2015/2016 Season Match Reports
8th May - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (9-8)
Team: Becca, Katherine, Annaliese, Joe, Edd, Frances, Chiya, Dan F, Andrew, Carlos, Dan C
Scorers: Becca (3), Katherine, Annaliese, Joe, Edd, Frances, Chiya
Once again we came up against the usual high energy and enthusiasm we have come to expect from the Uni sides this year. I just hoped that we had learned enough from our previous meetings to be ready for this - we had.
We were easily the better side throughout the game and the scoreline I think flatters them a little as we continually created better chances and defended stronger throughout. We were our own worst enemy at times, falling into playing Uni's high paced, almost panicked style and giving possession away cheaply because of rushed passes and hurried play. But when we settled down and played controlled korfball, that we know we can play, we would dominate possession and put together some really nice moves resulting in a great shooting chances or a free pass or penalty. We shot really well yesterday with very few defended shots and a high percentage of shots almost going in or hitting the korf. On another day we would have won this game more convincingly I believe.
Some of the attacking moves we put together were a highlight, creating some really good shooting opportunities and the technique shown for these shots was very nice. We also evolved throughout the game, trying to adapt to the players we were marking and being marked by which shows how much we have grown and learnt this year.
As it's the last game of the season (and possibly my last match report) I thought I would expand on our performances further. Dan F had a great game against a very tough opponent and did well to keep his cool during intense battles. A great super long range goal from Frances and a precise free pass goal from Joe were invaluable. Annie came on and was her usual tenacious self and attacking threat. Chiya defended so tightly and made some great runs to the post. Andrew defended and collected solidly as we all now expect. Edd came on and really controlled the tempo of the game, nullified his opponents threat and scored an important running in shot. Carlos had endless energy and made some crucial interceptions and collects in defence as well as many breaks for the post in attack. Dan C kept great focus on his player and found some good space for shots. Katherine defended a fast player well and also made her usual great runs into scoring opportunities, converting one. Lastly and not least my MVP for the game, Becca. She was on it from the start and showed great technique with her shooting and took on the penalty responsibility from the off scoring an amazing hat trick on the day.
Well done all, a great way to finish the season and my coaching career ;)
Coach's MVP: Becca
Our MVP named by the opposition:
7th May - Chris Carter Cup
Nicely warmed up after our salsa social the night before, we travelled to Eastleigh, Southampton to take part in the OKA cup. It was our first experience of playing with a shotclock, which didn't turn out to be as daunting as expected. Loads and loads of shots were taken, with some fantastic goals, and we finished in 11th. See the full results here: http://www.oxfordshirekorfball.org.uk/news/chris-carter-cup-results
10th April - Isis 1 vs Abingdon 3 (16-2)
Team: Annaliese, Becca, Paul, Pete, Debbie, Frances, Edd, Nicola, Katherine, Andrew
Scorers: Annaliese (4), Frances (2), Nicola (2), Paul (2), Pete (2), Becca, Debbie, Katherine, Edd
The last match of the season saw us face yet another team from the top half of the div2 table, and yet again we found no match. From the start to end the intensity of our play was high, as was everyone's concentration and willingness to work together to score and defend as well as we could. Everyone playing more than 10 minutes is on the score sheet which is fantastic. The passing was strong and accurate and so was players' movement and shooting. We maintained the momentum till the end which was another great news. Regardless of who we play against, if we maintain our best way of playing, we will keep on improving further. We managed to build up the pride which we play for and that presses us all to play up to the maximum. It was also Becca's first game in the first team and she scored from her first shot from pretty far!
We finished the league in the second place, but had the best goal ratio in the league (+122 goals). On average we scored 15 and conceded 6 goals, but our performance had a sharply rising character over the season. We also had the best defence in the league, conceding just 74 goals (second best defence by City2 conceded 86). We hope that Anni will become the best girl scorer in the league. We also have 3 in the top 5 scoring boys (Paul, Martin and Pete).
Coach's MVP: Annaliese
Our MVP named by the opposition:
20th March - Isis 2 vs City 4 (1-12)
Team: Katherine, Caroline, Becca, Venetia, Debbie, Matthew, Dan C, Matt C, Dan F, John, Joe, Chris, Tom
Scorers: Katherine
On Sunday Isis 2 had a match against a City 4 team in the OKA division 2 North. This was a very good City 4 team with lots of experience, height, athletism and enthusiasm. We started well and were certainly the better team in the first half, we could just not get the ball to go in despite it constantly bouncing around the korf with some good shots from the attacking division. It stayed at 0-0 for a long time meaning that our defence had to be focused and energetic to neutralise the City attack, we did this very well with Matt showing great speed and agility to out fox his opponent many times. City scored just before half time and we went in with the score at an unusual 1-0 to City. I don't think we have ever gone in at half time not having scored. We were creating great shooting opportunities but it just wasn't dropping for us.
Once again we had a wealth of boys available so we were able to switch all 4 boys at half time, also leaving Andrew on the bench after his 1st team perfomance in the game before (thanks for understanding Andrew!). It continues to show that we need more girls recruited so we can have a third team next year as well - there just isn't enough games for everyone at the moment.
In the second half City really showed their experience and began to score quite frequently, I think each shot that didn't go in for us we slowly lost confidence in ourselves which City capitalised on to go out winners by 12-1. Katherine scored late on in the second half to break our deadlock and after that we did play better korball where we seemed more confident (even just one goal did that) and I do believe that had we scored early on in this game it would have ended up a lot different.
I think this was one of those games we need to not dwell on in terms of the scoreline and focus on the positives. We showed more athletism to keep up with the opponents, we passed well, created good shooting opportunities, technique of the shots was very good, especially Becca who was unlucky not to score in the game (let's blame it on the rum).
Coach's MVP: Matt C
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
20th March - Isis 1 vs Didcot 1 (21-6)
Team: Paul, Nicola, Martin, Edd, Andrew, Annaliese, Debbie, Chiya, Pascale, Frances, Venetia
Scorers: Paul (7), Nicola (5), Annaliese (3), Martin (3), Debbie, Chiya, Frances
Didcot have plenty of very good and experienced players and lie in the third place in the table, just behind us. But we knew we were going to be a lot better as a team and the dynamics of our style caused them lots of problems throughout. We went ahead very quickly and with both divisions scoring at a high rate and defending consistently, we made this match very enjoyable for ourselves. Nicola scored 4 in a quick succession very early on only to add the fifth later in the match, while Paul in his excellent shooting form sinked 7. Anni scored a hattrick before being subbed off (sorry Anni!) and Venetia playing up continued to show a great progress too.
It's hard to find negatives, but if we want to do EVEN better next time, we must maintain the tempo of the game till the end so that we can rack up as many goals in the second half as in the first half (14 in the first half, 7 in the second half). This is obviously physically very demanding especially because of our unforgiving, physically demanding style, but not impossible! Together with focusing on improvements in passing, movement and shooting we will be adding quite a few new things to our dynamic style with the aim of increasing variation in attacks and improving the utilisation of the post area in order to increase our collect winning rate.
Well done team - it's such a pleasure to be part of this!
