Supernova 3 (2) - Scorpions (3)
Latchmere, 30-MarThe third team have been on the receiving end of some pretty poor luck this year. First they had 9 points on the table and still finished last, and now this game. In short summary: the thirds moved the ball around brilliantly and put together far and away the best game they’ve played this year. They just can’t shoot for toffee.Due to miscommunication in the Wildcats, no ref turned up, so Laurie filled in. Nicola was straight out of the blocks with a runner, but Scorpions quickly replied. And that’s the way the divisions stayed for an *awfully* long time. Everything discussed in pre-game talks was put into action – collects moved in and out effortlessly, feeds snapped into place and shots were put up on a regular basis. Unfortunately, no one mentioned actually scoring. Somehow during this barrage, Scorpions managed to grab another and we went into the break 2-1 down.
Second half? Just like the first. About half way through, Scorpions grabbed a third and the divisions swapped over a good 40 minutes after the last change. Again, the attack flowed freely, but shot after shot evaded the basket. Finally, Ian popped in a long shot to bring us within sight of at least a draw, but it was not to be.
So, not the best scoreline to end the year, but it was really good to see the team playing flowing korfball. Much shooting practise is coming the thirds way, though…
Team:
Nicola (1), Catherine, Dom, Ian (1) (Sub: Rob)
Anna G, Mary. Dan, Jim (Sub: Rich)
Reporter: Laurie
North Downs (14) - Supernova 1 (12)
Royal Russell, 30-MarSupernova 1 needed to beat North Downs to avoid a playoff. There were a fair number of Supernova supporters cheering the team on.SN1 certainly looked up for it and started very brightly. Pam in particular was in superb form scoring at one point 3 from 3 shots. The passing was good, the attack was purposeful and the recycling was excellent. Pam then scored a penalty and at one point the score was North Downs 2 - Pam 4! Shots were then traded with Rob and Zsolti scoring to end the half 6-4 up.
In the second half, North Downs came out fighting. JW scored first though to take the score to 7-4. Then unfortunately some ill-discipline crept in and North Down got back to 7 all and then took the lead with some longs shots and penalties. Anna and Tony then came on to inject some extra energy. JW, Ellen, Zsolti, Pam and Tony all scored but it was too late and the game finished 14-12 to North Downs.
It was a close game. SN1 was in the lead for most of it but North Downs used their experience and fought back to win the game. The team played well - just needed to play well for a little bit longer!
Team (and goals):
Pam (5), Tam, Rob (1), Zsolti (2)
Rich, JW (2), Ellen (1), Becky (sub Tony (1), Anna C)
Reporter: Woody
Supernova 3 (4) - Mitcham 3 (11)
Latchmere, 16-MarNormally, a bottom of the table vs top match should be an easy trot for the higher ranked team. But, the league table shows that, although SN3 languish at the bottom, they were right up near the top for lowest number of goals conceded. Supernova 3 don’t give anyone an easy ride.Supernova 3 also don’t have alarm clocks. The season-long tradition of late arrivals continued – this time Rob and Jim being the culprits – leading to another last minute rejig of teams.
Cliff drew the short straw and did a storming job looking after Mitcham’s experienced Mike Taylor, even managing to charm him out of his legendary grumpiness once or twice, with good backing from Rich, Ali and Anna G. Neil and Dan were combining well with Nicola and Mary until Dan landed badly and twisted his ankle about 10 minutes in. Rob came on and immediately increased the pace of the division – some feat when you are replacing Dan. His pace got him interception after interception and broke up many a Mitcham attack.
The first half saw our only goal come from Cliff – definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time and he sunk it coolly. 5-1 down at half time, we needed the attack to sink more of our chances. Lorna came on for Mary and Jim on for Rich.
Sometime during the second half, a season of training finally bore fruit and a structured attack was sighted!! Cliff came in to the collect, Jim swung around the back into feed and Ali and Anna burst into attack, resulting in Ali sinking a nice mid-range shot. Cue one very happy coach on the sideline.
The game ended 11-4 to Mitcham, but like the season as a whole, it was a useful experience. The thirds have learnt heaps this year and it’s been a real pleasure to work with them and watch the new players like Rich, Neil and Lorna learn the game and make week-by-week improvements, and especially to see Catherine rise up to be a Supernova 2 regular. The rather bizarre results this year mean that, although having a healthy nine points to their name, Supernova 3 ended up a rather undeserving last on the table. But, we have the makings of a fine team. Roll on season 2008/2009.
Team:
Dan (sub: Rob), Neil, Mary (sub: Lorna), Nicola
Cliff, Rich (sub: Jim), Alison, Anna G
Reporter: Laurie
Supernova 2 (6) - Highbury 1 (11)
Latchmere, 16-MarIf only this had have been a different week. Any other week. Just not the week after most of the club knacker themselves out on the slopes of snowy, sunny and occasionally rainy France. Somehow, though, we dragged ourselves onto the court, burst out the blocks and matched a very surprised and occasionally rattled Highbury. Steve popped in the first penalty, but then Marky P had a sublime first half with 4 goals, including 2 penalties, and kept us well in the game. Laurie somehow dug out the last reserves of his energy supplies to keep the speedy Sam Larkham from trying to control his division. Highbury got 4-2 up at one stage and thought they could grab the game from there, but Supernova fought back to 4-all and out opponents started to feel the pressure. Their passes started to go astray and voices started to raise.At half time we were 6-5 down. Ex-Supernovan, Toby Caitlin came on, but Tony continued his fine defending form of the first half and kept him quiet too. The attack at the other end kept plugging away for the equaliser and then finally Anna C popped in a free pass. With 15 minutes to go we had the momentum and thought we could take the game.
