East Hockey League Division 2 North
Pelicans Mens 1s 3:1 Norwich Dragons Mens 1s

Dragons put in their poorest performance so far of the season, losing 3-1 away to Pelicans. Dragons had high hopes of building on their 7-0 win from the previous week but struggled to come to terms with the pitch and the pace of the game. Despite being on the back foot for the first 10 minutes of the game, Dragons were unlucky when their first penalty corner strike was deflected into the roof of the net by a defender, but was then disallowed by the umpire. Dragons continued to defend for much of the half, conceeding a number of corners. It was from one of these corners that Pelicans scored with a well taken drag flick, low to the keepers left. Pelicans scored their second from a broken down corner, the follow-up strike being deflected by the closing defender past the goalkeeper into the roof of the net. Half-time score 2-0 to Pelicans.

After a strong team talk at half-time Dragons picked up the pace of their game and started to pose more of a threat to the Pelicans defence as well as reducing their attacking opportunities. Dragons pulled a goal back when Garnett Jones’ forceful cross was deflected by a Pelicans defender into his own net (2-1 Pelicans). Dragons continued to push forward looking for the equaliser; the Pelicans keeper pulling off a fine save, deflecting Rupert Snelling’s drag flicked corner onto the post. Dragons were finally undone when a long pass from Pelicans into the Dragons’ defending circle was deflected by a defender into his own net.

Dragons man of the match was Robbie Whiting.

Final score 3-1 to Pelicans.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 4 North East
Thetford Town 1s 0:2 Norwich Dragons 2s

Norwich Dragons Men’s 2nd XI had a very strong first half, with swift passing and a disciplined structure.  The early pressure resulted in the opposition giving away a series of short corners, however the first goal came from Andy Kelsall who managed to find the back of the net with a first time shot from a crossed ball.  Dragons continued to surge forward with an attacking formation and were awarded a penalty flick late in the first half, duly converted by the experienced Ricky Powley.

The second half brought more of the same pressure from Dragons in Thetford’s half but to no avail needing Damien Ives to pull off some great saves when needed.  The visitors became frustrated that they couldn’t extend their lead and received two yellow cards for misdemeanours, however they managed to hold to their two goal lead to claim all three points.  Neil Shorten received his second consecutive player of the match award for a very solid performance at the back.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5 North East
Norwich Dragons 3s 5:0 Harleston Magpies 7s

Dragons Scorers: Adrian Kemp X2,Matt Jenkins,John Ives,Will Kirby.

Dragons 3rd Team played their first match in Division 5NE after last season’s championship winning season. On a glorious Autumn Day against an under strength opposition the Dragons started slowly and couldn’t get their normal passing game working.

The Dragons were woken into life by a Magpies short corner which hit the outside of the post and bounced safely behind. The breakthrough finally came when the ball was moved out of defence and switched to the right before the ball was crossed into the D for Matt Jenkins to score his first goal for the team from close range.The half finished with Dragons leading 1-0.

A half-time team talk stressed the importance of composure and calmness. This was swiftly put into practise with the ball being played to the flanks and taken to the baseline before being cut back for the forwards to have time to shoot. Goals were scored by John Ives with a bouncing shot and by Will Kirby and a double from Adrian Kemp. The Dragons defence was untroubled in the second half dealing well with any danger.

A good performance by young Will Ives on both wings using his pace to good effect deservedly earned him the player of the match award.

Photos of the Game

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East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 1s 4:2 Norwich Dragons 2s

Dragons 1st team started the game at a very high pace, passing the ball around effortlessly forcing an early goal through 1st Team Player of the Match Laura Sheeve. Whilst the 2s worked extremely hard, particularly in defence, Dragons 1s were clinical, with a goal set up by Gail Thomas, finished coolly by Natalie Beal, and another from Laura Shreeve, to make it 3-0 at halftime.

Dragons 2s started the 2nd half extremely positively, playing some great hockey and putting the 1s under pressure. Excellent work from Ally Windsor-Waite on the right, Sarah Wagstaff and Alice Guest in the centre of defence, and some tireless running from 2nd team debutant Klara Moolman, saw the 2s force a couple of short corners, which were both well dispatched by Saskia Delacave, to bring the game back to 3-2.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 3s 4:0 Broadland 2s

Despite the Dragons dominating the play, the score at half time was 0:0 due to Broadland’s solid defence and sharp goal keeping.

