Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s Vs Cambridge South Ladies 1s
Score: 2-2
Scorers: Jemima Watson & Georgia Rant
MOM: Jemima Watson
Ladies 1s travelled away to Cambridge South. Having had the majority of possession, we went 1-0 down at half time. A motivating team talk encouraged the team going into the second half. Unfortunately, Cambridge managed to get a second goal early on in the second half. With 15 minutes to go, dragons needed to up their game- which they did! With two very well worked short corners, dragons managed to come away with a 2-2 draw taking the 1 point, but more importantly stopping them taking the 3 points to make us equal on points in the table. A result no doubt we will want to improve on for the second match at home!
Norwich Dragons Ladies 2s Vs Broadland Ladies 1s
Score: 3-1
Scorers: Harriet Marlee, Jess Bennett & Lilli Ballard
MOM: Hannah Roney & Harriet Marlee
A strong performance from a youthful L2’s team dominating the first half and then the last 20 minutes of the game – the bit in the middle was not their best, conceding on the stroke of half-time to somehow go into the break a goal down .
The team could have dropped their heads being undeservedly behind in a game they had dominated…….. but they worked through their ‘bad spell’ found their passing game and every player worked for each other with a calm determination to pull the game round.
Goals came from Harriet Marlee, Sarah Jessica Bennett and Lilli Ballard in the last 20 minutes of the second half……. following some patient passing hockey in the build up to each of the goals.
A performance the team should be proud of, as despite the dreadful conditions 
they stuck to their game plan, worked their way through their difficult spell and finished the game in dominant fashion! Some top performances notably Mimi Rutterford on her 2nd team debut.
Thank you to Sarah Wagstaff and John Butler on their strong umpiring in pretty awful conditions!!
Norwich Dragons Ladies 3s Vs Bury St Edmunds Ladies 2s
Score: 0-1
MOM: Nat Crisp & Jenna Mills
3’s travelled to Culford to face Bury today for a midday push back. Along came the rain to making it even more fun for us.
The team had some positional changes which seemed to work well for most of the game. Bury got a goal from a very strong hit after a short corner. Although we matched play and played our hearts out we couldn’t get one back.
The team seemed to have a very good positive match and everyone were happy after wards – especially with the Halloween cakes provided by Kristina!
Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s Vs East Coast Ladies 1s
Score: 3-0
Scorers: Alison Gunton, Charly Burgess & Amy Forse
MOM: Racheal Matthews
Ladies 4’s played East Coast. Dragons played some lovely flowing hockey. It turns out that practising short corners was a good thing – we won 3-0 all goals from shorts. (Thanks to the maestro Pete Thomas!). Well played everyone !!
Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s Vs Herling Ladies
Score: 1-2
Scorers: Adelice Stanley
MOM: Rosie Smith
With a very youthful 5s team and several players coming up from the 6s to replace a depleted 5s squad, the very experienced Herlings capitalised on the Dragon’s lack of familiarity as a team, and the match began at a fast pace with Herlings playing their expected long ball down the pitch to their nifty forward line, who looked dangerous on the attack. Fortunately, the defiant defence of Georgia Butterworth, Emily Grint and Georgia Heaton held them back throughout the first half.
Dragons rallied and countered with some good movements from the midfield of Lara King, Mae Clark, Maddie Gibbs and Honey Wells; with Rosie Smith and Lara making some good break throughs the Herling’s midfield but not quite getting the ball through to the forward line. The challenge of working out which lines were the hockey pitch markings (white or yellow?) added an additional frustration to the start of the game. First half over 0:0. After the break,
Dragons were shaken by two quick goals from Herlings – one a great strike from the top of the D and another which sneaked through Northy in goal; who had made some great saves from some strong Herling’s shots. For most of the second half, Dragons dominated the game with more possession and more shots on goal from Gemma Ballard, Jane Wells and Addi Stanley, but they were thwarted by a very good Herling’s goalie who kept our forwards at bay. Eventually Dragons had the breakthrough they needed in the last ten minutes. When a run through midfield saw Lara King provide a pacey pass to Addi who slotted comfortably pass the GK. Final Score 2:1 to Herlings. Going forward to our next game, we need a little more focus on earlier and precise delivery when passing; and our positioning off the ball. Let’s hope we come back stronger for the next game! Go 5s!!!
POM to Rosie Smith for a strong performance in her 5s debut.
Norwich Dragons Ladies 6s Vs East Coast Ladies 3s
Score: 3-3
Scorers: Alicia Fairweather, Lara Nuthall & Brittany Hopkins
MOM: Charlotte Knight
Ladies 6s played East Coast 3s in the first Ladies home match of the day.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 1s vs Wisbech Town 1
Score: 1-0
Scorers: Jonty Gosling
MOM: Dim Ives
In what will likely be the mighty Dragons’ final flight for some time, we ventured across the rain-dusted Fens to what is undoubtedly the Saint-Tropez of North-West Cambridgeshire!
