OKA Cup Games, Sunday 18th Feb 2007The first team was missing regulars Nov, Caz and the injured Suzanne, so would have preferred not to have faced very fired-up Division 1 opposition in Oxford City 1. Amanda played in the team once again, Mark made his first appearance for the 1sts and Mandy her first ever game in the 1st team.After some initial trades of goals, we got into our stride and established a four-goal lead. Amanda scored a long-shot and was unlucky to have a shot behind the post disallowed for being defended (we have it on video, it's so borderline that I'm still not actually sure whether or not it was defended having slowed the play right down!), Katie got two, Simon got a runner and Specky and John were also scoring. However, a loss of shape saw Oxford claw the score back to 7-5 at half-time. The game was still in the balance and Oxford actually reduced the deficit to one goal early in the second half, but we responded quickly, and some improved attacking, including a great very-long-shot from Simon and two identical drop-off shots from Specky from the back corner, saw us extend the lead to 11-8. In the last 10 minutes John was then sent off and Ali then unfortunately twisted her ankle a few minutes later. Clive and Michelle came on (for those who don't know, you can bring on a sub for a sent-off player in korfball) in the attack division, and helped the division hold possession so there were no more goals in the match, earning us a quarter-final tie at home to Abingdon. The team was: Katie (2), Amanda (1), Specky (3), Mark (sub James), Ali (sub Michelle), Mandy, John (3) (sent off and sub Clive), Simon (2) Goal action (WMV files) Amanda long-shot Katie close-range shot The second team had an equally hard draw against Oxford Uni 1, currently above Oxford City in Division 1 and also Southern University champions, but we had a boost when we saw that Uni star players Martin and Jo were not there. It was neck-and-neck at first, with nice goals from Mark and Mandy, and we briefly had a two-goal lead at 6-4, but this was clawed back to 6-6 at half-time after two long-shots from the same player almost from the half-way line. We also kept in touch with them for the first part of the second half, but unfortunately our goals dried up, with MK only able to add three penalties earned by various players and converted by Katie, and Uni went through a spell when it seemed like none of their shots missed, meaning that we went down 16-9 and go into the plate. The team was: James, Mark (2) (sub Simon), Clive, Specky (2), Amanda (1) (sub Katie (3)), Carla, Michelle, Mandy (1) |