Brentham Reserves 0 v 1 Kensington Dragons Reserves

First Half..

Brantham kick off..

3min: Brentham with strong start, early stages of the game.

6min: great exchange passes from Dragons, Mo finds shaks on the right wing, who then finds in form striker Miles, takes first time shot, keeper deals with it.. 0-0

15min: free kick for Dragons, Rafal strikes hard, save from the keeper

17min: great build up from Dragons, mata finds mario, takes on one then sends miles through, who is brought down edge of the box, yellow for Brantham centre half, Mario takes the free kick and strikes the wall.

23min: Mata finds Miles, takes on defender then strikes the ball, keeper saves it again.

25min: Dragons give away a sloppy free kick down the right corner, ball crossed in, easily felt with by Dragons.

27min: GOOAAALL.. Szymon finds Miles who flicks it for Mario, to be through 1v1 with the keeper.. Puts it past keeper!

29min: Shaks runs from his own half, goes past 1,2,3 takes a shot, blocked by defender.

30min: another chance for Dragons. Saved by keeper.

40min: free kick edge the box Brentham. Hits the wall. Opportunity gone

43min: corner for Brentham, easily dealt with by Dragons for the 5th time.

45min: ref blows whistle for halftime.

Second half:

45min: Dragons get us underway.

49min: shaks breaks away for Dragons down the right side, crosses it in, finds Miles who sets Mo up edge of the box, shoots and forces a great safe from keeper, rebound followed up by Miles, keeper manages to react and collects it.

53min: corner for Brentham, crossed in, and cleared for another corner.

59min: Miles sends shak 1v1 with keeper, makes a mess out of his finish. Goal kick.

63min: similar to a few minutes ago, keeper rushes out, shaks beats him, just can’t get his shot away and it’s cleared by defender.

67min: corner for Brentham, very well worked out one, takes the corner to the edge of the box, Dragons unaware of what’s happened, Brantham player shoots, a great diving save from Dragons number one David.

73min: corner for Dragons, taken by Mario, Brentham keeper comes to collect it.

78min: corner for Brentham, taken and keeper punches it out, shot fired back in, takes deflection, another corner, this time collected easily.

85min: Brentham over commit players forward, Dragons break away and send Miles through on goal, has about 30 yards to run, can he finish it.. gets closer and sends shot wide, tired legs showing.

90min: referee brings game to end.

Kensington Dragons Reserves 2 v 2 Deportivo Reserves

First half the Dragons conceded a penalty which resulted in a goal for the visitors. Dragons controlled the game after that goal which resulted in a brilliant header from the CB Steven. After a motivating half time talk, captain Adam Finch pulled off an amazing 25yard goal into the top corner. The Dragons got caught sleeping after conceding a foul. Credit to the visitors they took advantage and whooped a long ball behind the defenders which resulted in a goal to tie the game. After some time into the second half one of the visitors’ defenders tackled Abdullah Hussein badly which resulted in a bad injury and that sums up a disappointing 2-2 draw for the Dragons.

Kodak Reserves 2 v Kensington Dragons Reserves 3

1st Half

7minute: Habib pressures opponent defender, forces him to make a mistake before giving it to mario who shifts the ball to his right foot and shoots across goal, just wide.

10minute: Kodak come close to scoring, after cross in from the right hand side, drops to a Kodak player and shoots wide.

12min: Dragons receive their first corner of the game, not an effective one.

15min: GOAAAL Adam through ball in behind opposition defenders. Mario runs in behind to score with his right foot and allowing no time for the rushing out keeper to settle.

26min: Kodak receive their first corner of the game, no problems for Dragons.. power header clearance from Karris.

37min: Kodak play through ball to their right wing who is offside, ref ignores his linesman, ball is crossed in to the box and Kodak player heads it past Dragon’s keeper.

38min: Dragons Matt plays through ball to Habib who finds himself offside.

40min: Dragons give away a free kick down on the right side, ball crossed in, Kodak player hand balls it ref ignores before Dragons manage to clear it.

