Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 3-2  Norwich City 2

Dragons bounced back from last week’s disappointment with a spirited come-from-behind win in the local derby on Saturday.  It was the first time in a month that Dragons had played on their home pitch and they clearly enjoyed their return, starting the game brightly and moving the ball well on the quick surface.  The match was a veritable clash of styles, the home team looking to control possession, pushing their fullbacks on and linking midfield and attack neatly and fluidly while City preferred to bypass the midfield and play directly from back-to-front.  At times it was almost like watching Barcelona vs Stoke (or might have been were Dragons a little better at keeping the ball), particularly given the frequency with which overseas professional Rutledge kicked the ball in the opening exchanges.

Despite Dragons’ confident opening they found themselves behind against the run of play.  First City hammered home a short corner, their first opportunity of the match, and then the long ball paid dividends, skipper Smith making a terrible hash of dealing with the bouncing ball and Rich Smith struggling to match the silky movement of his opposite number as he tucked the second home past the stranded Collinge.  A lesser team might have wilted but Dragons persevered, sticking to their passing game and crucially pulling one back before the break, Gary capping a fine cameo for the home side, flicking home Turnbull’s crash-ball.

The second half was all Dragons – as good a 35 minutes as they’ve put together this season.  They defused City’s threat over the top and dominated the midfield creating a succession of half-chances.  In the end, though, it was a moment of individual brilliance that brought them level, Knights going on a mazy dribble down the right wing, evading half a dozen tacklers as he steamed to the by-line, and then tucking a superbly disguised flick beyond the City ‘keeper.  It was the lift Dragons needed – and deserved – not just the equaliser but a moment of such quality from so improbable a source.  They scented blood and the third came from a short-corner won by a rampaging run from the in-form Overstall and converted through a drag-flick from Snelling, all those hours of practice paying dividends again.

Wagstaff was delighted after the match:  “These derby games are so important.  That’ll give the whole red-and-green half of the city a lift.  There’ll be people really looking forward to going into work on Monday and it’s important that we give our fans something to enjoy.”  He batted away the controversy surrounding a recent tendency to use the Man-of-the-Match award to develop the confidence of some under-performing players:  “We all know the veterans in the side perform outstandingly week-in, week-out; that gets taken for granted.”  He refused to comment on reports of a power-struggle within the side which has seen the outstandingly gifted Whiting sidelined in recent weeks, though rival Smith is rumoured to have called Whiting “basically a pleb.”

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 2-5 Norwich City 3

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 2-1 Norwich City 4

Goals from Matt Jenkins and Ben Harvey ensured that Dragons returned to winning ways against local rivals Norwich City in a closely fought mid-table clash.

After an initial spell of City pressure, Jenkins opened the scoring for Dragons after beating the defender and firing a powerful shot through the keepers legs from an acute angle.

Dragons continued to press and were unfortunate not to extend their lead with George Walker, Adrian Kemp, Adam Sayer and Will Kirby all at the centre of promising moves which City were able to keep at bay.

Shortly before half time, City got their reward for their high work rate and equalised from a deflected short corner effort.

The second half began with a similar intensity to the first half; few clear cut chances but lots of dangerous counter attacking play from both sides with the game played in a highly competitive yet good spirited nature.

Dragons’ winner came after a fine attacking move both started and finished by Ben Harvey. Quick three touch passing carved the City defence down the left hand side and Harvey was able to get on the end of Kirby’s cross to finish into the corner from close range.

City pushed hard for an equaliser but were denied by some determined defending from Dragons, particularly from the ever-reliable Peter Davison and new defensive partner Andy Hipper.

Dragons leapfrogged their opponents as a result and can look forward to next week’s game with further optimism as they continue to work hard and impress in a new league.

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 2:2 IES 4

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 0-1 Ipswich 4

Dragons travelled south across the border yet again this week to face fellow title contenders who count the league secretary within their ranks! On best behaviour the game was approached with a different team talk to the 12 eager Dragons.

Many thanks to Robbie Bell for again stepping in and spending his whole day in Ipswich to ensure a novice didn’t have to don the pads again or expect their picture in the paper!

Dragons weathered early Ipswich pressure and after a little bit of education around rule interpretations the defence set about closing out Ipswich for the first half. Duncan (otherwise know by Robbie as Gordon….) remains like his nickname rock solid teaching a couple of the young attackers what a flat stick tackle was.

