Fellow Cup Winning Dragons

The Reserves BEAT Broadfields 1-0 to WIN the MCFL CUP at Uxbridge FC in front of packed stands. The Dragons had a plan – playing a 3-5-2 formation to surprise Broadfields and support their recent faltering attack. Would the youthful Dragons, with the occasional veteran, remember the cunning plan? Certainly the Dragons created scoring opportunities whilst limiting Broadfields to long pot shots before near disaster struck as the Dragons lost their midfield captain through injury to leave it 0-0 at half time. On 60 minutes a lung bursting run lead to a square ball back to the onrushing Dragon veteran striker who finished calmly to make it 1-0. A great team goal but could the Dragons take it to the end? The game was now frenetic and then unbelievably the Dragons lost another key player with a nasty ankle turn. Despite the Dragons back 3 now being all under 19 they coped brilliantly with their superb goalie mopping up behind. As Broadfields pushed on the Dragons were looking sharp on the break but Broadfields just kept coming, desperate to equalise. Into injury time and it was now kitchen sink o’clock for Broadfields as they endlessly won cheap free kicks. In the final 10 seconds the biggest aerial goal mouth scramble ensued with the whistle in the referee’s mouth. The Dragons keeper half cleared with a punch, the out of position Broadfield’s keeper headed it back, another scuffed clearance and the ball headed for the net until it was hooked clear one final time. The referee pursed his young lips and the Dragons were MCFL Cup Champions – if just by the skin of their collective teeth. The players were exhausted; the fans more so.

The Firsts beat Saracens 3-1 at Osterley to further their prospects of promotion to the premiership. There are now a handful of tough games left which will decide who goes up …..and who stays put.

The U17’s beat Bessingby Park Rangers 3-2 at Birbeck. Courtesy and good manners are not the first words that spring to mind when considering Bessingby. The Dragons toiled under the sun gifting the disgruntled Bessingby a couple of goals to leave the scores level at half-time. Despite injury to the Dragons goalie it looked like the Dragons were going to pull away as they scored an early goal. Bessingby however raised their game to equalise but it was to be the Dragons day as they pummelled home their third and winning goal. Bessingby sulked their way off the pitch back to wherever such behaviour is the norm.

The U15’s beat Belmont 4-1 at Birbeck. This was another typical Dragons game – except that it was not raining. The Dragons had a full squad of talented players with a welcome sprinkling of parents watching them play exhibition football without actually scoring much. As Belmont’s coach showed signs of increasing bad temper the Dragons passed, twirled and practiced their kick ups against the hard working Belmont side. Finally one of the more gifted, but often laid back, Dragons players was allowed on the pitch to demonstrate how goals are actually scored at the end of controlled build ups – by ruthless calm precision in front of goal to convincingly win the match.

The U14 Nighthawks lost 1-4 to Forest United, the second bottom team in the division. The Dragons played well with just 1 sub but Forest were hungrier and had 5 subs. Some have commentated that the Anno Horribilis continues but others would suggest that learning to lose is the first step in developing the resilience to win except their Latin is rusty.

The U14 Eagles had no match but watched reruns of their top 100 goals instead.

The U13’s lost 0-2 to Hillingdon. The Dragons were forced into making several positional changes due to players being unavailable and a re-arranged defence was caught out in the first 5 minutes as a Hillingdon midfielder got to the by line and crossed the ball low; the Dragons keeper tried to cut it out but could only parry the ball into the path of a Hillingdon striker who converted. The Dragons began to control the game midway through the first half as their passing game began to excel and they created a couple of good chances but failed to convert. Only the cross bar prevented the Dragons from equalising from a great shot from their striker. The second half was much of the same with the Dragons having the possession for most of the half except a Hillingdon counter attack caught out the Dragons defence to lead to a 1 on 1 with the keeper and a goal to clinch the win for Hillingdon.

