2007 BKA County Championships, Bristol, 21st-22nd June 2007The Counties team: Ali, Caz, Kat, Katie, Kirsty, Marisca, James, John T, Matt (Birmingham City), Nov, Paul, Simon, SpeckyReport from James (in between playing Lego with John and Ali's kids) Rain + grass + ferocious Korfball action = mudfest Adverse weather had already prevented pro Buckinghamshire/Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire Korfers from reaching Bristol in the late hours of Friday evening, and a combination of flooded roads and poor map reading from co-drivers Caz, Marisca and Kirsty/ Katie (all women surprisingly) resulted in delays for some of the squad making the advertised start time of 10am. Still we all got there in the end and pitched our tents on a prime site opposite pitch No.1. The Counties Tournament saw 14 county teams battling it out for supremacy. Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire had been scoured to find all the best players, which ironically all played for MK Bucks KC… sorry MK City and Roos we mustn’t have the phone numbers of your coaches… This was a tournie we had a chance of finishing well in the top half, so we started with our top team to face the cream of Avon. A nervous start saw us fall 2 nil down against Avon, but as the pitch deteriorated, Bucks became more composed with a Marisca running in shot and fought back to win 4vs3. Shire spirit proved too much for those Avon pansies. Nov and Kirsty, unaware that a mixture of grass, rain and mud reduces the friction afforded to trainers and decided it would be best to buy some studs. 30 minutes later returning form Sports Soccer with his and hers Nikes they were ready for action! Next saw Bucks face a Dutch Province in England called Kent. We lost 5 vs 2. The score did not accurately reflect the performance and it was widely acknowledged that had we played on for another hour we’d have caught them in the end. A slow start did not help, and neither did John Timmans, who, surprised at receiving a fantastic pass under the post, missed a sitter. A tricky match against South Yorkshire who thought they could get by with only two girls meant Bucks had to play a 4 on 3 korfball game. With one girl spare to hold the collect it was up to the keen eyed shooting of the other players to score as many as possible. This is clearly demonstrated a weakness in Buckinghamshire Korfball. Conditions weren’t right for quick shooting and only a stunning 20yard effort from James eased the nerves. Further goals followed and Nov eventually learned to play “Not like that” sinking two beauties after useful coaching from the sidelines courtesy of Timmans. Very insightful John. 6 vs 3 eventual winners. Kat declared the best player on the pitch, good job girl! Devon took a hammering in their last game, losing 5vs1to Bucks . Specky shooting spectacularly from the halfway line and spinning the ball at least 8 times round the basket before dropping home! Good score keeping from Jonny P and Rachael in this game otherwise we’d have lost count of all our goals! Jonny Ps highlight of the weekend came from Marisca’s effort to use him as a break to stop her falling over. Cue hands heading towards inappropriate places. Apparently big shoes do only mean big socks… Specky showed a fiery attitude by arguing with the ref that he hadn’t been given more time to destroy the oppo. But the ref, a ‘proper geezer’ (prat) ignored his protests, Devon got off lightly. The next game showed just how much we rely on the ability of Marisca and Ali. Despite Marisca’s laughable height and colour co-ordinated tracksuits she is able to score against anyone and Ali’s good humour to accommodate John Timmans is laudable. Both Specky and John were also missing for this game, and Bucks fell 5vs0 to the bad. Nov could no longer bear the sight of mud under his nails and Kat was waiting to impress her parents on Sunday. Kirsty despite shooting well during practise couldn’t find the space to take advantage of her skills. James wimped off at half time and Pancake Caz, not referring to her breakfast preferences, put up a number of trademark flat shots, but was unable to achieve a breakthrough. First days play was over and the Bucks, deflated to lose the company of four Bucks players and a disappointed last game, only Mexican hats and moustaches could lighten the mood. Lo and behold Kirsty and Paul had brought some! That was lucky. 10 minutes later, all showered, cleaned and Mexicaned, save for gringo Nov, we hit the tequila (never let Caz pour your drinks) and beer. Kat, for a change, promptly dragged everyone onto the dance floor and Bucks showed that their deftly moves weren’t limited to the Korfball pitch! I for one didn’t know that Simon could break dance and was genuinely surprised that red eyebrows, beard and moustache made Paul look strangely attractive. Did Simon get any pipe action on the railings? If not, perhaps you should change you specifications... Sunday morning and everyone was up bright and breezy. There was concern at one point when Nov went missing, but was found loitering in the changing rooms trying to warm up. First time ever he’d slept without a goose-down duvet in his life! Most people were ready for the games ahead. If we could make the top five, we’d have considered it a good result. Things didn’t look good when Katie put her wrist support on the wrong arm. Was she hopelessly hung-over or had she been faking injury all along? Clive some answers please. Would have beaten Cambridgeshire had specky and John been able to do a Katie Ellis and actually score a penalty. Daft result against the minnows of North London followed. To prevent the day being a total disgrace we smashed Avon again 5 vs 2. Good work. Simon, a surprise selection for the squad actually managed to break his Luxembourg duck bouncing one in from distance. Paul too proved his worth by destroying his man and scoring a competent running in, not easy in knee deep mud. Even yellow card for new boy Matt, well done lad! Sorry for the lack of detail but this reporter was being taken advantage of to provide free child minding duties so John’s halfway line effort goes unconfirmed… One major disappointment was that despite continued requests, Kirsty still refused to make anyone a cup of tea. What is wrong with that girl’s attitude? Suffice to say Bucks were again the bottom of the top. Far superior to the majority of teams but not quite able to develop enough to really challenge the top teams. One informed commentator suggested that we’ve not quite always got the stomach for a good fight, and need more competition to harden our spirit and force victories against tougher teams. A win is all we need against a higher class team to show we’ve got the ability, perhaps then we will be able to push on and win more trophies. Results: vs Avon 4-3 (Marisca, John, Katie, Nov) vs Kent 3-6 (John 2, Specky) vs South Yorkshire 5-2 (Nov 2, John 2, James) vs Devon 5-1 (Specky 2, Marisca, Paul, Simon vs Norfolk 0-5 vs Cambridgeshire (quarter final) 3-2 (Specky 2, Katie) vs North London 1-5 (Specky) vs Avon 5-2 (Simon, John, Paul, Matt, Katie) 
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