Coach's MVP: Paul
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
13th March - Isis 1 vs City 2 (13-12)
Team: Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Frances, Pascale, Martin, Matthew, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Paul (5), Martin (3), Frances (2), Annaliese, Pete, Nicola
A fantastic match proving how much we've improved this season. Compared to the last match against them we made few mistakes passing the ball, were more concentrating in defence allowing fewer unpressured shots, stronger in collect, and our movement was smoother. In addition, we were fit enough to face a team of 12 which kept bringing fresh legs all the time. In all these abilities we've been improving steadily over the season and such even progress across all these areas is any coach's dream. Working hard for one another is something we should really be proud of.
In this fast paced game dominated by both defences we were better in making the ball move fast and we were also better in attack combinations where we were able to stick few quick passes together to allow for a free shot. The last few minutes were totally nerve-wracking where a comfortable lead became only a one-goal advantage which then became a comfortable lead again only to win by the tiniest of margins in the dying seconds.
Everyone was great, but to name few, Paul was amazing in his composure when shooting, Annie kept working so hard to glue her division together, Frances provided now very much expected goals and Debbie played very cleverly, totally dominating her player in all areas.
Coach's MVP: Paul
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
13th March - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 2 (12-5)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Katherine, Chiya, Matthew, John,
Scorers: Annaliese (4), Katherine (3), Debbie (2), Chiya, Matthew, John
Isis 2 lined up against a Reading Uni 2 side which contained 3 of the first team that earned a draw against us last week so we knew this was not going to be easy. There were a number of boys available for the Isis 2 side this week but not so many girls who were available. After some pleaful emails we managed to secure enough girls to even have two subs available. Special thanks to Katharine for coming along in between night shifts, with limited sleep and playing the full match.
We started this game really strongly and took control of the ball and the pace of the game very early on which was exactly the game plan we had set out to play which was great to see. We created great attacks in both divisions and worked very hard for each other to work the shooting opportunities. Our defence was determined against some nimble students and we collected the ball very well in defence under the post limiting Reading to low numbers of shots per attack, most of which were harried by our defence or called defended.
So many positives came out of this game, I would say too many to list, but I will elaborate on a few/many. Each player has improved both in defence and attack since last time we played (this could be down to the great training sessions), we are focusing on our players more in defence so we defended more shots, our passing was more crisp and flat, our energy levels were high, we are working attacks by moving the ball quicker and waiting for the free shot, everyone worked hard for each other, we followed a game plan, we listened to advice and adapted our game to it and we continued to fight for every ball until the last whistle.
If I was being super picky I could say our collect in attack wasn't great and we needed to shoot with more height (thanks Pascale) but these are minor compared to the other positives that there were.
Coach's MVP: This week it has to go to Katharine, for turning up in the middle of night shifts and just being totally on fire the whole game.
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
6th March - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 1 (5-5)
Team: Venetia, Katherine, Frances, Chiya, Andrew, Matthew, Carlos, Joe, Dan C, Dan F, John
Scorers: Frances (3), Matthew, Katherine
The second game on Sunday saw Isis play a very young, spritely and tall Reading team which contrasted sharply to a tired, short Isis team (well the girls at least!). However, due to the number of boys available we were able to do many rolling subs which allowed fresh legs throughout the game. We started very strong, completely outplaying an inexperienced Reading team taking a 2 goal lead early on. Reading quickly came back to draw level and then took the lead 5-3 late in the second half. Thanks to an amazing hat-trick from Frances including a goal in the dying seconds of the game we were able to draw level.
There were many good points to come out of both games including a great match debut from Dan F who put some great shots up, great defensive work from everyone, good collecting from John and Andrew, amazing attacking by Venetia who came soooo close to scoring on many occasions. A hat-trick from Frances and special mention to Katherine, Chiya and Venetia who played a whole 2 hours of korf!! Things to work on: strong, safe, passes – we gave the ball away to easily on to many occasions, four zero, working on feed and collect – the girls in this game were being marked very tightly and we could have used this to our advantage more, we were also good at getting shots up but need to work on the collect (although I realise this is difficult when we’re marking such tall players!). Giving away free passes/penalties – this was done more in the first game and after our team talk we did improve on this in the second game, however we still gave away one to many - this is very easily done but we do need to be more careful when in defence. Considering this game involved many new players who are still learning the rules it was a good game and we can take the positives forward and work on the weaknesses. Well done all!!
Coach's MVP: Dan F & Frances
Our MVP named by the opposition: Frances
6th March - Isis 2 vs Oxford City 3 (4-6)
Team: Venetia, Katherine, Caroline, Chiya, Andrew, Matthew, Carlos, Joe, Dan C, Ed, John
Scorers: Chiya, Ed, Matthew, Dan C
The first match on Sunday was against a very strong City team which appeared to consist of many City 2 players!! We started off strong and the game was equal throughout. Goals from both teams saw the score line quickly get to 3 goals a piece, which it remained for the majority of the game. It was the last 15 minutes where City began to dominate and we began to panic and made some careless errors, bad passes, defended shots etc. Despite some great play from our beginners including another great long shot from Dan (despite feeling a little hungover!). Also a special mention to Chiya who worked tirelessly in defence and in the short time she was attacking managed to score a great goal. This game could have easily gone either way and I feel we were very unlucky to lose, however we do get a point for not losing by to many. Wahoo!
Coach's MVP: Dan C
Our MVP named by the opposition: Edd
7th Feb - Isis 1 vs Didcot 2 (19-3)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Chiya, Frances, Pascale, Edd, Martin, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Nicola (5), Paul (4), Pete (4), Martin (3), Annaliese, Chiya, Frances
We basically destroyed them from the first minute and never gave them a hope of getting a good result. The highlights of the game were:
- collective 8-body defence making it very hard for them to bring the ball into their attack which won us quite a few balls
- great front defence slowing down their attacks, depriving them of options for a pass, forcing them into mistakes
- cutting down on our own inefficient type of feeds which are the ones where the ball is passed to the feed after being held for a while; the ball into the feed must be instant and the best way is to guarantee that is to go into the feed having made the pass
- improved communication in defence
- 7 scorers on the match form
- only one scorer on Didcot's side
- great many shots by everyone from all angles and of many types
- unstoppable Nicola scored 5 and added plenty of collects and interceptions
Well played everyone, looking forward to the next game!
Coach's MVP: Nicola
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
1st Feb - Isis 1 vs Isis 2 (22-5)
Isis 1 team: Pete, Paul, Annaliese, Frances, Martin, Debbie, Chiya, Matthew, Edd
Isis 2 team: Marcus, Pascale, Andrew, Becca, Venetia, Katherine, Dan, John, Chris, Joe, Carlos
Isis 1 scorers: Pete (4), Paul (4), Annaliese (4), Frances (3), Martin (3), Debbie (1), Chiya (1), Matthew (1), Edd (1) - everyone scored!
Isis 2 scorers: Dan (2), Pascale (1), Venetia (1), Katherine (1)
Isis 1 MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
Isis 2 MVP named by the opposition: Dan
31st January - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (2-13)
Team: Marcus, Debbie, Matthew, Becca, Annaliese, Chiya, Joe, Dan, Carlos, Chris, Andrew
Scorers: Becca, Chris
We knew that this would be tough test against a very good Uni 2 side, especially as we had lost to them not long ago and Uni's sides are notorious at improving quickly. We had a game plan at the start which was to try and play our own game and not get sucked into the franticness that Uni would play - play clever korfball. This didn't really happen and we found ourselves panicking and trying to play rushed korfball which played right into their hands as the were attemping to intercept every pass. They were really energetic, enthusiastic, tireless and fast but also overcommitting and distracted. We needed to capitalise on this and create chances to win this game and at times we did play some nice more controlled korfball which led to some good scoring opportunities which unfortunately we were unable to take.
