TROJANS KORFBALL CLUB

Semi Final - Bec

Trojans long awaited Semi Final match against Bec was finally here. With everything to play for, both teams knew that only a win would be enough to secure a place in the Final and a shot at the coveted HSKL title.

With the match starting at 10.30am, the sports hall was slowly filling up with spectators and it seemed that Bec had bought a strong contingent of supporters to aid in their cause.

Coach Gary Brooks had given a rousing pre-match team talk and told his players what was expected of them.

As the teams warmed up, tensions and nerves were somewhat frayed, something that could only be remedied by the referee?s whistle and the start of the match.

With both teams having to nominate their 1^st attack and 1^st defence, there was no way of knowing who would be marking who, however this was not an issue that troubled Trojans as, by now, everybody just about knew that captain Dave Brooks? section always attacked first.

So, as the players took the pitch, a clearer picture was painted as to who would be facing who.

Dave Brooks, Tony Woodvine, Carly Holness and Rhia Vassallo were in 1^st attack against Jeroen Suijker, Stuart Ironmonger, Karen Sparrow and Lia Matthews.

In 1^st defence were Sam Brooks, Chris Spice, Heather Ikwuemesi and Kathryn Goodridge. They were marking Davesh Patel, John Bracey, Vicky Bland and Christa Reefman.

The match began in true Trojans fashion with Dave Brooks leading from the front, scoring theopening 2 goals of the game. Bec pulled a goal back however Trojans were soon on the score sheet again through a Chris Spice penalty. Some more smart attacking play from Dave?s end provided further goals from the captain, who was in no mood to play nice. Chris Spice, also fired up for the challenge, was keeping close to his captain on the score sheet with 3 goals in the first 15 minutes.

For the opening 20 minutes, both sections worked well in attack and defence, creating numerous opportunities at will. Both Dave Brooks and Chris Spice traded goals at each end to move the score to 9 ? 3 in favour of the reigning champions. Both players were playing a strong rebounding game as well as taking their shooting opportunities when presented with them. Heather Ikwuemesi and Kathryn Goodridge were working well together to thwart their opponents whilst Sam Brooks was keeping the dangerous Davesh Patel in relative check. Down the other end, Tony Woodvine was giving Stuart Ironmonger the run around, creating opportunities for Dave Brooks whilst Carly Holness was locking down main attacker Karen Sparrow and Rhia Vassallo was keeping ex-Trojanite Lia Matthews at bay.

As the half drew to a close, Trojans increased their lead to 11 ? 4 through goals from Tony Woodvine and Heather Ikwuemesi.

Coach Brooks was very pleased with the 1^st 30 minutes put in by his side. They had dominated possession and been clinical and accurate in their shooting. With a lead of 7 goals, he knew that the game was far from over and urged his side to come out strong in the opening 10 minutes of the 2^nd half and put the game to bed.

Heeding the advice of their coach, Trojans continued their assault on Bec and further increased their stranglehold on proceedings.

Dave Brooks continued to shoot well, causing his defender all sorts of problems, whilst Tony Woodvine found his shooting boots to bag a couple of goals under the watchful eye of Stuart Ironmonger. Carly Holness continued her tight marking of Karen Sparrow whilst Rhia Vassallo scored a well taken goal of her own, much to the delight of the Trojan supporters.

Chris Spice continued to be dominant in the rebound, recycling the ball well and in doing so, allowed his teammates 3 or 4 shot attacks. Sam Brooks was keeping Davesh Patel busy whilst Heather Ikwuemesi was winning the physical battle over Vicky Bland and Kathryn Goodridge was running Dutch import Christa Reefman ragged.

Bec, to their credit, had begun to disrupt the Trojans attack down the end of S. Brooks and Spice, as their boys switched to prevent feeds going in to assist Ikwuemesi and Goodridge, who were causing their defenders problems. The attack gradually cottoned on and ensured a feed came from a girl instead which reaped its rewards as the goals flowed once more.

With 15 minutes to go, the match was all but won and with one eye on the final, coach Brooks made some substitutions. Emily Brooks replaced Rhia Vassallo, Matt Brooks replaced younger brother Sam and veteran Rob Williams came on for Chris Spice.

The team continued to keep the score ticking over at a rate of roughly 2 to 1 against that of their opponents and as the final whistle blew, the score stood a crushing 23 ? 10 to the reigning champions.

This was a good, solid team performance with some excellent individual displays, particularly from Dave Brooks and Chris Spice.

