Mitcham lose out in korfball's Europa Shield
Mitcham will have to settle for 7th/8th playoffby English Korfball Association
The listing was posted by English Korfball Association
Mitcham lost their second match of korfball's Europa Shield late in Thursday, in a shock defeat to Hungarian champions Szentendre. In a game characterised by strong defences, poor shooting and attacks lasting over a minute at times without a shot being made, the game was tough to play. Mitcham led by two at half time (5-3) but the Hungarians drew level in the opening minutes of the second period. Mitcham went ahead again in the 44th minute but then allowed Szentendre to score 5 goals in quick succession, missed a penalty and did not score again until the closing two minutes. The final score was 10-8 to Szentendre, and Mitcham may well be disappointed with their result against a team playing strong rebound defence.
On Friday afternoon, Mitcham faced German champions Grun Weiss in a match which both teams needed to win, the Germans also having slipped up against Szentendre. With the Germans again employing rebound defence to upset the attacking momentum of Mitcham, the goals were slow to come. Mitcham were trailing 7-5 at half time, but had a great comeback, leading 10-7 before the end. However, they never stretched their lead any further and the Germans came back to level the score 11-11 at the final whistle.
According to competition rules, teams on the same points are separated by goal average - in this case Mitcham lose out to Grun Weiss by 0.02 of a goal, and are therefore playing off for 7th/8th on Day Three of the Europa Cup.