Our shooting was certainly offline in this match where we had a lot of what I would call 70% chances that were just not dropping in. On another day (literally any other day) this game would have been a lot closer so I will not take too much notice of the scoreline here and take the positives out of the game - for which there were many!
Dan said to me on the sideline that "coaching has it's highs and lows" and the scoreline was a low, but the effort from everyone was definitely a high.
Coach's MVP: Becca, and a special award to Chris for scoring a goal on his debut and playing very well!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
24th January - Isis 1 vs Didcot 2 (3-14)
Team: Andrew, Dan, Matthew, Marcus, Frances, Chiya, Debbie, Katherine, Becca
Scorers: Dan, Katherine, Matthew
With the majority of Isis 1 away on their ‘jollies’ this week it was up to Isis 2 to step up to the plate and take on the mighty Dragons! It was down to captain Frances, who had come readily prepared with some amazing cake, and stand in Coach Debbie, to lead Isis to victory.
The game started off very even, strong defensive work saw the game stalemate at 0-0 for the opening quarter. However, Dragons soon found their feet and scored 4 goals in quick succession; mainly from gaining excellent collects and recycling the ball quickly. However, with deafening foghorn ‘encouragement’ (and blasphemy) coming from the sidelines, Isis began their fight back, excellent passing and quick thinking from captain Frances, saw Katherine score Isis’s opening goal. This put Dragons on the rampage, and they somehow managed to score another 3 before half time. Despite a very encouraging team talk at half time and re-vamped sugar levels, the second half saw more of the same, excellent shooting opportunities from Marcus, Chiya and Andrew but just none of which seemed to go through the net! Finally (following 2 disallowed goals) Matthew managed to break through the tight defence and score the second, quickly followed by a third from Dan. However, Dragons picked up the pace and following VERY questionable refereeing decisions and lots of lucky shooting from their players, the game ended 14-3, which is not reflected in the amount of possession, shots, skill and tireless effort from the Isis team! Special mention to Cheeky who defended excellently (involving summersaults!) against a very strong opponent, Dan and Jo who both had a great game having numerous shots on target but for some unknown reason (possibly a supernatural force!) they were just kept out! Chiya, Frances and Deb for carrying the Isis 1 flag to a moral victory…sadly not an actual victory!!
Coach's MVP: The whole team…amazing effort from everyone!!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Matthew
17th January - Isis 1 vs Oxford City 4 (19-1)
Team: Martin, Annaliese, Frances, Nicola, Paul, Pete, Debbie, Pascale, Matthew, Venetia
Scorers: Paul (6), Martin (5), Annaliese (3), Pete (2), Nicola (2)
We totally dominated from start to finish, putting up probably over a hundred of shots and defending very tightly, often stopping the opposition in even bringing the ball into their attack. We scored short, long, runners and penalties, after a feed and without, static and dynamic shots, and generally enjoyed ourselves a lot. Annie scored a hat-trick in the first few minutes of the match, Nicola provided a very physical presence in his division as usual while Paul had a good shooting day forming his personal record. We still have some work to do to improve the fluency and speed of korfball especially in one of the divisions and make sure the goals are spread among all players, with everyone supporting each other in achieving this objective. If we carry on improving at this rate, I can't see what could stop us getting a similar result against most sides in our division. Well played, team!
Coach’s MVP: Annaliese
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
10th January - Isis 2 vs Oxford City 4 (9-7)
Team: Katherine, Becca, Annaliese, Venetia, Matthew, Marcus, John, Debbie, Andrew, Dan, Joe
Scorers: Katherine (3), Becca (2), Annaliese, Venetia, Matthew
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
10th January - Isis 2 vs Abingdon 3 (7-10)
Team: George, Marcus, Katherine, Becca, Andrew, Debbie, Matthew, Dan, Joe, John, Venetia
Scorers: Marcus (5), Dan, Joe
Our MVP named by the opposition: Marcus
13th December - Isis 1 vs Didcot 1 (12-5)
Team: Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Venetia, Martin, Matthew, Paul, Pete, Nicola
Scorers: Paul (3), Pete (2), Martin (2), Nicola (2), Chiya, Annaliese, Matthew
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
6th December - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (7-14)
Team: Caroline, Venetia, Becca, Rachel, Katherine, Simon, Marcus, Matthew, Andrew, Joe
Scorers: Rachel (2), Matthew (2), Caroline, Becca, Katherine
We had a tough match on Sunday against a very energetic and enthusiastic Oxford Uni side. The game started off at a high speed and one which did not suit our play as much as it did Uni. They went into an early lead and we learned very quickly that they had some players who were good long range shooters and very fast with it. Once we started to play the clever game it became a lot closer and we brought it back to 3-3 with some nice korfs, however they scored 3 more before halftime to send the teams in 6-3. In the second half we played into their hands further by not playing the korfball we can play, and have been playing. We were rushing passes when we had just won back possession and we were not dynamic or guileful enough in our movement. We had patches in the game where we had really good rhythm and the ball was moving fast which meant that players could move the defenders about and cause missed interceptions or losing the defenders resulting in good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately we were just not consistent enough in our play throughout the game and they came out on top.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
Coach's MVP: A joint one this week, Matthew for never giving up even when dealing with a fiesty opponent, scoring good korfs and making lots of chances. Also Becca (cheeky) for scoring her first korf and some excellent defensive work having played twice that day against youngsters!
6th December - Isis 1 vs Reading Uni 1 (22-1)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Frances, Katherine, Becca, Venetia, Andrew, Edd, Martin, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Martin (7), Pete (5), Paul (4), Annaliese (2), Frances (2), Venetia, Debbie
Our main focus was to be first to every ball, be agile and win all collects in both defence and attack. The other focal point was to be able to pass from the feed/collect quickly out again, accurately and using all angles, and this is taking some good shape too. It is very true to say that the opposition didn’t really test us, and that our players enjoyed this match which at times looked like a shooting practice. Another positive point is that our scoring tempo has been increasing and if we only scored 8 goals in the first half, we completely destroyed the opposition in the second half by sinking 14 goals. The result is a record in club’s history in both goals scored and goals conceded, and the team is now looking forward to a much harder match against Didcot 1 this Sunday.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Edd
Coach’s MVP: Debbie
15th November - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 1 (10-6)
Team: Marcus, Matthew, Venetia, Becca, Edd, Andrew, Katherine, Debbie, Pascale, Frances, Martin
Scorers: Katherine (3), Matthew (3), Venetia, Edd, Debbie, Martin
Isis 2 played against a Reading Uni side which what they lacked in experience they certainly made up for in enthusiasm and height. As what seems normal for us, we started off a little slow allowing them too much of the ball and almost played within ourselves for the opening 10 mins. We then settled down and once Katharine had scored the two opening goals we became more confident and there was some nice attacking moves from both divisions.
