Croydon 2 throw away lead in disappointing defeat to Mitcham

Croydon 2 travelled to Ernest Bevin on the back of an excellent win over Supernova and with the knowledge they had already beaten their opponents earlier in the season. They took to the pitch with Annie Campbell, Stephen Gooch, Anna Jeanes and Simon Mills (c) in first attack, while Lorna Elliot, Zu Munshi, Adam Stevens and Sarah Withers took the first defence.

The first half overall was a good showing from the travelling outfit, defending superbly they restricted their opponents good shooting opportunities while attacking well themselves. Croydon controlled the ball, created chances and were scoring goals. Approaching the end of the half they held a 5 goal lead with the score at 9-4; thanks to baskets from Jeanes, Munshi (3), Mills, Withers, Gooch, Stevens and Campbell. Suddenly however it all seemed to go horribly wrong.

A mad 10 minutes saw the seconds lose their composure with wrong shot selections, misplaced passes and a combination of mistakes in defence as well as some improved Mitcham shooting saw the home side score 4 uninterrupted goals to bring them right back into the game and with the half time whistle Croydon found themselves now just one goal ahead (9-8).

Going into the second half the words of wisdom focused on concentration and getting back to playing the good Korfball the team had demonstrated in the first 20 minutes. For a moment it seemed to work and in their first attack of the half the blues played an almost perfect sequence which eventually lead to captain Mills scoring a drop off from Gooch's long effort just as the shot clock ran to its cycle. Sadly almost as soon as Croydon had felt a surge in confidence it seemed to evaporate once again as Mitcham responded and the seconds seemed visibly shaken the home team scored twice more to take the lead for the first time since their early two goal start.

Croydon were now making silly mistakes all over the pitch passing to their opponents or out of play or taking the wrong shots. Even when they worked a good opportunity their shooting power seemed to have escaped them and they were now missing even simple chances around the post. This conspiracy of errors and misses meant they could only score 3 more times in the rest of the game (a mid range Campbell shot and 2 more from Mills), this compared to Mitcham's 6 was simply not good enough and as the full time whistle blew the team looked shattered, more one suspects from the result rather than their efforts.

A hugely disappointing and frustrating result for the 2nd team who for the first period of the game looked for all the world like they were going to go on to win the game by a distance. Now looking nervously over their shoulders they have some big fixtures coming up before the end of the season and will need to look at both the positives of what they did well, while also identifying just where it all went wrong.

Stephen Gooch was awarded MVP for an all action performance that saw him intercept the ball in defence numerous times.


Match Report by Simon | Updated by Simon

Match photo 1 of 1
1 of 1
Final Score: Mitcham 1 17 vs 13 Croydon 2

S Mills (4)

Z Omar (3)

S Gooch (1)

A Stevens (1)

A Campbell (2)

A Jeanes (1)

S Withers (1)

L MacKay-Elliott (0)

Submitted by Simon on 08 Feb 15

Croydon 5 just miss out in close encounter

Final Score: Croydon 5 6 vs 12 Croydon Swans

A Champion (1)

P Lindsey (1)

T Raffield (1)

B Burr (0)

S Hole (2)

H Raffield (1)

E Dean (0)

S Roberts (0)

Submitted by Ben on 10 Feb 15

Swans go marching on!

Swans headed to Royal Russell for a tricky away game against friends and rivals for the day, Croydon 5. The game was very even in the first half with the defensive section of Pete, Adam, Emily and Sally keeping the attack of Ben, Simon, Jess and Wendy quiet! Roger, Joe, Emma and Lindsey did the same to Sarah, Bryan, Tom and Hannah at the other end meaning no goals were scored until 8 minutes in. A cagey half came to an end with Swans just shading it 4-5. At half time Ben urged the team to compete more and win the 50/50 balls. The team responded well and with some excellent battling at the post and some very clinical finishing the Swans pulled away to end the game 6-12. A competitive but thoroughly enjoyable encounter! Bring on more of the same vs Croydon 4 next Sunday.

Match Report by Ben

Final Score: Croydon 5 6 vs 12 Croydon Swans

R White (4)

B Walsh (4)

J Smith (2)

S Bracey Lane (0)

J Green (1)

W White (1)

L Kelly (0)

E Sturgess (0)

Submitted by Ben on 08 Feb 15