The U15 Eagles lost 2-5 to top of division Hayes and Yeading. As the Dragons Manager mused: “Well, at half time we were playing like champions. 2-2 yes, but only thanks to their lucky strike and soft penalty – for this top-of-the-division outfit had been chasing the game from the off. Unable to cope with our quick feet and sense of adventure, well-drilled Hayes were being taught a lesson in open, imaginative football. And then the break and a lesson of our own. They know how play at this level and swift balls to their excellent slippery striker meant the game was won well before the final whistle. But our hearts aren’t down. These Eagles play a bigger game, with eyes on the world beyond the weekly win or lose. We play a way that not only pleases the eye but also fills the heart and ensures that despite the bruises, the head-dropping moments, the last-gasps and clenched teeth, the biting sense of injustices visited or loud shouts of right restored, the struggle for form, the loss of players, the broken arms and shaken faith, the relegation, that crack of the post, that mighty volley, the promotion, the offside seen and luck ridden and impossible pass and impossible pitch and brilliant twist and stunning dribble through the heart of a still-stunned team, that not despite but because of all this, we know we play with grace and pride and that will outlive all your Mitoo stats. Because this summer and beyond each of our players will be able to hold their fine heads high and say, when West Londoners speak, as now they do, of the mighty Dragons, “why yes, that’s me, that’s the team I play for”. So here’s to all you boys, you men, who played and fought and entertained and brightened Sundays from September through to May. Happy World Cup Summer!”