The boys in both divisions for the Uni side were tall and agile so we focused on the girls to beat their defenders with their experience and guile to fashion most of our scoring opportunities. Some additional nice post play from Matthew also created good scoring chances. We went into half time with a 5-1 lead but after the break the Uni side grew in confidence and staged a semi fight back to get within 2 goals. Thankfully we had too much for them and eventually went on to win 10-6.
The highlights from this game for me were, Debbie coming off the bench, to run a discussed tactic, stretch our lead late on and return my heartrate to an acceptable level. A great first half hat trick from Katharine, and a BEAUTIFUL dynamic attack finished off expertly by Venetia.
Coach’s MVP: Venetia
15th November Isis 1 vs Oxford City 2 (11-15)
Team: Pete, Martin, Edd, Paul, Chiya, Frances, Annaliese, Debbie, Pascale, Matthew
Scorers: Pete (6), Paul (3), Annaliese (2)
A very exciting match with attacks end-to-end and lots of shots, with players being on their toes all the time. We went ahead 2:0 and then went behind, but in the second half we got back to 9:9 before conceding few more. We played really well but the City side who benefited from an entire new division of regional level players imported over the summer (some playing against us) and the number of club players nearly 50 is a force which takes quite some strength to stop – but we will next time! If anything could be improved on our side more than other things, I would say less fouling, being more switched on to shoot when available and to dynamically collect, and fewer passing errors. Pete had a great scoring form and many others played really well too – the revenge will be ours.
Coach’s MVP: Pete
25th October Isis 1 vs Oxford Uni 2 (17-3)
Team: Andrew, Edd, Martin, Paul, Peter, Simon, Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Frances, Pascale
Scorers: Martin (5), Paul (4), Pete (4), Frances (3), Annaliese
We wanted to play our best korfball regardless of the inexperience and tiredness of the opposition and win with as convincing margin as possible. With dynamic korfball throughout, chances were popping up all the time and the focus point of this match was to pick the best chances for a shot, not just any chance, and see and pick free players in better positions for a shot that yours if there was such an opportunity. With the lack of experience in the opposition ranks there were lots of opportunities to practice this, and we were improving in this as time passed. Most goals came from boys, but Frances scored her first hat trick after Annie got hers earlier this season and we’re all waiting eagerly to see the remaining girls scoring theirs soon! The second team boys did very well too and giving our seconds match time in the first team games regularly could have contributed to the great win of Isis2 (apart from Paul’s great coaching of course!). The main focus areas in defence will be conceding fewer fouls and especially penalties and in attack it’s the fluency of the movement and passing, picking the best players for a pass and picking the best opportunities as a division for a shot. Well done team!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Pete
Coach’s MVP: Frances
25th October Isis 2 vs Didcot 2 (10-5)
Team: George, Caroline, Katherine, Rachel, Annaliese, Frances, Debbie, Marcus, Andrew, Dan, Edd, Pete, Martin, Paul
Scorers: Annaliese (2), George (2), Marcus (2), Katherine, Caroline, Andrew, Edd
We started off a little tentative and slow, I think just finding our feet and sussing out the opposition. Once we did we started to dominate the game, limiting them to one shot attacks thanks to great collecting, notably from Andrew, and in some cases no shot attacks because of great intercepts, no more so than Edd. Our defence was always very solid and our attack was warming up gradually but the game remained close for the first half. They only had 3 players on one division which was a new experience to many of us and we had to adapt with the non-shooter becoming the focal point for all attacks. Once we started to tire them out with our energy and control of the ball we started to extend our lead and close out the end of the game with great shooting from everyone especially Marcus and George who scored a brace each.
A great contribution from every player who started and those coming off the bench but I wanted to make a couple more special mentions. One was for Katharine who did great defensive work nullifying a very strong player and tirelessly working to allow others space, the other was Dan who for his first league game looked extremely at home on the court. WELL DONE ALL!!
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
Coach’s MVP: Andrew
11th October Isis 1 vs Abingdon 3 (11-2)
Team: Pascale, George, Frances, Katherine, Matthew, Martin, Peter, Andrew, Annaliese
Scorers: Pete (3), Martin (3), Frances (2), Matthew (2), Pascale
We started really well and maintained high tempo in attack which Abingdon 3 were struggling to play against. In defence we were careful throughout, conceding only very few punishments from the ref, although it’s fair to say Abingdon 3 didn’t really force us into making mistakes. In the second half we practiced the slow korfball, giving our defence more time to get back the energy and concentration, and we still managed to increase the lead. Everyone playing up a team played extremely well, with Matthew scoring some goals too. Great job, everyone!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Pete
Coach’s MVP: Frances
11th October Isis 2 v Oxford City 2 (3-14)
Team: Marcus, George, Becca, Andrew, Matthew, Katherine, Rachel, Pascale, Frances
Scorers: George, Matthew, ?
Overall amazing effort from a strong city 2 team and a tired isis with many players having just played the first team game. We quickly conceded a few but came back fighting with amazing defence and held them for a while with few more goals in the first half. It would have been easy to be downhearted but we came out determined again in the second half with more good defence. My MVP is George - she played all of the first game and most the second, with brilliant defence and even scored a goal!
4th October Isis 1 v Oxford City 3 (10-5)
Team: Frances, Annaliese, Nicola, Martin, Debbie, Chiya, Edd, Matthew, Katherine, Venetia, Andrew
Scorers: Annaliese (3), Martin (2), Edd (2), Venetia, Nicola, Matthew
We started very well by scoring 2 goals in 4 attacks and played energetic dynamic korfball full of chances. We rotated players in and out to keep the momentum going and in the second half we introduced slow korfball which still gave us good chances but allowed us to have a bit of more organisation and control of the match. Nervy moments came after we let few goals in allowing the opposition to come back within 2 goals through mostly our fouls – we allowed far too many free passes and penalties for the opposition of this calibre. Outside the fouling all the defence looked really good.
Venetia scored an amazing goal from middle range, Nicola scored a beautiful goal impossible to defend after Annie’s dynamic feed but Annie deserves my MVP award for scoring a hat-trick and bringing quality and speed into whichever division she was playing in.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Nicola
Coach’s MVP: Annaliese
27th September Isis 2 v Oxford City 3 (5 - 7)
Team: Edd, Simon, Rachel, Venetia, Matthew, Marcus, Becca, Debbie, Caroline, Annaliese
Scorers: Matthew (2), Edd (2), Annaliese
After weeks of Twitter banter with City, we were ready to show what our new Isis 2 side (and our new kit) could do. We started well, with lots of shots being taken, but the luck was against us, and it took until around the 20th minute until Matthew scored his first goal, shortly followed by another. After half time City pulled ahead with a few goals in quick succession and we couldn't quite pull it back. A good start to the season though - we put into practice our tactics from training and got a respectable number of goals!
8th May - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (9-8)
Team: Becca, Katherine, Annaliese, Joe, Edd, Frances, Chiya, Dan F, Andrew, Carlos, Dan C
Scorers: Becca (3), Katherine, Annaliese, Joe, Edd, Frances, Chiya
Once again we came up against the usual high energy and enthusiasm we have come to expect from the Uni sides this year. I just hoped that we had learned enough from our previous meetings to be ready for this - we had.
