England Korfball League – Week 1
The 2013/14 England Korfball League finally got underway on Sunday, 13 October 2013 after a long summer break. There were four matches on the opening day of the season; Bec/Kingfisher, KV/Norwich Knights, Croydon/Tornadoes and Bearsted/Trojans.
Bec (27) v Kingfisher (7) – The first match of the 2013/14 season was between Bec (London) and Kingfisher (Kent) played at Whitgift Sports Centre, Croydon. Kingfisher had an outstanding finish to the 2012/13 season finishing in 2nd place. Bec had been very busy in the transfer market in the off-season, securing amongst their signings England Internationals Ben King and Joe Bedford from Nottingham and Claire Dique from Norwich Knights as well as recruiting the coaching skills of Great Britain legend Dave Buckland. The team from London convincingly beat Kingfishers 27 goals to 7 with Bec’s Dique top scoring in the match with 6 goals, closely followed by Bec’s captain and England senior International, Davesh Patel with 5. Another England youth International, Mallory Gore top scored for the visitors with four goals. Referee: Paul Jeanes.
KV (11) v Norwich Knights (17) – The second match of the day was between KV (Kent) and Norwich Knights (Norwich) and was played at the Aylesford School Sports Centre. Knights are another team that have been busy in the transfer market in the offseason, securing the services of England senior International, Charlie Vogwill. KV are the only team in the first week of the England Korfball league to have fielded a team without any new players. The talented James McDonald top scored in the match with six goals for the home side KV. KV’s next match is against local rivals Tornadoes, starting at 13:30 BST at Medway Park on Sunday, 20 October 2013 – a match not to be missed. Referee: Steve Jones.
Croydon (17) v Tornadoes (34) – The late afternoon match was between Croydon (London) and Tornadoes (Kent) and was played at the Royal Russell sports centre, Croydon. Over the summer Croydon have secured the services of former Kingfisher coach Ross Carr-Taylor. Tornadoes are a team with a high number of England youth Internationals who are coached by England Under-19 coach Corinne Buckland. Tornadoes were impressive scoring 34 goals. Croydon player/coach Carr-Taylor speaking after the match predicted that Tornadoes will go on and finish in the top 5 in the league, possibly securing a play-off place. Owen Bailey scored a very impressive 11 goals in the match for Tornadoes with new signing Toby Clarke, formerly of Cambridge Tigers scoring four goals for Croydon. Referee: Dean Woods.
Bearsted (7) v Trojans (36) – The final match of the day was between Bearsted (Kent) and reigning league title holders Trojans (London) which was played at Medway Park, Kent. Even without the services of Chris Spice who retired from the Trojans first team at the end of last season it would appear that it was business as usual for the team from Croydon, London, with a convincing victory over the side from Kent. Trojans Sam Brooks and Stan Dunn shared the top scoring chart in this match with seven goals each. Referee: David Bond.
The next league match is between Kingfisher (Kent) and Bearsted (Kent) at Medway Park on Friday, 18 October 2013.
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