Kensington Dragons U12s 2 v 3 London Athletic

Again for the second time in a row, our Dragons were facing stiff opposition in the form of London Athletic who are 4 points behind the league leaders with 5 games in hand.  We were playing on a soggy pitch which did not augur well for our quick passing style.  The first 10 minutes were therefore understandably quite cagey with most of the action taking place in mid-field.  Around the 15 minutes mark, the Dragons started showing confidence on the ball with intricate passing in midfield with Felix and Aziz particularly showing quick and deft turns.  This passage of play saw an excellent free kick from Felix tipped over by the keeper and also an excellent save from Enrique at the hands of LA’s star player, striker and captain.  Ilya in one of his typical runs on the left managed to outrun the defenders and score in the left bottom corner leaving the keeper a bit mesmerized.  Unfortunately LA equalized from a well taken corner kick well volleyed on the right of Enrique who had no chance.  The half ends here with a fair scoreline.

The second half got underway and our Dragons carry on dominating the passing in midfield with Joe doing again his best impression of “Yaya” releasing Tyler and Felix on goal with great through passes both of them stopped by great pieces of defending.  The breaks on the flanks carried on with Ilya and George showing their speed but it was Tyler who scored showing great composure in chipping the ball over the advancing keeper.  Our makeshift defence (Sonny and Kas were away) Karim, Franklin, Waleed and Jamal were doing extremely well but were now getting a bit more pressure as LA were looking for the equalizer.  A very questionable foul was awarded on the edge of our box and LA’s captain powered a dipping free kick which Enrique manage to tip away but not high enough.  2-2 with 5 minutes to go.  Their captain scored again with a couple of minutes on a great run which left him alone 1v1 with Enrique.

It finished 3-2. A cracking game even though we lost.  It was in the view of the coaches our best game of the year (even better their our 4-1 win away to Kodak Youth).  A privilege to watch.

KODAK YOUTH 1  V  4  KENSINGTON DRAGONS U12s

A daunting trip away to the runaway league leaders faced the Under 12s this weekend. The spectre of the 8 nil mauling at the hands (or rather feet) of Kodak was still hanging over us as we set off up the A40. They didn’t just beat us back in early December, they dismantled us, left us in bits, our confidence in tatters, scattered all over St. Mark’s park like discarded, Lucazade Sport bottles.

But this is a different team to the one that capitulated to the team in yellow earlier in the season. Although the personnel remains pretty much the same, the players have been transformed by the hard work and persistence of the coaching staff.

We welcomed back Ilya, Sidney and Joe for their fist games of 2014. But would the coaches tinker with a winning team that had performed so well last time out at St. Mark’s? As it turned out the changes were forced upon us by absentees, ironically due to Sport Relief duties. One half of our central defensive partnership and our new striker had been involved in a Davina McCall-esque 24 hour sport-athon and couldn’t make the Sunday morning drive out to Harrow, dealing us a severe blow before a ball had been kicked. But even before we’d learnt of our missing talismen, Jamal had forced his way into the starting line up as our lone striker with his impressive performances in training.

We knew this was going to be a tough match. Putting seven goals past Hillingdon at home last time out was a great confidence booster for the boys but this was a completely different kettle of fish. This was a serious test against a team that has been banging in goals for fun. Who have won 11 out of their last 14 games and lost only 2. But these are the games that you learn about your players and your team. These are the benchmark’s to see how good we are and how good we can be.

Yet again, the first few minutes were going to be important. It was vital that the Dragons imposed themselves and set the tone for the game. The opening exchanges were cagey, like two welterweights sizing each other up, exchanging blows and probing for an opening. And when one came, it came to the team in blue. Ilya’s rasping shot could only be parried by the keeper and Jamal, repaid the faith placed in him by providing an emphatic follow-up. Now the Dragons started to believe. Kodak looked dazed. This wasn’t in the script. They were on the ropes. The Dragons won the ball in midfield and played it out wide to Walleed on the right. He drilled a pass across the box, which was met first time by Ilya who buried it into the bulging net. The Dragons were 2 up and bossing the game. Joe, our long-legged, rangey midfielder was finally doing what we knew he was capable of. Reminiscent of Viera in his pomp, he was breaking up the Kodak attacks and along with Felix and Aziz they were dominating the middle of the park, launching our own attacks, releasing our pacey wide men and protecting our patched-up defence. As we took a hold of the first half, it was almost if Kodak couldn’t quite believe what was happening to them. They were rocked and they didn’t like it. They began to argue amongst themselves. Maybe they thought they were just going to turn up and give us another pasting. But that just wasn’t going to happen, not today. Reputations and league positions don’t win football matches. Hard work, and more importantly teamwork does that. We were first to every ball. Every 50-50 and every header had a Dragon name on it. Their coach tried to get them going with some choice words but it wasn’t long before Sidney burst forward with the ball at his feet and tore down the right wing. Cutting inside, he unleashed a cracking angled right-foot shot that flew into the top left-hand corner of the goal and the Dragons had a 3- nil lead at the interval.