We were easily the better side throughout the game and the scoreline I think flatters them a little as we continually created better chances and defended stronger throughout. We were our own worst enemy at times, falling into playing Uni's high paced, almost panicked style and giving possession away cheaply because of rushed passes and hurried play. But when we settled down and played controlled korfball, that we know we can play, we would dominate possession and put together some really nice moves resulting in a great shooting chances or a free pass or penalty. We shot really well yesterday with very few defended shots and a high percentage of shots almost going in or hitting the korf. On another day we would have won this game more convincingly I believe.
Some of the attacking moves we put together were a highlight, creating some really good shooting opportunities and the technique shown for these shots was very nice. We also evolved throughout the game, trying to adapt to the players we were marking and being marked by which shows how much we have grown and learnt this year.
As it's the last game of the season (and possibly my last match report) I thought I would expand on our performances further. Dan F had a great game against a very tough opponent and did well to keep his cool during intense battles. A great super long range goal from Frances and a precise free pass goal from Joe were invaluable. Annie came on and was her usual tenacious self and attacking threat. Chiya defended so tightly and made some great runs to the post. Andrew defended and collected solidly as we all now expect. Edd came on and really controlled the tempo of the game, nullified his opponents threat and scored an important running in shot. Carlos had endless energy and made some crucial interceptions and collects in defence as well as many breaks for the post in attack. Dan C kept great focus on his player and found some good space for shots. Katherine defended a fast player well and also made her usual great runs into scoring opportunities, converting one. Lastly and not least my MVP for the game, Becca. She was on it from the start and showed great technique with her shooting and took on the penalty responsibility from the off scoring an amazing hat trick on the day.
Well done all, a great way to finish the season and my coaching career ;)
Coach's MVP: Becca
Our MVP named by the opposition:
7th May - Chris Carter Cup
Nicely warmed up after our salsa social the night before, we travelled to Eastleigh, Southampton to take part in the OKA cup. It was our first experience of playing with a shotclock, which didn't turn out to be as daunting as expected. Loads and loads of shots were taken, with some fantastic goals, and we finished in 11th. See the full results here: http://www.oxfordshirekorfball.org.uk/news/chris-carter-cup-results
10th April - Isis 1 vs Abingdon 3 (16-2)
Team: Annaliese, Becca, Paul, Pete, Debbie, Frances, Edd, Nicola, Katherine, Andrew
Scorers: Annaliese (4), Frances (2), Nicola (2), Paul (2), Pete (2), Becca, Debbie, Katherine, Edd
The last match of the season saw us face yet another team from the top half of the div2 table, and yet again we found no match. From the start to end the intensity of our play was high, as was everyone's concentration and willingness to work together to score and defend as well as we could. Everyone playing more than 10 minutes is on the score sheet which is fantastic. The passing was strong and accurate and so was players' movement and shooting. We maintained the momentum till the end which was another great news. Regardless of who we play against, if we maintain our best way of playing, we will keep on improving further. We managed to build up the pride which we play for and that presses us all to play up to the maximum. It was also Becca's first game in the first team and she scored from her first shot from pretty far!
We finished the league in the second place, but had the best goal ratio in the league (+122 goals). On average we scored 15 and conceded 6 goals, but our performance had a sharply rising character over the season. We also had the best defence in the league, conceding just 74 goals (second best defence by City2 conceded 86). We hope that Anni will become the best girl scorer in the league. We also have 3 in the top 5 scoring boys (Paul, Martin and Pete).
Coach's MVP: Annaliese
Our MVP named by the opposition:
20th March - Isis 2 vs City 4 (1-12)
Team: Katherine, Caroline, Becca, Venetia, Debbie, Matthew, Dan C, Matt C, Dan F, John, Joe, Chris, Tom
Scorers: Katherine
On Sunday Isis 2 had a match against a City 4 team in the OKA division 2 North. This was a very good City 4 team with lots of experience, height, athletism and enthusiasm. We started well and were certainly the better team in the first half, we could just not get the ball to go in despite it constantly bouncing around the korf with some good shots from the attacking division. It stayed at 0-0 for a long time meaning that our defence had to be focused and energetic to neutralise the City attack, we did this very well with Matt showing great speed and agility to out fox his opponent many times. City scored just before half time and we went in with the score at an unusual 1-0 to City. I don't think we have ever gone in at half time not having scored. We were creating great shooting opportunities but it just wasn't dropping for us.
Once again we had a wealth of boys available so we were able to switch all 4 boys at half time, also leaving Andrew on the bench after his 1st team perfomance in the game before (thanks for understanding Andrew!). It continues to show that we need more girls recruited so we can have a third team next year as well - there just isn't enough games for everyone at the moment.
In the second half City really showed their experience and began to score quite frequently, I think each shot that didn't go in for us we slowly lost confidence in ourselves which City capitalised on to go out winners by 12-1. Katherine scored late on in the second half to break our deadlock and after that we did play better korball where we seemed more confident (even just one goal did that) and I do believe that had we scored early on in this game it would have ended up a lot different.
I think this was one of those games we need to not dwell on in terms of the scoreline and focus on the positives. We showed more athletism to keep up with the opponents, we passed well, created good shooting opportunities, technique of the shots was very good, especially Becca who was unlucky not to score in the game (let's blame it on the rum).
Coach's MVP: Matt C
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
20th March - Isis 1 vs Didcot 1 (21-6)
Team: Paul, Nicola, Martin, Edd, Andrew, Annaliese, Debbie, Chiya, Pascale, Frances, Venetia
Scorers: Paul (7), Nicola (5), Annaliese (3), Martin (3), Debbie, Chiya, Frances
Didcot have plenty of very good and experienced players and lie in the third place in the table, just behind us. But we knew we were going to be a lot better as a team and the dynamics of our style caused them lots of problems throughout. We went ahead very quickly and with both divisions scoring at a high rate and defending consistently, we made this match very enjoyable for ourselves. Nicola scored 4 in a quick succession very early on only to add the fifth later in the match, while Paul in his excellent shooting form sinked 7. Anni scored a hattrick before being subbed off (sorry Anni!) and Venetia playing up continued to show a great progress too.
It's hard to find negatives, but if we want to do EVEN better next time, we must maintain the tempo of the game till the end so that we can rack up as many goals in the second half as in the first half (14 in the first half, 7 in the second half). This is obviously physically very demanding especially because of our unforgiving, physically demanding style, but not impossible! Together with focusing on improvements in passing, movement and shooting we will be adding quite a few new things to our dynamic style with the aim of increasing variation in attacks and improving the utilisation of the post area in order to increase our collect winning rate.
Well done team - it's such a pleasure to be part of this!
Coach's MVP: Paul
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
13th March - Isis 1 vs City 2 (13-12)
Team: Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Frances, Pascale, Martin, Matthew, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Paul (5), Martin (3), Frances (2), Annaliese, Pete, Nicola
A fantastic match proving how much we've improved this season. Compared to the last match against them we made few mistakes passing the ball, were more concentrating in defence allowing fewer unpressured shots, stronger in collect, and our movement was smoother. In addition, we were fit enough to face a team of 12 which kept bringing fresh legs all the time. In all these abilities we've been improving steadily over the season and such even progress across all these areas is any coach's dream. Working hard for one another is something we should really be proud of.
