Croydon Juniors in fighting form Croydon u9s and u11s travelled to Sutton Grammar School on Sunday 12th to play in the London Korfball League Junior matches. The under 9s (Croydon Hawks) started first, with Adil, Zuhayr, Oscar, Zach and Yazzie making up the team. In their first match, they were all over their opposition but just couldn't find the basket. They worked hard to make their chances but the ball bounced out, time and again. The game finished 0-0. In their second match the Hawks had a tougher time of it, but they kept their cool. They tracked back in defence and put pressure on their opponents. This worked for a long time until a shot sneaked in. Yazzie then showed just how much she has progressed in recent weeks, slotting home a lovely shot of her own. Unfortunately a long shot dropped for the other team, and there wasn't enough time for a Hawks reply. In the last match, the team were blazing. They fought for the ball, getting most 50/50 balls. Yazzie scored her second of the day, followed by both Oscar and Zach. 3-0. A great team affort from everyone, which showed really great improvement in this young team. The under 11s were next up with 4 matches of their own. The team was much changed from recent matches, due to unavailability and illness. Experienced players Alfie and Elena, were joined by relative newcomers Zak, Jude and Joe. In the first match, Croydon played Nomads. The team took a while to get used to each other but were not outplayed and lost by a single goal. Charm Park were the next opposition, and Croydon pulled out all the stops. Joe, in his first u11 match, scored twice to send the team into a 2-0. With strong defending from all the players, that was how the score stayed. The strong and experienced Bec team came next. This was always going to be a tough one, but Croydon didn't lose heart, and limited Bec to 2 goals. Finally Croydon took on the purple Yellow Bee team. As the last match of the day, the team were working much better together, Alfie was snapping up every loose ball, as well as sprinting to defend players all over the pitch. Elena was showing her skill with passing and intercepting, whilst Zak was stopping his player get a clear shot away. Jude was using his netball skills to ping balls through the opposition into his team mates' hands. Unfortunately they couldn't quite get the ball in the basket though, and the score finished 0-0. A fantastic performance from a team who have never played together before. 3 of the team hadn't played full pitch u11 Korfball before, so it was even more impressive. Story by Anna · 15 years ago
