Cambridge City KC 11 v 22 Croydon KC Not a match for the purist, but Croydon emerged with a comfortable victory and progress to the BKA Cup semi-finals and a meeting with old rivals Nomads. Cambridge have been on the receiving end of plenty of maulings from Croydon in recent years, and changed their tactics in a bid to unsettle their Premier League visitors. Rebound defence was brought in, with the defenders dropping off to intercept the pass into feed. Cambridge's attacking tactics were harder to discern precisely, but appeared to be based on a blocking and cutting game and certainly wasn't free-flowing. Steve Jones opened the scoring for Croydon with a distance shot, but James Trubridge missed a penalty to give Cambridge the opportunity to equalise. Jones' 6 goals dominated the scoring in his division during the first half, added to one from Richard Crabb, while the goals in the other Croydon division were shared between Dave Butters, Ivan Aquino and Janine Collier. Cambridge struggled to create scoring opportunities close to the post, as their slow-moving attacks allowed Croydon to exert defensive pressure. Their first half goals came from two penalties against Jones, converted by Sam Whittaker, and long shots from Trubridge and Lia Matthews. At half time the score was 4-11 in Croydon's favour. The second half started in similar fashion to the first - smartly taken goals from Croydon's Katerina van der Buntova and Kim Jones, and a missed penalty from Trubridge. Both teams were finding it difficult to score and as the match became more physical, tempers started to flare. Trubridge seemed less than impressed at being well and truly flattened by Butters, but at least he finally scored a penalty as a result. Soon after, his petulance soon after earned him a yellow card, as he tested referee Graham Crafter's patience once too often. All this seemed to distract Cambridge rather more than Croydon, as the visitors were able to score seven goals in succession with some accurate distance shooting. Late on Trubridge scored a couple more penalties, but it was always a case of too little too late. Compared to recent scores against Croydon, Cambridge may feel that this was a job well done, particularly with a number of first choice players unavailable. But the limits of rebound defence were exposed as Croydon were allowed time and space to shoot, and were doing so with a high success rate. Cambridge found it difficult to create good opportunities to score and were dependent on penalties (5 were scored, 2 missed) or Croydon defensive errors. Once Croydon had accepted they weren't going to be able to play their normal style of game, and concentrated on breaking down the Cambridge rebound defence, they rarely left the comfort zone. Croydon goalscorers: Steve Jones 9, Dave Butters 4, Ivan Aquino 2, Richard Crabb 1, Katerina van der Buntova 3, Kim Jones 1, Alison Rotheram 1, Janine Collier 1. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Cambridge City 1 11 vs 22 Croydon 1There were no Croydon scorers in this game.Submitted by on 23 Oct 05Cambridge City KC 11 v 22 Croydon KC Not a match for the purist, but Croydon emerged with a comfortable victory and progress to the BKA Cup semi-finals and a meeting with old rivals Nomads. Cambridge have been on the receiving end of plenty of maulings from Croydon in recent years, and changed their tactics in a bid to unsettle their Premier League visitors. Rebound defence was brought in, with the defenders dropping off to intercept the pass into feed. Cambridge's attacking tactics were harder to discern precisely, but appeared to be based on a blocking and cutting game and certainly wasn't free-flowing. Steve Jones opened the scoring for Croydon with a distance shot, but James Trubridge missed a penalty to give Cambridge the opportunity to equalise. Jones' 6 goals dominated the scoring in his division during the first half, added to one from Richard Crabb, while the goals in the other Croydon division were shared between Dave Butters, Ivan Aquino and Janine Collier. Cambridge struggled to create scoring opportunities close to the post, as their slow-moving attacks allowed Croydon to exert defensive pressure. Their first half goals came from two penalties against Jones, converted by Sam Whittaker, and long shots from Trubridge and Lia Matthews. At half time the score was 4-11 in Croydon's favour. The second half started in similar fashion to the first - smartly taken goals from Croydon's Katerina van der Buntova and Kim Jones, and a missed penalty from Trubridge. Both teams were finding it difficult to score