Adam hall scores a running in shot for Kwiek against Knights
This weekend’s Haven Sports Korfball League games took place in Kent and London as Kingfishers hosted Mitcham and Norwich Knights travelled to Kwiek, whilst Bec were at home to Nottingham and Trojans to Nomads.
Mitcham travelled to Kingfishers for what promised to be an exciting match between two young teams as yet unbeaten in the HSKL, with a win and a draw each to their names. Kingfishers started well, with some excellent shooting from all corners of the small pitch at Teapot Lane, while Mitcham, accustomed to the larger court at Trinity, were slow to adjust their defensive pressure and mark right out to the edges of the court. However, Mitcham were also scoring a high percentage of their shots, and winning penalties through Helen West's driving runs at her defender, which meant the scoring rate was extremely rapid.
Within a few minutes Kingfishers had raced to an 8-4 lead, with Amy Turner, John Denton and Chris Martin all shooting particularly well from mid-range. Kingfishers' attacking style was confident and gutsy, with all their players clearly confident to shoot without worrying too much about whether they were likely to win the rebound or not. Mitcham called a time out to regroup and started to claw back the deficit, with tighter one on one defence, and some more good shooting of their own, assisted by strong rebounding from Dean Woods, Ben King and John Taylor. By half time Mitcham had pulled themselves back to within one goal, Kingfishers leading just 11-10.
After half time the scoring rate slowed slightly, while the defence of both teams became if anything even more determined, with Morgan Neale for Kingfishers and Helen West for Mitcham in particular both defending one on one with full commitment against Carina Lamelas and Sammi Bedford respectively. Early in the second half Jordan Lown replaced Chris Martin, who had already scored 3, and Lown quickly demonstrated his own shooting prowess, with two quick goals. For a while it looked as though this would give Kingfishers the momentum to pull away, but Mitcham again pulled back level, with strong attacking from Ross Bower and patient post work by Dean Woods.
For a long period the scores were deadlocked at 14-14, with both attacking divisions struggling to break down the extremely tenacious defence, and the Mitcham division of Kathryn Ayres, Carina Lamelas, John Taylor and Ben King in particular struggling to move the ball confidently. Eventually Kingfishers' attack broke the deadlock, and in the final 3 minutes they pulled ahead with a Saskia de Jaeger running in shot. Mitcham won a last gasp penalty, but failed to convert, and in the final minute a short range shot from Hidde de Jaeger, sealed the win for Kingfishers, 17-15, to the delight of the vocal Kent crowd.
England's Heather Lymburn being tracked by Vicky Woodgate
This game was a real treat for the spectators; played at full intensity throughout, showcasing some of the country's most talented young players, and with some exceptional shooting at times. Special mention should also go to young referee Azi Sieber who controlled play extremely well, striking a good balance between controlling contact and allowing the game to flow, and allowing the large crowd to enjoy some of the best korfball this country has to offer.
Next up at Teapot Lane were Kwiek and Norwich Knights, two young teams who both contained some relatively inexperienced players. Injuries to the Kwiek squad in particular meant that they were missing some of their regular starting line-up, so the sides that took to the pitch were partly unknown quantities. Both sides came out at full pace, particularly Ross Lenton for Knights and Kieron Hicks for Kwiek.
Both teams were playing at a very high tempo and creating opportunities, but seemed to lack the composure to finish their chances in many cases, and numerous shots were missed throughout the first half, with the half time score just 4-4. Ten minutes after half time, a couple of clean "swoosh" shots from Karianne Fox that went through the korf without touching the sides looked to have put Knights in a strong position to close out the win, but Kwiek refused to roll over, and gradually fought their way back into the match, with some strong attacking from young Kieron Hicks in particular finally starting to pay off.
Coach Donald Forrester gives instructions to Bec during a timeout
Under the patient guidance of captain Rebecca Clements, Kwiek first equalised, and then took a slender 10-9 lead. With 5 minutes to go, Knights started to attack furiously and managed to retain possession for long periods, but the final goal to equalise proved elusive. Knights had numerous chances in the final 2 minutes, but failed to convert any of them, and the tense Kwiek crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief as the final whistle blew, giving them the win 10-9.
Nottingham travelled to London for their match against Bec, which also promised to be an exciting match between two teams who know each other's style of play extremely well and always enjoy good competitive games. Nottingham were without the injured Natasha Dawson and their coach, Nick Donovan, had resigned, but this did not seem to trouble them in the early stages of the match, as they raced to a 0-5 lead over the London side. However, after 10 minutes Bec regrouped and adjusted their defence to avoid over-committing, and started to claw their way back into the match.
Patient attacking by Bec, aided by their strong rebounding which ensured them lots of possession, meant that by half time Bec were back into the match, with Davesh Patel and Karen Sparrow in particular causing trouble for the Nottingham defence. Charlie Vogwill was lined up against Dinos Tritsarolis, an intriguing match up given their contrasting playing styles, while Heather Ikwuemesi was given the difficult task of defending Karen Sparrow. In the second half, Alex Wright replaced the injured Richard Buttinger for Nottingham, and made an immediate impact with a well taken goal, and the two teams traded goals for much of the second half, with little to separate them.
With 7 minutes left to play, Bec took a 14-13 lead, but Hannah Lorrimer converted a penalty to draw Nottingham level again, and Nottingham then scored two long shots without reply to give them a 14-16 lead going into the final two minutes. Nottingham looked to have secured the win and the two points, but Karen Sparrow responded with a goal for Bec, and in the final seconds Dinos Tritsarolis scored from under the basket to bring Bec level and give them the draw., their second draw of the season. Another thrilling match for the spectators, and an indication of how close the HSKL is going to be this year.
Finally, top of the table Trojans hosted Nomads, who had succumbed to a 13-10 defeat against Norwich Knights in their previous match. It was Nomads who started the stronger, with their girls creating some nice goals to take them into a 1-3 lead. However, after this wake up call, Trojans started to get their attacking into gear, with Lia Matthews, Kathryn Goodridge, Sam Brooks and Chris Spice combining well to create goals from all four players.
At the other end, Dave Brooks and Tony Woodvine started to put together some creative play, with the support of Rhia Vassallo and Hannah Goodridge, with both boys finishing well. However, Trojans were making some defensive errors, allowing Nomads to stay in touch with some well taken free throws and penalties, and the half time score was just 12-7 in Trojans' favour.
At half time, Trojans' coach Gary Brooks reminded his team of the need to do the basics properly and cut out the mistakes, and his players responded with a flurry of goals to take them into an unassailable 17-7 lead. The attacking interplay between Dave Brooks and Tony Woodvine continued to trouble the Nomads defence, while at the other end the Trojans girls used their crossover move very effectively, and Sam Brooks also showed his shooting prowess with 6 goals from open play.
With the result beyond doubt, both sides made some late substitutions, but this had little impact on the score, Trojans taking the win 25-11 and asserting their authority on the HSKL as the team to beat this season.