Croydon 1 peg back Mitcham 1 in the 1st half but fade in the 2ndCroydon were away to Mitcham in their first game of the English Korfball Premier League season and started with Dave Butters, Zu Omar, Grace Stimpson and Lorna Elliott in attack with captain Anna Jeanes, Jane Belfourd, Vernon Ellis and Andy Withers in defence. It was Croydon that made the faster start with Omar scoring a 5 metre shot from the corner but Withers was out of position on a free-pass and Mitcham's Dean Woods capitalised for a simple finish. Ellis made a good start by beating Ross Bower but his runner went long and it was Mitcham's new boy, John Taylor, who scored a drop-off after Butters and Omar got in each other's way. Ellis was soon on the score sheet though with one from distance and the teams were tied at 2-2. Dunkley scored from distance but in general Mitcham's shots were pinging off the basket with Croydon lapping up the rebounds and the odd decision from the ref as Mitcham fouled under the post. Croydon's defensive pressure was keenly demonstrated by a huge blam from Ellis on Bower and Holness gave away a penalty which Butters duly converted. The game went a bit stale for both teams at this point as mistakes were made but Taylor scored two from distance and Mitcham eked out a 2-goal lead for the first time in the match at 5-3 after 20 minutes of the first half. Omar got his own back though as he beat his man and then scored from the rebound but Evans finished off the half to leave Mitcham 2 goals up at 6-4 with all to play for for both sides. Mitcham clearly got a rocket at half time and got the crucial first goal from Ella Wright as she dropped off the back. She followed this up with a very neat and tidy free-pass and all of a sudden Croydon were 4 down at 8-4. It got worse for the visitors as Evans scored 2 from mid-range and after Withers missed a penalty, Croydon heads began to drop a little. Holness scored a range goal from distance and Butters called a time-out with 15 minutes left. Croydon's attack was faltering but they tightened up in defence and Withers scored from under the post after Woods was out of position. Mitcham were increasingly losing their cool and referee Bond took exception to one outburst too many and calmed down an emotive Bower. Decisions were one thing but some of the frustration was from the visitors making them work harder for their goals but Croydon couldn't keep them out for extended periods and eventually Evans scored. Omar thought he had scored in reply but Bond belatedly called the change over and the goal was disallowed. Mitcham scored once more to leave the final score 14-5. The final scoreline looks comfortable for the hosts but it doesn't tell the full story, Mitcham looked somewhat ordinary in the first half and will need to play more like they did in the second to progress far this season. For Croydon, a defeat is a defeat but they will take heart from competing well with one of the teams fancied for the title. Match Report by Andy | Updated by Andy Previous photo Next photo1 of 13 Final Score: Mitcham 1 14 vs 5 Croydon 1Zak(2)Vernon(1)Andy(1)Dave(1)Grace(0)Jane(0)Anna(0)Lorna(0)
Croydon 2 start well but come up short against Mitcham 2After the win at Highbury last week, Croydon 2 were full of confidence coming into this match against local rivals, Mitcham. Croydon had captain Dan Pratt, Ben Hale, Sarah Withers and Lynda Barker in attack with Hannah Evans, Karen James, Adam Champion and Nigel Hudspith in defence. Mitcham had the usual mix of young and old including new signing Craig Gosling, and veterans Peter Teague and Karen Sparrow. The game started badly for Hudspith as he was out of position on a collect and made to pay as the ball was slotted home by Gosling but Pratt dropped off and the visitors were off and running. Hudspith converted a penalty but Sparrow scored a simple free-pass. Mitcham then went on a goal-scoring run as their girls made hay in the sunshine. It wasn't until towards the end of the first half that Croydon got their groove back and a penalty from a foul in the feed was converted by Hudspith. Pratt missed the first of two penalties (for the game) but Mitcham scored their's and Teague scored some moves as he spun in the feed and sank his shot. Sparrow and Withers were having quite a tussle but it was generally Sparrow who was coming out on top