Trojans beat Bec 17-18 to win their 7th league title
Trojans Korfball Club won the English Korfball League on Sunday (27 April 2014) beating Bec Korfball Club in a pulsating final 17-18 with the winning goal coming during Golden Goal extra-time from captain David Brooks.
The win in 2013/14 means that Trojans from Croydon, South London have now won an unprecedented seven consecutive league championships.
Trojans Korfball Club will now go forward as England Korfball’s champions to compete at the prestigious European Cup tournament in January-2015.
Bec raced into a 5-0 lead before Sam Brooks scored Trojans first open play goal after 13 minutes of play.
Bec continued to apply the pressure on Trojans by scoring more goals through England Internationals Joe Bedford, captain Davesh Patel and Amy Swain. Trojans could only manage another three goals before half-time.
Trojans coach, Gary Brooks knew that Trojans were in trouble. It just wasn’t working – so changes were made with Chris Duffin making way for Stan Dunn and Lia Matthews being swapped out for Neala Brennan.
Half-time 9-4 to Trojans.
After the halftime break both teams continued to trade goals up until 12-8. Then Trojans scored five unanswered goals to take the lead for the first time in the final.
As soon as Trojans had taken the lead from the penalty spot, converted by captain Dave Brooks, Bec pulled level courtesy of an open play goal from England U19 International Blake Palfreyman. 13-13.
At 14-14 Bec’s coach Dave Buckland brought Claire Dique into the match for Amy Swain. Trojans Sam Brooks scored his fourth goal of the match before Dique replied immediately with a well worked goal to once again level the scores at 15-15.
With just three minutes remaining the captains of both teams scored one goal apiece to move the scoreboard onto 16-16.
The capacity crowd at Whitgift Sports Centre were on the edge of their seats. Who would win? It was too close to call…
The match entered the final two minutes of the game. It was now ‘real playing time’. Every time the referee blew his whistle the match clock would stop.
Former Trojans player, Blake Palfreyman, who transferred to Bec last season then took Bec back into the lead with a fantastic goal to send the Bec supporters into a frenzy. Had Palfreyman just won the league championship?
Unfortunately for Bec and their loyal supporters and to the delight of Trojans fans and the neutral supporter (who wanted Golden Goal) Neala Brennan scored Trojans’ 17th goal.
The buzzer sounded which signaled the end of normal time. 17-17. The 2013/14 league final would go to Golden Goal, a 10 minute extra time period.
The referee flipped a coin to decide which team would start with the ball – it was won by Trojans captain David Brooks.
Within seconds of the start of the golden goal period Trojans Tony Woodvine managed to evade his defender for a perfect goal scoring opportunity… Woodvine missed the chance, but managed to retain possession of the ball. Woodvine then noticed his teammate David Brooks unmarked seven meters in front of the post… Woodvine’s pass found Brooks who coolly converted the chance. 17-18. Trojans were ecstatic. But this was not the end of the match. Bec would have an opportunity to attack and try and score…
Bec’s captain, Davesh Patel, started with the ball from the centre line. Bec’s players passed the ball around their attack, looking for that perfect opportunity. Trojans were defending hard; marking their opponents closely and putting pressure on every pass.
The defensive pressure paid off for Trojans – they intercepted the ball! All Trojans now had to do was pass the ball over the halfway line to a teammate in the opposite division – after a minute of manoeuvring Trojans eventually managed the inevitable. The ball was passed back into their ‘attack’, to their captain and Golden Goal scorer, David Brooks.
The referee blew his whistle and the match was over. Trojans had won. Trojans substitutes, coaching team and management rushed onto the pitch to mob their star of the match, captain David Brooks.
The 2013/14 final was an absolutely amazing showpiece for English Korfball. Certainly one of the best korfball matches seen for some time in England.
Bec Korfball Club impressed many with their ability and talents on the korfball pitch, especially the female players, many of whom were playing in their first major England Korfball league finals.
Dave Buckland, Bec coach said “Coaching is about developing players technique and tactical play and Bec players really showed that today. Experience can only be learnt by playing in finals like today. Look forward to Europe and next year we will win.
Very proud of the whole squad. BEC are here to stay”
Bec Korfball Club will go forward to represent England Korfball at the Europa Shield competition in 2015.
The photos from the final will be uploaded to England Korfball’s Flickr page as soon as possible.