Korfin’ in the Sun – Bristol Tournament 12/06/10

As runners up last year the pressure was on for us to perform well at the annual Bristol tournament. Gav had the whole day planned with military precision – shame this didn’t quite take into account  Goldinis optimistic travel plans which involved leaving London 30 mins before play started in Bristol, 120 miles away! What is it with Reading and travel problems?!   I seem to write about  them every week! Anyway, a couple of girls borrowed from assorted clubs filled the gaps for the first few games and we were underway.

Lucy on the attack in sunny Bristol.

We didnt get off to the best start losing 5-2 to some badgers, missed penalties costing us in the quick fire tournie game. However, we didnt let this set the tone for the rest of the morning, as we   convincingly dealt with Horfield and Leicester before a frustrating draw with a rough side from Taunton. All in all it the morning had gone pretty well, and was enough to make the top half of the draw.

First up after the obligatory lunch Korfball tournament, where Stu managed runners up spot, was Exeter. This proved slightly awkward as we had been lending players to them all morning. In the spirit of the tournament we lent them a couple and played ourselves!! Biz (on the right side of the split!) had a blinder and scored a hatrick – with 2 epic longshots from downtown! Final score was 7-1 to us.

Without really realising it, we were now playing off for the top 4 places – the time had come to step things up. The semi-final was against Cardiff City who we lost out to heavily in last years final. This time around it was much more evenly matched, our slick handling and relentless attacking kept us on terms with them all game, but they managed to sneak a last minute goal to win 3-2.

Will it drop?

Our last game was against Highbury to decide 3rd /4th place, by now we were full of confidence and playing well as a team. The game was fast paced and had goals-a-plenty. Blaggy’s shooting which had been good all day, was now on fire as he slotted 4 to keep our nose in front all game. A couple of cooly converted penalties and some nicely finished moves gave us a satisfying victory and secured a well deserved 3rd place.

Some fine westcountry cider (Cheers Gav and Happy Birthday!) got everyone in the mood for the football (lets gloss over that…) and for some fine dancing and plenty of shenanigans (most unprintable here…). Well done to Jim playing in his first tournament, and a big thanks to Gav for organising – everything right down to the weather was awesome!

Team: Jack,Jim, Katie, Goldini, Eric, Lucy, Stu, Mike, Gav, Ditchy, Biz,  Naomi

Party time at the social afterward!

Reading Win the OKA Plate Final!

After the wash out last time around, finals day could not have been more different, it was humid sunny and hot. Unfortunately are opponents had to play the abandoned match from last time around immediately before the final. We therefore got a chance to size them up whilst chilling out in the sun! After a close semi that was finely balanced until midway through the 2^nd half, Oxford Uni 2 eventually came through to beat City and play us in the final.

We started confidently, keeping the defence tight and consistently probing for openings in attack. It wasn’t long before the pressure paid off and Katie got us in front with a nicely finished longshot. Naomi added to the tally with a cheeky running in shot to take us 2-0 up and Eric added a signature effort from the halfway line that grazed the clouds then slipped through the Korf without even touching the sides! 3-0 Reading at half time – things were going well.

Half time saw a tactical change with Gav replacing Dave to support the in-form Belgian. Almost straight after the break Eric  added a second goal to his tally off a great feed from Lizzie. We were now 4 up and looking in control of the game. By this time the heat was starting to take its toll, especially on the opposition now in their second match. They did manage to get one goal back, but we were keeping their attack well in check and cutting out most of their opportunities. Down the other end it was stalemate too, as good attacking play from Jack and Katie was creating chances – which were just not dropping.

In the end it finished 4-1 to us and we secured the plate for the second time in 3 years. Many congratulations to everyone for an excellent team performance. It wasn’t the prettiest match but we stuck at the task in hand, kept concentration and ensured the right result.

Team: Eric, Lauren, Lizzie, Dave, Gav, Jack, Stu, Katie and Naomi

Scorers: Naomi (1), Katie (1), Eric (2).

Next up: Brizzle tournament and social next Weekend!

Lizzie picks up the virtual plate from OKA Chairman Damien Frayesse with Lauren looking on. The real silverware will be back in our trophy cabinet shortly!

