With spring trying to thrust aside winter this was mostly an excellent weekend:
The Firsts won 4-2 in a friendly against Hayes & Hillingdon. Although nothing technically was at stake, the Firsts treated the match as they would a Premier Division tie and worked hard to overcome Hayes. The Dragons gather momentum to carry into this weekend’s League contest with OIR at home.
The Blues drew 1-1 at home to Bessingby Park Rangers. The Dragons showed a massive improvement to go head-to-head with a team above them in the League.
The Old Dragonians beat West London Wanderers 4-1. Finally, the result matched the Old Ds performance to secure a well-deserved win in the League Cup with the highlight being a 25-yard screamer to open the scoring. The Old Ds look to take this form into the Divisional Cup Tie next Sunday.
The U17 Girls had no game.
The U15 Girls won 4-0 at home to Enfield Town in the Cup. The Dragons had a very slow start and struggled to create chances but managed to find the back of the net just before the half time whistle. After a passionate halftime talk and a few tactical tweaks, the Dragons stepped back into the game roaring to secure their 9th consecutive win. Time will tell whether they can continue their winning streak into double figures.
The 14 Girls had no game.
The U13 Girls beat Limehouse 1-0 away. A great win for the Dragons in their first league game of 2023. After scoring from a corner in the first half, the Dragons managed to keep Limehouse at bay for the rest of the match and never looked like conceding.
The U12 Girls lost away at Actonians in the League Cup. The Dragons found themselves overpowered on this occasion. These Dragons have shown character to bounce back before and will no doubt do so again.
The U17 Boys lost at home to St Josephs in the fourth round of the Middlesex Cup against an undefeated St Josephs. A few early mistakes put the Dragons down by 2 at half time and the second half was not much better. A good lesson in the importance of staying positive once conceding, as without concentration it can only get worse.
The U16 Boys beat Elite London 9-5 away. This was an extraordinary match with the Dragons scoring in the first 20 seconds and seemingly set to coast to a comfortable win. Elite however are not second in the division for nothing and they clawed their way back to 6-5 with the Dragons just retaining their lead. Elite pressed hard with their footballing tails up, but the Dragons kept their composure and pressed to score a vital 7th goal and from then on were in charge again.
The U15 Boys were beaten at home by Elite London. The Dragons started the match optimistically after their impressive performance last weekend but were beaten where it counts by the visitors.
The U14 Boys beat Hanwell Town 2-1 at home. This was a closely contested fixture at St Marks Park as the Dragons edged the contest before the break to have their oranges one goal up. Hanwell then found a reply. The Dragons piled on the pressure which eventually won them a beautifully stuck penalty to win.
The U13 Boys drew 1-1 with London Athletic at home. This was a closely fought match with the Dragons eventually scoring first from a corner and then keeping the lead – but as the minutes ticked towards the end LA broke down the left side to create a penalty which they converted. The Dragons refused to be downhearted and pounded up to LA’s goal and went very close to snatching back the lead but alas the final whistle thwarted their hopes.
The U12 Boys beat Pinnstars 6-2 away. The Dragons started well and went 3-0 up, before complacency crept in and Pinnstars drew as close as 3-2. The Dragons survived the pressure and regained control after half-time to put the game to bed.
The New U11 Boys beat Spartan 6-2 away. The Dragons started badly and were soon 0-2 down before getting back into the match magnificently to claw back to 2-2 and then pull ahead to a tremendous 6-2 win.
The U10s trained in preparation for entering the League.