Gloucester Tournament

Post date: May 19, 2012 10:08:10 PM

Basingstoke entered a strong team in this year's Gloucester Tournament with the aim of emulating last year's semi-final placing, despite the crunch league ties tomorrow.

The day started well, with the usual Isis-baiting in full swing! We drew the first match against our good friends Cardiff Dragons. It was a tough, competitive match that could have gone either way. In the end it finished two a piece. We then played a hard-working Exeter City team who ground out a 2-1 victory. Our final match of the morning session saw us put a hat-full of goals past Gloucester Lions 2.

Somehow (and I'm still not sure how) this ended up with us in the top seeded group for the afternoon. The first match was against the Auld Enemy with Basingstoke seeking revenge for last week's Plate final defeat. Another close match was fought out between the top two sides in Oxfordshire Korfball and the spoils were shared. Basingstoke went 2-0 up but some sloppy play allowed Isis to score twice late on to level the game.

The 2nd game of the afternoon saw us take on a surprisingly under-strength Highbury side. We again went 2-0 up and then played some of the most boring korfball to ensure they didn

't get the ball. This tactic worked - it wasn't pretty but we kept a clean sheet.The final group game saw us take on a very strong Cardiff City (under the guise of Narwhals) with several Welsh International players on their roster. They were convincingly brushed aside however - to the point that I lost count of how many we scored. 5 or 6 with only 1 in reply.This meant we topped the group and were again in the Semi-finals. We quickly learned that Isis were 2nd in the group and also in the semis. A win for each team would see an all Oxfordshire final. Sadly it wasn't to be with Basingstoke losing 5-3 to a determined Gloucester Lions 1 team, and Isis losing to eventual winners Birmingham.This left the two rivals to battle over third place. The fortunes of the earlier game were reversed as Isis quickly went two up. A superb long shot from Mel and a Viktor special drew us level before Dave put the team in the lead with a coolly taken penalty. Isis equalised before Donna sunk a runner with only a few seconds remaining.Special mentions must go to the following:Mel Burns for top scoring with 6 (although I'm sure I scored 6 as well...!)Matt Burns for Captaining us superblyDavid Creed from Southampton for allowing us old boys to rest once in a while

Becky Lewis from Didcot for replacing the stricken Lucy for the last game

Lucy Kinder for surviving a tournament without going home in a grump :p

Holly O'Neill for only screaming 3 times per game when catching the ball

Viktor Bogdanov for trying "The Viktor" every game until finally nailing one against Isis

Donna George for beating Isis!!

Vlad Stolojan for sacrificing playing time to ably coach from the side

And me for writing this report (plus numerous other things that shall remain unmentioned!)