24Feb02: Croydon v North Downs Croydon 1 picked up a victory in their match with North Downs 1 at Royal Russell School, in a manner that was less than convincing. In the same fixture last season, North Downs had held Croydon to a draw, and for a while in the first half, there was some possibility of a recurrence. Croydon brought Paul Jeanes into the first team, in place of Andy Withers, while North Downs looked to be at close to full strength. The opening ten minutes was one-way traffic, as Croydon ran up an impressive 5-0 lead. Steve Jones opened with a long shot and a penalty, Janine Collier scored a well-worked running-in shot after catching her defender Lucy Sillitoe out of position, Dave Butters converted a penalty earned by Alison Rotheram, and Ivan Aquino sunk a long shot. So far, so good then for the home team. But then came a torrid period for Croydon. Without attacking particularly well, North Downs scored 6 of the next 8 goals, taking the score to 7-6. Sue Tomkins contributed two in this period, as did Ian Taylor. Croydon's own attack largely stopped functioning, with too many loose shots put up, enabling North Downs to quickly break up the attack. Anna Jeanes, in her best performance of the season, extended the lead to two goals, but just before half time, John Williams scored for North Downs to send them into the break on a high. Whatever was said at Croydon's half time team talk clearly had some effect, as Croydon rattled off the first seven goals of the half. Paul Jeanes scored a long shot, Kim Jones two running-in shots, then Butters, Collier and Steve Jones twice gave Croydon the cushion they needed. Victory was probably sealed in this period when Taylor missed a penalty for North Downs, harshly awarded against Collier. John Williams retrieved a goal for North Downs, but with some 15 minutes to go it was barely a consolation, particularly after Butters converted a penalty and Anna Jeanes a long shot to take the score to 17-8. Both teams scored three goals each, with Croydon's all coming from the penalty spot, and the game finished at 20-11. Both teams will have been disappointed with their performances - Croydon for the lack of control in attack and a poor shooting ratio, and North Downs for failing to capitalise on their excellent half time position. Too often when a team is playing well going into half time, they come out flat for the second half, and North Downs were guilty of this. Should a team in that situation carry on playing some four-on-four through the break, to keep the momentum up? Few teams seem to try this. Croydon now play Mitcham in the league, hoping to throw a spanner in the works of the championship holders, before defending their BKA Cup against last season's runners-up Invicta in the semi-final. North Downs look to be safe from automatic relegation at least, and probably from the relegation play-off spot as well. 24Feb02: Croydon 2 v North Downs 2 In what was, in the end, a comfortable win for Croydon reserves, at times North Downs showed signs of causing an upset. Croydon started with a nearly full strength line-up although Jenny Lee-Jacobs had to console herself with a place on the bench. The first half started brightly with each team trading goals and barely missing a shot. Early scores for Andy Withers and Jennie Allen bought the score to 5-all after 15 minutes. Croydon kept threatening to pull away from their visitors but could not make the leap from four goals to six and kept getting pegged back to a two goal lead. Three goals separated the sides as they went into the half time break. In the 2nd half, Croydon asserted their superiority initially before again being pegged back and the Croydon coaches were forced to call a calming time-out. This proved effective as they finally broke the four goal barrier and moved away, with all Croydon players registering on the scoresheet bar, inevitably, Julia Hook, who had a solid performance. Late on, Croydon substituted Joe Furlano for fast-rising new-comer Neil Paterson. Five woeful shots later inside two minutes, clearly showed that Paterson's stamina needs bolstering after his 3rd and 4th team matches earlier in the afternoon! For North Downs, they clearly lacked leadership and were devoid of much support nor guidance from their bench as their 1st team had alreadly left the court. Croydon will be looking to build on this success after recent reverses, against a determined Bec side this Tuesday after the original fixture was farcically abandoned a few weeks ago. 24Feb02: Croydon 3 v Mitcham 3 In the game prior to the first team match, Mitcham 3 team had the upper hand over Croydon 3. Both teams had some young players on show, but it was Mitcham's who carried the greater goal-scoring threat. But the most memorable moment of the match was when international referee Dave Bond called over fellow international referee Mike Taylor, playing for Mitcham, and awarded him a yellow card for dissent. Taylor appeared to have been disputing the legality of a Croydon goal. An unhappy day for Taylor was completed when he hobbled off after a collision with Croydon's Christine Moore - though he did at least earn his team a penalty in the process. Croydon eventually lost the game by 12 goals to 7. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 1 20 vs 11 North Downs 1There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
