Croydon 1 comfortable in the CupCroydon 1 went down to Kent to play Kingfisher 2 in the 2nd round of the EKA Cup. Croydon had Dan Pratt, Pete Lindsey, Lorna Elliott and Julia Johnson in attack with captain Anna Jeanes, Andy Withers, Jane Belfourd and Zak Omar in defence. Croydon started a little slowly as Kingfisher got the first goal but Withers out-collected his defender and popped one back to get the visitors off the mark. For the next 10 minutes both team's defences were on top with Croydon missing a host of chances. Eventually Kingfisher 2 managed to score after Jeanes' player played "keepy up" with the ball off her shins before catching the ball and scoring a running in shot, but Pratt faked his player and scored from under the post: 2-all. Again the Kingfisher girls were their main weapon and another running in shot was converted before Omar dropped off and scored one-handed. With 14 minutes to play in the first half, coach Carr-Taylor called a time-out. Pratt earned and converted a penalty after the re-start but Croydon conceded again. Jeanes won a penalty too but again Kingfisher pegged the visitors back. With time running out on the first half Croydon showed their experience and rained down some shots with Pratt and Elliott converting. Half-time: 5-7. Lindsey was struggling to keep pace with his young attacker so Jeanes brought on Ellis at half time. Neither team could make many in-roads early in the 2nd half though until Pratt conceded a runner after a clever curving run from his opponent and after Ellis eventually conceded a long-shot the teams were level at 7-all. Johnson earned a penalty though, Pratt converted and then Johnson scored a trade-mark drop-off to give the visitors some breathing space. Croydon closed out the half with some controlled attacking as Withers took collect after collect until Belfourd scored. With time running out the hosts scored but by then the time was up and the game was done. Despite the scoreline Croydon were comfortable in this match, they never really looked like losing, it was just a case of choosing the best opportunity and putting the ball in the basket. That said, Kingfisher 2 battled well and did well to keep pegging Croydon back. Match Report by Andy | Updated by Anna Previous photo Next photo1 of 6 Final Score: Kingfisher 2 8 vs 10 Croydon 1Daniel(4)Zak(2)Andy(1)Vernon(0)Peter(0)Jane(1)Julia(1)Lorna(1)Anna(0)
Croydon 4 lose to Supernova 2Croydon 4 were hosting Supernova 2 today. Having lost 10-3 to them away earlier in the season, fingers were crossed that the score may be a little better and so we continued out usual streak - determined, positive, skilful and losing. The home team started with Sarah Hole (c) (though running late!), Steve Pratt, Charlotte Feakins and Neil Tarling in attack, and Kathy Dean, Phil Aish, Jon Dean and Hayley Rand in defence. In the first few minutes both teams had opportunities but my midway through the half, Supernova had built up a 5-0 lead. However, Croydon 4 (who are no strangers to playing teams more experienced than themselves) were undeterred and continued to fight back. This paid off when Sarah scored our first goal of the game, and took us into half time 7-1 down. A good prep talk resulted in a much better second half. We tried everything. Russell developed a new technique henceforth called the bouncing bomb as his pass bounced at least four times before (luckily) reaching safe hands. We had lots of shooting chances and Phil rattled the basket several times before Sarah slotted one in from distance. Shortly afterwards Steve was AT LAST awarded a free pass and made no mistake. Neil and Charlotte also had close shots. Unfortunately goals were being conceded at the other end also, and once or twice we lost concentration, but Steve made up for it with an alleged 19 meter shot (presumably meaning that he was in the wrong half.) Despite this, the game ended 14-4. Overall Croydon 4 played extremely well considering the standard of some of their opponents, and can take heart in the knowledge that their performances are steadily improving. Written by Kathy Dean and Jon Dean Match Report by KarenJ | Updated by Kathy Previous photo Next photo1 of 1 Final Score: Croydon 4 4 vs 14 Supernova 2Steve(2)Philip(0)Jon(0)Russell(0)Neil(0)Sarah(2)Kathryn(0)Charlotte(0)Hayley(0)
