Highbury Korfball Club secure Christmas No1 spot
Highbury Korfball Club's Matt Dodds - Credit: Archant
Sara Rocha scored a double hat-trick while four other players got trebles to gift-wrap the points as Highbury Korfball Club won 19-7 away at Nomads III, putting them top of the London Regional League One table for Christmas.
Rachel Dixon, Matt Dodds, Niccola Hyslop, Moses Hutchinson-Pascal all ended up with three goals apiece while Rocha got six, and Joey Faure Walker also registered in a commanding victory.
An unusually cagey start to the match saw both teams sussing the other out, and there was no score for the first 15 minutes of the game.
The deadlock was finally broken by Highbury through Dixon, and the visitors quickly followed got a second strike from Rocha.
Dodds was next on the Highbury scoresheet with his first of the game, but it was sandwiched in between two Nomads goals, which kept the home side in the match.
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Highbury though extended their advantage with four goals from Hyslop, Dodds and two for Rocha - only countered by a Nomads penalty to give Highbury a 7-3 lead at half-time.
The second half started in frantic fashion with a flurry of goals, Nomads hitting two and Highbury notching three to extend their lead.
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Dodds scored the pick of the goals with an effort from near the halfway line - and Rocha and Moses Hutchinson-Pascal also scored for the away side to leave the score at 10-5.
Highbury were then able to really flex their attacking muscle with some excellent fast-paced play in the final 20 minutes of the game, scoring nine goals compared to a solitary Nomads strike.
There was two each for Hyslop, Hutchinson-Pascal, Dixon and Rocha, and one for Faure Walker before the end.
The performance pleased player-coach Andrew Speck, who said: “We showed strength to withstand the tight pressure early in the first quarter, and not allowing this to affect our focus. Once we got the first few goals the team stepped up and got us into a commanding position by half-time.
“I was really pleased to see the team respond to the challenge of putting the match out of the hands of the opposition with mistakes being punished, our shooters finding form – and we maintained our defensive focus d until the final whistle.”
Highbury are next in action against title rivals Mitcham on Sunday January 5.
