Fellow Chilly Dragons
It was the Girls who had the clean sweep this weekend as the U13 boys showed a tremendous turnaround:
The U11 Girls beat Broomwood 3-2 at home. The Dragons faced a good, well organised Broomwood and initially felt at a disadvantage as they were without their regular goal keeper and some key players. Not deterred the Dragons played a superb game, displaying great team work and passing which resulted in some wonderful goals. A fine win.
The U11 Boys lost 2-5 to Headstone Manor at home in the last few minutes as they puffed up the hill. The Dragons generally played well and the match could have gone either way until late in the second half when the exertion of playing up hill after an exhausting game lead to Headstone’s break away goals. The strategy from here on in must be to win the toss and play uphill in the first half!
The U12s lost away to Dragons United in an unpleasant match as the United’s Coach displayed uncouth behaviour. The score remained at 0-0 at half time. United then scored before the Dragons pulled back with a great goal, shaving under the cross bar after a great cross from the right. United were then lucky to score again before being awarded a penalty.
The U13 girls beat Broomwood 3-2 at home. The Dragons took the lead from close range before scoring again from a penalty. Tiredness then took its toll as the ruthless Brooowood pounced to draw level, despite some great saves by the Dragons keeper. The Dragons took a collective deep breath, stiffened up their sinews and in a final push scored a great goal to claim a last minute victory.
The U13 boys walloped London Eagles 8-1 away. The Dragons back line communicated well and held their positions whilst the Eagles pinged the ball out to their wings trying to get past them. With the Dragons defence solid it allowed their flair players to strut their stuff, relentlessly harrowing and pressing the Eagles to rack up the goals. At their last meeting the Dragons had lost 1-6 so the 8-1 win reflected the vast improvement made in several areas, communication, keeping their shape, learning to trust in each other and understand their roles. There was a lot less ball chasing and more structured defending and passing. A tremendous turn around.
The U14s lost 0-4 away to Langley in the League Cup. The Dragons lost concentration in the first few minutes to allow Langley an early goal. The Dragons defence was not compact nor organised giving Langley too much space. The Dragons started well in the second half but missed great opportunities to score and then were punished on the counter attack to be 0-2 down. Sad to say the Dragons had assumed turning up would be enough to win but the truth is that they were sloppy, subdued and physically just gave up. Langley dominated as the Dragon forwards helped defend as more errors at the back gifted Langley a contentious penalty. The Dragons coach was quoted as saying: “ We did not lose, We have learnt!’
The U15’s lost 1-3 at home to the European Academy. The Dragons were individually better than the Europeans but failed to make numerous attempts on goal count. As the Manager said “We regroup and take heart from the very good players and potential we have”.
The UI6 Whites beat the U16 Reds 4-2 at home in a Dragons Derby. This was a closely fought match with both teams missing key personnel. The Reds scored first but the Whites quickly struck back and then took the lead through a stunning 25 yard free kick that flew in off the underside of the crossbar. The second half was just as tight. The Reds had a penalty saved by the Whites keeper, atoning for an earlier mistake. The Whites then scored 2 more goals before the Reds were awarded another penalty which this time they converted.
The U16 Reds lost 2-4 to the Whites at home in the local Derby. This was the first loss for the Reds but if you have to lose it might as well be against your Dragon friends. After going one up, the Reds gave 2 sloppy goals away before half time. A missed penalty and a conceded goal made their job even harder, and although they pulled a goal back, it was too little too late.
The Reserves beat Speedy 5-3 at home. Speedy were winning 3-2 as the game went into the last 20 minutes. It was time to bring on the Dragons veteran striker on who proceeded to score 2 goals in 10 minutes before the Dragons were awarded a penalty to secure their 5th goal.
The Firsts had no match.