And then it happened.
Like a Formula 1 car that suddenly runs out of fuel, Supernova 2 slowly ground to a halt. A week of snowsports fun and games had taken their toll and the team just ceased being able to move at any speed. From that point on, we bravely tried to hold back Highbury, but we had nothing left to throw at them. They put in five unanswered goals and that was that.
It was a brilliant effort. Highbury 1 has lacked any credible opposition this year and we gave them two-thirds of one hell of a game. If only this had have been a different week. Any other week.
Team
Mark (4), Laurie, Anna (1), Kath
Tony, Steve B (1), Carole, Catherine
Reporter: Laurie
Supernova 1 (6) - WL Wildcats 1 (17)
Latchmere, 16-MarAfter the thirds had put up a valiant fight against LDKA Div 1A league winners Mitcham 3, and the seconds had very nearly held LDKA Premier league winners Highbury to a draw with a very spirited performance, expectations were high for the firsts against a weakened Wildcats team.We started well, with Zsolti scoring the first goal and the first 10 minutes were fairly even, though SN did concede the first of many penalties against Wildcats' wily older players, Steve and Kim Jones. However, we were still very much in the game, with Zsolti's division scoring relatively easily against the Wildcats older players, and JW's division defending well against the Wildcats younger division. Unfortunately a nasty (though accidental) collision between Rich and Neala Brennan meant Neala had to go off for the rest of the half, and this (together with some very heated exchanges after the collision) proved to be the beginning of the end for SN. Wildcats had no subs, so continued with 7 players - playing against a division of 3 is always tricky, and the division of Ellen, Becky, JW and Rich struggled to adapt, with Wildcats dropping off to pick off rebounds and their lone girl still dangerous from distance. At half time we were 9-4 down - not insurmountable, but it would have needed some exceptionally cool heads to pull back a 5 goal deficit, and unfortunately heads were far from cool by this stage.
In the second half, Neala came back on, but things went from bad to worse - we were missing easy runners, shooting with no collect, and not winning the collect even when there was someone in position. We continued to concede penalties at an alarming rate too, and passing and catching started to deteriorate. A goal from JW and a free pass from Zsolti were the only goals scored, and despite some patient rebounding by Ellen in particular, we were unable to hold onto the ball for long enough to get any attacking rhythm going. Wildcats weren't playing particularly well themselves, but still managed to score another 8 goals, with some good short range shooting and a few more penalties. Eventually the whistle went to put us all out of our misery at 6-17, possibly our worst performance all season against a team that we had almost beaten first time around, and one that everyone will be keen to put behind them ahead of the crucial fixture against North Downs in 2 weeks.
Team: Zsolti (3), Pam (1), Tam (1), JW (1), Rich, Becky, Rob, Ellen
Reporter: Tamara
Supernova 3 (2) - Nomads 4 (3)
Latchmere, 24-FebHopes were high coming into this game that we could turn around ourrecent form and put in a winning performance. The first half saw
much one way traffic, the defensive division (Lorna, Toni, Rob,
Richard) played tremendously nullifying the threat from Nomads to
make sure they did not score at all in the first half. In the
attacking division we put up lots of shots, and as the half
continued the organisation of the attack improved. Alas the
shooting didn't and in forgettable first half, the likes of which
have not been seen since George Graham left the Arsenal, Supernova
went in 1-0 up.
It was decided that substitutions were needed. Cliff came on for
me, and Kath for Alison, however this left us in a dilemma, should
we play keep ball, frustrate the opposition (not to mention the long
suffering Supernovian defensive division) and play for a 1-0 win!?
Or should we capitalise on the groundwork done in the first half and
blow the opposition away in a flurry of second half goals!?
In the end we did neither of these, however the substitutes did
bring a doubling of our score as Kath bagged a running in shot.
Unfortunately Nomads scored 3 unanswered goals following this to
leave a score line of 2-3. Watching from the sidelines one passage
of play that does stick out in my mind during this time though was a
almost Harlem Globetrotter build up by the Supernova attack only
breaking down when Kath threw the ball at an unexpecting Mary who
subsequently got hit in the face leaving her rather dazed and
confused.. ouch!
All said and done, this was a game that Super Nova dominated and
should have won. Defence as ever was strong limiting the opposition
to 3 goals only, but shooting let us down. As with other recent
games, it's a case of what could have been.
Team:
Dan (1), Jim, Mary, Alison
Lorna, Toni, Rob, Richard
Subs:
Dan out - Cliff in
Alison out – Kath (1) in
Reporter: Dan
Cambridge City (11) - Supernova 1 (12)
Hills Rd 6th Form College, 24-FebWith only three matches left till the end of the season, and 0 (yes, zero) points so far, every game had become a must-win for the firsts. Cambridge City had beaten us first time around, but we knew that if we could shut down their top scorers, the experienced Nick Collier and England international Carla Bennett, then we had a good chance of keeping them down to around 10 goals, though we'd still have to beat our top score of 11!We laid out with Zsolti, Pam, Tam and Rob in attack, and Rich, JW, Ellen and Becky in defence. And we started well, scoring the first goal from a trademark Zsolti drop off, and a soon to be trademarked "Lorraine" goal from Rich.
With JW doing a good job of shutting down their danger boy, and Pam also doing well against their top girl, we quickly raced to a 4-2 lead. A little surprised to be winning, we started to make a fair few errors in our passes, with passing over the half way line proving particularly challenging for some reason
. However, both attacks were passing and shooting well, Rich, Ellen and Tam were controlling the rebound, and the defence was mostly fairly solid.