The second half saw the homeside change tactics and instead of trying to drive through the Broadland defence, they played more of a possession game.  After several penalty corners, the stalemate was finally broken by Amy Brown converting one from a pass slipped left to her.  This boosted Dragon’s confidence and a second penalty corner saw Caroline Wolfe and Amelia Dawson play a one two move at the top of the ‘D’ with Wolfe putting the ball in the back of the net.

The next Dragon’s goal came from open play, with Isi Christophers sweeping a ball into the ‘D’ for Amy Brown to add her name to the scoresheet a second time.  The final goal came from a Caroline Wolfe straight strike from another penalty corner.

Dragons’ player of the match was Amy Brown, who not only scored two key goals but also showed good movement on and off the ball and supporting team play.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s 6:0 Norwich Dragons 5s

What a great start to the season for the Dragons 4s, though it felt a bit strange playing against fellow Dragons, with a 5th team being established this year.

While being a new team, the Dragon’s 5s certainly made a strong start, keeping the 4s on their toes. After the first ten minutes the 4s settled down and began to make some lovely passes and the goals soon began to appear. Lynne Price kept the team working together and also scored the first goal. This was soon followed by Lucy Campbell making a fantastic sweep in the D which slipped past the goalies feet.

Dragons 5s had some good breaks in the play with some excellent runs down the left side which resulted in 2 short corners; their player of the match was Jihanna Bonilla-Allard, who fought furiously for every ball on her debut.  There were excellent saves by both keepers, notably Sue Cullum who saved a lifted ball and the score at half time was 3:0.

The second half saw a cracking goal from a short corner by Sue Cross, Catherine Bourassa continued to be strong on the right, driving the ball, before making some excellent crosses into the D which were received by new member Scarlett Brown (4s player of the match) who is definitely a most welcome asset to the team, scoring 3 of our goals. Although she did not see much action Karolina Blažytė made some excellent saves in goal to keep the oppositions score down. Overall the Dragons worked well as a team and are looking forward to the rest of the season.

Ladies 4s & 5s photos of the Day

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girl’s Development League
Watton 1:1 Norwich Dragons

Dragons started the game well with Aoife Lowe-Davies moving the ball quickly up the pitch and they soon had the game under control. Not long after, Harriet Bracey took the ball up the pitch and hit it into the goal. The game stayed pretty even for the rest of that half. Only letting the ball slip a couple of times. Half time score 1-0 Dragons.

During the second half Dragons still had control but Watton got through and scored with about 5 minutes left of playing time.

Jess Tye Leech did a great job helping the team by playing in goal and the 1^st Team Ladies Team players of Emily Rolls and Marie James were great with the girls, who learnt a lot from them.

The game ended with a 1-1 draw, but was played in a great atmosphere and in the spirit of how the development league should be played, so well done to both teams.

Player of the Match was Aoife Lowe-Davies.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boy’s Development League
Norwich Dragons 1:6 Norwich City

Dragons scorer – Henry Laming.

Captain – Connor Adams.

Player of Match – Jonty Gosling for making lots of good tackles, passes and runs.

Coach – Dave Pentin

Adult Players – Dave Pentin and Ben Dures.

3 Memorable Moments – Henry Laming’s goal, lots of possession in the opposition half and big improvement on last season.

Match report by Connor Adams.

East Men’s Hockey League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 7 : 0 UEA 1s

With a new lineup for this season, Dragons started slowly in their opening league game. UEA enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening minutes of the game, but were unable to create any chances to trouble the Dragons keeper. After the opening 10 minutes Dragons started to play their way into the game, enjoying more of the ball. Robert Wagstaff opened the scoring with a dipping penalty corner strike (1-0 Dragons). This seemed to settle Dragons who established their passing game, creating a number of chances in front of goal and pressing the UEA defence. However, Dragons still needed a good save from Jim Woodruff to keep the score at 1-0. Steve Woodward made it 2-0 to Dragons, sweeping in a pass from the marauding Ali Smyth. Smyth continued to enjoy attacking into the space afforded him and made it 3-0, finishing from close in on goal. Following in on Sam Parmenter’s fierce strike, Rupert Snelling made the score 4-0. Garnett Jones finished the half off for Dragons, smashing the ball into the back of the net from the top of the circle. Half -time score 5-0 Dragons.