and as the match became more physical, tempers started to flare. Trubridge seemed less than impressed at being well and truly flattened by Butters, but at least he finally scored a penalty as a result. Soon after, his petulance soon after earned him a yellow card, as he tested referee Graham Crafter's patience once too often. All this seemed to distract Cambridge rather more than Croydon, as the visitors were able to score seven goals in succession with some accurate distance shooting. Late on Trubridge scored a couple more penalties, but it was always a case of too little too late. Compared to recent scores against Croydon, Cambridge may feel that this was a job well done, particularly with a number of first choice players unavailable. But the limits of rebound defence were exposed as Croydon were allowed time and space to shoot, and were doing so with a high success rate. Cambridge found it difficult to create good opportunities to score and were dependent on penalties (5 were scored, 2 missed) or Croydon defensive errors. Once Croydon had accepted they weren't going to be able to play their normal style of game, and concentrated on breaking down the Cambridge rebound defence, they rarely left the comfort zone. Croydon goalscorers: Steve Jones 9, Dave Butters 4, Ivan Aquino 2, Richard Crabb 1, Katerina van der Buntova 3, Kim Jones 1, Alison Rotheram 1, Janine Collier 1. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 2 11 vs 11 Croydon 2There were no Croydon scorers in this game.Submitted by on 23 Oct 05
Cambridge City KC 11 v 22 Croydon KC Not a match for the purist, but Croydon emerged with a comfortable victory and progress to the BKA Cup semi-finals and a meeting with old rivals Nomads. Cambridge have been on the receiving end of plenty of maulings from Croydon in recent years, and changed their tactics in a bid to unsettle their Premier League visitors. Rebound defence was brought in, with the defenders dropping off to intercept the pass into feed. Cambridge's attacking tactics were harder to discern precisely, but appeared to be based on a blocking and cutting game and certainly wasn't free-flowing. Steve Jones opened the scoring for Croydon with a distance shot, but James Trubridge missed a penalty to give Cambridge the opportunity to equalise. Jones' 6 goals dominated the scoring in his division during the first half, added to one from Richard Crabb, while the goals in the other Croydon division were shared between Dave Butters, Ivan Aquino and Janine Collier. Cambridge struggled to create scoring opportunities close to the post, as their slow-moving attacks allowed Croydon to exert defensive pressure. Their first half goals came from two penalties against Jones, converted by Sam Whittaker, and long shots from Trubridge and Lia Matthews. At half time the score was 4-11 in Croydon's favour. The second half started in similar fashion to the first - smartly taken goals from Croydon's Katerina van der Buntova and Kim Jones, and a missed penalty from Trubridge. Both teams were finding it difficult to score and as the match became more physical, tempers started to flare. Trubridge seemed less than impressed at being well and truly flattened by Butters, but at least he finally scored a penalty as a result. Soon after, his petulance soon after earned him a yellow card, as he tested referee Graham Crafter's patience once too often. All this seemed to distract Cambridge rather more than Croydon, as the visitors were able to score seven goals in succession with some accurate distance shooting. Late on Trubridge scored a couple more penalties, but it was always a case of too little too late. Compared to recent scores against Croydon, Cambridge may feel that this was a job well done, particularly with a number of first choice players unavailable. But the limits of rebound defence were exposed as Croydon were allowed time and space to shoot, and were doing so with a high success rate. Cambridge found it difficult to create good opportunities to score and were dependent on penalties (5 were scored, 2 missed) or Croydon defensive errors. Once Croydon had accepted they weren't going to be able to play their normal style of game, and concentrated on breaking down the Cambridge rebound defence, they rarely left the comfort zone. Croydon goalscorers: Steve Jones 9, Dave Butters 4, Ivan Aquino 2, Richard Crabb 1, Katerina van der Buntova 3, Kim Jones 1, Alison Rotheram 1, Janine Collier 1. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Nomads 2 11 vs 11 Croydon 2There were no Croydon scorers in this game.Submitted by on 23 Oct 05