Tireless work from the wingbacks Lee and Klinsman (hair still perfect due to an inability to sweat) helped form a comfy sofa of a base for Dragons golden stick contenders Lawrence and Crossman to snatch a breakaway goal. Quentin the ‘Toyota Hilux’ of the mid field marshalled Packham and Webb to try to connect the back to the front of the normally well oiled Dragons machine. Packaham ran rings round his slower counter parts and gave Ipswich cause for concern.

Bingham and Butler ( I fell in a wheelie bin and hurt my thumb fame – trust me ask him) added to the golden couple up front but chances were slim and half time came with no goals at either end (apart from the one on one with the keeper slightly out of his area?).

The half time committee aided by a more clear sighted Helen Evans (sole supporter) set about trying to get the goals flowing. Unfortunately it was the one lapse in the defence that resulted in what was the winning goal being scored. Although ‘scored’ is a strong positive verb which probably doesn’t describe the way Rich ‘Kilnsman’ Davis rounded his own keeper with a sweet side foot into the empty goal. Not one to let this kind of set back hinder him Davies continues to this day to denies his part in the goal.

Dragons did create chances but various excuses from the misfiring golden couple where heard within the borders of Suffolk – ‘i can’t jive with him he’s too tall’ ,’ i even pulled out the snooker shot and that didn’t work’ , ‘what one on one with the keeper?’, ‘wasn’t it easier to……’.

Dragons finished the game with heads held high (no thanks to light blue no number (dark blue no number was fine) who seemed intent on playing a bit of rugby league) and sampled the club house vintage beers with good spirits. Cheers to Ipswich for a good close game and for keeping the rain at bay.

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Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N 
Norwich Dragons 1s 0:0 Bury St Edmunds

The Dragons played host to Bury St Edmunds needing a win to secure the top spot with the knowledge that Bury had one of the best defensive records in the league.  The Dragons were uncharacteristically lethargic in their warm up and unfortunately this approach was taken into the match and they never did get into their fast flowing rhythm as they have been used to this season. Dragons striker Laura SHREEVE did put the ball in the net early on in the match but the umpire claimed there was an infringement and disallowed it.

Bury, to their credit, frustrated the Dragons with some strong play in midfield keeping possession of the ball effectively but the Dragons defence always looked strong, especially defender and player of the match Sarah BORRETT, and never allowed Bury to  penetrate or trouble the Dragons keeper.

This was by no means the Dragons best performance and was a game that they did not do themselves justice but they were still the stronger of the two teams and had the better chances to win this game.  This is the second week when the Dragons were guilty of not being clinical in front of goal. Hopefully the squad will be keen to put this performance right as they visit Dereham next week.

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Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 5:0 Sprowston 1

On a beautiful autumnal day at Langley School, Norwich Dragons arrived in high spirits, following a good run of results. Dragons were asked to go out on the attack and take the game to their opponents, and this they did, right from the first whistle.

The early spell of pressure saw both wide midfielders Olivia Thomas and Niamh Lowe-Davies causing all sorts of problems to the Sprowston defence, by attacking at pace down the flanks and by getting in behind the defence. Dragon’s had their early chances, with both Amy Brown and Helen Kelly both having strong efforts on goal, however the Sprowston keeper made some good saves, to keep the scores level for some 20 minutes.

Eventually Dragons made the breakthrough, with Charly Burgess finding Hannah Hardy on the left; Hardy found Gail Thomas in good space at the top of the D, who fired the ball in towards the left hand post, which Hardy directed towards goal with an outstretched reverse stick, glancing the ball inside the near post.

This immediately settled the Dragons, who continued to dominate play and create chances. Earning a number of short corners, Dragons switched the ball to the left and Debs Smith smashed the ball into the goal with an excellent strike. The third goal followed quickly after, following some good play in the D, a goal bound shot by Gail Thomas was stopped on the line by a Sprowston foot, resulting in a penalty flick being awarded. Gail Thomas confidently stepped forward (having first checked with all her teammates, that they didn’t want to take it), the ball was confidently dispatched into the corner, making the score a fully deserved 3-0 at halftime.

