Croydon 2 put up a fight against Mitcham 2 but lose out in the endCroydon 2 hosted Mitcham 2 in a match that had been postponed after a serious injury stopped the previous encounter between the two teams. Both teams had a lot of support there and the atmosphere was great, Croydons whole squad were there to cheer the team on. The hosts started with Ben Hale, Paul Jeanes, Lynda Barker and Julia Johnson in attack, captain Vernon Ellis, Andy Withers, Zoe Shewell and Hannah Evans in defence. Croydon started badly, giving the ball away before they could string together a serious set of passes and the resulting possession Mitcham scored a running in shot that looked to be defended. Croydon picked themselves up again and won themselves a free pass, Hale missed but managed to round his marker and scored a runner to level the scores. Another running in shot from Mitcham gave the back the lead but Croydon won a penalty after Shewell beat her player but Withers failed to capitalise from the spot. Barker was working hard to shut Mitcham out and switched just in time to defend a running in shot. Hale also fought hard to win a collect. At the other end Withers went close with a drop off but Mitcham were given they're own penalty which Pete Teague also failed to convert. The visitors though got their goal with a long shot to make it 1-3. Croydon thought they had got a goal back when Johnson scored a running in shot only for it to be disallowed for defended. Another long shot for Mitcham made it 1-4 but Croydon came straight back with a penalty from Jeanes after Johnson was fouled running in. Mitcham also scored from the spot with Teague amending for his earlier miss. Withers also had the chance to atone from the penalty spot after he was fouled on a free pass but he failed to score again, Ellis though came to his rescue and scored a neat drop off shot to bring the scores to 3-5. The visitors scored another penalty but were pegged back again when Jeanes scored from long range. Mitcham were awarded another penalty and coach Dave Butters decided to call a time out before the penalty was taken. After the restart Teague calmly scored from the spot to make it 4-7 and then a lovely turn in the feed saw Mitcham pull further away. Jeanes continued to attack well and won the team a penalty after being fouled running in, he stepped up himself and scored, shortly after Croydon had another chance to pull the score back with a free pass but a mix up meant the chance was wasted, Jeanes though saw an oppurtunity and his quick thinking left him free from mid range. Mitcham were awarded another penalty which could of gone either way after Hale had gone in for a 50/50 ball and Teague once again scored from the line to make it 6-9. The hosts then had yet another penalty after Ellis was defended by a girl whilst running in. He stepped up to take the penalty himself and punished the mistake, sinking the ball through the net. The half time whistle went a minute later leaving the two teams seperated by just 2 goals. From the restart Mitcham were dominating in attack and it wasn't long before their pressure told, a mid range shot took them to 7-10 before Hale pegged them back with a free pass. The game was heating up with both set of supporters cheering every interception and every bit of flare, both sides seemed energised by the crowd and the level of play was raised, unfortunately for the hosts Mitcham hit a hot streak and hit a couple of long shots which sandwiched another Teague penalty to give the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 8-13. Croydon took a time out to try and regroup before Mitcham ran away with the game and coach Butters decided to change things up a bit, putting Pete Lindsay on for Withers, the substitute made an impact, challenging the giant Dave Synott for collects and winning back the ball, the extra time in attack gave Croydon more chances and Barker popped up in space to score from close in. Both sides made substitions with Synott coming off to give game time to a younger Mitcham player and Karen James came on for Zoe Shewell, both sets of supporters giving her a round of applause as she came on. The changes didn't dampen the atmosphere and Croydon pushed on, Ellis scored a long shot to reduce the defecit to 3 but Mitcham were awarded their 8th penalty and the games 13th overall. Teague once again took the penalty and scored but Jeanes who was having a great night sweeped past his player to score a fantastic running in shot to bring the scores to 11-14, the last 10 minutes was just as action packed with Mitcham scoring twice in quick succession from middle distance, Croydon got one back with Evans scoring a runner. The visitors brought on another youngster for Mike Taylor, Mitcham scored a long shot to make it 12-17, they could of had a few more before the full time whistle went but both Ellis and Lindsay came up with blocks to break up the visitor's attack. Croydon also went close with Johnson narrowly missing a running in shot after a superb pass from Jeanes but there were to be no more goals in the game and the full time scores were 12-17. It was good to see both teams bring a large group of spectators and the atmosphere made for a great game in which both teams gave 100% and competed whilst still enjoying the game. A good advert for the LKA and the sport in general.Match Report by Sicknote | Updated by Sicknote Final Score: Croydon 2 12 vs 17 Mitcham 2Paul(5)Vernon(3)Ben(2)Andy(0)Peter(0)Lynda(1)Hannah(1)Julia(0)Zoe(0)Karen(0)