The U11’s lost 2-4 to Wealdstone. The full squad of Dragons were raring to go on the beautiful Sunday morning at St Marks. The game started at a fast pace with Wealdstone on the attack and the Dragons on the back foot giving Wealdstone an early goal. The Dragons regained their competitiveness and started to play some exciting football, moving the ball around the pitch with precision passing but were caught by a Wealdstone counter attack to go down 0-2. The Dragons then had two goals disallowed, one from a poor refereeing decision. The Dragons refused to be downhearted and kept up the pressure to make it 1-2 at half time. Wealdstone then scored a further two early goals prompting the Dragons coaches to make the three substitutions which had an immediate impact with a superbly executed goal. The Dragons were now finding their feet but alas time was against them and they were caught by the final whistle.

An ever increasing number of cheerful U10’s trained.

The Girls had their biggest turn out to date at their Friday training session.

Kensington Dragons Reserves 1 v 0 Broadfields Reserves

The Reserves beat Broadfields United 1-0 at Uxbridge Football Club to win the first Reserves silverware since the club began!

Having lost a cup final last week, been hammered by Southall in the league on saturday and facing a team they had lost to on their previous six meetings, the Dragons backs were firmly against the wall. After a roller coaster of a season the question was could they raise themselves one last time to get a second 2013 club trophy in the bank? With a bus load of Dragons fans they certainly knew the whole club was behind them.

The answer would only come in injury time but with a strong looking squad the pre-game feelings were all very positive having learned some key lessons in their final defeat last week. The management decided to switch to a 3-5-2 to spring a surprise on Broadfields while giving more support to a faltering attack of late. After a few minutes settling into the new shape, they began to slowly open up the Broadfields defence. James Shirley, at the central point of the 3 at the back was leading by example and with Luke Giles and Adam Finch controlling things in midfield the two wing backs were pushing on and causing havoc. Jack Lyons, responding to some heavy criticism in recent weeks, was cutting Broadfields apart down the right. He fed striker Jon Laycock after 20 minutes who in turn put in his new striking partner Steve Cahill. He drove into the box but the keeper saved his well hit effort superbly. Ethan Meyers, on the left flank was also pushing on and linking with Giles beautifully. But the second chance again fell to Cahill, taking a lovely touch with his back to goal and firing a swivelled shot that the keeper again saved well. However, after losing key players in last weeks final again they lost a key man in captain Dean Humphrey who was just starting to take control in the hole. Reiss Corr came on and the team needed a performance out of one of their youngest Dragons. A couple of half chances came and went but at half time it was 0-0, Broadfields being limited only to long pot shots at the excellent, as always, Joseph Muyanja.

The management team were happy with the performance, Tony Smith and Miguel De Souza only asking a few extra tactical additions as well as to be brave and push on for the goal. After a poor opening 5 minutes suddenly they burst into life, Giles and Finch dominating in midfield and putting in crunching tackles along with great build up play. On 60 minutes finally they got the break through. Finch laid the ball off to Laycock who span and released Corr down the left. His lung bursting run took him into the box and then showed immense composure to square the ball back to the onrushing Laycock who opened up his body to finish calmly into the far corner, the out of form striker’s first goal in 8 games. A great team goal but could they take it to the end or grab the killer second? The fans were driving them on, incredibly loud and passionate songs heard by all the players. The game was now end to end, and then unbelievably the Dragons lost another key player in the superb James Shirley. His nasty ankle turn brought another 18 year old on in Shegun Beckley. The back 3, all under 19 now, were reshuffled and they were coping brilliantly with Muyanja mopping up everything when needed. As Broadfields pushed on the Dragons were now looking sharp on the break. Laycock fed Cahill in behind but again found the keeper saving well. Lyons then drifted a beautiful cross in for Laycock at the far post but he headed tamely to the keeper with the goal at his mercy. Into the last 15 minutes and the Dragons began to sit deeper and deeper. Finch was now in full flow and all over the pitch while communicating superbly to his younger team mates around him. But Broadfields kept coming, and the back three in Will Conway , Meyers and Ade Akeredolu had to be at their very best to restrain the opposition forward line, Akerdolu standing out while marking the Broadfields excellent winger. Director of Football Smith then went to a 4-4-2, allowing a bit more defensive shape…. could they hold on?

