Surrey win Korfball County Championships
Win over Nottinghamshire in finalby English Korfball Association
The listing was posted by English Korfball Association
The EKA County Championships sponsored by GAMEFACE, took place in Birmingham over the weekend.
The County Championships have been a fixture in the EKA calendar for a number of years now, but this year was something different as the Championships moved to an artificial surface for the first time in its history.
West Midlands Korfball Association hosted the event, sponsored by GAMEFACE. The venue was Moseley Rugby Club in Birmingham which boasted artificial pitches that were as close to playing on grass as is possible. The venue also enabled camping and social and playing to all be at the same location.
The Saturday saw 22 county squads split into 4 pools. The top 2 counties from each pool would make it through to the Cup division on the Sunday, the next 2 teams would go into the Plate division, and the remaining teams would be in the Spoon division.
With the wind blowing fairly strong, and clouds chasing across the sky, the teams took to the pitches. There were some incredibly close games of Korfball, which saw teams playing with passion and excitement.
At the end of the first day, with 50 matches played, the divisions for the final day were known:
Cup: Kent, West Midlands, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Central London, Norfolk, North London
Plate: Wales, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire, Avon, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester
Spoon: South Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lothian, Devon, Somerset, Hampshire
Day 2 saw the Cup and Plate divisions play in a knock out format, to decide the final placings. The Spoon division played a round robin format.
In the Cup division, after long, hard, and closely fought quarter and semi-finals, it was Surrey and Nottinghamshire who made it through to the final. With high expectations from both teams, it was Surrey who finally made it, to be crowned County Champions 2008. The goal of the match must surely have been Surrey's Ean Irwin, spinning a one handed drop off shot from behind the post. Special mention must also go to those players playing on through injury, including a dislocated shoulder.
In the Plate division, it was Greater Manchester who fought their way through to the final against Buckinghamshire, and who proved just that bit too strong, lifting the Plate title.
In the Spoon division, the round robin was won by Devon, ahead of South Yorkshire.
A big thank you to all those who made this Championships what it was, from players to coaches to organisers.
Anna Jeanes (EKA Chair)
Finals Placings:
1. Surrey
2. Nottinghamshire
3. Norfolk
4. West Midlands
5. Central London
6. Cambridgeshire
7. North London
8. Kent
9. Greater Manchester
10. Buckinghamshire
11. Oxfordshire
12. West Yorkshire
13. Staffordshire
14. Avon
15. Wales
16. Gloucestershire
17. Devon
18. South Yorkshire
19. Lothian
20. Somerset
21. Hampshire
22. Leicestershire