Croydon 1 defeated by Bec 1Croydon 1 were up at the crack of dawn to get to Twickenham for an early morning fixture against Bec 1. Croydon started with coach Dave Butters, Zu Omar, Grace Stimpson and Dawn Aindow in attack whilst Anna Jeanes(c), Jane Belfourd, Nigel Hudspith and Vernon Ellis started in defence. Both teams were still wiping the sleep from their eyes as the game started, neither side was able to create any chances for some time. It was Bec though that got things underway with a nice shot from distance to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Croydon had the chance to reply being awarded 3 free passes in quick succession but failed to convert from any. Bec were finding their rythym and made good use of their accuracy from distance scoring again from long range to double their lead. Ellis turned up the heat on his defender causing him all kinds of trouble and leaving him for dead, able to get free Ellis then scored a running in shot to bring the scores to 2-1. Bec's ability from long range was putting pressure on Croydon's defence and they let in another shot from distance to restore the hosts 2 goal lead. Bec were soon further ahead as Hudspith struggled with his defenders pace allowing them to score a runner. Croydon replied immediately with a penalty after Butters was fouled trying to make a pass by an opposition girl. Butters himself stepped up and cooly slotted away from the line to make it 4-2. Croydon were beggining to find space in attack and it gave Jeanes the chance to score from distance to make it a one goal game again. At this point Bec began to look frustrated and Croydon's defence was making it hard for them to find any open shots. Bec had the chance to stretch their lead with a free pass but set out with their players too close and wasted the opprtunity. They made no mistake though soon after with a drop off shot to make it 5-3. Butters earnt himself another penalty after being fouled running in and scored once again from the spot to keep the pressure on Bec. It didn't slow them down though as they scored from distance yet again. Bec were obviously relieved with the goal and took a time-out to talk things over. The short break seemed to work against the visitors as they lost their attacking flow and Bec took advantage scoring twice in quick succession to give them their biggest lead of the game at 8-4. Approaching half time Croydon were looking the most likely to score and they did just that, Omar scoring with a minute left in the half with a long shot. It was the final action of the first half and Croydon went into the break 8-5 down. Ater the break Bec started where they left off, scoring with a running in shot but Croydon were awarded a penalty after a repeat infringement on Belfourd's defender. Hudspith stepped up to take it but came up short, luckily for him a Bec player had stepped in too soon and the penalty was retaken, this time Hudspith found the basket to bring the scores to 9-6. Croydon were struggling in defence to win the collect and the extra possesion Bec had was causing Croydon problems, they failed to capitalise though and it was Croydon who scored next, Hudspith scoring another penalty. Croydon were looking comfortable at this point but were wasting possesion in attack and couldn't find a goal. Bec brought on a sub and it sparked them into life again scoring two running in shots and then scoring again from the spot to give them a 12-7 lead. Croydon rallied and won another penalty, Hudspith stepped up and got his hat-trick from the line. Both teams started to trade goals and 2 Bec long distance goals were broken up by a long shot of her own by Aindow. Croydon scored another from distance soon after with Belfourd getting on the scoresheet with a nice shot to make it 14-10. With time winding down Croydon were desperate to get some goals but it was the hosts who closed out the game scoring twice to leave the full time scores 16-10.Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Zuton Final Score: Bec 1 16 vs 10 Croydon 1Nigel(3)Dave(2)Vernon(1)Zak(1)Dawn(1)Jane(1)Anna(1)Grace(0)
Croydon 2 lose to Bec 2Croydon 2 took on Bec 2 in the second of the early fixtures at Twickenham, hoping to reverse the result in the first game. They started with Paul Jeanes(c), Adam Champion, Lynda Barker and the fit again Hannah Evans in attack, Julia Johnson, Mandy Furlano, Ben Hale and filling in for the injured Dan Pratt was Dave Smith in defence. Croydon started badly letting in a goal in the first attack with a long shot but replied soon after with Evans scoring a nice long shot. The stalemate didn't last long though as Bec tore into Croydon scoring 5 unanswered goals to leave Croydon staring at a 6-1 scoreline. Things didn't get much better as Bec were awarded a penalty, coach Butters decided to take a time-out at this point and it seemed to disturb Bec's penalty taker as he sent it over the basket. Croydon punished Bec for missing from the spot with Smith scoring a great goal from under the basket. Champion then breezed past his player only to be fouled taking his shot and Jeanes showed Bec how it was done scoring from the resulting penalty to make it 6-3. Bec scored soon after with a running in shot but Hale replied straight away with a running in shot of his own. Both sides seemed to slow down and it remained at 7-4 until the half time whistle. After the break Croydon started positively with Hale grabbing his second with a drop off shot. Bec were awarded a penalty after Hale was said to have stepped in whilst a girl was running in and this time the hosts were able to convert from the spot. They added another soon after scoring with a long shot to leave the scores at 9-5. Both sides were attacking well and Johnson earnt a penalty for the visitors, Hale stepped up to score with ease. Bec won a penalty of their own soon after and made it 2 from 3 from the line. Bec for some reason started to rush things in attack and wasted possession with sloppy passing, Croydon had more time to attack and Jeanes almost scored a running in shot but narrowly missed. Croydon took a time-out with the game coming to an end to try and bouy the side but it had the opposite effect as Bec scored again from distance to leave the scores at 12-6. Both sides were creating chances but neither could find the back of the basket and the full time whistle blew before any more goals could be scored. Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Andy Final Score: Bec 2 12 vs 6 Croydon 2Ben(3)David(1)Paul(1)Adam(0)Hannah(1)Lynda(0)Amanda(0)Julia(0)
Croydon 4 lose to Nomads 5 Final Score: Croydon 4 3 vs 9 Nomads 5Paul(1)Jon(1)Philip(0)Andrew(0)Becky(1)Zoe(0)Rhiannon(0)
