Welsh League Fixtures

The provisional fixtures for the Welsh league have now been published and appear below. There is also now a league table.

Welsh team friendlies

As a warm-up for the tough challenges in the Interland tournament and the Eurobowl final in November, Wales played a couple of friendlies against the GB u19 and u16 squads. Although ostensibly the u19s played Wales A and the u16s, Wales B, there was some overlap in the squad.

The results were:

Wales A 6 - 16 Great Britain under 19

(Nick Wilkins 4, Steve Jones 2)

Wales B 13 - 8 Great Britain under 16

(Remco Broekhuis 4, Steve Jones 4, Kevin Jones 3, Lorna 1, Nick Wilkins 1)

A full report can be found on the WKA site. 

EKA Cup results

Cardiff City were eliminated in the first round of the EKA Cup yesterday, after an under-strength side lost 10-4 to Highbury 2, and 15-4 to Croydon. In the decisive game in the pool, Croydon beat Highbury 8-7.

The other teams to progress from yesterdays pools were Bec, West London Wildcats, North Downs and Mitcham 2 as the South East once again showed it’s pre-eminence in British korfball by eliminating some of the strongest regional sides, like Manchester Warriors and Milton Keynes Bucks.

The second set of matches in the first round will be played on the 4th November, but Cardiff Dragons will no longer be taking part, having had too many players unavailable due to the Welsh national team’s participation in the Groningen Interland tournament.

Cardiff University Beginners Tournament

After not being held last year, and having been very poorly subscribed the year before, there was a big effort needed to put this tournament back on the student calendar. Although there were some late withdrawals, there were still 16 teams participating, which was great. Bristol and Nottingham universities both brought 2 teams, while Sheffield, Birmingham, Oxford and Reading Unis were also represented. Cardiff Uni themselves  entered 3 teams, and the final 5 places were filled by an Old Boys team, 2 from Cardiff Dragons, 1 from Cardiff City and a Medics team.

With the university sides all featuring a minimum of 4 beginners per team, the top teams inevitably were two sides full of experienced players, the Old Boys winning 11-4 against the Medics in the final. Nottingham were the best placed university side in 4th, and the standard of play from the beginners in all the student sides was very high.

For the Welsh teams, the main satisfaction would have come from about 30 players getting their first competetive games, and the matches were played in an excellent atmosphere.

EKA Cup Draw

The draw for the first round of the EKA Cup (formerly the BKA Cup, but now under the auspices of the English Korfball Association - but with Welsh and Scottish teams particpating as before) has been made, and both Cardiff City and Dragons face tricky tasks.

Cardiff City travel to London to play against Croydon and Highbury 2 on the 21st October. Croydon feature ex-City player Grace Stimpson and will be very tough opposition given their promotion from National League 1 last season. Highbury 2 should be beatable, but that club continues to strengthen rapidly, and there can be no call for complacency.

Cardiff Dragons have been drawn to play on the 4th of November, which will mean they will beat without coach Remco Broekhuis and several key players who will be representing Wales in the Interland tournament in Groningen. Even with a full squad, fixtures against Nottingham 2 (a second team, but from the strongest club outside the South East) and NL club Cambridge City would pose a significant challenge. As it is, the match offers a chance for some squad players to step up, and for some of those omitted from the Wales squad to show that may have been a mistake.

The full draw is on the EKA website.