We knew they would come back more organized, determined and aggressive in the second half and that’s exactly what they did from the restart. But we matched them in every department. A Captain’s performance from Franklin at the heart of the defence saw him marshaling his charges as they soaked up the early pressure. Now it was the Dragons turn to be on the ropes and for the first time we looked vulnerable. But we continued to play the ‘Dragon way’, passing the ball out from the back when the League leaders resorted to a more agricultural and direct approach. One such attack resulted in a goal for the home team. There was a moment when it looked like Kodak might rally and mount a fight-back but some well-timed substitutions restored stability to the Dragons.

With the clock ticking down Joe, with his deceptively lazy-looking gait stretched his long legs and drove out of midfield towards the Kodak goal. He glided past two defenders and coolly slotted home beneath the on-rushing keeper to seal a famous Dragons victory. 1-4. The home team were extremely magnanimous in defeat, commenting that our victory was well-deserved and that we were a vastly improved side to the one that they had faced earlier in the season.

There were some great individual performances out there today but once again it was an excellent team effort that secured the points. Every player that took the field in a navy shirt put in a serious shift. There was skill, guts and determination on display (the one mark in the negative goal column the only blemish on a near perfect display). If we continue to play like this then we have nothing to fear from anyone in this division.

We simply swept the league leaders aside. And seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, players, coaches and parents alike at the end of the match, well, that truly was a Kodak moment.

Kensington Dragons U12s 7 v 1 Hillingdon Youth

The first game for the under 12s in 2014 saw them hosting Hillingdon Youth in the glorious March sunshine at St. Mark’s park in a noon kick off. The corresponding fixture earlier in the season had proved to be a tough test for the boys in blue so a close encounter was expected after so long without a game.

The enforced winter break which had seen training sessions moved to the astro turf pitches under the Westway and an aborted attempt to restart their season on a boggy Wormwood Scrubs last Sunday meant the young Dragons were itching to play a competitive match. But would they remember all they had learnt  before Christmas or would they be rusty and back to square one? We were about to find out.

The match kicked off and for the first 5 minutes the Dragons passed the ball around smoothly, playing with composure and confidence. The early signs were good. The opening exchanges were evenly matched as both teams strived to impose themselves on the game. The first goal was going to be important. KD conceded a free kick on the edge of their penalty area and the visitors’ number 8 struck it sweetly, sending it soaring over our diminutive keeper. Luckily it came back off the bar and the Dragons cleared their lines. This was a wake up call for the home team and almost in the next attack, they moved the ball forward and took the lead with the vital first goal. A cool finish by Aziz who had broken through from midfield.

This seemed to settle any nerves and self-belief now seemed to course through the whole team as they remembered exactly how well they could play. They started to turn on the style. It wasn’t long before Waleed had added a second to the scoreline with a cool finish to another flowing move. And we didn’t have to wait long for the third. Felix got the ball out from his feet, something we’ve been working on improving in training, and slotted past the despairing Hillingdon keeper.

The Dragons were winning all the key battles in midfield and mounting wave after wave of attack. Aziz was pulling the strings and any rare Hillingdon forays into our half were being snuffed out by the well-disciplined Dragon’s defence. With their confidence sky high, everyone wanted to get in on the action as the clock ticked down to half time. Our erstwhile goalkeeper, Enrique, showed he’s as adept at scoring goals as he is at stopping them by registering goal number 4, created by some excellent pressing and a neat through-ball by Halvdan.

