KENSINGTON DRAGONS 1 V 0 LONDON ATHLETIC.
Goalscorer: Jack.
The under 14s bounced back from a disappointing two-nil loss last weekend with an impressive win over London Athletic at Linford Christie stadium. Notching up a second clean sheet to boot.
With key players missing due to sickness and Mother’s Day duties and also coach Dean laid up with a virus, Neil stepped up to lead the Dragons to a victory that sees their participation in league two guaranteed for next season.
It was a great performance especially considering the run of form that London Athletic have been on recently. They have been scoring goals for fun and have registered a string of results that has taken them out of the relegation zone and above the Dragons in the league table.
The Dragons were aware of what to expect from their visitors and knew if they could nullify the threat of their dangerous number nine and cut the supply line to him from the braided-haired left-winger they could do the double over the team that were promoted with them last term. Chester and Sidney doubled up on the winger while Joe kept an eye on the 9.
It was an excellent goal that broke the deadlock. Raaid played a ball into Jack who conjured a trick to find himself space before expertly lobbing the keeper and the home side took their slender lead into the half time break.
After the break the Dragons worked hard to deny the opposition any space, restricting them to speculative long-range efforts from outside the box. The home team’s work-rate and team-work continued to frustrate their opponents and they became increasingly bad tempered as they lost their discipline.
A number of cynical fouls and foul language lead to the visitors having a player dismissed from the field with a red card and a yellow for another.
There was a chance for each team to add to the score sheet when they were through one-on-one with the keeper but both teams spurned their chances and the game ended with the one first-half goal separating the teams.
It was a great Mother’s Day victory for the Dragons, who now have just two games remaining to wrap up their season. This kind of grit and fight shows that they are more than capable of competing at this level and sets them in good stead for the next campaign.