Cambridge then started to fight back (literally and metaphorically), with some very physical play and some good shooting of their own (not helped by some very poor front defence from us, which didn't seem to involve cutting out any feeds at all) and pulled the score back to 6-6, causing Tony to start developing an ulcer on the sidelines, fearing it was a repeat of the Bearsted game. However, he made the sensible decision to switch Rob and Zsolti over in defence, to let Zsolti compete with their post player under the korf, and give Rob the workout he loves, chasing their long shooting boy around the edges of the pitch.
This stemmed the flow of Cambrige goals, and a deadlock was reached, in which neither attack scored for about 20 minutes either side of half time - we were doing all the right things in attack, but the goals wouldn't drop for either team.
Then suddenly we hit a bit of form, with Rob and Zsolti hitting two quick long shots which meant we had a two goal cushion - again, Cambridge weren't going to give up, and they sensibly worked hard on their main attackers to draw the attention of both defenders, and allow their other, supposedly less dangerous, players to score. They even tried the tactic (which has never yet failed against Supernova) of bringing on an extra-tall boy to confuse us. However, our free passes in particular were saving us, and we traded goals right up until the final minute.
So we found ourselves 12-10 up, with a minute to go - all we had to do was hold onto the ball and we'd have our first two points. Could we keep possession for 60 seconds? Could we heck! Suddenly the patient play of the last 59 minutes disappeared, and we started giving the ball away right left and centre, with crazy passes, an inability to catch, shooting with no collect, overcommitting in defence and unnecessary fouls.
Tony by this stage was doubled over in agony on the sidelines, shouting in vain to everyone to calm down. We gifted Cambridge a goal through a terrible pass out of defence to take it to 12-11, and they very nearly scored the equaliser with 5 seconds left on the clock. However, fortunately for us their last shot didn't go in, and Tony was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when the whistle went. Final score 12-11, and the sort of wild celebrations that might have made you think we'd won the league, not just a match!
Reporter: Tamara
Cambridge Tigers (12) - Supernova 1 (11)
Perse School, 27-JanSN1 travelled to Cambridge with a full squad of 12 players, not to mention our two brave cheerleaders, who in the end had plenty to shout/cry/cheer about, as this one went right down to the wire.The division of Mark, Zsolti, Tam and Becky started patiently in attack, retaining possession until Zsolti eventually sank a long shot. Unfortunately Cambridge soon equalised with an even longer shot, and throughout the first half the teams traded goals. The defensive division of Rob, Rich, Pam and Anna probably had the harder job, marking two England under 19 girls, their top male scorer and a very very tall boy, but they had the measure of them, with Rob and Rich combining well to score a drop off goal each.
Both teams were making mistakes, but we were matching Cambridge goal for goal. A time out was called at 4-4, and Tony reminded everyone to concentrate in defence and not let in any soft goals - unfortunately, in the last few minutes of the first half, the Cambridge girls scored 3 running in shots in a row from the same outside feed move (although it was a different girl each time). Despite a goal worthy of a complete beginner from Tamara (which was greeted with the sort of excessive cheering usually reserved for a beginner's debut goal), we went into half time 8-6 down.
However, we were still very much in this game and with Ellen coming on for Becky and JW on for Rob, we were confident we could turn around a two goal deficit. Both of our Dutch signings immediately made an impact, with Ellen sinking a long shot from her first touch, and JW following soon after with a long shot of his own. Cambridge's attack started to deteriorate and the Nova defence picked up interception after interception - unfortunately, the Nova attack was struggling to recycle the ball, with Cambridge's tall boy picking off rebounds and limiting Nova to one-shot attacks.
As frustration mounted, we started to concede penalties with some overenthusiastic defence - conceding 4 penalties in total meant that Cambridge were able to stay in front, despite Nova having the ball for most of the time. However, nobody panicked, and with some patient support from Anna and Pam, JW scored a second to close the gap to just one goal.
The final 10 minutes were nailbiting, with the score deadlocked at 12-11 to Cambridge - despite some motivational chanting from the Nova bench, and some inspired defending and interceptions, SN just couldn't sink the equaliser. A free pass was won with a couple of minutes to go, but unfortunately it rolled off the side of the basket. Eventually the game ended with Cambridge still ahead by one goal - a disappointing result for Nova, who had been by far the better team in the second half but had not been able to close the game down.
Team - Rich 3, Rob 1 (Jan Willem 2) Pam 1, Anna, Zsolti 2, Mark, Tam 1, Becky (Ellen 1)
Reporter: Tamara
West London 2 (5) - Supernova 3 (4)
Christ's, 20-JanThe Third Team were taken out of their comfort zone for the match against West London 2. Having become accustomed to playing against children and/or geriatrics we were initially confused about how to confront a team of 20 and 30-somethings. Given that our usual tactics of "throw it over their heads" or "just try to run pass granddad" were no longer appropriate we had to think our way into this.The first half was more akin to trench warfare than anything else, with lots of activity but very little progress. The Supernova defence was fantastic, the Supernova attack less so. To our credit we made enough space and time to get in a huge number of shots and secured most of the collects but we just couldn't score. Invariably, West London scored first, late in the half, but we equalised soon after to go into the break at 1-1.
Happily for the neutral observer (assuming they hadn't fallen asleep by this time), the second half had much more to offer in terms of scoring and drama. Despite conceding an early goal Dan quickly equalised and Toni scored a great shot from middle distance to put us 3-2 up. At some point during all of this Ian had to leave the court with an ankle injury. Any question as to whether his ankle was properly sprained following a collision with an female opponent became redundant when one of the West London men landed on the same foot minutes later. Luckily, Steve was able to sub in having refereed the previous game.