The half time team talk was relatively straight-forward. ‘Keep doing what you are doing’ was the gist of it. But as the second period began a few lapses of concentration crept into the home team’s performance and they lost their shape as they streamed forward attempting to add to the goal tally. Maybe they felt they had the game won but they seemed to take their foot off the gas and that gave the visitors hope. Hillingdon won a free kick in a dangerous position their number 8 improved on his first half effort by finding the back of the Dragon’s net with the dead ball. Then the visitors were awarded a penalty and we wondered if a fight back was on the cards. Fortunately the penalty hit the post and as if jolted back into life the Dragons regrouped. They broke from midfield and Chester called for the ball and pointed to where he wanted it played. George duly obliged by providing a slide-rule pass into the space and Chester slotted the ball home into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. The Dragons were back in control, their mini wobble over. There was still time for Waleed to net his second of the game and Tyler to register a debut strike by cleverly checking his run and following up with a clinical finish. It was all about improving our goal difference now and it could have been even better news on that front if it wasn’t for the impressive performance of the away keeper who double-handedly kept the score in single figures.

So a great overall team performance. A 100% record in 2014. The extended break seems to have done wonders for the Dragons. On this evidence maybe we should only play a game once every 3 months from now on.

Thanks for all your support,

Rob.

The under 12s have been training at the Westway on astro turf pitches while St. Mark’s is out of action. They are looking sharp and can’t wait to get back to playing matches.

We swooped to sign a striker in the transfer window and think we now have the missing piece of the jigsaw to try and climb the table in the second half of the season.

On Sunday morning we ventured over to Wormwood Scrubs to try and get the boys accustomed to grass, after only playing on astro turf so far this year. Well, I say grass, it was actually mud but never the less it was a great session. Great preparation for next week’s game.

Cheers,

Rob.

Kensington Dragons U12s 2 v 3 Bessingby Park A

A depleted Dragons side narrowly lost to Bessingby for the second time in seven days, though this cup defeat left a sour taste in the mouths of coaches, players and supporters alike. After the appointed referee pulled out late on Saturday, officiating duties were split between coaches from both sides.

The Dragons started superbly, with a makeshift defence looking solid and relatively untroubled early on. The ball was being moved around quickly and accurately and it wasn’t long before Waleed put them ahead after excellent work on the left from Ilya. The home side were having great success getting behind the defence, the forwards implementing the angled runs worked on in training to break the offside trap, and after fifteen minutes one of these runs was picked out by a stunning forty yard pass from Felix for Waleed to move onto and finish for his second of the game. A third almost game as George ran from deep to latch onto a through ball, but the linesman wrongly raised his flag against Waleed, who was inactive in the move.

Looking comfortable for much of the first half, the home side conceded a sloppy goal just before the break when a cross from the left was converted by an unmarked forward. Defending crosses is a persistent problem for this team, and they were punished again for poor marking.

With the second half came a change of referee, and it became obvious from the off that the Dragons would face an uphill task to hold onto their lead as a host of baffling decisions went against them. Confidence also played a part, as they dropped deep and lost some of their composure, concentrating too hard on trying to defend a lead which would have seen them halt a run of poor results and ultimately were inviting pressure onto themselves. Five minutes after the restart a scramble in the box broke kindly for the visitors and the ball was bundled in for an equaliser.

With the game at 2-2 the new referee started to take centre stage. An innocuous shoulder to shoulder challenge resulted in a penalty for Bessingby, though it took a good ten seconds for play to be stopped before it was awarded. So confusing was the decision, that neither set of players were sure what had been awarded, with the ref’s colleague on the touchline offering an embarrassed, apologetic smile. Enrique produced a wonderful save to keep out the spot kick, and was quick enough and brave enough to throw himself in front of the rebound. Justice had been done, for the time being.

The following ten minutes produced a number of generous free kicks that piled more pressure on the home side, and despite defending brilliantly, another goalmouth scramble saw the Dragons fall behind. They responded well, trying to get back on terms, and on three occasions the referee overruled the linesman (a Bessingby parent) to give offside with Waleed (twice) and George in behind the away defence after some cutting passing moves. With less than five minutes remaining, George dribbled into the penalty area and was brought down by the keeper, but the penalty appeals predictably fell on deaf ears.