Trojans totally outplayed Bec on all fronts and deservedly progressed to the final, eagerly awaiting the winners of the other semi final - Nottingham v Nomads.

Final - Nottingham

With Nottingham overcoming Nomads to book the last place in the 2010/2011 Playoff final, it was the match up everyone had expected to see.

Despite finishing top of the league after 18 domestic league matches, including a win and a draw over fellow finalists Nottingham, Trojans were, in some peoples eyes, 2^nd favourites to lift the HSKL title for a 4^th time in a row. This would indeed be the reigning champion?s toughest Playoff final to date.

Nottingham hosted an array of talented players, many of which had risen through the ranks of junior Korfball together. With both teams boasting International players aplenty, there was an almost perfect recipe for a cracker of a finale to the end of the domestic season.

Coach Brooks gave his team talk, spurring on his players and asking them to prove why they were the best team in the league. They had done that throughout the season however now it all counted for nothing and they would have to win the title again, but this time in one 60 minute match.

As was the case in both Semi Finals, both teams had to name their starting 8 players and who was to attack and defend first.

Trojans assumed the same mantle that served them so well against Bec and the same 8 players took to the pitch.

The section of captain Dave Brooks, Tony Woodvine, Carly Holness and Rhia Vassallo went into 1^st attack against Ben King, Charlie Vogwill, Hannah Lorrimer and Amy Turner whilst Sam Brooks, Chris Spice, Heather Ikwuemesi and Kathryn Goodridge assumed 1^st defence against Cris Lanting, Joe Bedford, Aimee Evans and Natasha Dawson.

Some interesting match ups were apparent - D. Brooks & Ben King, Tony Woodvine & Charlie Vogwill, Carly Holness & Hannah Lorrimer, Chris Spice & Joe Bedford, Heather Ikwuemesi & Aimee Evans and Kathryn Goodridge & Natasha Dawson.

At 4.30pm, the Final began. Both teams seemed a little edgy and understandably nervous however it was Nottingham who drew 1^st blood. This was quickly cancelled out with a goal from the ever impressive Dave Brooks. Nottingham seemed to be the sharper of the two teams, being more clinical in their attack and in doing so, moving into a two goal lead at 1 ? 3.

This trend continued for the opening 15 minutes as Nottingham kept their lead despite some nice goals from Chris Spice and Tony Woodvine.

With the score at 3 ? 5, Trojans began to come back into the match with more assured attacking, however they were still not finding the korf as regularly as they would?ve liked.

Sam Brooks closed the deficit to 4 ? 5 but no sooner had he done so, Nottingham re-asserted their two goal lead at 4 ? 6.

As with the game, the individual battles had begun to pick up pace too. D. Brooks and King were having a physical battle under the post, as were Spice and Bedford, whilst Holness and Lorrimer were matched for pace, with Holness just edging it. Ikwuemesi was also having a physical battle with Evans whilst Goodridge was keeping the dangerous Dawson under control. Vassallo had her hands busy with the young and energetic Turner but was doing a decent job in containing her scoring capabilities.

As the half wore on, Nottingham decided to make a change in personnel, bringing on rebounder Johnny Nickerson in place of Cris Lanting in a change of tact. Sensing that Nickerson had been brought on to primarily rebound, S. Brooks and Spice switched who they were defending to allow more competition to be given to Nickerson under the post by Spice.

In the final 10 minutes of the half, Trojans continued to find their rhythm, closing the gap to 1 goal through Brooks? brothers Dave and Sam and Chris Spice, who was continuing his impressive form from the Semi Finals.

The half time whistle blew with Nottingham holding a slender lead of 8 ? 9.

Coach Brooks got his players together for the half time talk. He felt that his team had fought their way back into the match after a slow start and proceeded to tell them so. He could see that his side were creating good scoring opportunities and felt that it was only a matter of time before the shots started dropping. Captain Dave gave a rousing end to the team talk, reminding his teammates that the whole season was on the line and there were 30 minutes left of Korfball to rectify the situation and pull off the win.

Rejuvenated, Trojans took to the pitch for the second half.

Very much heeding the advice of their coach and captain, Trojans were the team on top, asserting themselves and working hard for scoring opportunities. Defensively, the reigning champs were focusing their attentions on Nottingham?s main points of attack and danger, with Bedford and Vogwill being locked down courtesy of Messrs S. Brooks and Woodvine. Natasha Dawson was struggling to make an impact on the game as Kathryn Goodridge had her card numbered whilst Heather Ikwuemesi was winning out over Aimee Evans.

