-5 lead as everyone tried to catch their breath at half time! Acting coach for the day Mills was pleased with the first half display, while asking the team to focus on three things going into the second half. To cut out making long risky passes from defence to attack which had seen Croydon lose the ball several times, to stay post side of their attacker and to work the ball round the sides rather than make risky passes directly through the middle in attack. As the second half resumed it seemed it would follow a similar pattern from the first with just two goals in the first 15 minutes, unfortunately both Mitcham goals; a short and another runner. With Croydon now trailing 7 goals to 6, things were complicated further when one of the Mitcham boys was forced off with injury and Hughes section were up against 3. Unfortunately Croydon found it difficult to adjust to this and in the process of trying to adapt conceded two goals in just as many minutes as the home side now found themselves 4 goals ahead with again a short shot and a runner. As the clock counted down Croydon finally seemed to settle in defence, the attack was putting up shots but couldn't seem to find the accuracy needed before Hughes finally converted a runner. The goal seemed to give the visitors hope and Aish added to the excitement with another lovely drop off shot just moments later. Croydon now needed just two goals with just a few minutes remaining. Sadly the revival ended there. Croydon who had worked extremely hard seemed to run out of puff, they started making silly mistakes and after an extremely risky long ball from defence was intercepted Mitcham instantly punished them with a runner. The goal seemed to flatten Croydon, who then surrendered a short goal and a runner within a minute before the final whistle ended the tie. Final score Mitcham (2) 12 - 8 Croydon (4). Croydon 4 can take a lot of positives from this game, they worked extremely hard and in truth over the 50 minutes the score line flattered Mitcham. Some work on playing against a section of 3 would be extremely beneficial, as the side struggled to work out how to adapt to such a situation. Some great individual performances today, with a particular highlight being another fine performance from the Swygart sisters early in their Korfball careers. Both would have once again been worthy winners of MVP but that honour nods towards Kay who scored an excellent running in shot on top of a very busy performance. Match Report by Simon | Updated by Simon Previous photo Next photo1 of 13 Final Score: Mitcham 2 12 vs 8 Croydon 4P Aish (2)D Hughes (2)C Stevens (2)J Dean (1)K Swygart (1)J Bovey (0)C Feakins (0)E Swygart (0)Submitted by Simon on 19 Jan 14Swans battle back to stay in the hunt.After last weeks close defeat to Croydon 4, the Swans knew that 2 points was essential this week against Woking if they were to keep pace with the other league leaders. Rog, Joe, Sturge and Joce started in first attack, with Ben, Leo, Jess and Wends in first defence. Woking started quickly and got themselves a quick fire double to go 2-0 up. Swans hit back through top scorer Walsh, who followed up his own shot with a well taken runner to half the deficit. It was a tight game and chances were at a premium with both sides defending well. Despite all the team working hard, Woking extended their lead on the stroke of half time to go into the break 3-1 up. Despite the two goal deficit the Swans were still upbeat. Walsh called for a slight change in tactics but couldn't fault the efforts of his players, who were keeping an experienced and lively Woking within arms reach. The Swans started the second half brightly and were rewarded early on as Rog dropped off collecting a Sturgess shot and found the Korf from 3 metres. Woking responded quickly with a well taken long shot to keep their two goal advantage. Not to be outdone Ben hit back for the Swans with his own long ranger from down town! Woking's sub girl was proving to be a handful and her fresh legs were causing havoc, however firstly Jess and then Wends rode out the storm and muted her attacking presence with some outstanding defensive play. The Swans were pushing hard for an equaliser but were dealt a blow as they conceded a penalty, which was cooly put away to give Woking a 5-3 lead with 15 minutes left. Rog gave the Swans hope with a carbon copy of his first goal as he scored another drop off this time from a Jocelyn shot who along with Sturge had taken more attacking responsibility in the second half in their four. Buoyed by this the Swans drew level through a trademark one hander from from 4 metres courtesy of Joe. Sensing victory the Swans went for it and with little under 5 minutes remaining Ben completed his hat trick. Standing in the feed position the ball was fizzed into him, with his defender over committing he took the ball and in one motion swivelled into a lay up to complete the comeback and send the Swans into the lead for the first time in the game. With time running out it was the Swans who looked most likely to extend their lead, as Yearwood went close with two attempts in quick succession. With the defence holding firm and some great battling at the post in attack the Swans held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Coach Walsh hailed the performance as his sides best of the season against a very competitive opposition. The never say die attitude and players united commitment to the cause had to be the most pleasing aspects and epitomised just how far the team has progressed this season. MVP - Wends a great game defensively against two very experienced and quality korfers. Match Report by Roger Final Score: Woking 2 5 vs 6 Croydon SwansB Walsh (3)R White (2)J Smith (1)L Yearwood (0)J Galloway (0)J Green (0)E Sturgess (0)W White (0)Submitted by Ben on 19 Jan 14
Swans battle back to stay in the hunt.After last weeks close defeat to Croydon 4, the Swans knew that 2 points was essential this week against Woking if they were to keep pace with the other league leaders. Rog, Joe, Sturge and Joce started in first attack, with Ben, Leo, Jess and Wends in first defence. Woking started quickly and got themselves a quick fire double to go 2-0 up. Swans hit back through top scorer Walsh, who followed up his own shot with a well taken runner to half the deficit. It was a tight game and chances were at a premium with both sides defending well. Despite all the team working hard, Woking extended their lead on the stroke of half time to go into the break 3-1 up. Despite the two goal deficit the Swans were still upbeat. Walsh called for a slight change in tactics but couldn't fault the efforts of his players, who were keeping an experienced and lively Woking within arms reach. The Swans started the second half brightly and were rewarded early on as Rog dropped off collecting a Sturgess shot and found the Korf from 3 metres. Woking responded quickly with a well taken long shot to keep their two goal advantage. Not to be outdone Ben hit back for the Swans with his own long ranger from down town! Woking's sub girl was proving to be a handful and her fresh legs were causing havoc, however firstly Jess and then Wends rode out the storm and muted her attacking presence with some outstanding defensive play. The Swans were pushing hard for an equaliser but were dealt a blow as they conceded a penalty, which was cooly put away to give Woking a 5-3 lead with 15 minutes left. Rog gave the Swans hope with a carbon copy of his first goal as he scored another drop off this time from a Jocelyn shot who along with Sturge had taken more attacking responsibility in the second half in their four. Buoyed by this the Swans drew level through a trademark one hander from from 4 metres courtesy of Joe. Sensing victory the Swans went for it and with little under 5 minutes remaining Ben completed his hat trick. Standing in the feed position the ball was fizzed into him, with his defender over committing he took the ball and in one motion swivelled into a lay up to complete the comeback and send the Swans into the lead for the first time in the game. With time running out it was the Swans who looked most likely to extend their lead, as Yearwood went close with two attempts in quick succession. With the defence holding firm and some great battling at the post in attack the Swans held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Coach Walsh hailed the performance as his sides best of the season against a very competitive opposition. The never say die attitude and players united commitment to the cause had to be the most pleasing aspects and epitomised just how far the team has progressed this season. MVP - Wends a great game defensively against two very experienced and quality korfers. Match Report by Roger Final Score: Woking 2 5 vs 6 Croydon SwansB Walsh (3)R White (2)J Smith (1)L Yearwood (0)J Galloway (0)J Green (0)E Sturgess (0)W White (0)Submitted by Ben on 19 Jan 14