There were still chances, but wasteful finishing ensured Bessingby advanced into the quarter finals at the expense of the crestfallen Dragons. There were plenty of positives; the performance of Felix in an anchoring, ‘quarterback’ role, Aziz’s display at left back, and Karim and Ilya putting in their best performances for many weeks to mention a few, but the Dragons left the changing rooms with their heads down and in need of the Christmas break to recharge, leaving the coaches sick as parrots, and hoping Santa brings a prolific centre forward for Christmas as, for the most part, they have been very good boys this year.

The U12’s lost 0-6 against Kodak at St Marks. It was a confusing start with Kodak wearing brand-spanking-new kit, identical to the Dragons. With the referee lost in transit the Dragons coach bravely stepped forward to officiate. There was nothing to separate the teams before Kodak unleashed their secret weapon – giving the Dragons a goal kick. To quote the exasperated Dragons Manager “Of all the cynical, underhand tactics they had to resort to this. How could they be so ruthless and cold-hearted? We took the kick and they took the lead”.  The Dragons responded by playing from the back with some excellent link-up play, especially down the left-hand side. Just as the Dragons were gaining a foothold Kodak employed their secret weapon again – they gave the Dragons a goal kick and it was 2-0 to Kodak. (Editor’s note: not sure I follow the game plan here).  The second half saw more of the same with squandered chances for the Dragons and seasonal gifts for Kodak.

The U12’s beat Hillingdon 3-1 away. Hillingdon started strongly and the Dragons were only kept in the game by their goalkeeper but it all looked a bit scary. At the end of the first half Hillingdon went ahead from a powerful shot that was initially saved well but unluckily bounced off a Dragon and into the net. The second half started better and after a few near goals the equaliser came.  A later converted penalty followed by a lob over Hillingdon’s goalie put the Dragons 3-2 ahead. The Dragons defence battled well together and a blue victory looked possible. However Hillingdon had not given up and the blues had to fight to the bitter end to return home with a hard earned away victory.

Kensington Dragons U12s 2 v 5 St. Joseph’s A

At the end of Halloween week it was St. Joseph’s, the team dressed appropriately in orange and black who came knocking on our St. Mark’s park front door. But would the Dragons be giving them a tricky time of it or would they be handing their visitors a bucket-full of chocolate miniatures, Haribos and Gummy Bears in the form of a nice Sunday morning treat? We were soon to find out.

The away team seemed very excited by the prospect of having a changing room. Something they don’t have the luxury of at their home ground, as our team can testify to, having had to change in the car park amid a torrential downpour in the corresponding fixture, 3 weeks ago. But the sun was glowing like a friendly-faced pumpkin lantern over West London today.

The game started slowly and in spite of the large away following, St. Mark’s was spookily quiet. You might even say ‘ghostly quiet’ if you were trying to milk a tenuous Halloween theme. St. Joseph’s enjoyed much of the early possession as the Dragons lacked the urgency and tempo of last week’s impressive Cup win. There was no bite and intensity to the home team’s play and they seemed happy to play at the lethargic pace set by the visitors. It wasn’t long before St. Joseph’s broke through and took the lead. This seemed to shake the Dragons into action and Waleed attacked with purpose down the right flank, cutting into the box, quickly shifting the ball from one foot to the other before he was brought down. The resulting spot kick was dispatched with aplomb by Lavar. Having earned parity the Dragons looked to push on but were caught out by a swift St. Joe’s break-away that saw them take a goal advantage into the break. It was a cruel blow for the Dragons, who had fought bravely to be on level terms and had now handed the psychological edge to their opponents.

The away team made full use of our luxurious facilities during the interval, choosing to give their team talk in the changing room, rather than out on the pitch. I don’t know what went on in there but it certainly did the trick and they went 1-5 up in the second half. The game was now beyond the Dragons. But they kept fighting and funnily enough seemed to relax and start playing some better football, including the move of the match. A deft cushioned header from Zac that flicked the ball on to Enrique who volleyed a pass into the path of Karim who found a killer finish.

It wasn’t a Halloween horror show by any means. Sometimes you just have to admit that you came up against a better team. Although 2-5 did flatter the visitors somewhat.