OKA Plate Semi Final (16 May 2010)

Last weeks defeat to ISIS saw us meet Didcot this week, with a place in the plate final up for grabs. Despite the moody looking sky, it seems that most of the team optimistically thought that it wasnt going to rain… Well, they were wrong. A mere 5 minutes into the match the heavens opened, 10 minutes gone and  the sky fell down, by half time we were nearly playing ‘water korfball’!  The ball was sneakily replaced with a bar of soap and chaos ensued…

However, despite the less than optimal weather conditions, we did mange to string together some very credible attacking play and quickly took a healthy lead, we went into half time comfortably up about 6-2(ish) – i was too cold to write any scores down. At this point the weak and feeble teams playing in the cup semi final decided to call it a day and retreat to the clubhouse. But oh no – not Reading, we cut short our half time shivering and went back out to complete our match and ensure our place was booked for finals day.

A quick change saw Biz come on for a cold looking Lauren, and we went back onto the pitch to get the job done. I say pitch, but thats not quite accurate – by now one end was a mudbath and staying upright was becoming nearly impossible. Fortunately we were attacking down the other end and took full advantage to score a series of quick goals and put the game beyond doubt.  Final score was 14-2 to us, an excellent result given the crap weather.

Well done to everyone for sticking at it! The way we played showed real commitment and it was a fantastic team performance – one that we should rightly  be proud of.

Team: Gav, Ditchy, Lauren,  Biz, Mike, Lucy, Lizzie, Naomi, Stu

Scorers:  Err – not sure, most people had a pop – Ditchy got a hatrick. The jury is still out on who claimed the award for best comedy slip up!

The final is on June 5th. The match after ours was postponed due to the pitch conditions, so our opponent is yet to be decided. It will be either Oxford City or Ox Uni 2.

OKA Cup first round (9 May 2010)

After a lengthy break from the rigours of competitive Korf, Reading were again in action over the weekend. taking on ISIS in the first round of the OKA cup. This was our first outdoor match of the season and the first with new captain Mike in charge.  Although Lucy had to take on captains duties at the start due to some last minute sat-nav related problems!!

Lucy also managed to get us off to the best possible start as we went 1-0 up inside 5 minutes. It was clear from the outset that it was going to be a hard fought contest, and a very physical one too – or was that just a personal battle Blaggy? Anyway we kept on course and traded goals with them over the remainder of the first half, with Lucy getting a second and Gav slotting a great shot from long range. Half time score was 3-2 in their favour.

At half time we swapped Eric for Ditchy and went back out determined not to let this one slip away. Unfortunately it didnt quite work out as we had a bad spell and conceded a number of goals in quick succession.  Things were looking bleak, but it was testament to everyones commitment that we did not give up. With  a free pass from Stu and a long shot from Naomi we clawed our way back to within touching distance at 7-5. We were unfortunate to have a couple more fantastic efforts controversially disallowed or the final score could have read differently.  As it was it remained at 7-5.

Team: Mike, Ditch,Lucy, Biz, Stu, Gav, Lizzie, Naomi

Scorers: Lucy (2),  Gav (1), Stu (1), Naomi (1).

Next week sees plate action – with us meeting Didcot to contest a place in the final. Can someone please bring a camera. Our website is in need of some photos!!

Reading v Abingdon (14th Feb 2010)

After a short break, and skiing mishap that has kept me away from Korfball for a few weeks,  this week I was back! At least to support and shout encouragement from the sidelines.  Unfortunately our team was  a girl short, so had to make do with 7 to take on their 8. All out on dates were you girls?

No bother, we got off to the best possible start with Andy catching the defence napping and landed a cheeky running in shot inside the first minute.  Despite being a division of 3 Blaggy, Charlotte and Andy were causing all sorts of problems for Abingdon. Fast paced dynamic moves had them tied in knots and wondering what day of the week it was! We kept control of the game well, with Jack seeing off a good running in shot, and longshots from Mike and Blaggy giving us the half time lead at 4-3.

The message from the coach at half time was simple, Mike and his division needed to keep the ball and relieve the pressure on the division of 3 – who were sure to be feeling the pace by the final quarter.  A period of stalemate ensued in the 10minutes after half time when we were putting together good attacking moves but the shots were not quite dropping in. We made a quick change and brought on Dave for Jack and went back out to try and secure the victory.

Mike broke the deadlock with a nicely finished longshot, this crucial effort gave us a 2 goal lead for the first time in the match. Unfortunately it was short lived as they came back at us strongly and scored a couple, to get back to 5-5 with around 15mins to play. Biz got a nice longshot to put our nose back in front, but again they managed to get back level with a penalty – things were getting very tense as the minutes ticked down and the draw was looming…

However, our Confidence was rising and both divisions pulled together to put the squeeze on the opposition, our solid defence forced them into rushed shots that we could easily pick off and send straight back to the other end. We kept up the pressure and it was Mike that managed to bag a winner and complete his hatrick with a runner in the final few minutes!