In the second half Dragons surged forward looking for more goals. Though they were able to contain the UEA attacks, they were unable to play with the same fluency of the first half. Rupert Snelling scored his second goal following up from Matt Knight’s shot which had hit the post (6-0 Dragons). Matt Knights finally got just reward for his tireless work, scoring at the far post.

Photos click here

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East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 1s 3 : 2 Broadland 1s

Dragons Ladies 1^st team visited Broadland for their opening game of the season.

The home side started the better of the two teams threatening the Dragons goalmouth before the visitors had time to settle. As the Dragons grew into the game it was them who took the early lead by some good work by the Dragons youngest player Lizzie CHEESEMAN which led to the first short corner of the game being awarded. Player of the match, Shelly SEAMAN, slipped the ball through to Marie JAMES who placed it in the corner beyond the goalkeepers reach.

As the Dragons pushed forward looking for a second goal Broadland worked hard to win possession and on the counter attack levelled the match from some neat hockey. The Dragons retaliated immediately regaining the lead; Laura SHREEVE playing an accurate through ball to Marie JAMES who struck the ball from the top of the circle into the left hand corner of the goal. As the half wore on Dragons began to dominate and scored a third through Debs SMITH striking the ball sweetly from the top of the circle past the Broadland keeper. It was Broadland who retaliated on this occasion pulling a goal back and reducing the deficit to 2-3.

The second half was evenly contested but proved goalless. Broadland worked tirelessly to get something from the game. There was some entertaining end to end hockey for the neutral supports with both teams having opportunities to score but it was the visitors who managed to hold on taking all three points.

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East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 0 : 4 Yarmouth 1s

A newly formed Norwich Dragons 2’s saw much of the possession in this Div 2NE league opener, but lacked the ‘killer instinct’ in the final quarter.

Dragons went a goal down early, to a deflected short corner strike. Player of the Match Maddie Denman, gave a typically tenacious performance at left defender, despite strong Yarmouth pressure. Before the break, Yarmouth scored a second, however Dragons kept battling through Ruth Wilmott and Lucy Hopgood, linking up well in midfield.

The 2nd half saw Dragons concede a sloppy goal early on, but to their credit, Dragons kept trying to play the right way with Ally Windsor-Waite and Laura Bailey playing some good hockey on the right. A fourth for Yarmouth, a penalty flick almost saved by Freddie Briscoe, saw Yarmouth secure 3 points.

Dragons need to continue to work hard and play their quicker passing hockey game; their rewards will come.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 3 : 2 Dereham 5s

Dragons started the game very strongly, with good runs down the wings and through the middle with some excellent breaks into the D.

The Home Team kept applying the pressure to the Dereham defence which eventually paid off.  Henry Laming fired a cross in from outside the D, which was deflected into the goal from a Dereham stick.  Under the new ‘own goal’ rule that put Dragons 1-0 up.

Dragons were soon two goals to the good thanks to a Mike Banham short corner, which was slotted past the keeper from a rebound to put Dragons 2 goals ahead.

As expected, the second half was a bit tougher with Dereham mounting solid attacks that led to a penalty flick being powerfully converted, giving Chris Millar no chance.

Dragons did not let their heads drop and had continued to build up play from the defence working through midfield to take control of the game.  Following a good passage of play, the high speed Dave Thornton showed he also has the skill to deceive the keeper and popped the ball in the net to make it 3-1 to the home side.

Dereham managed to convert a short corner to make the final score 3 -2.

Photos click here

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Ladies 3s photos click here

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Dragons Hoof Intra Club League
As decided at the AGM this season will see us running an intra club competition/fun regardless of the level each team plays at and also an additional incentive on Saturday over and above the actual fixture.

Since the Hoof includes friendlies as well as leagues, results from Saturday 8th September have already been taken into account. The only information that we do not have is if players are carded so we will need to rely on captains passing on this information. Hopefully cards will be an exception…ahem!

It is run as a league table for all the teams in the club (including the dev teams). Points are awarded as follows:

3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
1 point for a clean sheet
1 point for every 3 goals the team scores in a game

The league table positions are based on a team’s game average (e.g. total number of points / number of games)
Games included are friendlies and league games played between Saturday 8th September 2012 and the Awards Night.
Games not included are tournaments or those outside of the allotted season or those conceded by either team.
It was also decided to take into account Green (-1) Yellow (-5) and Red (-10) cards by deducting points