Trojans pulled the scores level at 10 ? 10 with just over 20 minutes to go. Coach Brooks saw fit to make a tactical substitution, bringing on veteran Rob Williams in place of Chris Spice, who had had a strong game. Fortunately Williams was focused from the moment he stepped on the pitch, converting a penalty with literally his 1^st touch of the game.

Dave Brooks then cranked it up a notch, taking the uneasy Ben King out the front to defend, leaving Charlie Vogwill under the post with the taller Tony Woodvine.

This tactic was bearing fruit as time and again Brooks charged at the post, drawing free passes and penalties from King who seemed unable to contain the big man, like so many before him.

For the 1^st time in the match, Trojans moved into a two goal lead of 12 ? 10 and were in the ascendancy.

With the clock ticking down and the match getting closer and closer to the final whistle, Nottingham seemed to sense the inevitable and began to panic. Trojans defensive pressure did nothing to alleviate the challenger?s fears and they looked to be out of ideas.

Kathryn Goodridge caused further woe to Nottingham, scoring a trademark running in shot, bamboozling Dawson with a crossover move and leaving her a free run to the basket.

Nottingham continued to fight however, converting goals through penalties and free passes of their own, as some of Trojans defending got a little excited in attempting to steal the ball from their opponents.

Trojans maintained their lead but couldn?t find that all important three goal cushion to see out the match, despite the best efforts of Sam Brooks and Tony Woodvine.

With 10 minutes remaining, Nottingham made a substitution, bringing on James Woolmer for the haggard Ben King.

After the attack won another penalty, Dave Brooks uncharacteristically allowed the moment to get the best of him and failed to convert from the spot ? the result? Nottingham went down the other end and scored a much needed penalty of their own, tying the scores at 15 ? 15.

With the scores level, it was clearly going to be a tight end to the Final.

Trojans didn?t panic though. Never was this more evident than when Sam Brooks stepped up and converted a much needed free pass to restore Trojans one goal lead at 16 ? 15.

James Woolmer then justified his substitution into the match with a goal from the back of the court to draw the scores level at 16 a piece with 3 minutes remaining.

After a couple of shots went up from Trojans in attack, they kept their cool in the pressure situation and won another penalty through smart attacking play. This time, Dave Brooks saw his effort sail cleanly through the basket to give Trojans an all important lead of 17 ? 16 in the last couple of minutes.

The final 120 seconds were nail biting for all concerned. Nottingham were desperate to find a goal in order to bring the scores level but the valiant Trojans? defence persisted till the end. With Nottingham unable to find a goal, Trojans grabbed possession of the ball and played it down to their attack with 1 minute of real time remaining.

All Trojans had to do now was play out a minute in attack (ensuring they effectively hit the basket once and got the rebound). With that in mind, it?s exactly what the attack did. Controlling possession and working the ball around nicely, Tony Woodvine was able to get a shot off which hit the basket and was collected by Dave Brooks. The ball was then passed to the outside and whilst a further pass was attempted by the Trojans attack, Nottingham overcommitted and fouled in their eagerness to regain the ball. Referee Steve Jones pointed to the spot for a free pass.

With 25 seconds remaining, coach Brooks bellowed to Tony Woodvine from the sidelines ?DON?T SHOOT!!? in order that the attack could wind down the clock. Woodvine was having none of it, however, and when the whistle blew, he played a one-two with Brooks under the basket and coolly sunk his shot, hammering the proverbial nail in Nottingham?s coffin.

With less than 20 seconds remaining, Nottingham frantically tried in vein to score but to no avail. The ball was intercepted by the Trojan?s defence and the referee blew the final whistle to signal the end of the match.

Trojans had retained their title once again and with it, won the league for the 4^th time in a row!!!!

All of the players went into exuberant celebrations as the reality of their accomplishment took effect and kicked in!!

Over the balance of the whole season, Trojans had been the best team in the country. They had topped the table heading into the Final?s weekend, outscoring everyone in sight and in the process had displayed some awesome shooting and attacking ability.

In a match where the best attack played the best defence, the former prevailed over the latter.

Trojans can now sit back and savor the moment and the achievement they made this season. Despite many people believing the Kings and Queens of English Korfball would be dethroned, Trojans showed true Champion spirit in never giving up or disbelieving in themselves, always having faith that their talent would see them through to the league title once again?.

Now with an even thirstier quest for glory, the Champions will be aiming to make it 5 titles in a row next season.

The question is: can anyone stop them???

18/04/11