British Korfball Association Cup reaches Quarter Finals
The quarter-finals of the British Korfball Association (BKA)
Cup take place this weekend, with several teams hoping to
cause upsets as they attempt to reach the semi-finals. After
an initial pool stage involving clubs from all over the UK
including Cambridge, Cardiff, Exeter, Edinburgh, Manchester
and Milton Keynes, only eight teams now remain.
Just like in this year’s FA Cup third round, all eight
National League Premier Division teams avoided drawing each
other in the previous round when most of them entered the
competition. However, unlike Tottenham, Fulham and West Brom
in the FA Cup, none of the Premier Division teams fell to
lower-division opposition, so all eight have made it through
to the quarter-finals.
Croydon, who are currently bottom of the division, are yet
to play in this year’s cup competition, having received
a bye through the previous round. However, their cup run may
be a short one, as they are set to host unbeaten league leaders
Mitcham, who will be looking to complete the “treble”
by adding league and cup trophies to the Europa Shield (korfball’s
equivalent of the UEFA Cup) that they won in October.
Kent team Kwiek, will hope to cause an upset as they host
Trojans, the league’s third-placed side. Kwiek are surprisingly
only sixth in the division but have produced strong performances
against higher-ranked opposition this season, most recently
restricting Mitcham to a 17-12 scoreline last weekend and
keeping pace with the leaders until midway through the second
half. However, Trojans themselves are the only team to take
a point from Mitcham this season with a 9-9 draw in late January
and are unbeaten in their last four matches.
Another upset could be possible as second-placed Invicta
Sharks, also from Kent, travel to fourth-placed Nottingham.
In the league fixture in Kent in early December, Nottingham
only went down 12-10, restricting Invicta to only two goals
in the entire second half, so they will now hope to bounce
back from last week’s surprise 21-19 league defeat to
Nomads and go one better.
Nomads themselves, who moved off the bottom of the table
with that victory, host fifth-placed Bec, who will make the
short trip from South-West London to Epsom. With the two teams
drawing 10-10 in the league three weeks ago, this match is
certain to be tight, and extra time and penalties may be needed.
The semi-finals will be played on the 1st or 2nd of April
with the cup final on the 7th May at the new sports facility
at Whitgift School, Croydon, which hosted korfball’s
Europa Shield last October and which will also host the first
ever Commonwealth Korfball Championships in July 2006. The
junior National Championship finals will also take place at
the same event.
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