In this fast paced game dominated by both defences we were better in making the ball move fast and we were also better in attack combinations where we were able to stick few quick passes together to allow for a free shot. The last few minutes were totally nerve-wracking where a comfortable lead became only a one-goal advantage which then became a comfortable lead again only to win by the tiniest of margins in the dying seconds.
Everyone was great, but to name few, Paul was amazing in his composure when shooting, Annie kept working so hard to glue her division together, Frances provided now very much expected goals and Debbie played very cleverly, totally dominating her player in all areas.
Coach's MVP: Paul
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
13th March - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 2 (12-5)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Katherine, Chiya, Matthew, John,
Scorers: Annaliese (4), Katherine (3), Debbie (2), Chiya, Matthew, John
Isis 2 lined up against a Reading Uni 2 side which contained 3 of the first team that earned a draw against us last week so we knew this was not going to be easy. There were a number of boys available for the Isis 2 side this week but not so many girls who were available. After some pleaful emails we managed to secure enough girls to even have two subs available. Special thanks to Katharine for coming along in between night shifts, with limited sleep and playing the full match.
We started this game really strongly and took control of the ball and the pace of the game very early on which was exactly the game plan we had set out to play which was great to see. We created great attacks in both divisions and worked very hard for each other to work the shooting opportunities. Our defence was determined against some nimble students and we collected the ball very well in defence under the post limiting Reading to low numbers of shots per attack, most of which were harried by our defence or called defended.
So many positives came out of this game, I would say too many to list, but I will elaborate on a few/many. Each player has improved both in defence and attack since last time we played (this could be down to the great training sessions), we are focusing on our players more in defence so we defended more shots, our passing was more crisp and flat, our energy levels were high, we are working attacks by moving the ball quicker and waiting for the free shot, everyone worked hard for each other, we followed a game plan, we listened to advice and adapted our game to it and we continued to fight for every ball until the last whistle.
If I was being super picky I could say our collect in attack wasn't great and we needed to shoot with more height (thanks Pascale) but these are minor compared to the other positives that there were.
Coach's MVP: This week it has to go to Katharine, for turning up in the middle of night shifts and just being totally on fire the whole game.
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
6th March - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 1 (5-5)
Team: Venetia, Katherine, Frances, Chiya, Andrew, Matthew, Carlos, Joe, Dan C, Dan F, John
Scorers: Frances (3), Matthew, Katherine
The second game on Sunday saw Isis play a very young, spritely and tall Reading team which contrasted sharply to a tired, short Isis team (well the girls at least!). However, due to the number of boys available we were able to do many rolling subs which allowed fresh legs throughout the game. We started very strong, completely outplaying an inexperienced Reading team taking a 2 goal lead early on. Reading quickly came back to draw level and then took the lead 5-3 late in the second half. Thanks to an amazing hat-trick from Frances including a goal in the dying seconds of the game we were able to draw level.
There were many good points to come out of both games including a great match debut from Dan F who put some great shots up, great defensive work from everyone, good collecting from John and Andrew, amazing attacking by Venetia who came soooo close to scoring on many occasions. A hat-trick from Frances and special mention to Katherine, Chiya and Venetia who played a whole 2 hours of korf!! Things to work on: strong, safe, passes – we gave the ball away to easily on to many occasions, four zero, working on feed and collect – the girls in this game were being marked very tightly and we could have used this to our advantage more, we were also good at getting shots up but need to work on the collect (although I realise this is difficult when we’re marking such tall players!). Giving away free passes/penalties – this was done more in the first game and after our team talk we did improve on this in the second game, however we still gave away one to many - this is very easily done but we do need to be more careful when in defence. Considering this game involved many new players who are still learning the rules it was a good game and we can take the positives forward and work on the weaknesses. Well done all!!
Coach's MVP: Dan F & Frances
Our MVP named by the opposition: Frances
6th March - Isis 2 vs Oxford City 3 (4-6)
Team: Venetia, Katherine, Caroline, Chiya, Andrew, Matthew, Carlos, Joe, Dan C, Ed, John
Scorers: Chiya, Ed, Matthew, Dan C
The first match on Sunday was against a very strong City team which appeared to consist of many City 2 players!! We started off strong and the game was equal throughout. Goals from both teams saw the score line quickly get to 3 goals a piece, which it remained for the majority of the game. It was the last 15 minutes where City began to dominate and we began to panic and made some careless errors, bad passes, defended shots etc. Despite some great play from our beginners including another great long shot from Dan (despite feeling a little hungover!). Also a special mention to Chiya who worked tirelessly in defence and in the short time she was attacking managed to score a great goal. This game could have easily gone either way and I feel we were very unlucky to lose, however we do get a point for not losing by to many. Wahoo!
Coach's MVP: Dan C
Our MVP named by the opposition: Edd
7th Feb - Isis 1 vs Didcot 2 (19-3)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Chiya, Frances, Pascale, Edd, Martin, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Nicola (5), Paul (4), Pete (4), Martin (3), Annaliese, Chiya, Frances
We basically destroyed them from the first minute and never gave them a hope of getting a good result. The highlights of the game were:
- collective 8-body defence making it very hard for them to bring the ball into their attack which won us quite a few balls
- great front defence slowing down their attacks, depriving them of options for a pass, forcing them into mistakes
- cutting down on our own inefficient type of feeds which are the ones where the ball is passed to the feed after being held for a while; the ball into the feed must be instant and the best way is to guarantee that is to go into the feed having made the pass
- improved communication in defence
- 7 scorers on the match form
- only one scorer on Didcot's side
- great many shots by everyone from all angles and of many types
- unstoppable Nicola scored 5 and added plenty of collects and interceptions
Well played everyone, looking forward to the next game!
Coach's MVP: Nicola
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
1st Feb - Isis 1 vs Isis 2 (22-5)
Isis 1 team: Pete, Paul, Annaliese, Frances, Martin, Debbie, Chiya, Matthew, Edd
Isis 2 team: Marcus, Pascale, Andrew, Becca, Venetia, Katherine, Dan, John, Chris, Joe, Carlos
Isis 1 scorers: Pete (4), Paul (4), Annaliese (4), Frances (3), Martin (3), Debbie (1), Chiya (1), Matthew (1), Edd (1) - everyone scored!
Isis 2 scorers: Dan (2), Pascale (1), Venetia (1), Katherine (1)
Isis 1 MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
Isis 2 MVP named by the opposition: Dan
31st January - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (2-13)
Team: Marcus, Debbie, Matthew, Becca, Annaliese, Chiya, Joe, Dan, Carlos, Chris, Andrew
Scorers: Becca, Chris
We knew that this would be tough test against a very good Uni 2 side, especially as we had lost to them not long ago and Uni's sides are notorious at improving quickly. We had a game plan at the start which was to try and play our own game and not get sucked into the franticness that Uni would play - play clever korfball. This didn't really happen and we found ourselves panicking and trying to play rushed korfball which played right into their hands as the were attemping to intercept every pass. They were really energetic, enthusiastic, tireless and fast but also overcommitting and distracted. We needed to capitalise on this and create chances to win this game and at times we did play some nice more controlled korfball which led to some good scoring opportunities which unfortunately we were unable to take.
