England Korfball League – Week 1
The new season of the England Korfball League started today (12 October) with three matches taking place; Trojans/Kingfisher, Bec/Norwich Knights and Birmingham City/Nomads.
Trojans [22] Kingfisher [16] | HT 14-7
Referee: Paul Jeanes.
Last seasons league champions, Trojans from Croydon, South London got the 2014/15 season underway with a home game against Kingfisher throwing off at 11:45.
Kingfisher’s Chris Martin said “This was our first competitive game under returning coach Ross Carr-Taylor, who has brought some new ideas and a new style of play to the team. It was a well contested game but we got off to a slow start, with Trojans capitalising with their phenomenal shooting. There were times when we played fast, fluid korfball but were unable to claw the goals back”
Speaking after the victory Trojans coach Gary Brooks said “Nice start to the season with a win, and a new playing line up. Great to see Aimee Evans playing at this level again after a long period out with injury. A good team performance against a good Kingfisher team”
Trojans’ Tony Woodvine and Matt Brooks top scored in the match with 8 and 7 goals respectively.
Bec [26] Norwich Knights [16] | HT 14-7
Referee: Brian Carswell.
Last seasons runners-up, Bec, faced a tough opening match in the England Korfball League against Norwich Knights.
Knights coach Joe Sterling said “It was the sternest of tests playing a Bec team that make the majority of the England squad preparing for the Europeans.
“Despite the winning margin which only came about in the final quarter we competed evenly with little to split the teams in play.
“Defensively pressure was high and our attacks flowed well with strong passing and lots of shots. Vogwill started where he left off last season with 6 goals as all in all a very encouraging start”
Bec’s coach Dave Buckland said: “Good start to the season scoring 26 goals. Shooting on average 1 in 3. There were some great goals scored and the squad is only going to get better. Looking forward to playing Birmingham next week”
Speaking to England Korfball after the match, Bec’s captain Davesh Patel said “Good challenge first up against a strong athletic team in Norwich. Exchanged some initial goals to keep it close but once we got into our stride we were able to pull away with some really well taken goals. A solid start to the season!”
Birmingham City [5] Nomads [21] | HT 3-13
Referee: Dave Kennard.
The final match on the opening weekend of the England Korfball League was between Birmingham City and Nomads. Nomads finished last season in 3rd place after the regular season have signed 21-year-old Carina Lamelas from Mitcham Korfball Club. Nomads have also added to their coaching staff, with former England coach Peter Teague joining Nomads as assistant coach to Dave Butters.
Birmingham City’s player/coach Jess Beale speaking after the match “A tough opening game but a great opportunity for our new squad to gain invaluable match experience in the Premier Division.”
Dave Butters, Nomads coach said “Good strong start to the new season, scoring nine goals in the first 15 minutes. New players and sections for our first match so overall a great start”
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The England Korfball league returns next Sunday (19 October) with a full schedule of matches; Nomads/KV, Trojans/Tornadoes, Norwich Knights/Kingfisher and Bec/Birmingham.