Having taken the lead I remember thinking that we were going to win this: our shooting seemed to be getting better, Richard was taking collect after collect and Lorna was breaking up loads of West London attacks. But there's a reason why Mystic Meg has her job and I work for an insurance company and it's largely because prediction isn't my thing. Again we contrived to miss shot after shot whilst West London put together some good scoring moves to leave the score at 5-3 with four minutes to go.
A minute later hope was rekindled as I fluked one in. As the clock counted down Angela then put a shot up which spiralled into the basket and then, amazingly (this one would have stumped Sir Isaac), spiralled back out. So close, but ultimately the game ended with defeat.
Despite losing I genuinely think we're getting better at this. We've always defended well but our awareness of how to position ourselves in attack and win space is improving. Our shooting is poor and we can still get congested in attack but we're certainly performing better as a team. A bit more luck and we could have won this by some distance. Hopefully we'll get back to winning ways in two week's time.
Team:
Dan (1) , Neil (2), Alison, Lorna
Ian T, Toni (1), Catherine, Richard M. Sub: Steve Brooker for Ian
Reporter: Neil
Pelham (7) - Supernova 3 (9)
Epsom College, 13-JanSomewhat miraculously, a full 8 Supernovans made it to Epsom College by the ungodly hour of 10am. This was despite a night of drinking the night before and having to wake up before the crack of dawn. Perhaps even more miraculously, Dr Dan's poor car actually managed to lug 5 of us to the game (just).We hadn't realised beforehand that the Pelham strip is actually the same colours as ours and we hadn't brought any alternative to wear. But Epsom college came to the rescue and we ended up wearing netball bibs to distinguish ourselves.
Anyway, the game got underway and almost straight away Supernova scored sending us to a 1-0 lead, but Pelham scored to even it up and we switched ends. Then, a bunch more people scored, a whole load of defending was done and before we knew it it was half-time and we were up 5-2!
In the absence of coach Laurie, Matt gave an inspiring team talk at half-time where he warned us that despite our nice lead, we couldn't relax because with all their experience Pelham could easily come back.
And right he was. In the second half, Pelham slowly managed to claw their way back, so that for much of this half they were within one goal of us. An unusually large number of penalties were given (the majority against us) and, to our good fortune, Pelham missed a fair few of these.
The game continued on and seemed to never end. Some stunning Supernova defence was seen as we were desperate not to let Pelham draw level with us. Eventually, a superb long shot was scored by Ian to secure the game.
Team:
Matt (2), Rich, Mary, Anna G (1)
Ian (1), Dan (2), Catherine (3), Alison
Reporter: Catherine
Highbury 1 (15) - Supernova 2 (9)
Score, 13-JanAfter a little rejigging, the seconds went into this game with two divisions: the Knowns and the Unknowns. At one end was a division that had played a number of games together and were well versed with each other’s game. And the other? Well let’s just say that by the start of the game they had, at least, learnt each other’s names…With the plan to slow the pace of the game down to a more controlled level working, the game was evenly matched for the first ten minutes. Both sides had their chances, but the first two goals ended up falling for Highbury. Steve got one back with a clever fake under the post, but then the pace of the game picked up and Highbury hit a ten minute purple patch, putting on 6 unanswered goals. Supernova struck back in the last couple of minutes before half time, first with Dom from the back of the court then followed by a long bomb from Steve.
At half time, the plan was reiterated – bring the pace of the game back down and we would still have a chance. Kath helped our chances by drawing a penalty that Steve put away. Highbury responded, but then Laurie came on for Dom and put his first shot in from downtown. Unfortunately, at this point we missed a penalty that really would have put us back in the game. Highbury instead grabbed the next two goals and, from that point on, the scoring stayed even, with two goals from Woody, a runner from Laurie and a nicely taken free pass giving Ellen her first Supernova goal.
Had we played in the first half like we did the second, the match would have been a very close encounter. Still, we certainly matched the top of the table team for most of the match and only really lost it during 10 bad minutes.
Team:
Carole, Kath, Steve (3), Woody (2)
Scott, Dom (1) (sub: Laurie (2)), Ellen (1), Nicola
Reporter: Laurie
Supernova 1 (9) - Cambridge City (14)
Latchmere, 06-JanThe Supernova teamsheet saw two changes, with Becky back in the team in for Kath, and new recruit Jan Willem, having impressed the coach at Saturday's training session, in for Zsolti, who was yet to return from his Christmas break in Hungary.For the first ten minutes Supernova still looked to be in holiday mode, as Cambridge scored 3 goals from close range. Richard got our side of the scoreboard rolling with his own drop-off shot, having collected a long shot from Pam. The change of ends brought a foul on Tamara under the post, which resulted in a converted penalty from Mark, taking the score back to 2-3.
Cambridge then produced three good long shots and a runner without reply, and looked to be running away with the game at 2-7. Mark brought some hope with a shot from the feed and, at the other end, Richard scored twice in quick succession with a long shot and a runner, taking the score back to 5-7, and encouraging much vocality from the home support.
On change of ends another double was achieved, this time from Becky, but Supernova's youngest male supporter Aiden (aged 8 months) found the excitement all to much, woke from his sleep, burst into tears and quietened the rest of the crowd significantly.
This marked another turning point (though I'm not suggesting it was little Aiden's fault). The 7-7 scoreline was not to last long, as Supernova began to let in far to many feeds that Cambridge were quick to punish with both running in and excellent long shots, taking control of the game for a 2nd time and the score to 7-11.