Our shooting was certainly offline in this match where we had a lot of what I would call 70% chances that were just not dropping in. On another day (literally any other day) this game would have been a lot closer so I will not take too much notice of the scoreline here and take the positives out of the game - for which there were many!
- We had some great debuts from Chris and Carlos. Both now have valuable game time under their belts and Chris scored a great goal to add to some strong defensive play and movement. Carlos also got into the game and was able to show the agility and interception skills we have all seen in training.
- We had 7 boys available for the game which shows the squad is developing in the second team and giving the coach selection nightmares!
- Becca was awesome in defense and attack, playing really smart korfball and showing great technique.
- Despite the score everyone tried really hard in chasing after the youngsters and there was some really determined performances by everyone.
Dan said to me on the sideline that "coaching has it's highs and lows" and the scoreline was a low, but the effort from everyone was definitely a high.
Coach's MVP: Becca, and a special award to Chris for scoring a goal on his debut and playing very well!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
24th January - Isis 1 vs Didcot 2 (3-14)
Team: Andrew, Dan, Matthew, Marcus, Frances, Chiya, Debbie, Katherine, Becca
Scorers: Dan, Katherine, Matthew
With the majority of Isis 1 away on their ‘jollies’ this week it was up to Isis 2 to step up to the plate and take on the mighty Dragons! It was down to captain Frances, who had come readily prepared with some amazing cake, and stand in Coach Debbie, to lead Isis to victory.
The game started off very even, strong defensive work saw the game stalemate at 0-0 for the opening quarter. However, Dragons soon found their feet and scored 4 goals in quick succession; mainly from gaining excellent collects and recycling the ball quickly. However, with deafening foghorn ‘encouragement’ (and blasphemy) coming from the sidelines, Isis began their fight back, excellent passing and quick thinking from captain Frances, saw Katherine score Isis’s opening goal. This put Dragons on the rampage, and they somehow managed to score another 3 before half time. Despite a very encouraging team talk at half time and re-vamped sugar levels, the second half saw more of the same, excellent shooting opportunities from Marcus, Chiya and Andrew but just none of which seemed to go through the net! Finally (following 2 disallowed goals) Matthew managed to break through the tight defence and score the second, quickly followed by a third from Dan. However, Dragons picked up the pace and following VERY questionable refereeing decisions and lots of lucky shooting from their players, the game ended 14-3, which is not reflected in the amount of possession, shots, skill and tireless effort from the Isis team! Special mention to Cheeky who defended excellently (involving summersaults!) against a very strong opponent, Dan and Jo who both had a great game having numerous shots on target but for some unknown reason (possibly a supernatural force!) they were just kept out! Chiya, Frances and Deb for carrying the Isis 1 flag to a moral victory…sadly not an actual victory!!
Coach's MVP: The whole team…amazing effort from everyone!!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Matthew
17th January - Isis 1 vs Oxford City 4 (19-1)
Team: Martin, Annaliese, Frances, Nicola, Paul, Pete, Debbie, Pascale, Matthew, Venetia
Scorers: Paul (6), Martin (5), Annaliese (3), Pete (2), Nicola (2)
We totally dominated from start to finish, putting up probably over a hundred of shots and defending very tightly, often stopping the opposition in even bringing the ball into their attack. We scored short, long, runners and penalties, after a feed and without, static and dynamic shots, and generally enjoyed ourselves a lot. Annie scored a hat-trick in the first few minutes of the match, Nicola provided a very physical presence in his division as usual while Paul had a good shooting day forming his personal record. We still have some work to do to improve the fluency and speed of korfball especially in one of the divisions and make sure the goals are spread among all players, with everyone supporting each other in achieving this objective. If we carry on improving at this rate, I can't see what could stop us getting a similar result against most sides in our division. Well played, team!
Coach’s MVP: Annaliese
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
10th January - Isis 2 vs Oxford City 4 (9-7)
Team: Katherine, Becca, Annaliese, Venetia, Matthew, Marcus, John, Debbie, Andrew, Dan, Joe
Scorers: Katherine (3), Becca (2), Annaliese, Venetia, Matthew
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
10th January - Isis 2 vs Abingdon 3 (7-10)
Team: George, Marcus, Katherine, Becca, Andrew, Debbie, Matthew, Dan, Joe, John, Venetia
Scorers: Marcus (5), Dan, Joe
Our MVP named by the opposition: Marcus
13th December - Isis 1 vs Didcot 1 (12-5)
Team: Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Venetia, Martin, Matthew, Paul, Pete, Nicola
Scorers: Paul (3), Pete (2), Martin (2), Nicola (2), Chiya, Annaliese, Matthew
Our MVP named by the opposition: Annaliese
6th December - Isis 2 vs Oxford Uni 2 (7-14)
Team: Caroline, Venetia, Becca, Rachel, Katherine, Simon, Marcus, Matthew, Andrew, Joe
Scorers: Rachel (2), Matthew (2), Caroline, Becca, Katherine
We had a tough match on Sunday against a very energetic and enthusiastic Oxford Uni side. The game started off at a high speed and one which did not suit our play as much as it did Uni. They went into an early lead and we learned very quickly that they had some players who were good long range shooters and very fast with it. Once we started to play the clever game it became a lot closer and we brought it back to 3-3 with some nice korfs, however they scored 3 more before halftime to send the teams in 6-3. In the second half we played into their hands further by not playing the korfball we can play, and have been playing. We were rushing passes when we had just won back possession and we were not dynamic or guileful enough in our movement. We had patches in the game where we had really good rhythm and the ball was moving fast which meant that players could move the defenders about and cause missed interceptions or losing the defenders resulting in good scoring opportunities. Unfortunately we were just not consistent enough in our play throughout the game and they came out on top.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Becca
Coach's MVP: A joint one this week, Matthew for never giving up even when dealing with a fiesty opponent, scoring good korfs and making lots of chances. Also Becca (cheeky) for scoring her first korf and some excellent defensive work having played twice that day against youngsters!
6th December - Isis 1 vs Reading Uni 1 (22-1)
Team: Annaliese, Debbie, Frances, Katherine, Becca, Venetia, Andrew, Edd, Martin, Nicola, Paul, Pete
Scorers: Martin (7), Pete (5), Paul (4), Annaliese (2), Frances (2), Venetia, Debbie
Our main focus was to be first to every ball, be agile and win all collects in both defence and attack. The other focal point was to be able to pass from the feed/collect quickly out again, accurately and using all angles, and this is taking some good shape too. It is very true to say that the opposition didn’t really test us, and that our players enjoyed this match which at times looked like a shooting practice. Another positive point is that our scoring tempo has been increasing and if we only scored 8 goals in the first half, we completely destroyed the opposition in the second half by sinking 14 goals. The result is a record in club’s history in both goals scored and goals conceded, and the team is now looking forward to a much harder match against Didcot 1 this Sunday.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Edd
Coach’s MVP: Debbie
15th November - Isis 2 vs Reading Uni 1 (10-6)
Team: Marcus, Matthew, Venetia, Becca, Edd, Andrew, Katherine, Debbie, Pascale, Frances, Martin
Scorers: Katherine (3), Matthew (3), Venetia, Edd, Debbie, Martin
Isis 2 played against a Reading Uni side which what they lacked in experience they certainly made up for in enthusiasm and height. As what seems normal for us, we started off a little slow allowing them too much of the ball and almost played within ourselves for the opening 10 mins. We then settled down and once Katharine had scored the two opening goals we became more confident and there was some nice attacking moves from both divisions.
