CARDIFF University’s first team took on Cardiff City Archers in their fourth match of this year’s Welsh National Korfball League.
Korfball was created in 1902 by a school teacher in the Netherlands and is similar to netball or basketball, with teams trying to score goals by getting a ball into a basket, or “korf” as it is called in Dutch.
Goal attempt, Cardiff University 1 in the red kit.
It is one of the few sports in the world played by mixed teams with four men and four women on each side.
League leaders CU1 had a strong start in the match against the Archers, scoring their first goal at the four-minute mark, followed by another moments later.
Kris Banhan running into position.
In the Welsh National Korfball League, when a team scores two goals, players swap positions, with defenders becoming attackers and attackers become defenders. After the switch CU1 scored another goal, making the score 3-0.
The game saw a flurry of passes and interceptions and by half-time the difference in teams was clear, with CU1 taking a 12-3 lead.
At the start of the second half, both teams struggled to keep possession of the ball, but slowly the Archers began to dominate.
CU1 weren’t going down easily though, with Kris Banhan seeing his shot come agonisingly close to falling in the korf, before dropping out.
Paul Franke began to pull the strings for CU1, constantly making himself available to receive the ball from his teammates and create scoring chances.
Sebastian Sieroslawski shots for the korf.
The Archers closed the gap on the scoreboard, but there was too much to do and CU1 won 17-12.
Franke, who was awarded Most Valued Player (MVP) for his performance, said: “We went through a rough patch, but we ground out the win.
“This really is a team game, you can’t just have one player run the ball like in basketball.”
CU1 shooting for the korf.
Ludwig Ruf from the Archers said: “At the start of the second half we managed to score two goals, changing our minds, making us feel that maybe we can do this.
“I’d really like to see more spectators in the future, it adds to the atmosphere and might have pushed us to win.”
Cardiff University has one of the oldest clubs in the Welsh national league with 67 members across four teams.
Banhan said: “It’s a game you can pick up quite quickly, just dive right in. We have a lot of people come from netball who want something a bit faster.
“It’s not like other sports where people come in and know that sport already. You all start equal.”
