Cardiff City Away, 2nds
7-5 Amy Shillabeer (2), Josh Cockburn (2), Magnus Dons (1), Joey Niblett (1), Lee O’Sullivan (1), Hannah Blackmore, Gwen Jones, Julie Saunders, Caroline Lowdon, Donna Waitt, James Frost
A game which highlighted the growing strength in depth of korfball in Cardiff as both teams made a number of substitutions but still produced a match of high standard for a local league second team match.
Dave’s injury deprived Dragons of their top scorer in the previous game, but meant that Joey and Lee dropped down from the firsts for half each, so hardly weakened the team. The other significant change from the last game was Hannah coming in for her first ever game, after only a handful of training sessions. It was an impressive debut as she quickly learnt from her mistakes to take charge of her post as well as a useful feed. Caroline also made her Dragons debut as a half time substitute.
City brought along a team that was very awkward to play against, less experienced than Dragons and featuring several beginners, but a very athletic side. They were particularly good in defence and it took lots of hard work before Joey and Amy managed to get through for running in shots.
After the change of ends, City scored quickly with Holly scoring from a rebound, but Dragons response was immediate, Josh also scoring from near the basket. Amy’s second running in shot meant that Dragons had a 4-1 lead at half-time.
Into the second half, with Caroline, Donna and Lee on for Julie, Amy and Joey. After a concerted period of pressure Lee landed a long shot and Dragons seemed safe at 5-1. But City came back strongly, bolstered by loads of vocal support. Lee missed an interception and Matt took full advantage. Magnus pivoted neatly to restore the 4 goal lead, but one of City’s new players capped an impressive display with her first ever goal and then Max scored to make it 6-4. With only a few minutes left, Aidan scored from long range and City seemed poised to grab a draw.
Dragons held their nerve though, skipper Gwen earnt a penalty and Josh put it away to finish the match. A great win for Dragons, but also very encouraging for City who clearly have a talented group of new players. Let’s hope that Dragons can have more new players follow Hannah’s example and help us keep winning.
Thanks to City, great opponents as always and to Midge and Ian for reffing.