24Feb02: Croydon v North Downs Croydon 1 picked up a victory in their match with North Downs 1 at Royal Russell School, in a manner that was less than convincing. In the same fixture last season, North Downs had held Croydon to a draw, and for a while in the first half, there was some possibility of a recurrence. Croydon brought Paul Jeanes into the first team, in place of Andy Withers, while North Downs looked to be at close to full strength. The opening ten minutes was one-way traffic, as Croydon ran up an impressive 5-0 lead. Steve Jones opened with a long shot and a penalty, Janine Collier scored a well-worked running-in shot after catching her defender Lucy Sillitoe out of position, Dave Butters converted a penalty earned by Alison Rotheram, and Ivan Aquino sunk a long shot. So far, so good then for the home team. But then came a torrid period for Croydon. Without attacking particularly well, North Downs scored 6 of the next 8 goals, taking the score to 7-6. Sue Tomkins contributed two in this period, as did Ian Taylor. Croydon's own attack largely stopped functioning, with too many loose shots put up, enabling North Downs to quickly break up the attack. Anna Jeanes, in her best performance of the season, extended the lead to two goals, but just before half time, John Williams scored for North Downs to send them into the break on a high. Whatever was said at Croydon's half time team talk clearly had some effect, as Croydon rattled off the first seven goals of the half. Paul Jeanes scored a long shot, Kim Jones two running-in shots, then Butters, Collier and Steve Jones twice gave Croydon the cushion they needed. Victory was probably sealed in this period when Taylor missed a penalty for North Downs, harshly awarded against Collier. John Williams retrieved a goal for North Downs, but with some 15 minutes to go it was barely a consolation, particularly after Butters converted a penalty and Anna Jeanes a long shot to take the score to 17-8. Both teams scored three goals each, with Croydon's all coming from the penalty spot, and the game finished at 20-11. Both teams will have been disappointed with their performances - Croydon for the lack of control in attack and a poor shooting ratio, and North Downs for failing to capitalise on their excellent half time position. Too often when a team is playing well going into half time, they come out flat for the second half, and North Downs were guilty of this. Should a team in that situation carry on playing some four-on-four through the break, to keep the momentum up? Few teams seem to try this. Croydon now play Mitcham in the league, hoping to throw a spanner in the works of the championship holders, before defending their BKA Cup against last season's runners-up Invicta in the semi-final. North Downs look to be safe from automatic relegation at least, and probably from the relegation play-off spot as well. 24Feb02: Croydon 2 v North Downs 2 In what was, in the end, a comfortable win for Croydon reserves, at times North Downs showed signs of causing an upset. Croydon started with a nearly full strength line-up although Jenny Lee-Jacobs had to console herself with a place on the bench. The first half started brightly with each team trading goals and barely missing a shot. Early scores for Andy Withers and Jennie Allen bought the score to 5-all after 15 minutes. Croydon kept threatening to pull away from their visitors but could not make the leap from four goals to six and kept getting pegged back to a two goal lead. Three goals separated the sides as they went into the half time break. In the 2nd half, Croydon asserted their superiority initially before again being pegged back and the Croydon coaches were forced to call a calming time-out. This proved effective as they finally broke the four goal barrier and moved away, with all Croydon players registering on the scoresheet bar, inevitably, Julia Hook, who had a solid performance. Late on, Croydon substituted Joe Furlano for fast-rising new-comer Neil Paterson. Five woeful shots later inside two minutes, clearly showed that Paterson's stamina needs bolstering after his 3rd and 4th team matches earlier in the afternoon! For North Downs, they clearly lacked leadership and were devoid of much support nor guidance from their bench as their 1st team had alreadly left the court. Croydon will be looking to build on this success after recent reverses, against a determined Bec side this Tuesday after the original fixture was farcically abandoned a few weeks ago. 24Feb02: Croydon 3 v Mitcham 3 In the game prior to the first team match, Mitcham 3 team had the upper hand over Croydon 3. Both teams had some young players on show, but it was Mitcham's who carried the greater goal-scoring threat. But the most memorable moment of the match was when international referee Dave Bond called over fellow international referee Mike Taylor, playing for Mitcham, and awarded him a yellow card for dissent. Taylor appeared to have been disputing the legality of a Croydon goal. An unhappy day for Taylor was completed when he hobbled off after a collision with Croydon's Christine Moore - though he did at least earn his team a penalty in the process. Croydon eventually lost the game by 12 goals to 7. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 2 17 vs 12 North Downs 2There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