It was felt that some fresh(er) legs were needed at this point, so Tony & Carole came on for Mark & Tam, but didn't manage to get the turnaround that was needed. Richard scored another drop-off goal and a long shot from the corner, but in a keen attempt to win the ball back, gave away a couple of penalties. This and a defensive mix-up at the other end took the final score to 9-14, a disappointment given the great spell we had that took us to 7-7.
Team:
Mark(C) (1+1pen), Jan, Tam, Becky (2)
Richard (5), Rob, Pam, Anna C
Subs: Tony, Carole
Reporter: Kath
Wildcats (10) - Supernova 1 (9)
St. Marys, 15-DecWildcats caught us by surprise by lining up with Ben, Steve and Neala, their three top scorers, in the same division. The good news was that Zsolti was in the other division. By half-time, the Big Z had scored three and had won a penalty which I bobbled in. Unfortunately, Richard’s division had drawn the short straw and were struggling to keep Wildcats’ Big Three quiet. Wildcats work hard on throwing long accurate passes and this was causing us problems with the result that we were 9-5 down at half-time.The second half was a strange one. It took 26 minutes for the next two goals to go in. The Big Three and the Big Z were all in defence and both attacks struggled. In particular, we missed several close range chances. The good news was that those next two goals did fall to us and we were back in the game at 9-7 albeit with four minutes to go. However, Wildcats scored straight away and although we scored twice in the three minutes, we couldn’t quite do it.
Once again, shooting was a problem although we also struggled as well with collecting and stopping Wildcats playing the ball out of defence. The good news was that we made one of the best teams in the division struggle.
Team:
Pam (1), Anna, Richard (2), Rob (1)
Tamara, Kath (sub: Becky (1)), Zsolti (3, Mark (1)
Reporter: Mark
Supernova 3 (7) - Bec 4 (5)
Latchmere, 09-DecNot since the Arsenal of old has a team been so adept at grinding the opposition down with a rock solid defence before finishing them off in the final part of the match. The match was all a bit Groundhog Day – down 3-2 at half time, teams coming equal for a while before SN3 finally break the opposition’s heart’s with a couple of late goals to seal the match. Nice.The first half was the normal big team effort, but special mentions have to go to two people. Emma Wakelin (ably assisted by Dan & Neil) scored our only two goals in the half to keep us in the hunt at half time, and Alison Craig towered in defence, getting interception after interception and breaking up many a Bec attack.
The second half saw the team trade goals, with Dan and Neil scoring for us, until the game sat at a knife edge 4 all for a good five minutes. Ian Townsend finally got the goal we needed with a smartly taken shot off the rebound. Then Alison made it 6-4 before Bec got one back, putting the game back on the line. Defence was still holding firm - Neil Moge especially made some crucial collects and, when the Bec coach subbed himself on in a last–ditch attempt to save the match, Neil kept him quiet as well. With a couple of minutes left on the clock, Jason Cobb put the final nail in the Bec coffin with a big shot from downtown.
Good stuff this week from the attacks – we’re starting to lose the ‘everyone stand under the post’ approach and open the play out into the full court. And the defence? Well, it won’t be any surprise to see that the thirds have the lowest goals conceded per game in their league, at just fewer than 5 per match.
Team:
Dan (1), Neil (1), Emma (2), Alison (1)
Ian T (1), Jason (1), Toni B, Lorna
Reporter: Laurie
Supernova 2 (10) - West London 1 (9)
Latchmere, 09-DecI have been trying to figure out how to write this match report. It's a bit of a weird game to be honest...We started as we left off last weekend and in the first 20 minutes of the first half was certainly scoring at will and defending very well and we raced to a 8-3 lead. We did seem to step down a gear in the last 5 minutes of the first half but we were 9-6 up at half time.
Second half well was slightly different. Toni came off for Catherine for a well deserved rest. West London was coming back strongly and we were hanging on. 10 minutes into the 2nd half and it was 10-9 to Supernova. A stalemate then took place with West London desperately trying to score and Supernova trying their best not to make any mistakes. Carole's division defended for most of the half and something was going to give.
And yes that did happen. In a moment of lapse of concentration, Woody gave away a penalty with 3 minutes to go. Well - the penalty was MISSED! And Supernova wrapped up a 10-9 victory.
It wasn't pretty. But we did just enough in the first half. A couple of good things did come out of that game though - we played well last week and lost but we played below average (in the second half anyway) and won! And secondly Woody narrowly avoided a beating by his fellow teammates! Woohoo!
Team:
Carole (2), Toni (1), Steve (1), Woody (1), sub Catherine
Becky (2), Nicola, Laurie (2), Dom (1)
Reporter: Woody
Supernova 1 (9) - Cambridge Tigers (14)
Latchmere, 09-DecAfter watching the seconds and thirds pull off excellent victories, it fell to the firsts to see if they could get their first win of the season. Things started off pretty well. Despite several passes going astray, we matched Cambridge goal for goal at the start with long shots from Zsolti and Richard and a runner from Mark. We then briefly took the lead with Pam scoring an "Aussie" free pass (just!). For the rest of the first half things continued well, and at half time we were just one down.Unfortunately, in the second half we had a brief spell when we let Cambridge score a few quick goals with no reply. In an attempt to close the gap, Tony made some substitutions, bringing himself on for Mark and Carole on for Anna. The fresh legs helped a bit and with 7 minutes to go we had pulled the difference back to 3, with more goals from Zsolti and Pam and a stunning one-handed running in shot from Rich. We battled on, but Cambridge now had victory in their sights and added a few more goals. Our Aussie national supersub, Laurie, came on for Rob to spice things up with a few minutes to go, but it was too late the game was lost. The final score was 9-14.
