TROJANS KORFBALL CLUB

In 1^st attack were Tony Woodvine, Chris Duffin, Carly Holness and Rhia Vassallo. They faced off against Adam Camies, Andy Martinez, Amy Elliot and Sam Medcraft.

In 1^st defence were acting captain Chris Spice, Sam Brooks, SJ Spice and Heather Ikwuemesi. Trojans old boy Bert Williams started in attack, teaming with Dan Howard & Steph and Verity Roberts. They made up the other half of the KV starting line up.

The 1^st game of the 2011/12 season got underway and it was the Kent side that scored first with a goal from Howard under the basket. Holness soon levelled matters to make it 1-1 after 5 minutes.

Both sides were a bit edgy in the opening 10-15 minutes with neither stamping their authority on the game. Trojans had 2 new faces in their line up from last season and so it took a little while for things to gel in both sections.

Goals from C. Spice, S. Brooks & Woodvine helped to move Trojans into a slender lead of 4 ? 6 midways through the half. In particular, S. Brooks was shooting well from the back of the court and was beginning to have a good battle with Howard, who was KV?s most dangerous goal threat in the early stages of the match with 3 goals of his own.

As the half drew to a finish, KV?s rebound tactics on the Trojans boys were beginning to faulter, with the team from South London seemingly picking it up somewhat and in doing so, increased their lead to 6 ? 10 with some well worked goals coming from S. Spice, S. Brooks and Holness.

Half time 6 ? 10 to Trojans.

Coach Brooks was relatively pleased with his team?s performance and goal scoring efforts of the 1^st half however he urged his players to have more concentration and cut out the sloppy passes that had crept into their game during the opening 30 minutes. He was sure that if Trojans continued to impose themselves on the game, KV would begin to play more desperate, erratic korfball as the match slipped away from them.

The 2^nd half began with Trojans taking the ascendency. Holness continued to cause her defender all sorts of problems and appeared to be in fine shooting form, despite having hamstring issues. Vassallo was also doing a good job in defence whilst Duffin was getting the better of Martinez and Woodvine was keeping the dangerous Camies at bay whilst also converting penalties and shots.

As the pressure was continuing to be applied by Trojans, KV began to wilter under the pressure, leading to 4 unanswered goals by the reigning Champions, making the score 9 - 16.

Williams was being frustrated in attack, under the watchful eyes of C. Spice, whilst S.Brooks was winning his battle against Howard. The Roberts sisters weren?t having much luck either, with the powerful combination of Ikwuemesi & S. Spice keeping them in check.

With 13 minutes remaining coach Brooks made a double substitution, Russell Smith & Blake Palfreyman came on to replace Sam Brooks and Chris Duffin. 3 minutes later, another substitution was made as Laura Woods replaced Heather Ikwuemesi for her 1^st team debut at Trojans. With literally her first touch of the game, Woods coolly converted a long shot from the back of the court at a distance of 5 metres, much to the delight of the watching Trojans faithful!

Trojans continued to stamp their authority on proceedings and eased themselves into a comfortable lead. Smith got on the score sheet after a well worked one-two with Spice when the KV boys dropped off, looking to snatch the ball from the rebound. Palfreyman looked very much at ease in the 1^st team, time and again working the ball around nicely and showing some good strength under the basket.

With the final couple of minutes played out, Trojans sealed a decisive first win of the season, comfortably winning the match 10 ? 20.

On reflection, Trojans can be pleased with the result. Whilst the performance itself wasn?t a vintage one by any means, the most important thing was to get off to a good start. The win and the 2 points that came with it were testament to that fact.

Trojans now face Bec at home next week and expect to have a full strength squad available for selection.

03/10/11