Cardiff Dragons Korfball Club

4-9 Joey Niblett (2), Amy Shillabeer (1), Remco Broekhuis (1), Alex Mills, Dave Thomas, Gwenno Jones, Jack McNamara, Lee O’Sullivan, Rachel Knight

19th April.

Welsh Championship Final, Dragons vs Cyclones

Afterwards will be a Welsh korfball gala night, black tie at UWIC Student Union bar.

17 May

Dragons agm and Awards Night

Discuss important issues during the day, get drunk and applaud/laugh at your teammates in the evening. The awards night is traditionally the big club social of the year.

14-9, Remco Broekhuis (5), Jack McNamara (3), Lee O’Sullivan (3), Joey Niblett (2), Dave Thomas (1), Alison Eaves, Amy Shillabeer, Julie Saunders, Gwenno Jones, Sharon Quick

7-21, Dave Thomas (2), Lee O’Sullivan (2), Gareth Thomas (1), Josh Cockburn (1), Rachel Knight (1), Amy Shillabeer, Julia Harnett, Sian Hunt.

With several players missing, this always looked like it was going to be a tough match against a Cyclones side that was at almost full strength, and Dragons were struggling even before Sian’s injury reduced them to 7 players. While Cyclones were never threatened, Dragons did manage to create chances throughout, even at the end where they were a player short and Dave, Gareth and Amy ran themselves into the ground. Defensively, the performance was solid enough, though we were never able to put Cyclones under enough pressure to shake them. Dragons will hope to be at full strength for the third game between the two sides on the 29th March, and give the opposition a real test. 

8-21

Dragons 2: Josh Cockburn (5), Pete Obee (3), Alex, Alison Eaves, Emily Tuttiett, Emily, Hannah Blackmore, James Frost, Josh, Liz Pearson, Steven Vaughan

Dragons 1: Remco Broekhuis (6), Jack McNamara (5), Amy Shillabeer (2), Dave Thomas (2), Lee O’Sullivan (2), Sian Hunt (2), Chrissy Rowlatt (1), Joey Niblett (1), Helen Gubby

The second 1sts vs 2nds match of the season saw a broadly similar result as the first one, with an extra 3 goals for the seonds the only difference. However, that does not tell the whole story. (more…)

9-15 Remco Broekhuis (5), Joey Niblett (3), Dave Thomas (1), Amy Shillabeer, Josh Cockburn, Lee O’Sullivan, Natalie Gardner, Rachel Knight, Sian Hunt

After a series of comfortable victories, Dragons 1 faced their first major challenge of the season against Cardiff City Cyclones. City had also won every match so far, and at full strength went into the game as slight favourites. By contrast, Dragons were without Jack who was with the England Student squad, while Helen and sub Julie both dropped out with injuries on the morning of the match, meaning Natalie was called into unexpected action. (more…)

5-21

2nds, Josh Cockburn (3), Julie Saunders (1), Magnus Dons (1), Chrissy Rowlatt, Dave Schofield, Hannah Blackmore, Jon Abbott, Pete Obee, Martin Rowse, Sharon Quick

1sts, Dave Thomas (6), Lee O’Sullivan (6), Jack McNamara (4), Sian Hunt (4), Rachel Knight (1), Helen Gubby, Joey Niblett, Liz Pearson, Remco Broekhuis

Report written, will put up soon.

18-3 Amy Shillabeer (4), Dave Thomas (4), Joey Niblett (4), Helen Gubby (2), Jack McNamara (1), Josh Cockburn (1), Lee O’Sullivan (1), Sian Hunt (1), Gareth Thomas, Rachel Knight.

The Dragons first team maintained their position at the top of the table with another assured performance, defeating the University’s reserves 18-3. The Dragons were missing top scorer Remco, but any thoughts that the total might suffer were soon dispelled as Amy broke her scoring duck in spectacular fashion, nailing 4 out of 4 shots in the opening 20 minutes past her amazed defender! With Joey finding plenty of space in the Uni defence at the other end, and Helen and Sian chipping in goals, the Dragons held a confortable half-time lead. Lee came on for Gareth at the start of the second half and landed a longshot with his first touch, before his alert play set up a pair of simple chances for Taff, which brought up his hattrick. Joey and Jack continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over at the other end, with Joey becoming the second player up to 4 goals for the game, all from more or less under the post. Lee went off with an injured ankle, leaving Rachel, Amy and Taff with their third team mate at that end, but Josh slotted in well, completing a nice move with a smartly taken long shot from Rachel and Taff’s assist work. Defensively, the Dragons continued to hold firm, restricting the Uni to just 3 goals, and breaking up many attacks before they got going.

With 8 players on the scoresheet and another sizeable win, the Dragons will be pleased with progress, but the real test is coming up soon, City 1 notching a big win in the day’s earlier match.

0-19 Dave Schofiedl, Gareth Thomas, Hannah James. Josh Cockburn, Julie Saunders, Liz Pearson, Magnus Dons, Natalie Gardner

Not going to dwell on this one too long, but against a fluent, skilful and experienced City 1 side, an inexperienced Dragons team hung on in and showed clear improvements throughout the game. To restrict the opposition to under 20 was a decent achievement, and although not managing to score ourselves was disappointing, we did create some chances. 

22-3 Remco Broekhuis (7), Lee O’Sullivan (5), Joey Niblett (3), Dave Thomas (2), Helen Gubby (2), Rachel Knight (2), Sian Hunt (1), Amy Shillabeer

The first home game of the year was able to take place after Pete and Josh did an intensive sweeping of the court. Jack was absent, but it was also the first time this season that a team made up exclusively of first-team players was put out. This wasn’t obvious early on, as Dragons struggled to find their fluency on a small court and against aggressive intercept defence. Goals only came occasionally, and the inexperienced but athletic uni team posed a threat with their running-in shots which, with better finishing, could have had them very close. As it was, the half finished with Dragons having a 7-2 lead.

(more…)