Team:
Mark (C)(2), Zsolti (2), Tamara, Kath
Rich (2), Rob, Anna C, Pam (3)
Subs: Tony, Carole, Laurie
Reporter: Pam
Supernova 3 (6) - Croydon 4 (3)
Latchmere, 02-DecLate last week, Mary was still furtively hunting around for the last couple of people we needed to fill the thirds. Her SOS went out to some players who hadn’t graced the court with their presence for a while and she got back such a positive response that by Sunday we had subs on the bench. It was like the 10th anniversary reunion all over again, with Emma Wakelin strapping on her boots after three years, Jason being coerced out of retirement (again) and Anna G trotting out for the first time this season.The game started evenly with Croydon scoring first, but Dan equalised quickly. Croydon then popped in two more before a lull set in and the score remained the same until just before half time when Dan’s runner bought SN3 in at 3-2 down at half time. The first half had seen some terrific defence, with Lorna and Emma working well to counter the dangerous Anna Tester (playing down from Croydon 1 this week) and everyone collecting well.
The second half started with the thirds drawing level with a long shot from Neil and Anna G coming on for Lorna. A long, long period of no goals then began – a full fifteen minutes of trench warfare saw both teams putting up shots, but nothing bothering the (admittedly non-existent) scoreboard. The attack division were starting to get closed up under the post, so Jim came on for Rich to try something different. At the same time Jason asked what the score was, and seemed a little surprised to find that scored were indeed still level. Suddenly Super Jase stepped up and popped in a mid-range special to open up a lead.
The game’s tempo immediately lifted. Toni, Jim and Alison opened up the court at last allowing Jase space to work the post and everyone started putting some quality shots up. At the other end, Anna Tester suddenly moved out of first gear and looked dangerous, putting up a barrage of shots. But Jason wasn’t finished and another mid-distance saw SN3 open a little breathing space and, even better, moved Anna T into defence. To finish off, Emma suddenly remembered how to shoot and popped in one last goal to seal the game at 6-3 to Nova 3.
Special mentions go to Alison who, when she wasn’t growling at the ref (tsk), put in a storming performance, Lorna (who we didn’t tell until after the game she was marking an ex-England player) and to the always-entertaining Dan and Neil show. And a big thanks to Emma, Jason and Anna G for coming to the rescue, in more ways than one!
Once again, the thirds defence held firm throughout the game, which gave the attack time to slowly grind out the win. With the team keen for extra training over the coming weeks, the attack should start looking more confident and free flowing and more wins shall be delivered by Santa for the New Year!
Team:
Dan (2), Neil (1), Emma (1), Lorna (sub on 30 mins: Anna G)
Jason (2), Rich M (sub on 40 mins: Jim), Alison, Toni
Reporter: Laurie
Supernova 2 (9) - Nomads 3 (13)
Latchmere, 02-DecThe 2nds came up against Nomads which consists of very experienced guys and some athletic girls. Nomads, unfortunately, remembered to bring their shooting boots. Our defence were pretty good but their shooting was, I suspect, rather above average and we got to half time 9-3 down.In the second half, we carried on similarly to the first half but this time things were happening for us. The attack generally looked good and purposeful and the defence were also holding. We were back to just 3 goals down with a few minutes to go. They did scored one at the death to make it 13-9.
On the minus side, the shooting wasn't as good as would have like. But on the plus side Laurie has one of those games, scoring 5 goals, defending Nomad's best guy and he brought a calming influence to the team. Last year's newbies, Dom and Catherine, both looked very comfortable playing in the 2nds and Nicola also look settled in the team after 3 weeks in the club.
As Laurie said in the post match team talk, the only major issue we had today was the fact that we didn't win. The 2nds can certainly do better and I sense the team is at least on the right track.
Team:
Nicola, Becky, Dom, Laurie (5)
Catherine (1), Carole (2), Steve (1), Woody
Reporter: Woody
Bearsted (9) - Supernova 1 (6)
Sutton Valence, 02-DecThe first team’s fourth game of the season was against newcomers to this league - Bearsted. They turned out to be mostly a bunch of teenagers i.e. athletic but inexperienced.We started terribly with too many passes going astray and before long we were 4-0 down. However, with some improved passing, we began to get back into the game. Zsolti and Richard began scoring and, at the other end, we began to create chances with Pam, in particular, leaving her defender choking on her exhaust fumes. By half-time, it was 5-5 and Bearsted were looking like a bunch of youngsters lost in the haunted forest at night rather than the vibrant whippersnappers who had started the game. You could smell the fear.
Unfortunately, half-time came at the wrong time for us because it gave them a chance to regroup. At the beginning of the second half, they took a 6-5 lead. The next 10 minutes were where it all went wrong as one division defended fantastically while the other created loads of chances but couldn’t score. Eventually, Bearsted made it 7-5, then 8-5 and although we got back to 8-6, they scored another and managed to see the game out.
It’s the second game this season where we have been in the running but have failed to score when one goal could make all the difference.
Thanks very much to Tony for coming all the way to coach and well done to Tamara, Kath, Richard and Zsolti for their staunch defence to keep us in the game.
