Croydon KC 18 v 18 Trojans KC
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Royal Russell School, East Croydon hosted an exciting National League fixture between
Croydon and high-flying Trojans. Both teams got off to a slow start with neither able to break the deadlock
for the first 5 minutes. Croydon's Richie Crabb did eventually open the scoring with
a well celebrated drop off show, however Trojans were quickly level. A free pass conversion from
David Brooks put Trojans 2-1 in what would be their only lead in the entire match. Referee Alan Lewis gave numerous penalties in the match and two in the first 10 minutes, converted by Steve Jones, helped to give Croydon an early 7-3 lead. It was tit for tat from then on as the teams traded goals, however Croydon's dominance slowly started to pay as they pulled out a five goal lead. They lead at half time by four goals and although not comfortable, appeared to be on top. Croydon's ascendancy continued in the 2nd half as two goals from Crabb gave Croydon a 6 goal lead with the scores at 14-8. Trojans' Brooks brothers had not threatened in the first half but towards the end of the 2nd they both scored some telling goals. However with only 8 minutes left and a scoreline of 18-14 Croydon must have thought they had this game won. Trojans were not beaten yet though and scored 4 goals in a row to seal an unlikely draw with two last ditch goals from David Brooks. |
S Jones (6), D Butters (3), I Aquino (2), R Crabb (3), K Jones (1), S George (1), J Johnson (sub, 0), J Collier (2)
Croydon KC2 19 v 10 Trojans KC2
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Croydon's reserve team earnt themselves a fine victory over a strong Trojans team
in this Reserve League fixture. Stalwart Paul Jeanes lined up against veteran team-mate
Steve Barker in the key battle of the match. Jeanes ultimately came out on top with
6 goals, mostly running-in shots. The match started at full gallop with Croydon sprinting to a 8-1 lead after 15 minutes with some opportunist play mixed in with controlled attacking. Trojans were forced to play with 7 players for some of this time however and the return of their girl before half time brought them back in the game as they went into the break 9-5 down. The match could have gone either way at that stage despite Croydon's 4 goal lead but the hosts pushed on with goals from Lynda Barker and Andy Withers. Joe Furlano was brought on for Dan Moore for Croydon in a rare outing this season and at 13-8 with 16 minutes remaining the score reasonably reflected the game but the visitors were to score only 2 more goals compared to 6 more for Croydon as the hosts rubber-stamped their win while Trojans' heads dropped. Croydon should be delighted with this result as it keeps them well-placed in the league. Trojans' squad meanwhile looked a bit thin on the ground as the lack of female substitutes showed. |
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P Jeanes (6), A Withers (3), N Hudspith (2), D Moore, J Allen (4), L Barker (3), A Furlano (1), J Johnson (0), J Furlano (sub, 0)
Nomads KC4 17 v 5 Croydon KC2
Croydon 4 ran up against a very experienced Nomads 4 side and were not at all disgraced in a 17-5 defeat. Croydon fielded 3 juniors (Beccy Pratt, Chris Etheridge & Hannah Dring), 2 semi-retirees (Mike Etheridge and Leslie Critchley), 1 returning convalescent (Nick Collier) and 1 player in only her second match (Helen Mansfield). Steve Pratt completed the eight. Nomads showed superior goal-scoring power throughout the match and their team clearly benefited from playing with each other on a regular basis. Croydon struggled to build fluent and structured attacks, but kept working hard to the end.Croydon's goalscorers were Nick Collier (3), Mike Etheridge (1) and Leslie Critchley.