24Feb02: Croydon v North Downs Croydon 1 picked up a victory in their match with North Downs 1 at Royal Russell School, in a manner that was less than convincing. In the same fixture last season, North Downs had held Croydon to a draw, and for a while in the first half, there was some possibility of a recurrence. Croydon brought Paul Jeanes into the first team, in place of Andy Withers, while North Downs looked to be at close to full strength. The opening ten minutes was one-way traffic, as Croydon ran up an impressive 5-0 lead. Steve Jones opened with a long shot and a penalty, Janine Collier scored a well-worked running-in shot after catching her defender Lucy Sillitoe out of position, Dave Butters converted a penalty earned by Alison Rotheram, and Ivan Aquino sunk a long shot. So far, so good then for the home team. But then came a torrid period for Croydon. Without attacking particularly well, North Downs scored 6 of the next 8 goals, taking the score to 7-6. Sue Tomkins contributed two in this period, as did Ian Taylor. Croydon's own attack largely stopped functioning, with too many loose shots put up, enabling North Downs to quickly break up the attack. Anna Jeanes, in her best performance of the season, extended the lead to two goals, but just before half time, John Williams scored for North Downs to send them into the break on a high. Whatever was said at Croydon's half time team talk clearly had some effect, as Croydon rattled off the first seven goals of the half. Paul Jeanes scored a long shot, Kim Jones two running-in shots, then Butters, Collier and Steve Jones twice gave Croydon the cushion they needed. Victory was probably sealed in this period when Taylor missed a penalty for North Downs, harshly awarded against Collier. John Williams retrieved a goal for North Downs, but with some 15 minutes to go it was barely a consolation, particularly after Butters converted a penalty and Anna Jeanes a long shot to take the score to 17-8. Both teams scored three goals each, with Croydon's all coming from the penalty spot, and the game finished at 20-11. Both teams will have been disappointed with their performances - Croydon for the lack of control in attack and a poor shooting ratio, and North Downs for failing to capitalise on their excellent half time position. Too often when a team is playing well going into half time, they come out flat for the second half, and North Downs were guilty of this. Should a team in that situation carry on playing some four-on-four through the break, to keep the momentum up? Few teams seem to try this. Croydon now play Mitcham in the league, hoping to throw a spanner in the works of the championship holders, before defending their BKA Cup against last season's runners-up Invicta in the semi-final. North Downs look to be safe from automatic relegation at least, and probably from the relegation play-off spot as well. 24Feb02: Croydon 2 v North Downs 2 In what was, in the end, a comfortable win for Croydon reserves, at times North Downs showed signs of causing an upset. Croydon started with a nearly full strength line-up although Jenny Lee-Jacobs had to console herself with a place on the bench. The first half started brightly with each team trading goals and barely missing a shot. Early scores for Andy Withers and Jennie Allen bought the score to 5-all after 15 minutes. Croydon kept threatening to pull away from their visitors but could not make the leap from four goals to six and kept getting pegged back to a two goal lead. Three goals separated the sides as they went into the half time break. In the 2nd half, Croydon asserted their superiority initially before again being pegged back and the Croydon coaches were forced to call a calming time-out. This proved effective as they finally broke the four goal barrier and moved away, with all Croydon players registering on the scoresheet bar, inevitably, Julia Hook, who had a solid performance. Late on, Croydon substituted Joe Furlano for fast-rising new-comer Neil Paterson. Five woeful shots later inside two minutes, clearly showed that Paterson's stamina needs bolstering after his 3rd and 4th team matches earlier in the afternoon! For North Downs, they clearly lacked leadership and were devoid of much support nor guidance from their bench as their 1st team had alreadly left the court. Croydon will be looking to build on this success after recent reverses, against a determined Bec side this Tuesday after the original fixture was farcically abandoned a few weeks ago. 24Feb02: Croydon 3 v Mitcham 3 In the game prior to the first team match, Mitcham 3 team had the upper hand over Croydon 3. Both teams had some young players on show, but it was Mitcham's who carried the greater goal-scoring threat. But the most memorable moment of the match was when international referee Dave Bond called over fellow international referee Mike Taylor, playing for Mitcham, and awarded him a yellow card for dissent. Taylor appeared to have been disputing the legality of a Croydon goal. An unhappy day for Taylor was completed when he hobbled off after a collision with Croydon's Christine Moore - though he did at least earn his team a penalty in the process. Croydon eventually lost the game by 12 goals to 7. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 3 7 vs 12 Mitcham 3There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
LDKA League 1: Pelham 2 vs Croydon 4 Final Score: Pelham 2 14 vs 10 Croydon 4There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
