Club Sandwich Beach Korfball, 18th August 2007MK team:Toby, Paul, Simon, Kat, Jo, Marisca Report from James (who obviously thought it was in Exeter) and Toby (who did actually make it to Kent) Mk Bucks travelled to Exeter to compete in the UK Beach Tournament finals on Saturday for their last tournament of the season. The Bucks have had a long tradition of success in the beach Korfball competition, winning the previous one in, some might say, controversial circumstances. After playing all the rubbish teams, the Bucks scored enough goals to be handed victory as the afternoon stage was rained off. Some reports suggested Bucks players had invoked the power of ancient rain spirits through a dance performed by Paul Doodle, but nothing was ever proved. So consequently the pressure was on to succeed. The players looked hopefully to the skies but saw no rain clouds, (surprisingly) they would have to rely on their speed, skill and crossed fingers that at least a small percentage of Simons shoots would go in. Crikey. The squad lined up: Paul Doodle (would playing on sand decrease his jumping prowess?), Kat Nelson (every present at tournaments, possibly no social life), Simon Roberts (not the man to be selected for an accurate shooting competition), Mariska van der Gouer (could steal penalty taking rights from Katie…), Toby Parsons (doesn’t have a telly and keeps his wardrobe in his kitchen, both true statements) and Jo Lindsay (Nearly decided to sign for City but saw the light and joined the Bucks). Would there be any heroes, would there be any villains? For those that don’t know, beach Korfball uses one post and a four player team. Played on sand and is very tiring as you’ll always be defending or attacking. Fortunately our five korfers were selected for their incredible stamina and fitness, and Toby because he drove. The Tournament started 1 hour late, someone had forgotten to check the tide timetable, but once the seaweed was brushed away and the crabs had scuttled off, the pitches were marked out and as holders, the Bucks were on for the opening match. Beach Korfball is hectic, this game was no exception. The teams traded goals with a couple of good long shoots and the occasional running in. Lightening acceleration was hard to use on the sand, so shooting was the order of the day followed with strong collecting. Unfortunately our girls aren’t the tallest, but they do have an uncanny knack of standing exactly where the korfball was going to land, resulting in a good number of shots being recycled. The game could go either way but persistent shooting from Mariska opened the way for a collect and shot from under the post from Paul. Good work lad. First game, first victory. Could the Bucks be the only team in history to ever retain the cup? No. Next match didn’t go to plan, the wind had picked up and sand whipped across the players legs as they struggled against a decent London team. Lucky shooting stole victory from the hard working Bucks. This would be remedied in the next game, with good use of rolling subs to keep the players fresh they won the next two. However unlike David Beckham, the players were beginning to suffer from their long journey to Exeter, and hit a dip in form. This allowed a few undeserved teams to nick a few wins where really the Bucks should have dominated. Finial placings saw the Bucks finish a respectable 11th out of 14. It was the performances that really count though and it was good to see Simon prove previous reviews misjudged as he did score a few goals this time. Jo showed that she is steadily becoming an effective player, learning the ropes and has obviously bought a post to practise in the back garden with. Paul Doodle notched up a few more goals and just pipped Kat to be seconded highest scorer. The highest was Mariska with 7 tournament goals, not enough to beat Katie’s current record of 9 in one day, but close. Toby provided some typically steady performances and could be a serious challenge to Paul’s position in the third team. Well done though for the player to travel a long way and to come close to defending the title, just didn’t have the luck when it counted. Things are looking good for the upcoming season. Reporter Contributor, T Parsons |