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?”