Overall a very good team performance, that showed real commitment from everyone on the court.  Despite being a player short we controlled the game well, it was them who were trying to play catch up for most of the game. Well done guys!

Final score 7-6 to us.

Scorers: Mike 3, Andy 1, Jack 1, Biz 1, Blaggy 1.

Recent Matches v MKB2, Oxford City and Oxford University

After putting up three very spirited performances against the top three teams in the division Reading came away with nothing to show for all their effort. With these matches out the way we look forward to grabbing some points in the final three matches of the season.

Jan 24th v Milton Keynes Bucks 2 (Lost 12-3)

Jan 31st v Oxford City 1 (Lost 7-4)

Feb 7th v Oxford Uni 1 (Lost 10-4)

Manchester Warriors Christmas Tournament (28 Nov 2009)

Reading headed to Manchester last Saturday and welcomed back Gouldini and Whitey who have recently moved on to pastures new. Also guesting were Jo and Adrian from Oxford City with Biz, Mike, Dave, Mark, Gareth, Jack and Gav completing the fearsome 11 player squad.

The day started with the usual tournament crazyness, too drunk from the night before Adrian forgot to wake up. Meanwhile Gav reversed his car into a bollard and Jack’s car kissed the back of a 4×4. Nevertheless a complete team safely arrived at the impressive Manchester Velodrome, ready to benefit from their 05:45 start.

As is tradition in the Warriors Christmas tournament our fixtures were delivered in a Christmas card. Captains pulled a cracker before each match to see which team started. We also added our present to the secret Santa stocking.

We knew the first half of the tournament would be the most difficult after being drawn against Manchester Warriors II and Birmingham Legends, two of the top teams in the tournament. As usual, Reading fought hard, creating some nice chances but both oppositions showed their superiority and used their top level players, some with international experience, to ensure victories. The games finished Warriors 5-1 Reading (with Gav popping in a long-shot late in the game) and Legends 5 – 0 Reading.

After a quick trip to MaccyD’s we were fighting fit and ready for the afternoon fun. We found ourselves in the bottom pool with a best attainable position of 9th (of 12 teams). There were no easy teams to beat in this tournament, even in the bottom pool, with plenty of players that could cause us damage if we slackened off. Our first match against Keele University started a struggle with Keele going 2-1 up after Gav put away an early long-shot. We called for calm and the use of our experience, which lead to Mike clipping in a long-shot before Gav won and dispatched a penalty. Blaggy was left to wrap things up with a fine effort that guaranteed our first victory of the day. Reading  4-2 Keele University.

Next challenge was our friends from Leicester, who got an early goal and forced us to dig deep. Fantastic support play from the rest of the division allowed Gav to dispatch two long-shots in quick succession, which gave us the lead. Gouldini put the result beyond any doubt in the closing stages of the match with trade-mark pin point accuracy. Final score Reading 3-1 Leicester.

At this point Gav was getting quite worried. He earlier ruled that it would be the top scorer who gets to sit on Santa’s knee, tell him what they want for Christmas and open the secret Santa present – another fine Warriors tradition.  There was now a chance it might be him, and the team stubbornly refused to allow a change of rules at this late stage of the day. Meanwhile the rest of the squad had their minds on korfball. After noticing Manchester City had put far more goals past Keele and Leicester than we did, a win was now the only result that would gain us our much sought after 9th spot.

We faced a team of challengers, going at full pelt and trying to run us ragged. But they were against a very confident and composed Reading unit that absorbed this pressure and went about their own business. Gouldini got the first goal of the match before Manchester forced themselves back in the game. Now, fighting even harder, Reading performed a move allowing Gav to put home a medium range effort before coming off for Mike who rounded things off with a fine, and very graceful, running-in shot. Final score Reading 3 – 1 Manchester City. 9th place – we had won our pool!

Well done to everyone who played, a great team effort with Biz, Whitey, Jo, Gareth, Adrian, Jack and Dave providing some excellent support work that directly contributed to the goals.

Our good fortune continued into the evening as Dave, Biz and Jack won prizes in the raffle. To Gav’s delight this year’s Santa was a fine lady from Warriors and he had no problems sitting on her knee. With that all wrapped-up we headed to our host’s house and greened up as beanstalks before heading out with Jack to the cracking pantomime fancy dress social.