43min: Dragons 2nd corner of the game, straight to goalkeepers hands.

45min: Dragons Matt plays through ball once again to Habib who yet finds himself offside again.

2nd Half

46min: GOOAAALL Dragons press from kick and Kodak make a mistake from the back, Mario gets to it, has a shot, keeper makes a mess of it and is followed by Habib who taps it in to the goal.

47min: Dragons press them again, win the ball and an Adam Finch through ball to Habibi with one v one with keeper but misses it.

49min: GOAAAALL Rafal finds Mario with a super pass, Mario then lobs the keeper from outside the box. Dragons up 1-3

52min: Dragons running riot on opposition, Habib shoots from edge of the box, inches away from the post.

53min: Dragons sub Matt for Miley.

54min: Dragons on top, chance after chance.

59min: Dragons free kick, Abs crosses ball in the box, Habib can’t control and keeper collects it.

61min: Dragon Alex makes a mistake at the back, Kodak striker finds himself 1v1 with Dragons keeper Alex, Kodak striker makes a mess of his shot, easy save.

63min: sub for Dragons: Justas for Rui.

65min: Habib once again 1v1 with keeper after Miley puts him through, yet again missed it.

67min: Dragons good exchange of passes from the back, Rafal received in the middle and runs with the ball goes past 3 players then passes ball to Miley, sharp turn then shoots on goal, keeper saves it.

70min: Habib comes off for Mo.

75min: Kodak break away, 4 v 3, no problem for Dragons defence, Abs wins the ball from the back and finds his tracking midfielders.

82min: Dragons switch off. A sloppy pass cut out by Kodak player, then make the most of their 2nd and only chance of the 2nd half, Goal 2-3.

87min: Long free kick sees the ball into the box from Kodak, drops to their player who send his shot to the corner flag.

90min: GAME. Ref blows the whistle 2-3 Dragons win.

Match Report by Assistant Coach Basil.

Kensington Dragons Reserves 3 v 4 Sporting Hackney Reserves

On Saturday afternoon to Linford Christie Stadium came the leader of the Senior Reserves Division. Unbeatable this season, the team of Sporting Hackney Reserves looked forward perhaps to an easy 3 points against a full of problems Kensington Dragons. One of the youngest teams in the league with the oldest players being only 24 years old. Matt and Adam Finch showed what ‘Dragons character’ means. With a brand new goalkeeper and defensive line the Dragons tried to beat the table topping Hackney. Unfortunately the team started very slowly and after a fantastic cross and header from a free kick the opponents took the lead. What was worse, only a few minutes later Hackney scored once again. Dragons seemed all at sea and it showed that this team is brand new and all the players need time to understand the club style and philosophy of play.

During half time the manager changed the team shape and placed on the pitch Elhabib Oumar the top scorer from last season. It was a good decision. A few minutes later the striker missed two fantastic opportunities but it was a positive sign of attack. Unfortunately one terrible mistake of the Dragon’s defence gave a 3rd score for Hackney. This situation pushed Dragons forward in the next 5 minutes and the team scored 2 fantastic goals. Former youth team player Miles and new face Mario Gioshe beat the goalkeeper only for disaster to strike yet again. Firstly the opponents won a penalty only for Matt Finch who was man of the match to cap a fine performance by saving it. Unfortunately, more indecision in defence later led to a 4th Hackney goal. It was bad news but our young team showed amazing character and kept fighting until the final whistle.

This spurred Dragons into life and they scored again to suggest a fantastic come back with Miles getting his second of the day. Unfortunately during the last 10 mins Dragons were not able to score once again but they put their opponents under pressure and dominated them totally.

After 90 mins of the game Sporting Hackney stayed unbeaten in this league but Dragons showed fantastic performance and character! The players proved that they can compete with any team at this level.

