The fifth week of HSKL matches saw top of the table Trojans face their first real test of the season while the other HSKL teams all took place in close battles.
Defending champions Trojans faced their first real test of the season when they hosted the young Kent side Kingfishers, who have been putting in some strong performances in recent weeks. Trojans began the game calmly, maintaining possession for long periods, while Kingfishers were rushing their attacks and losing the ball after one or two shots. An early ankle injury saw Trojans’ Lia Matthews replaced by the ever-improving Hannah Goodridge, but this did not disrupt the Trojans attack, and they eventually opened the scoring and cruised to a 3-1 lead. Kingfishers, meanwhile, were using their speed to create running-in shot opportunities but, uncharacteristically, failing to convert.
Liam Kirby for Kingfishers had the difficult job of marking experienced international Dave Brooks, but was not to be intimidated, and calmly scored goals of his own to match Dave's trademark drop offs. Carly Holness’s speed was causing problems for the Kingfisher defence, and her running in shots were matched by some good distance shooting from new Dutch signing Loes Versteegh. However, John Denton for Kingfishers was doing an excellent job of shutting down Trojans’ in-form shooter Sam Brooks, who had scored 9 from open play the week before, and Kingfishers started to find some space to slot in short range goals, enabling them to claw their way back level with two minutes of the first half remaining. Goodridge made the most of a rare defensive lapse by Amy Turner, winning a penalty, and a couple of quick long shots took Trojans into half time leading 9-6.
Kwiek's attacking boys in shooting form
After half time, England youth international Kathryn Goodridge replaced Holness, and Jordan Lown replaced Chris Martin. Trojans again scored first, but Kingfishers had come out with renewed determination and started to match Trojans goal for goal. The battles between the female players in particular were becoming increasingly physical, with Kingfishers conceding several penalties, but Lown again showed his value as an attacking substitute, scoring with his first shot. Both coaches made further substitutions in an effort to add goal scoring firepower – the introduction of Matt Brooks saw Trojans pull ahead to 16-12, but Kingfishers responded with substitutions of their own, including the influential Tom Woolmer, and immediately earned two penalties. Kingfishers ran out of time to complete the come-back, and the game ended 16-14, reflecting a closely fought high tempo battle, though perhaps with more errors than either side would have wished for.
Kwiek’s home game against Mitcham saw the two teams were very evenly matched throughout the first half, with Kieron Hicks and Rebecca Clements both shooting well under pressure and finding the basket regularly for Kwiek. Mitcham responded every time however, with some excellent shooting from all four of their girls; it was Mitcham who went into half time with a slender 9-10 lead.
England and Knights Steph Allen puts on strong defensive pressure
At this point there was little to separate the two teams, but after half time, Mitcham scored a succession of mid-distance shots, and this was to prove decisive, as from this point they were never behind. Kwiek responded with a couple of goals from Luke Francis, but each time Mitcham scored immediately from the restart, and Kwiek were unable to place enough defensive pressure on Mitcham’s female players to gain them the breathing space they needed to mount a concerted comeback effort. Mitcham eventually pulled ahead in the final minutes with two long range shots to put the win beyond doubt, giving them the win 15-19. After some spirited performances in recent weeks, Kwiek were disappointed to have let this game slip away in the second half, while Mitcham will have been pleased at the way in which they were able to stick to their game plan and play to their shooting strengths, as they had done in the game against Bec.
Karianne Fox attacking for Knights
Having notched up their first win of the season against Kwiek last week, this week Bec hosted Norwich Knights. Bec started strongly with two quick goals from Dinos Tritsarolis in the first minute, and for the rest of the half were utterly dominant, creating chances at will and finishing clinically. Meanwhile Knights were struggling to even get shots up for long periods and unable to maintain possession given Bec’s dominance around the post. Bec quickly raced to a 12-4 lead, with Davesh Patel coolly converting several chances off the back of the post, Tritsarolis continuing to find the basket regularly, and Heidi Terrington running her opponent several times. Knights were able to earn themselves a couple of penalties, but Bec went into half time 16-7 up and looking extremely comfortable.
However, shortly after half time, Bec’s influential goal scorer Karen Sparrow, who was carrying an injury, was substituted, and shortly afterwards Bec lost Patel to injury as well. The double substitution clearly rattled Bec and incentivised Knights. Increased intensity in defence from Knights lead to Bec making more errors, and Knights made the most of every opportunity. Soon Knights had scored 5 without reply, and the large assembled crowd started to sense an improbable comeback might be on the cards. Knights continued to press their advantage, and dominated for the rest of the second half, with all their players starting to look dangerous in attack. Bec's concentration deteriorated (they were only able to score 5 times in the second half), though Tritsarolis did manage to take his personal tally for the game to 7. However, Bec had done enough in the first half to hold on for the win, 21-17, much to the home supporters’ relief. An unusual game of two halves, with the first half dominated by Bec, but the second half belonging entirely to Knights, showing how little there is to separate the teams in the HSKL this year, with every team capable of beating every other on its day.
Nottingham entertained the newly promoted yet hugely experienced Nomads, who have gained the services of the talented Steve Green and Dutch signing Sytze Bijker to add to their long standing squad. Nomads were the team to strike first but Nottingham soon found the basket to pull level and then take the lead, which they held onto until half time. However, Nomads started the second half strongly, first pulling level and then taking a 3 goal lead. With 10 minutes to go Nottingham brought on Heather Ikwuemesi for Lucy Sillitto, and this had an immediate impact, with two quick Ikwuemesi goals assisting Nottingham in levelling the score at 13-13.
Neither team was able to score the winning goal, and the game ended in a draw, a disappointing result from Nottingham’s perspective, given they were widely tipped in the pre-season to push Trojans all the way for the HSKL title. If Nottingham want to make the play-offs then they need to improve their shooting percentages, as they were able to create plenty of opportunities but failed to convert. Nomads, meanwhile, will be pleased to have taken a point off one of the top teams, and demonstrated that their male players, in particular, are a match for those of any team in the HSKL.