Newcastle Newbies Do Us Proud
Last night saw the battle of the uni newbies as Newcastle took on Northumbria over at Sport Central. Everyone involved (on our side at least) had never heard of korfball until four weeks ago!
The game got off to a rather bizarre start when Northumbria caught us napping and got two quick early goals. After that though we started to find our way into the game with our defencing improving rapidly. In attack though we couldn't quite get things to click and Chan was dancing all over the place. Chan we love you but unfortunately I don't think a korfballer has so far made it on to Strictly Come Dancing. So 20 minutes and 3-0 down we switched things up a bit.
Our fresh faces managed to settled down pretty quickly and despite conceding once more just before the break, our performance was improving and you could see everyone feeling more confident. At half time, Coach Chris was happy, we just needed to find a bit of rhyme up front and try to get some structure.
Second half began and the defence picked up where it left off, we even got some switching going! The tactical side of our half time talk though went straight out the window but it still nearly bought about a goal as Matt's well earned penalty tickled the rim before falling out. Going into the last 10 and everybody just wanted to see us score! We'd earned it, the attack was starting to click and yet the damn ball just would not go in.
However, Fateh, with an absolute beauty from miles out sank one to make it 7-1. A well deserved goal as reward for his majestic, almost gazelle like defence, rising above everyone and claiming balls he had no right to. The result wouldn't change though and despite our best efforts nor did the score.
We were all massively proud of our new guys and gals and we hope they had fun. Also a big shoutout to our captain on the night, Mary. Now for those of you not aware, Mary broke her finger two weeks ago, strapped herself up ready to go, played the entire game with a broken finger and it now turns out also a torn ligament in her ankle. Who knew korfball was so dangerous?! Hope it gets better soon and see you back at training.
Squad:
Mary Earnshaw (captain)
Maria Zakhour
Haw Feng Chan
Matt Gardener
Rebecca Burgess
Ellis Powell
Harry Stokes
James Palmer
Subs: Anna Pinborough Jenny Banton James Owen Fateh Singh Peter Schofield
Male MVP: Fateh Singh
Female MVP: Rebecca Burgess/Jenny Banton/Mary Earnshaw (it was a tough decision ok!)
Our next dose of korfball action comes tomorrow as both of our teams travel to the Lancaster Beginner's tournament before we start are run up to BUCS. The party bus will be rocking!
Until next time, Howay the Korf!
CB