Croydon 1 beaten at home by Notts CityCroydon took on Nottingham City at Royal Russell with an unchanged side bar Sarah Withers coming in for Grace Stimpson. For Notts this was the first of a weekend double-header and they appeared to rest a few players but their line up is fairly changeable so it's hard for the casual observer to tell. Play started with both sides testing each other out for the first five minutes but then Notts started hitting their stride, Jonny Nickerson scoring a few quick goals. Croydon were struggling to stay with them but an Anna Jeanes long shot got the hosts off the mark at 1-6. Croydon called a time-out to steady the troops and a switch to one-on-one defence paid dividends and the visitors were unable to score so freely. Goals from Butters and Omar lead to a half time score of 3-8. The 2nd half was much like the 1st with Croydon keeping pace but never looking like clawing back the deficit. Player-coach Butters subbed himself to gave some Premier League game-time to Dan Pratt as the half wore on and Lorna Elliott, who had been struggling with illness all match, was also replaced by Karen James who was making her debut at this level. Notts were also ringing the changes as they rotated their squad. At 9-15 with 10 minutes left the visitors found the gas pedal and scored 3 quick goals before Croydon closed it down again but a final drop-off left the scores at 9-19. All told, a comfortable win for the visitors but Croydon can take heart from their play in patches and need to make sure they are switched on for the full 60 minutes if they are to progress this season. Match Report by Andy | Updated by Andy Previous photo Next photo1 of 8 Final Score: Croydon 1 9 vs 19 Nottingham City 1Zak(2)Vernon(1)Andy(1)Dave(1)Daniel(1)Anna(2)Jane(1)Sarah(0)Lorna(0)Karen(0)
