Mitcham KC4 15 v 7 Croydon KC3 Croydon were a little shell-shocked in the first half, down 10-2, probably a bit rusty as well and our only two goals came from Daniel Pratt. In the second half the team really picked up. We still struggled to score, mainly because it was difficult to get space from the tight/athletic Mitcham defence but our defence was very strong, lots of intercepts and pressure, we had Mitcham very frustrated at times. Final score was 15-7 meaning we held them to 5-5 in the second half. It was good to come off on a positive note. Croydon U13 Results Croydon u13s turned out on a cold and frosty Sunday afternoon yesterday to play in the LDKA u13 competition. Their first opponents were Trojans, who had some excellent players in their ranks. Croydon worked well as a team managing to intercept many passes and defending well. In attack there were some good moves with Sara and Hanah securing the feed and collect, and Dean and Pat working together out front. The ball didn't seem to want to go through the basket though. Trojans scored first with an wonderful long shot. This seemed to spur the Croydon attack who followed up minutes later with a Pat Moore goal to level the score. With the change of ends there were again some good attacking moves, and some hard working defence, but Trojans were never going to give in that easily, and fought hard to put themselves ahead again. Josh contained his player well, and only fell over once (and that wasn't even his fault !). Finally a goal from Neala (on loan from Supernova) broke the deadlock, and put Croydon ahead, this was followed by a goal from Joe (also on loan from Supernova) and the game was beyond Trojans. Final score: 3-1 to Croydon The second game of the day was against a strong and experienced Supernova side, coached by former GB international Steve Barker. Again Croydon showed determination and skill, and didn't let the experience of the opposition put them off. They fought for possession, and put up some excellent shots, which seemed to narrowly miss the basket. In attack, Croydon punished Supernova when they over-committed, running round them to put the shots up. In defence they worked hard to limit the shot selection of their players. Goals from Pat (running in shot) and Hanah (distance shot), plus 2 from Kathryn (on loan from Trojans), saw the final score a respectable 6-4 to Supernova. The team has improved since I last saw them play. Dean was extremely effective in defence, shutting out his physically stronger and bigger player. Sara managed to feed almost at will as well as putting up some good long shots. Hanah's timing for feeds was good and she scored a great goal. Pat was able to run round his player continuously, and it was a surprise he didn't score more. Josh stayed on his feet the whole game, and kept his concentration on his player, so he had several defended shots called in his favour. Thanks to players and parents alike - and I promise I'll remember the shirts next time ! Reportage by Anna Jeanes Match Report by Andy Final Score: Mitcham 3 15 vs 7 Croydon 3There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