The second half saw the theme of the first half continue, with Dragons attacking at every opportunity and Sprowston looking to clear the ball out wide or long in the hope of a break away attack. The Dragon’s defence of Ally Windsor-Waite, Angela Murgatroyd and Ruth Willmott were rarely troubled and keeper Amy Forse was unable to add to her one touch in the first half. With Alice Guest and Debs Smith pushing up higher and delivering some fine balls into the danger area, the Dragons attack continued to create chances. Their 4th came following good work from Helen Kelly and Amy Brown, who found Gail Thomas in good space again in the D; once again Gail Thomas was clinical in slotting past the Keeper.

The final goal was especially rewarding, coming from a short corner routine which had been worked on in training; one which former ‘Dragon’ Sally Small, would have been proud of! Debs Smith found Hannah Hardy (Player of the Match), who squared for the incoming Amy Brown, who placed the ball past the Keeper into the corner, to complete a fully deserved 5-0 win for the Dragons 2’s.

A strong performance by this team who played some excellent passing hockey at times and who have a sound base to build on, going into the last two games before the Christmas break.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier League
Norwich Dragons 3s 3-0 UEA 2

Dragons started the game fortified by their good performance last week and resolved to turn good performances into the full set of points. UEA started strongly but Dragons resolutely stuck to Coach Dawson’s plan and played their way onto the game. UEA, denied space and closed down by the hard working Dragon’s, were conceding possession which through clever switching and neat interchanges of passing meant Dragon’s were putting more and more pressure on the UEA defence. Their defence was eventually breached by an Emma Moolman strike which meant that Dragons finished the half 1-0 up.

In the second half Dragon’s, aware that UEA would start strongly, kept their discipline and continued to play composed hockey, switching effectively and working hard to deny UEA any opportunities. Mid-way through the second half, Aoife Lowe-Davies got on the end of an excellent defence splitting pass to cooly slot the ball past the UEA keeper. Dragons maintained their performance and were rewarded with a well deserved third goal converted by Harriet Green. This was an excellent result for a still developing team, the way they defended all the way through the team and worked hard for each other was outstanding.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 3-0 Sprowston 2

Sprowston 2 conceded.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 2-1 Sprowston 3

Dragons Ladies 5s bounced back this week with a nail biting a 2-1 win over Sprowston 3s.

Dragons dominated the first half in terms of possession with the defensive unit taking on Sprowston’s attempts comfortably. Emma Buxton’s quick tackles and Jess Tye Leach’s confident clearances held their attacks at bay. Sarah Nortcliff continues to develop into a force to be reckoned with her relentless defensive work. By half time, the mid field had worked up with field well with some nice passing up the wing by Rachael Matthews, Charlotte Stace & Chiara Bond. The forwards  Izzy Woodcock, Lizzie MdDonnell and Lucy Bracey applied pressure in the D but Sprowston defence easily saw off their attempts. Eventually, the combination of Lucy Campbell  & Rosie Korn were too much for Sprowston as they managed to work the ball up the pitch to be finished by Lucy (Player of the match).

At half time, Dragons 5s felt they could win this, however Sprowston clearly had the same idea. Dragons got scrappy and played too many balls through the middle of the pitch rather than their patient work up the wing. Eventually Sprowston took their chances  and secured themselves a number of short corners. Alice Smith put in three touches in an attempt to clear the ball but Dragons couldn’t get it cleanly out of danger & Sprowston took their moment and put in a little tap to secure a draw.

Now the team knows that this captain does not want another 1-1 draw and they pushed hard to get that ball. Chiara Bond tackled back like a trooper and Katie Buxton pushed up create some great play.  After some battle, Lois McGregor retrieved the ball back from Sprowston and with a quick tap back to Rosie Korn who then placed the ball perfectly to Lucy Campbell. Lucy Campbell then showed her mature composure in front of goal and slotted it away just before the final whistle was blown.

This win pushes Dragons to number 4 in Norfolk division 2, however we cannot rest on our laurels From our post-match analysis we know we can do more & we certainly can’t afford to leave it to minute 69 as this captains heart cannot take it. 

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s 1:3 Lowestoft Railway 2

Dragons kept close to Rails for most of the match, and they are gradually inching towards a decent team performance. The team glows when tactical decisions work out in the game, and having given Beth Elgood free rein to go raiding up front, our left defender duly scored a vary good goal, which brought us back to 1-1. We also switched Helen Marsh from bottom of the diamond to left mid, where she looked very comfortable and turned in a good second half performance.

