On Saturday 8th October the first Intermediate South matchday of the Goalball UK 2022-23 season took place. Teams from across the South of the UK met at Trinity School, Croydon for a full day of goalball competition.
League standings from the day can be found here.
Whilst each game has a winner and loser, only the Player of the Day is awarded in this friendly competition structure.
Read on for our highlights for each goalball club!
London Elephants
- Kicked off their season in a close encounter against fellow Londoners Croysutt Warriors, winning 10-8.
- 2021/2022 Intermediate South League runners-up London Elephants won all 5 of their opening games.
- The Elephants posed many goalscoring threats with 4 out of 5 players getting on the scoresheet.
- Joe Scott was awarded Player of the Day and was solid in defence, especially down his line limiting other teams’ ability to score against the Elephants and coming away with a few goals too.
Croysutt Warriors
- Croysutt Warriors showed their resilient nature after losing 3 games against London Elephants, Winchester Kings, and Cambridge Town, to win their final game of the day against Cambridge Gown 13-4 and pick up a 10-0 forfeit win against Birmingham Barbarians who were unable to attend.
- The Warriors will be looking forward to their next Matchday to challenge themselves and learn from this experience of playing together as a team for the first time.
Birmingham
- With illness striking the Birmingham contingent, alongside returning players and intermediate debutants, it was always going to be a challenging Matchday 1. Nevertheless, Birmingham played with smiles on their faces and passion in their voices, which shone through!
- Birmingham ended the Matchday similarly to Croysutt Warriors, with 3 losses and 1 win, leaving them 5th in the table going into Matchday 2.
- Results that may have not gone the way they hoped with 3 losses and 1 win.
Cambridge Town
- Cambridge Town had a difficult start to their matchday when they came up against a stampeding London Elephants who won 12-2, after overcoming a determined Croysutt Warriors.
- Their next fixture against Birmingham was a much closer game which at times could have gone either way. After the final whistle, the Town lost 8-5.
- Their difficulties in defence reemerged in their final fixture against Croysutt Warriors, as they came out 13-4 losers. Nevertheless, Cambridge Town played throughout with a smile on their face, who wouldn’t with the 2022/2023 season well underway?
Cambridge Gown
- Cambridge Gown was able to pick up 3 victories across the day against Birmingham Barbarians (forfeit), Birmingham, and Croysutt Warriors. This leaves them 3rd in the table with 9 points going into Matchday 2!
- They started their season well winning a nail-biting encounter against Birmingham, which ended 7-6.
- They ended the day in a similar fashion as it started, by winning of course! Gown beat Croysutt Warriors 6-3, which sent the Cambridge natives smiling on their way home, we’re sure!
Winchester
- The 2021/2022 Intermediate South champions Winchester would be eager to pick up from where they left off. With free-scoring Patrick Harmer and the highest league goal scorer from last season Devante Claridge in their ranks, Winchester could be confident in their attacking abilities!
- Winchester got off to a great start to their season, in winning against Birmingham 8-3, followed by a convincing 15-6 win against Croysutt Warriors!
- It was a battle of the 100 percenters, as London Elephants took on Winchester in the final game of the day. It certainly lived up to the hype as a close encounter, as London Elephants came away with an 8-7 victory!
Congratulations to all the teams for a fantastic day of goalball action!
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