by Mark Paxton
Balham Astrokorf is a friendly summer tournament taking place in August. Join us on Wednesdays at 7pm. Info here.
16 Novans converged on the mecca of sporting achievement that is Chestnut Grove Academy (well, I once scored against an ex-England international there) on Wednesday for Week 1 of the Balham Astrokorf. It is four-a-side this year so we divided into four teams (although the original team selections became a rather woolly concept as the evening went on!). New recruits Hannah F, Matt P, Fee and Kate made their debuts.
Each team was in a group of three in the first round and we won a few, lost a few and drew a few. The big grudge match between Supernova 3 and Supernova 1 went the way of Supernova 3 by 3-1 thanks to goals from Sian, Pippa and me. Meanwhile, Matt P got to mark the England captain.
Somehow, Supernova 2 made it to the final where they faced Izzy Watterson’s Warriors. It was scoreless until two minutes to go when we tried the high-risk (aka suicidal) strategy of attempting to make a couple of substitutions while the Warriors were attacking. This backfired in rather spectacular fashion so the final score was 1-0 to the Warriors. Never mind – second place means Supernova 2 have three points to take through to next week.
A big thanks to Rob Wilson and Woody for refereeing.