Team:
Zsolti 3, Richard 2, Kath, Tamara
Pam 1, Rob, Anna, Mark
Reporter: Mark
Supernova 1 (10) - Kingfishers (25)
Aylesford School , 25-NovNot the best day at the office, though Zsolti was a star..Supernova 2 (6) - North Downs 2 (9)
Latchmere, 18-NovHaving watched the thirds play before them the second team were very keen to get on the court. The goals soon came flying in - well in the warm-up anyay! And the team looked very calm, collected and confident!The team faced up to a very experienced looking North Downs 2 team and the scoring soon started. Unfortunately it was North Downs who looked the more relaxed and their goals opened up the scores.
However it wasn't long until Supernova found their rhythm with Carole fighting for every scoring opportunity (scoring 3 in total!), Laurie inspiring the team with his running in shots and a very spectacular text book long shot from Woody - with a very responsive audience on the side line!!
In the end Supernova fought back but their efforts were in vain. In the end North Downs found their form again and although Supernova closed the gap at one point to just one goal they couldn't hold off the attacking North Downs side.
Nicola came on towards the end of the second half to give a well earned rest to Toni, but even fresh legs and a couple attempts at long shots couldn't bring us back.
Goals:
Woody (1), Laurie (1), Kath P (1), Catherine
Tony, Dom, Carole (3), Toni (sub: Nicola)
Reporter: Dee
Norwich Knights (17) - Supernova 1 (10)
Central Norwich School, 11-NovSupernova robbed by cruel injury blowAfter a month of watching the other Supernova teams in action, the first team were pumped up for their opening game. A new free pass routine was discussed in detail on the train to Norwich, only to discover Norwich had also been watching the World Championships and had the same move.
Supernova took a 2-1 lead but Norwich took over for a spell and before long Supernova were 7-3 down. Mark called a time out to stop the rot but shortly before half time disaster struck as Richard dislocated his finger and, after understandably swearing at Mark when asked if was going to continue, was rushed to hospital by one of the Norwich spectators. This left Anna, Kath and Rob to carry on playing against four – a difficult task at this level. They ran around bravely but Norwich scored a couple of goals and made it very difficult to make chances.
Meanwhile the other division played some very encouraging korfball scoring goals very quickly. Zsolti in particular won loads of collects and scored a couple of goals.
Apparently the BBC were filming at Norwich A&E when Richard arrived and he will be seen in a documentary in February…
Team (goals):
Rich (2), Rob (1), Anna C (1), Kath
Mark (1), Zsolti (2), Pam (2), Becky (1)
Reporter: Mark
Croydon 4 (4) - Supernova 3 (3)
Royal Russell, 11-NovIn the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Yes, it was time to take a trip down to the wild lands of Croydon, seemingly one of the bleakest places on Earth during the winter months.A rag-tag band of valiant Supernova players forged their way through the murk and mire to the Royal Russell school to face sworn enemies, Croydon 4. Under the leadership of Captain Peach, Supernova was sure to put up a good fight, the ranks of the familiar buoyed up with the new warrior from the north, Nicola, the game began.
First blood went to Croydon however, with them sneaking in a goal in the first few minutes, but Supernova were not to be dis-heartened with Captain Peach striving forward and scoring a goal for the Novans, take that Croydon!
As the battle commenced, Supernova stuck some more mighty blows. With a defence as strong as steel, Croydon were held off allowing Nicola to shoot a fantastic long shot even though she'd sprained a muscle in the first few minutes, she bravely carried on. With Ian adding the third goal, at half time it looked like Croydon were losing the battle. 3-1 Nova.
But as they say, you may lose a battle but still win the war. Croydon must have made a few sacrifices to the Gods at half time as the luck seemed to go with them. Supernova put up plenty of shots but nothing seemed to go in. Some solid defence work for most of the half from Toni, Jim and Dom kept Croydon from making the lead any bigger while the others ran Croydon ragged in attack.
Sadly, a few missed penalties meant we didn't get the score we deserved. But some good performances overall and next time, I'm sure we'll beat them.
Team:
Ian T(1), Alison, Nicola(1), Dan
Mary, Toni B, Dom(c and 1), Jim
Reporter : Mary
Scorpions (3) - Supernova 3 (9)
Raynes Park, 28-OctThose of you how had seen the thirds play in the first two games of the season would have noticed a distinct lack of goals scored by both teams on the pitch. There’s no doubt that SN3 have inherited Supernova’s traditionally stingy defence, but unfortunately they also seemed to have caught Supernova’s traditionally inability to score goals. Fortunately on Sunday, the defence still held firm, but good number of the team added a goal or two each to knock up a nice total.Scorpions were an unknown. A new senior club this year, they have had a number of junior teams running for a year. So who would turn up - a team of parents or a team of juniors? In the end it was a bit of a mix of both. Supernova, on the other hand, nearly didn’t turn up at all. A bit of a surprise with the rail replacement buses means that with 15 minutes to the start only six were in the hall. Ian turned up to make it seven, but with Jim and Dan still in transit, plans were drawn up to rearrange the team to handle the short division. The concept of being in a three person division seemed to terrify Lorna completely. Then, with all of 30 seconds to go, Jim arrived to a hero’s welcome. Especially from Lorna. A quick rearrangement of the rearrangement and we were on the pitch.
Scorpions, like us, were a bit of a mixed ability team. Ian and his player began early on what was to be a match-long tussle under the post. Lorna, hangover still looming large even at 6pm in the evening, picked the short straw and got the quickest girl on the pitch. “Supernova’s Fastest Learner” was a title previously held by a Mr Tony “Toz” Fitzgerald, but his crown is looking a little shaky. Second-gamer Lorna struggled with the girl’s pace and movement for what was probably a maximum of two minutes before figuring out how this korfball thing works, and then shut her opponent out for the rest of the game. First matcher Jessica also took to defence and, take it from me, you do not want to get between her and a potential interception. It’s just not a safe place to be.