Into injury time and it was now kitchen sink o’clock for the opposition, endlessly winning cheap free kicks. The keeper was now up for set pieces and in the final 10 seconds the biggest aerial goal mouth scramble ensued with the whistle in the referees mouth. Muyanja half cleared with a punch, the United keeper returning it with his head, another scuffed clearance and the ball headed for the net until Man of the Match Finch hooked it clear one final time. The referee pursed his young lips and The Dragons were MCFL county Champions, if just by the skin of their teeth.

Kensington Dragons Reserves, 2013 MCFL Junior Open Cup Champions!

Fellow Cup Winners

The Firsts WON the Middlesex County Cup on Wednesday night under floodlights by beating NPL 2-1. A fantastic achievement. The first half was tentative and tough with the Dragons giving away an own goal before the break. The second half was a different affair with the Dragons playing good controlled competitive football in the rain to go one up via a penalty and then 15 minutes from the end a tremendous shot from the right 25 yards out sealed the win. We are simply the best.

At the weekend the sun finally shone to cheer up the irrepressible Dragons:

The Reserves drew 0-0 with table toppers Stedfast before going on to win 3-2 on penalties to reach the MCFL Junior Open Cup Final on April 27th. With a solid spine through the centre the Dragons started superbly and created opportunities but at half time it was still 0-0. The second half was an even affair and often end to end. As the clock ticked it seemed inevitable that it would be Extra Time and indeed it was. It was clear that Stedfast were physically spent and the Dragons dominated the extra 30 minutes but again could not score and it was onto penalties. As events unfolded it dawned on the Dragons that the result was down to the Dragons keeper being left to face 2 pens and take his own! With the Dragons nerves shredded the goalie put his gloves back on, returned to the goal and leaped majestically left to palm away the last penalty and the celebrations began. The Dragons had won and were through to the Final on 27 April having already reached another Cup Final on 17 April!

The Firsts drew 2-2 with Hillingdon away and then generously lost in extra time against Hillingdon as they prepared for the Cup Final on Wednesday

The U17’s had no game

The U15’s beat Brunswick away 2-0 in the first leg of a double header and then drew 1-1 in the second leg. With a reduced squad the Dragons played their customary game of good passing football without actually slamming the ball in the opposition’s net quite as much as they deserved. Calm ruthlessness in front of goal is all that is needed to turn the side into League and Cup winners.

The U14 Eagles beat St Joseph’s 5-2 at St Marks. Only as the Premier League entered its post-Easter climax were the Eagles finally able to re-start their own campaign after poor weather and the Easter break. St Joseph’s were not going to let the Dragons ease back into their stride – they were well-organised and proved even stronger than the last time the sides met. This was just the kind of challenge the Dragons needed. It was a performance from the top-drawer, with every Eagle pulling together to provide the platform for another man-of-the-match hat-trick from their tireless striker, not to mention two eye-catching strikes from their jinking midfield maestro whose dazzling footwork kept the crowd heartily entertained. To quote the Manager “our appetite is back!” The Dragons are hungry for more but will the weather, and all the other vagaries of this frustrating season, let us satisfy it?”

The U14 Nighthawks had no game

The U13’s at St Marks lost 1 to “quite a lot” against the run away league leaders Pinner United. It all started so well with the Dragons looking like they were the ones who should have been top of the table. They took the lead with the Dragons left midfielder weaving passed three defenders, passing to his midfield chum who had made the right run to calmly control the ball before smashing it into the net. Pinner then made the Dragons pay and with some defensive and keeper errors they clinically punished the home side. Pinner simply proved to be too good on the day.

The U11’s were awarded 6 points as Brentham Colts defaulted in the scheduled double header

The U10’s started training again after the Easter break and look forward to their match against the Spanish School

The Girls started training again after the Easter break looking forward to more tournament success