Arriving to see the home team sporting red kit, the pushback was delayed while they fetched some white shirts…unfortunately, with our captain this week unable to play due to the tracking down of the rarest of canines in the highlands of Scotland, he failed to warn us of the clash of kits (…but he’s blaming Pitchero master Ali Smyth)
The game spluttered into life with both teams pressing aggressive setups. Finding joy in pockets of space down the wings, we created a fair few half-chances in the first half, however the final pass or finish wasn’t quite there, and the period ended with sides level.
The second half proved much more eventful than the first. The heavens opened and in the heavy downpour the home side found an additional gear, pushing through midfield and besieging our D on several occasions. Standing resolute, Brooksy again impressed a great deal, beating his men to the ball and sweeping danger up like a player beyond his years!
Owen Tennant entered the field as “fresh legs” and to sure-up the Dragons defence in the middle of the half…soon after pulling off an outstanding above-head save on the line!
Talking about saves, Dim was absolutely unbeatable in goal today, not for Wisbech trying their best to best him. A highlight of the many fine stops was a low right-hand stick save when the scores were level. Slightly against the run of play in the moment, clever Dragons forward play won a short-corner. Switching up routines, the ball was played short to Rixy, whose strike was saved by the Wisbech keeper into the path of our injector, Jonty, who produce a carbon-copy finish from his goal earlier this season! (Also…Rixy’s late miss! … won’t linger on this one though… )
A winning conclusion to this first stage of the season. We really dug in on a pretty dire pitch, with everyone putting in hearty performances! When things pick back up…winning ways WILL continue. The streak begins!
Norwich Dragons Men’s 2s vs Newmarket Men’s 1s
Score: 4-1
Scorers: Henry Thomas, Jon Miles, Charlie Creasy & Rupert Snelling
MOM: Ben Sathitsuk
With some hockey that flowed more elegantly than Ru’s luscious, silver locks, the 2s battled against the elements to yet another glorious victory in 3NE. Goals were scored; fun was had!
We were particularly strong out of the gate – as we have been all season – and caught the Newmarket defence napping within the first 5. A transfer starting with Ru at right-back (yep, you read that correctly) and culminating in a 2-on-1 with the keeper for
Josh Rollason and I to try not to mess up. We didn’t. 1-0. Then, pretty swiftly after that, Charlie came on and had an instant impact, capitalising on a rare pass from Jon across the D to tap it home with his stick. 2-0.
Newmarket didn’t quite get the memo about using the stick to score. With the umpires’ views obstructed and with an open-ish goal, a distinctly Beckham-like finish made it 2-1. But we were not to be deterred. Some positively dominant play emanating from the back and channelled with panache through the midfield of Mitch, Arj and Isaac, coupled with two wonderfully deflected goals from Ru and Jon in the second-half, put the game to bed.
4-1. Not bad for what might be the last game of 2020.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 3s vs East Coast Men’s 1s
Score: 1-6
Scorers: John Ives
MOM: Tom Poole
Another team talk emphasising the importance of a good start. We conceded inside 30 seconds today. I can only assume we’ll try and let one in inside 15 seconds next week. It’s important that we keep improving. Having said that we played really well in the first half, with debutant Bertie and Jos making great contributions.
Our passing game created several opportunities and short corners, but the awful weather made it hard to capitalise. Eventually though we grabbed a goal through John Ives and a broken down short. So a tight 2-1 at halftime was spoiled somewhat by a final quarter where we ran out of steam.
Player of the match well deserved by the ever improving Tom Poole. Well done all, a great step up again.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 4s vs Dereham Men’s 3s
Score: 3-4
Scorers: Will Kirby, Ross Barnshaw & Adrian Kemp
MOM: Adam Bowles & Rob Goodson
Dragons had an early game in the den this time, receiving Dereham 3 in a very chilly and windy morning. Soon after the push back Dragons managed to set themselves ahead with a goal by Will Kirby. Dereham kept pushing, mainly through long passes straight into the D, looking for their forwards to tap in on the goal line. And they eventually got the successful deflection, halfway through the first half, levelling up the score. A few minutes later the game had to be stopped for some 10 minutes, after one of Dereham players was found sat in midfield with acute pain around his shoulder. The game resumed once the player had been removed from the pitch and shielded safely in the dugout. Just five minutes before the break Ross Barnshaw brilliantly slotted in Dragons’ second goal with the finest deflection ever seen in front of a goalkeeper.
The start of the second half had to be delayed and an ambulance was called to take Dereham’s injured player to hospital with a suspected clavicle fracture, since he passed out during the break due to the pain. When the second half was resumed Dragons knew that, despite being in control of the game most of the time, Dereham had the skills to cause damage with those long passes into the D, so decided to remove a forward in order to get an extra defender. The change of strategy proved useful but didn’t stop Dereham from scoring twice, overtaking Dragons on the score board. Dragons had to work hard to get the equalizer by Adie Kemp. The game was at hand again but in the last few minutes Dereham hit the bullseye one more time, setting a 3-4 final score from another well executed short corner. Dragons never gave up and applied great pressure on Dereham’s defence during the last ten minutes, which also saw Owain Hall get a flesh wound to his forehead from a head-to-head bump that had to be steri-tripped by Peta Kerrigan.