The boys in both divisions for the Uni side were tall and agile so we focused on the girls to beat their defenders with their experience and guile to fashion most of our scoring opportunities. Some additional nice post play from Matthew also created good scoring chances. We went into half time with a 5-1 lead but after the break the Uni side grew in confidence and staged a semi fight back to get within 2 goals. Thankfully we had too much for them and eventually went on to win 10-6.
The highlights from this game for me were, Debbie coming off the bench, to run a discussed tactic, stretch our lead late on and return my heartrate to an acceptable level. A great first half hat trick from Katharine, and a BEAUTIFUL dynamic attack finished off expertly by Venetia.
Coach’s MVP: Venetia
15th November Isis 1 vs Oxford City 2 (11-15)
Team: Pete, Martin, Edd, Paul, Chiya, Frances, Annaliese, Debbie, Pascale, Matthew
Scorers: Pete (6), Paul (3), Annaliese (2)
A very exciting match with attacks end-to-end and lots of shots, with players being on their toes all the time. We went ahead 2:0 and then went behind, but in the second half we got back to 9:9 before conceding few more. We played really well but the City side who benefited from an entire new division of regional level players imported over the summer (some playing against us) and the number of club players nearly 50 is a force which takes quite some strength to stop – but we will next time! If anything could be improved on our side more than other things, I would say less fouling, being more switched on to shoot when available and to dynamically collect, and fewer passing errors. Pete had a great scoring form and many others played really well too – the revenge will be ours.
Coach’s MVP: Pete
25th October Isis 1 vs Oxford Uni 2 (17-3)
Team: Andrew, Edd, Martin, Paul, Peter, Simon, Annaliese, Chiya, Debbie, Frances, Pascale
Scorers: Martin (5), Paul (4), Pete (4), Frances (3), Annaliese
We wanted to play our best korfball regardless of the inexperience and tiredness of the opposition and win with as convincing margin as possible. With dynamic korfball throughout, chances were popping up all the time and the focus point of this match was to pick the best chances for a shot, not just any chance, and see and pick free players in better positions for a shot that yours if there was such an opportunity. With the lack of experience in the opposition ranks there were lots of opportunities to practice this, and we were improving in this as time passed. Most goals came from boys, but Frances scored her first hat trick after Annie got hers earlier this season and we’re all waiting eagerly to see the remaining girls scoring theirs soon! The second team boys did very well too and giving our seconds match time in the first team games regularly could have contributed to the great win of Isis2 (apart from Paul’s great coaching of course!). The main focus areas in defence will be conceding fewer fouls and especially penalties and in attack it’s the fluency of the movement and passing, picking the best players for a pass and picking the best opportunities as a division for a shot. Well done team!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Pete
Coach’s MVP: Frances
25th October Isis 2 vs Didcot 2 (10-5)
Team: George, Caroline, Katherine, Rachel, Annaliese, Frances, Debbie, Marcus, Andrew, Dan, Edd, Pete, Martin, Paul
Scorers: Annaliese (2), George (2), Marcus (2), Katherine, Caroline, Andrew, Edd
We started off a little tentative and slow, I think just finding our feet and sussing out the opposition. Once we did we started to dominate the game, limiting them to one shot attacks thanks to great collecting, notably from Andrew, and in some cases no shot attacks because of great intercepts, no more so than Edd. Our defence was always very solid and our attack was warming up gradually but the game remained close for the first half. They only had 3 players on one division which was a new experience to many of us and we had to adapt with the non-shooter becoming the focal point for all attacks. Once we started to tire them out with our energy and control of the ball we started to extend our lead and close out the end of the game with great shooting from everyone especially Marcus and George who scored a brace each.
A great contribution from every player who started and those coming off the bench but I wanted to make a couple more special mentions. One was for Katharine who did great defensive work nullifying a very strong player and tirelessly working to allow others space, the other was Dan who for his first league game looked extremely at home on the court. WELL DONE ALL!!
Our MVP named by the opposition: ?
Coach’s MVP: Andrew
11th October Isis 1 vs Abingdon 3 (11-2)
Team: Pascale, George, Frances, Katherine, Matthew, Martin, Peter, Andrew, Annaliese
Scorers: Pete (3), Martin (3), Frances (2), Matthew (2), Pascale
We started really well and maintained high tempo in attack which Abingdon 3 were struggling to play against. In defence we were careful throughout, conceding only very few punishments from the ref, although it’s fair to say Abingdon 3 didn’t really force us into making mistakes. In the second half we practiced the slow korfball, giving our defence more time to get back the energy and concentration, and we still managed to increase the lead. Everyone playing up a team played extremely well, with Matthew scoring some goals too. Great job, everyone!
Our MVP named by the opposition: Pete
Coach’s MVP: Frances
11th October Isis 2 v Oxford City 2 (3-14)
Team: Marcus, George, Becca, Andrew, Matthew, Katherine, Rachel, Pascale, Frances
Scorers: George, Matthew, ?
Overall amazing effort from a strong city 2 team and a tired isis with many players having just played the first team game. We quickly conceded a few but came back fighting with amazing defence and held them for a while with few more goals in the first half. It would have been easy to be downhearted but we came out determined again in the second half with more good defence. My MVP is George - she played all of the first game and most the second, with brilliant defence and even scored a goal!
4th October Isis 1 v Oxford City 3 (10-5)
Team: Frances, Annaliese, Nicola, Martin, Debbie, Chiya, Edd, Matthew, Katherine, Venetia, Andrew
Scorers: Annaliese (3), Martin (2), Edd (2), Venetia, Nicola, Matthew
We started very well by scoring 2 goals in 4 attacks and played energetic dynamic korfball full of chances. We rotated players in and out to keep the momentum going and in the second half we introduced slow korfball which still gave us good chances but allowed us to have a bit of more organisation and control of the match. Nervy moments came after we let few goals in allowing the opposition to come back within 2 goals through mostly our fouls – we allowed far too many free passes and penalties for the opposition of this calibre. Outside the fouling all the defence looked really good.
Venetia scored an amazing goal from middle range, Nicola scored a beautiful goal impossible to defend after Annie’s dynamic feed but Annie deserves my MVP award for scoring a hat-trick and bringing quality and speed into whichever division she was playing in.
Our MVP named by the opposition: Nicola
Coach’s MVP: Annaliese
27th September Isis 2 v Oxford City 3 (5 - 7)
Team: Edd, Simon, Rachel, Venetia, Matthew, Marcus, Becca, Debbie, Caroline, Annaliese
Scorers: Matthew (2), Edd (2), Annaliese
After weeks of Twitter banter with City, we were ready to show what our new Isis 2 side (and our new kit) could do. We started well, with lots of shots being taken, but the luck was against us, and it took until around the 20th minute until Matthew scored his first goal, shortly followed by another. After half time City pulled ahead with a few goals in quick succession and we couldn't quite pull it back. A good start to the season though - we put into practice our tactics from training and got a respectable number of goals!