Once again, Dragons relied very heavily on their defence to keep them in the game, and Jazzy D, Beth, and Lottie Korn did not let us down. Rails only really got on top after five penalty corners in succession resulted in their second goal. The onslaught drained our energy levels and battered our feet! We were very grateful that Cara Anderson was available to play in goal, and only the very best shots got passed her.

Mimi Stannard was available again, and for the second week impressed with her drive and energy. She is also adjusting to the needs of her team mates, and contributed to the passing game. Other highlights were the performance of Amy Hunter, who got the player of the match vote – the team appreciated that she gave 100 per cent to her task when moved to the top of the diamond. Her tackling improved, she was able to hold up play and give neat accurate passes to supporting players.

The 6s still need to work on their determination to be first to the ball. Hopefully the ‘hanging back’ is not due to lack of bravery, but to uncertainty about ‘who should go’, which in turn is down to a lack of experience and understanding of the positional roles. If we needed a role model on the pitch it was Rails’ May Bandy. Just 13, still small and slight, she went for everything at pace, had good stick skills and a cracking finish. Next week we are resolved to go out and play in that same fearless fashion.

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Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:1 Yarmouth

Dragons started strong with good possession of the ball and great pressure. Lucy Mortom then made a fantastic break up the pitch and passed into the ‘D’ but unfortunately this was not enough to secure the first goal of the match.  Everyone defended really well. This was sadly not enough to stop Yarmouth scoring the first goal of the match.

In the second half, we all took on our roles with great motivation. We were determined to try and win back a goal to draw with Yarmouth . Rachel Bruce and Carmel Windsor-Waite made speedy runs and defended brilliantly while making great passes out wide. This was not enough to secure another goal.

The game finished 1-0 to Yarmouth.

Thanks to all the coaches who helped us in training and well done to everyone who played and used communication and skill to make the team as strong as it was. Particular thanks to Sarah Wagstaff(our adult player ) and Rachel Bruce and Carmel Windsor-Waite who were players of the match.

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Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: 0:0 Dereham

The Players: Ben Nkrumah, Andy Carver, McCartney Aldous, James Hansell, Tom Williams, Connor Adams, Edward Murphy, George Bowman , Raunaq Rai, Pedro Goss and Rob Chaney Baxter

I think this was the first match against Dereham where they didn’t field an adult, and thus Barney and Ali remained on the sidelines providing advice.  We won the toss and as it was drizzling down Pedro opted for the push back. From the outset we were on the attack with George making some good runs down the right. We had the benefit of a couple of early short corners but Dereham were out fast and we were unable to get a clean strike at goal, with Connor making some excellent tackles.

After the second short, Dereham made a good break and we were on the defensive and Ben made a couple of waist high saves with his hand which were swiftly cleared away by Andy.  McCartney made some fine tackles around the D.

Dragons made many good through balls down both sides with James and Connor feeding Raunaq, Tom, and George, who got a great clean shot that hit the sideboard. Dragons had another long spell in and around their D, coupled with another couple of short corners which were cleared by their goalie.

In the second half, Ali made some changes, with Pedro Raunaq and Edward playing midfield with George up front. A brave tackle by Andy ended with one of them bashing into his head (is there a match where he hasn’t been injured?), and he won the consequent bully and made a great through ball to Tom, to take it into their D for a short spell.

Edward, Raunaq and Pedro did some fine work midfield, building some great attacking moves for Rob and George, but some good Dereham defending kept us out. Later on Connor switched with Rob and both made great contributions, with Connor dribbling through into their D on a couple of occasions, and Rob doing some great tracking and blocking.

In the last five minutes we were largely on the defensive but a couple of good saves from Ben and some good tracking back by Raunaq, Pedro and Edward, who made a number of good jab tackles, and together with some fine block tackles by Andy and James and two good saves by Ben, the Dragons kept Dereham out. So the final score was 0 – 0. Many thanks to Ali and Barney

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The under 16 Dragons boys will be competing in the indoor county tournament at UEA this Sunday.

Dragons will be playing City & Magpies, with the tournament winners going on to the East champs.

Tournament is 1pm – 4pm at the UEA Sportspark, in Hall 3.

Match schedule is:
1.15pm Magpies vs City
2.15pm Dragons vs Magpies
3.15pm Dragons vs City

Please go along to cheer them on in this fast paced form of the game and see the UEA Indoor Hockey facility in use by Dragons for the first time.

