Bec II Bec defeats but Highbury Korfball Club can look four-ward to play-offs

Swiss Cottage-based Highbury Korfball Club finished fourth in the table despite conceding 23 goals to Bec II for the second week running.

Having lost 23-12 at home last week, visiting Highbury went down 23-13 this time, but they have still qualified for the Champions Trophy play-off competition in Croydon on April 26-27.

The latest meeting with Bec II started badly for the away side. Moses Hutchinson-Pacal got Highbury level, but the parity was to be short-lived as Bec immediately restored their advantage and then they raced into an 8-4 lead.

The second period followed a similar pattern, with Bec showing their ruthlessness in attack with 15 second-half goals to Highbury’s nine.

Hutchinson-Pascal broke the 40-goal mark for the season, finishing with 42 as the fourth-highest scoring player in the league, while Niccola Hyslop was the top-scoring female player for her side with 34 - and the second female on the goalscoring chart behind Mitcham’s Heidi Terrington.

However, there was bad news for Highbury in the final minute of the league season as player-coach Andrew Speck suffered a serious injury to his knee ligaments, almost certainly ruling him out of the play-offs, which represent the biggest games in the club’s history as they bid for promotion to the top tier of the national pyramid.