Firstly, a happy Robbo day to you. Adam turns a sprightly 47 today. I swear the guy doesn’t look a day over 45. Today the Aussie team met the German National team for a 6×10 minute friendly across the border in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany. The hosts gave the game a more professional feel with player introductions, national anthems and children from the local club to lead them out onto the court. The contest was just that, a contest. An all out battle for the entire 60 minutes with the Aussie team having to respond the an increased level of physical play we’re not accustomed to back home. To everyone’s credit, nobody took a backward step. Jess May grabbed rebounds, Bethan Channing put girls in a spin and the boys battled for rebounds.

 

Germany ended up taking the game 32-20, with the tired cliche of Australian Korfball “it would have been a lot closer, if we’d made all our easy shots” still dogging this team, for now. Despite the score line I think we hold our heads up high. This is a level of competition Australia needs to travel thousands of kilometres to find, while the European teams have high-level local and national competition a short Autobahn trip away. Everyone has adapted quickly to meet the increased pace, talent and contest, and the games have been a valuable learning experience for all.

 

We capped off the day with some of Chef May’s famous spag bol. A good day all round.

 

To finish of my diary entry I though I’d run through my top 5 sandwiches so far (for those playing along at home):

  1. Italiaans sandwich – Bakker Bart bakery (mentioned in a previous post)
  2. Doner kabab (pronounced ka-bob apparently) – some place open late. I don’t remember.
  3. Pita doner – see above
  4. Ham and cheese sandwich on day 2 – homemade
  5. Ham and cheese sandwich on day 6 – homemade
  6. Ham and cheese sandwich on day 3 – homemade
  7. Ham, cheese, egg and tomato sandwich – Spar supermarket I know I said top five but who can stop at five when talking sandwiches? A better man than me, that’s for sure.

 

Cheers,

Dave Scroggs #7 (back-to-back bump champion)

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