The Man of the Match award went to both Adam Bowles and Rob Goodson, for their invaluable contributions in defence and midfield. Also worth mentioning is young keeper Conor Kerrigan, who displayed an assortment of incredible saves, and both Peta and Ben for dealing with the multiple injuries along with the emergency services. All in all, what a day! We wish the Dereham player who was taken to hospital a speedy recovery.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 5s vs Ipswich Men’s 3s
Score: 0-5
MOM: Lloyd Wade
Very wet pitch and conditions made it a tough day for all. Dragons after a scruffy first half, showed much improvement in the second half, and for the first time in 2 weeks, we didn’t end up with player in hospital.
Big thank you to the lads who travelled, and in some cases stepped up or down to play in awful conditions.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 6s vs Dereham Men’s 4s
Score: 2-3
Scorers: Mike Banham & Elliot Stevenson
MOM: Darryl Robinson
A game in which we had enough chances to have got something out of the game & one where a blocked short looped over those on the line(another week it would have cleared the bar). Still a great effort from the 6 lads still at school who made up the attacking force while the more mature diamond at the back & middle worked hard to keep the opposition out. It was Dereham who scored first from a follow up short following Alex Wolfe’s initial save. Just before half time, skipper Mike Banham powered home our first short corner. The second half was even, with the looping Dereham second & then a third. Late in the half Elliott Stevenson, doubled his seasons tally, to pull one back but equaliser eluded us. Thanks to Jason Wolfe for his words of wisdom at half & full time. Just enough for the lads to digest & implement next week. Elliott(time to renegotiate the goal scoring bonus – extra pocket money). MOM – Dar Ryl Robinson who just ghosted through the middle( happy Halloween), unnoticed but immensely effect while we await the return of some of our travelling players in higher teams.
Norwich Dragons Men’s 7s vs Harleston Magpies Men’s 6s
Score: 4-3
Scorers: Crossley Eccles, Andrew Cross, Pete Mares & James Hollis
MOM: Fin Heywood
A good game and result for the Men’s 7s away to Magpies 6s. The first half opened with Dragons maintaining most of the possession leading to an early goal secured by Crossley Eccles. Magpies soon responded, but further goals from Andrew Cross and Pete Mares saw the score line at 2:3 at half time.
The game was well balanced and both sides looked threating in the second half with Magpies levelling the score line at 3:3. However, some great defence and distribution of the ball from Finn Pond, Max Linford, Ali Smyth and David Kinder prevented any further goals. The final goal came from James Hollis attacking down the left with Pete Mares to seal the win.
Special mention for Colin Birch who made a fine contribution to the game having stepped in at the 11th hour to ensure we had a full squad. MOM this week is Fin Heywood who worked tirelessly down the right wing creating plenty of attacking opportunities.
Norwich Dragons Boys Development A vs Norwich City Boys Development
Score: 1-4
Scorers: Thomas Mack
MOM: Theo Demetriou
Dev boys played away at City today in a late afternoon friendly. It was a tough game against a well drilled side. Dragons didn’t really get going at all in the first quarter and the boys found themselves 2 goals down and frustrated at some strange decisions. The boys played better in the remaining quarters without really creating many chances though we did have a goal disallowed (no idea why) and Thomas Mack scored his first Dragons goal in only his second ever game of hockey. Final score was 4-1 to City. Theo Demetriou got man of the match. Thanks to Andy Kelsall and Vicky Earley for managing the team.
Norwich Dragons Girls Development A vs Norwich City Girls Development
Score: 0-3
MOM: Georgia Demetriou
The girls Dev A team played away to their Norwich City counterparts under a full moon in the last match on Halloween.
The defence worked hard with Erin Hernon tracking back well and shadowing her opponent out to the touchline. Ella Borrett was tackling strongly and winning the ball and were supported by a solid display by Rowan Hewitt. Spike was guiding them and reading the game and making interceptions.
City finally broke through when they had a 2 on 1 against keeper Arya and left her with no chance. The attack were pressuring the City defenders in their own 23 with Libby Ong and Georgia Demetriou to the fore. Chances were created and short corners won but at half-time the sides were still separated by the only goal.
Into the second half and supported in midfield by adults Amy Forse and Lois Metcalfe rotating at the bottom of the diamond this enabled Katie Hulme and Ivy Hodds to support the forwards and get the ball into the D but shots were saved by the City keeper. Arya in goal was making some good blocks with her pads and making good kicked clearances. City added a second goal with a short corner strike and a further goal in the third quarter.
Into the final quarter and Dragons continued to make good fast attacks. Anna Ong and Georgia Demetriou were getting behind the City defence but not quite able to beat the keeper and rebounds didn’t drop quite to sticks. They were well supported from the wings by Elizabeth Taylor, Freya McAllister and Sophia Betts. The final score in this friendly finished 3-0 to City.
I am sure though the large crowd of family members supporting the girls were as proud of the girls efforts and development as their coaches were.