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Surrey at the counties

After weeks of try outs and trials, the Surrey team consisted of a very slick (later soggy) 9 and a half players- Beverley, Jennie A (North Downs), James (Nomads), Stuart Hall (Manchester), Anna Jeanes however she had reffing commitments. Ross, Saskia (Croydon), Mike H, Kathryn and Angela (our very own).

I do think you need to mention all members in the team and Herbie's 100% free throw record. Herbie was such a popular ref that they asked him to do all our reffing commitments for which we were very grateful as were the girls on the teams he reffed!

James 100% penalty record and let's say it he did take a fair few! He is now known as the penalty king.

Saskia was very nippy like a jazzed up Astra with pink neon lights and scored lots of goals.

Stuart was our secret weapon, home grown at Mitcham. He left to join and study the ways of korfball in the North and to bring them back down to the South. This meant that when it came to the matches not everyone was aware of his lethal and very accurate long shot especially against the pinks!!

Jennie was the brains of our division having mentally prepared herself before each game by completing a Suduko puzzle!

Angela, well, what can I say she certainly rose to the challenge! She scored a fantastic goal against Oxford and her penalty taking is equal only to Pete Teague!

Ross was a very committed coach, he studied the form, and the strengths of the players and played them well on the pitch adding in Anna as a sub when she was needed and required to beat the Stuart and James into shape when Angela had to re-secure her knee to her leg.

Beverley scored loads of goals, long shots, sneaky ones, and a running in shot! No penalties alas but she left that to James. She ran around a lot and got muddy. And is still trying to get the stains out of the shirts.

Team spirit was abundant!



The Journey

For three of Surrey's players Angela, Kathryn and Mike the tournament could have ended slightly earlier than they would have wanted. Approaching the exit off the M4 towards Oxford were heavy roadworks and not a lot of signs to show where to go. This confused Mitcham's new recruit and youngish driver Kathryn, causing her to attempt a late lane change. Unfortunately the road split into two with a rather large barrier in between, seeing this Mike let off a loud yelp and the driver unaware of what was coming quickly swerved back. Seconds later Kathryn saw what the yelp was about and started to take the Micky along with Angela. Thanks I only saved our lives.

Day 1

Round 1

The morning pool that Team Surrey were involved in consisted of Cambridgeshire, Somerset and Suffolk. The first game was played against the hardest opponent in that pool Cambridgeshire, with the Surrey players yet to play together as a team this game was used to get to know how each other played and consolidate a good start. The game was always close with no more than 1 goal in it throughout the match, it ended a very respectful draw of 5-5. A pleasing result and a good start for Team Surrey. The other 2 morning games were slightly more comfortable for Surrey as they won both games and lead the pool going into round 2 in the afternoon.

Round 2

Because of the excellent performances in the morning Team Surrey were placed in Pool G in the afternoon along with Norfolk, Kent and Greater Manchester. A very tough afternoon was in store for the Blue and Whites and Brown as time went by. Yes the lovely summer weather came to Oxfordshire and the heavens opened, however it seemed that God was looking down on Team Surrey as we managed to avoid the torrential downpours.

Surrey started the afternoon in style with a solid win over Norfolk winning by 11-6. Next up was a game against Kent which was slightly harder as the pitches started to suffer. A comfortable finish nevertheless by 7-5.

Team Surrey's last game of the afternoon was eventually played out after a break in play to let the surface water/mud go away, a delay of 15 minutes was taken upon. In this time Team Surrey took the opportunity to have a full warm-up, which also helped remove most of the mud and water from the pitch. That's right, a full-on mud fight was the perfect preparation for Team Surrey. Surrey went on to beat Greater Manchester by 4-2 and clinched the top position in the pool.

So at the end of play on Day 1 Team Surrey went unbeaten with a draw against Cambridgeshire the only bad point of the day.

Day 2

Playoffs

Team Surrey's Quarter-Final opponents were to be Staffordshire. Surrey were determined to open Day 2 with a stern warning to the other teams, which they did by comfortably beating the Staffordshire team by 10-6. Into the Semi's we marched and were greeted by hosts Oxfordshire. Yet again Team Surrey impressed with a strong victory winning by 5-1. Surrey were met in the Final by Nottinghamshire who defeated Kent by 4-1.

The Final

The Final was the place to be. Team Surrey made their way there with impressive victories and still unbeaten. Nottinghamshire scraping through to the Semi's were relieved to have made the Final. The section had stayed the same throughout the Tournament with Mike paired alongside Ross, Saskia and Angela. The other section included James, Stuart, Beverley and Jennie. Mike took this opportunity to play against GB International Rob Mann and put in a strong performance scoring twice from his now trademark free-throws. Down the other end James Magowan put in yet another strong performance scoring another penalty. The match was always neck and neck but Surrey were unable to take a lead, with minutes left Team Surrey found themselves 2 goals down but a goal from Carr-Taylor pulled it back to 1. Surrey were on the up and were getting more confident and starting to dominate as Nottinghamshire tired under the pressure, however there was not enough time left to get back level and the game finished 9-8 to Nottinghamshire. Both teams were obvious finalists from Day 1 and produced an excellent final for the on-looking crowd, congratulations to Nottinghamshire who managed to hang on and deserved the victory.



Off the pitch action

Due to the lack of boys Surrey seems to have it was going to be difficult for the Boys so injuries were needed to be avoided. Unfortunately for Mike he injured his groin on the heavy and slippery pitches. To ease the pain Beverley suggested to spray Deep Freeze on the area, yes Deep Freeze. Turns out spraying that stuff in that area was more painful than the actual injury so thanks Beverley. If anyone ever decides to do that, I don't recommend it, but if you do a good antidote is to start up your car and stand above the exhaust pipe.

Day 2 saw the Pringle Championships come to Oxfordshire for the first time in its illustrious history. Rules were simple see how many Pringles you can eat in one go. Mike started the proceedings with an outrageous attempt of 20 pringles. With other Surrey players deciding they couldn't beat that, Mitcham's Beverley Hall took the stage and stole the limelight with a Championship Record of 25 Pringles. Well done Beverley, that's impressive.

We also saw the devastating eating ways of Croydon's very own Ross "i'll have an extra steak with that" Carr-Taylor. Yes, when the waiter asked what he would like with his meal he did indeed say an extra steak, classic.

Well done and thanks to all of Team Surrey on a fantastic 2nd place: Beverley, Angela, Kathryn and Mike (all Mitcham), Ross and Saskia (Croydon), James (Nomads), Jennie (North Downs) and Stuart (Manchester)

Herbie and Ross




Report by: Andy