Everyone had a great time. Thanks go to Manchester Warriors for putting on a great event, Mel and Mike for putting us all up for the night and everybody who drove and played.

Next tournament: Leeds University, 6th Feb 2010.
Scorers: Gav 6 (1 pen), Gouldini 2, Mike 2, Blaggy 1.

Stats after 6 League Games…

	Apps	Longshot	Running	Pens	Total
Blaggy	5	8	1	1	10
Stu	6	3	-	5	8
Andy	3	2	2	-	4
Dan	4	3	-	-	3
Lucy	4	1	2	-	3
Biz	2	1	2	-	3
Goldini	1	2	1		3
Gav	4	2	-	-	2
Elanie	4	1	-	-	1
Dave	3	1	-	-	1
Eric	1	-	-	1	1
Charlotte	5	1	-	-	1
Mike	4	1	-	-	1
Katie	1	1			1
Lizzie	4	-	-	-	-
Jack	3	-	-	-	-
Gareth	1	-	-	-	-
				Total	42

Reading v Basingstoke (29 Nov 2009)

This weeks trip was short hop South to take on Basingstoke in their home stadium. This was a crucial game for us at the wrong end of the league table, especially as Basingstoke are also struggling this year. If we managed a win and we we were one step closer to survival in Oxfordshire Korfballs top flite. The team looked more green than usual this week, as the remains of the previous evenings fancy dress we still smeared across many peoples faces… A genius tactic to lull the opposition into a false sense of security!

We got off to a good start with Blaggy slotting a running in shot and then a penalty to take us 2-0 up inside of the first few minutes. We then continued to trade goals with them up to half time, with Gav and Goldini scoring nice longshots. Half time it was 5-4 to them, but the mood was positive – we had a strong defence that was giving them few chances and we were creating plenty of chances in our attacks. We went back out determined not to let this one slip away.

The second half got off to a good start as we scored the first 2 goals after half time with Mike getting on the scoresheet for the first time this season and Goldini grabbing her second with a nice running in shot. After an unfortunate penalty against us and a speculative longshot dropped for them we were still one behind, but the balance of power was definately beginning to turn in our favour…

A quick sub saw Andy replace Blaggy and we went into the last quarter, all guns blazing and determined to make sure of the result. What followed was a goal rush with shots dropping from all over the court: Stu got a cheeky longshot after droppping off the back on a restart, and Turnip got just reward for some great attacking down the other end with with a well taken longshot. We secured the result with a runner from Andy and a longhot from Biz, before Goldini completed her hatrick with another longshot and it was left to Katie have the last word with a great goal in the dying seconds!

A superb game for us, and a real team effort with everyone pulling together to bring us a memorable victory. This is certainly reflected in the scoresheet with everyones name present! Final Score 12-8 to us.

Scorers: Goldini 3 (legend!!), Blaggy 2 (1 pen), Gav 1, Mike 1, Turnip 1, Katie 1, Stu 1, Biz 1, Andy 1.

Reading v ISIS (15 Nov 2009)

After a fantastic first win  last week, ISIS was to be next to face the Reading korf machine. Unfortunately the magic combinations of last week were broken up this time around, as several playters were either away or unavailable to take to the pitch this week.  With a girl down we knew it was going to be a tough ask ot take on the black and green of ISIS but nevertheless spirits were high.
 
We welcomed back Gnomes from last years Uni team and promptly gave her the challenging task of playing in a division of 3 with the basketball crew (Ditch and Dan). Down the other end was Jack, Lizzie, Elanie and Stu with Bananaman acting as a one man cheerleader and coach.
 
We settled into the match and fought valliantly to keep them out, unfortunately they started well and were managing to find ways through to keep their score ticking over. We had a fair amount of possesion and created a number of decent chances but unfortunately the all important finishing let us down too many times. The half time score of 4-0 was not representative of the effort we had put in and we were unlucky not to have anything to show for it.
 
In the second half our coach and cheerleader made his first appearance of the season, replacing Dan in the division of 3. After conceding a few more we managed to get a few of our own back with Eric putting away a penalty and Stu slotting a free pass. In the end the final score was 9-2 to ISIS. I felt the final score was not entirely reflective of the match, we were more competitive than the score suggests and they were made to work for their goals. Well done to everyone for the effort they put in.
 
No match next week, the next game is in Basingstoke on the 29th..
 
Goals…
Eric 1 (pen)
Stu 1 (free pass)