Kensington Dragons Reserves 4 v 2 Sporting Hackney Reserves

Kensington Dragons Reserves faced Sporting Hackney Reserves in the last game of the season. The team would like to finish the season in the same way how they started with another win in their way to the championship title. It was not easy to do especially with a very experimental defensive line. Without 2 key centre back available, James Shirley and Hassan Osman took their positions. This movement gave a place on the right side of defence to Matt Finch who’s position on the left wing was taken by Steven Cahill.

Dragons made a fantastic start. In the 5th minute of the match, team captain Adam Finch took a fantastic shot from distance and placed the ball into the right bottom corner of the goal giving no chance to the goalkeeper! This began a good period for the team! All players showed brilliant attitude and match commitment and moments later the score became 2-0. A young player Kamal Romain gave Dragons a comfortable advantage with a fine finish. Unfortunately a few minutes later the opponents scored with a fantastic free kick over the wall into the top corner of the goal and put a lot of pressure on us. Fortunately Dragons reacted very well, regained control of the game and kept possession.

At half time the management staff asked the team to stay calm and  play the same football. 2 minutes after the restart Tom Madden was served with a fantastic pass through the defence line and he beat the keeper in the one on one face to face situation.

After another 2 minutes the situation became even better when Elhabib Oumar took advantage of a terrible goalie mistake and put the ball into the empty goal. 4-1 and well on top allowed the manager to use the subs. Lamelle Williams replaced Andrew Scheck, Jamanhi Henry took Tom Madden’s place and Mohammed Al-Faisal on for James Shirley.

With a comfortable result in hand Dragons created more chances but failed to extend their lead further.

Over the last 15 minutes, Dragons lost their concentration and let Sporting Hackney take control on the pitch. Some very poor defending gave the opponents a goal for 4-2 and wound them up. The last few minutes saw Hackney create a few more chances but Ryan Moore in the goal did this job.

Kensington Dragons Reserves finished the season with a very important win. Unfortunately they have to wait for other results to be sure that a really successful season for the players will give them a championship crown!

Indian Gymkhana Reserves 0 v 2 Kensington Dragons Reserves

Kensington Dragons Reserves went to Indian Gymkhana Reserves with big ambitions and a good squad with 4 subs on the side. It was clear that nothing different than 3 points would make all in the club satisfied. The goal was very difficult to achieve especially when your opponents brought a few players from their first team. Dragons as the form team however needed little extra motivation, they simply knew they had to win.

The Dragons starting line-up seemed to be very strong. Ryan Moore came back into goal and Justas Krisciunas took his place on the right wing which pushed Andrew Scheck into position number 10 behind striker El Habib Oumar.

The game approach was very clear. Stay tight for the first 20 minutes and retain the clean sheet. The management staff were sure that Dragons could be patient and that the opportunity to score would eventually come. All what was expected, happened. Gymkhana pushed Dragons to defend over the first part of the game the longer the game went on the actual league leaders became better and started controlling the game. In the 30th min of the game El Habib Oumar was face to face with the goalie but he missed. A few minutes later the same player did his job well and placed the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. The game became more open and this gave us more space on the pitch. 2 minutes before half time, the ball landed just in front of Justas Krisciunas who was a few yards in front of the goal. He couldn’t miss this chance and he did not. He scored for 2-0 and this gave the Dragons more confidence for the second half.

In the half time break the manager decided to change their tactics. Matt Finch and Justas Krisciunas were replaced by Tom Madden and Jamanhi Henry. The team was asked to play narrow and keep the ball in the middle.  The changes resulted in a positive effect and Dragons fully controlled the game and created a few more chances. The best of them missed by Jamanhi Henry who placed his shot, after great play and final cross from Andrew  Scheck, onto the goal crossbar.  Fortunately Gymkhana didn’t create any great opportunities because of the hard work of all defenders as well as team captain Adam Finch and Man of the Match Kamal Romain in midfield.

With one game to play in on their home ground Kensington Dragons Reserves sit top of the league. Saturday game against Sporting Hackney will give us an answer for the question: “Do they fully deserve to raise up their first league trophy?”