The first half saw us slowly but surely take the game away from Scorpions. The scoring opened when Laurie found himself under the post with both the Scorpion boys and sent the ball out to Jim, who slotted home coolly from the halfway line. Laurie also dropped in a long shot soon after. Lorna poached a nice rebound shot from close in, Dom added his first and Nova went into the break 4-1 up.
The second half saw Dan on for Jim, Alison on for Jessica, and a bit of a festival of goal misses from one of the divisions. Dan scored one from the halfway line, but Laurie (after foolishly teasing Anna C for missed easy shots in the second team game) missed a bundle of shots in and around the basket, whilst Toni (also sporting a huge hangover – what is it with these girls??) skipped around her player many times, but only came away with one goal. Fortunately, the other division were a bit more on target. Catherine, relishing in her role as the ‘senior’ girl of the division, worked the post well and poached two nice goals from rebounds. Dom added his second to complete the match. A fine effort for the first win of the season.
Team & Scorers
Dom 2, Ian, Catherine 2, Lorna 1
Jim 1 (sub Dan 1), Laurie 1, Toni 1, Jessica (sub Alison).
Reporter: Laurie
North Downs 2 (4) - Supernova 2 (12)
Royal Russell, 28-OctSupernova 2 found themselves at the same away venue for the second week running, albeit against different opponents. With North Downs dropping a few first team players, Laurie pulled off a masterstroke at the start of game by singling out their danger-men for special attention by Mark and Zsolti. This proved decisive – with their best players neutralised, the rest of the team worked on the weaknesses of their lesser players to great effect. We ran out 12-4 victors - a bigger margin than could have been predicted from the team-sheets.With Coach Hooker watching on the sidelines, the team were keen to impress. The first half performance was particularly good. Zsolti, on his club debut, opened the scoring with what is going to become a trademark effort, plonking one in from medium distance. With that, the play and the goals started to flow nicely. The quality of feeding and conversions from running-in shots was far better than usual, proving that some of us actually do pay attention at training. We went in at half-time 8-3 up and pretty pleased with ourselves.
The second half wasn’t as fluent. Whether it was a case of resting on our laurels or more determination from our opponents, the passing got a little scrappy and we only managed 4 goals in the second-half. More pleasing was that a very tight defensive performance restricted North Downs to just the solitary goal. In fact, all four of their goals were well-taken long shots.
Well done to all the team, with thanks to Laurie who watched the game, refereed the one afterwards unexpectedly and then played for the 3rds in the afternoon.
Team and goals
Zsolti (4), Woody, Carole (2), Li Yen
Steve (2), Mark, Kath (2), Anna C (2)
Sub: Becky for Li Yen at half-time
Reporter: Steve
Croydon 3 (5) - Supernova 2 (15)
Royal Russell, 21-OctA much improved performance from SN2 this weekend saw the team pick up the first win of the season against Croydon 3.In a brave move, last week’s can’t score division including Rich, Laurie and Carole was put into attack, and quickly redeemed itself for previous failings by landing 2 long shots (equalling the division’s score for the entire match against Trojans). That set the pattern for the first half, with goals dropping in at regular intervals, and the Croydon attack largely contained. Pam took a ball on the nose, but played bravely through the resulting asthma attack - only Pam would still be trying to score long shots and run round her defender in between inhaler puffs.
Half time score was an impressive 10-3 to Supernova, and although the goals dried up a little in the second half, impressive defence saw us run out 15-5 winners at the end of the game. Special mentions must go to Steve Five Goals Brooker, who was banging in the long shots from all over the court, Pam Asthma Attack Tuxworth (although she did put up a shot that may yet be a contender for the joey of the year award) and Li Yen – who walked up and down the hills of Croydon for about an hour before finding the sports hall, but still had enough energy to skip past her defender when she arrived.
Team and goals
Steve (5), Woody, Pam (1), Becky
Laurie (1), Rich T (3), Carole (3), Anna C (2) (sub: Li Yen)
Reporter: Carole
Nomads 5 (5) - Supernova 3 (2)
Epsom College, 21-OctA new look third team took to the court on Sunday for the rematch against Nomads 5, with both Rich and Lorna pulling on the blue and yellow for the very first time. The early exchanges were a bit frenetic, but both sides settled down and it quickly became obvious that this would be a hard fought encounter. Good defence from both teams made goals hard to come by, but it was Nomads who eventually took their chances, moving into a 3-0 lead. Lorna then opened her Supernova account, scoring a well taken short shot as her defender overcommitted about 2m out from the post. Tight defending, with Ian and Dom doing great work against experienced opponents and Rich showing enormous commitment to chasing down loose balls (even into the crowd!) brought the half to a close at 3-1.Nomads opened up their lead to 4-1 early in the second half, but Nick, who came on at half time, made it 4-2 with a long distance basketball style spectacular – also his first (and possibly last?) goal for Supernova. At the other end, Vix tried very hard not to be outdone – she did actually get the ball in the basket, but the nasty yellow plastic spat it out again. Toni also had chances, mostly with great running in moves that just didn’t quite find the korf. Nomads finally closed out the game at 5-2, but there were lots of positives for the thirds to take away. Defence right across the team was fantastic and there was lots of movement and creativity in attack - we just need to score a few more goals!
Team and goals:
Dom (c), Rich (sub Nick (1)), Catherine, Toni
Ian, Jim, Vixster, Lorna (1)
Reporter: Carole