although a neat free-pass from Withers restored some pride, at 12-4. Hale beat his man for a jogging in shot but by now the teams were a bit feisty with each other and the ref after some curious decisions. Matters came to a head in the second half as Hale's young defender was penalised for a foul on a running-in shot and then warned that the next infringement would be a card. Mitcham were somewhat understandably upset by this as the teenager was clearly struggling to adapt to his first game at this level and was not malicious. Very soon after though, Hale played for the penalty and was duly clattered again. Uproar ensued as the referee produced a yellow card for the youngster. Mitcham are not a side to accept their punishments without a fight and protested vociferously. After a 6 minute interruption to play, the referee was persuaded and, to his huge credit, Croydon's captain Dan Pratt agreed to allow the referee to rescind the card - little did he know though that the referee would also rescind the penalty and award the ball to Mitcham! Croydon were somewhat bemused but in truth this incident did not have any effect on the outcome of the game and played continued with Hudspith scoring from distance and Mitcham replying in kind. Final score 16-8. Mitcham deserved the win but Croydon were not outclassed, they just needed to be tighter on a few key players and play more to their strengths. Plenty of areas to work on in training next week. Match Report by Andy | Updated by Andy Previous photo Next photo1 of 7 Final Score: Mitcham 2 16 vs 8 Croydon 2Nigel(4)Daniel(2)Ben(1)Adam(0)Sarah(1)Lynda(0)Hannah(0)Karen(0)
Croydon 3 off target against Nomads 3 Final Score: Nomads 3 16 vs 3 Croydon 3Peter(3)Mark(0)Paul(0)Steve(0)Jon(0)Kathryn(0)Sarah(0)Stephanie(0)Zoe(0)
Croydon 4 lose out to free scoring Nomads 4Croydon 4 set off for Epsom to take on Nomads 4 in the late game of the day for the club. The visitors were again waiting for Rhiannon Williams-Clarke so set out with 7: Anna Jeanes, Hayley Rand, Jon Dean and Steve Pratt started in attack whilst Karen James, Andy Burnham and Phil Aish were in defence. Croydon found themselves down early on in the game, losing two quick goals without reply, the section of 3 were now in attack, although they were creating chances they were struggling to have a sustained attack and Nomads had extra possession, the hosts were shooting well and Croydon were soon further behind as another two goals went in unanswered. Croydon continued to battle and went close on numerous occasions but just couldnt find the target, Nomads however were finding their range a lot quicker and grabbed another to make it 5-0 and Croydon were looking out of it. Jeanes though wasnt ready to give up and went looking for a goal, she got it with a great long shot. Croydon were finding things difficult in defence and the pressure told as Pratt let his emotions get the better of him, he had to be substituted and Russell Comber came on for his Croydon debut. Things didnt get much better for the visiting team as they saw another 2 goals go in, Croydon seemed to be spurred on by this though and started to attack more positively and long shots from Jeanes and Burnham sandwiched another Nomads goal to bring the scores to 8-3. Croydons resurgence was cut short though as the half time whistle went. Croydon received word that Williams-Clarke was ill and not able to make the game and the decision was made to void the game and bring on Zoe Shewell. Nomads got off to another good start and scored the first three goals of the half to leave Croydon 11-3 down. The score didnt seem to be reflecting the match as the visitors were creating just as many chances but they were just not having as much luck in finding the back of the basket. It was James though who broke through with a neat running in shot, but Nomads were in no mood to let up and scored the next two goals to leave the scores at 13-4. With time winding down Croydon were still looking for goals and Dean, with a burst of speed, beat his opponent to score a runner from behind the post. It was Nomads though that had the final say in the game scoring late on to leave the final score at 14-5. Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Andy Final Score: Nomads 4 14 vs 5 Croydon 4Andy(1)Jon(1)Philip(0)Russell(0)Steve(0)Anna(2)Karen(1)Hayley(0)Zoe(0)