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 2-2 Cambs Uni 3

Dragons were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw at home on Saturday against bottom-of-the-table Cambridge University.  Dragons were without Turnbull and Charlish and still without Whiting, but welcomed back veteran Wolfe and journeyman Overstall, following a good 55-minute run-out with the 2s last week. 

Dragons started the game confidently against a struggling University side and completely dominated the opening 35 minutes.  Wagstaff played his best hockey of the season, assured in distribution and disciplined in defence, Sloman, restored to a midfield role, continued his rich vein of form, and Browne was a constant threat leading the attacking line.  The opening goal came from a quickly taken attacking-hit, a balletic run from the graceful Rutledge teeing-up Snelling whose thunderous strike drove both keeper and ball into the back of the net.  A second should have followed when Wolfe, locked in a running battle with his opposite number, nicked the ball from Piers Farquhar-Smythe and drove a perfect pass across the face of goal which somehow Knights failed to bundle in.  The second did come when Smyth threaded a brilliant ball to Browne who crashed his shot past the stranded Cambridge ‘keeper.  And Dragons should have finished the game in the first half as Cambridge struggled to cope with the movement of the front three and the powerful midfield running of Flatman, Woodward, and Sloman.

Dragons took their foot off the pedal in the second half, though, and the University side showed a lot of character to drag themselves back into the game.  After the match, skipper Ed Smith was keen to downplay his influence, but it was no surprise that the visitors’ best spell came while he was off the pitch resting his troublesome knee:  “a man of my age can’t expect to play every minute of every game and it’s important for the younger players to take responsibility.”  Cambridge pulled a goal back when a ball driven into the D was deflected home by the hapless Rich Smith in a perfect training-ground routine and the visitors controlled the game for long spells in the second half.  Cruelly for Dragons, though, the equaliser came only in the dying seconds, Monty Williams-Monteith sneaking a short-corner routine just beyond Collinge and inside his right post.  There was still time for Browne, in the last movement of the game, to spurn a gilt-edged chance.  “It could have been worse, I could have missed a flick” was all he had to offer after the match.

Having come from two down against Newmarket in their last home match, it was Dragons’ turn to be hauled back and plain-speaking Smith was in no doubt that today it was a case of glass-half-empty:  “there were positives today, though, to be honest, right now I can’t think of any; the fact is in that second half we played like an armadillo which doesn’t know the inside of its own shell.”

Next week Dragons will look to return to winning ways on the road at Cambridge Nomads.  Some tickets for travelling fans are still available.

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 0:8 Dereham 2

Dragons came up against a strong Dereham side. With plenty to work on, the Dragons found themselves down at half time with frustration building and team spirit still high they continued to pressure Dereham through the second half but unfortunately couldn’t find the back of the net.

The game finished 8-0 to Dereham 2s with Gary Burgess man of the match.

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 1-3 IES 3

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 2-3 UEA 4

Dragons had to provide an umpire from their ranks as the Dragons 1’s playing on the other pitch took our umpire for their game. Jon Price and Mike Banham took a half each as umpires. 

Without their Captain’s leadership Dragons started the game slowly and UEA were the better side at the start and the pressure paid off with a goal. Dragons picked themselves up and pressed for a goal which came from a good move pulling the ball back to Rob Jenkins at the top of the D, who slotted it home with another clinical finish. Unfortunately Dragons were still not at their best and a good UEA side scored again with the ball pinging about the D in the air before they put it in. Although Dragons were still not playing that well, they scored again with Rob Jenkins scoring again in what is becoming his trade mark style.

Dragons were probably a bit lucky to be level at half time but with a rousing half time talk and the captain coming on to play the second half, they played much better at the start of the second half. Unfortunately, UEA added a third against the run of play when the ball somehow found its way to a player on the far post and he popped it in. Elliot had no chance with the goals and made some good saves and clearances throughout the Game.

Dragons continued to play good Hockey in the second half and pressed for the equaliser with Ollie Browne working particularly hard up front with some good shots well saved by the keeper. One attempt at goal led to Ollie being upended by the keeper and a penalty being awarded to Dragons. Ollie took the penalty but again the keeper made a good save and Dragons were denied their equaliser. Dragons continued to press up to the end but did not get the goal that they deserved and the game finished 3 : 2 to the UEA.

The Defence played well with Paul Keating filling in well for Mike Banham in the second half and a good full back debut for Sam Hobdell. There were some good midfield performances from Chris Wilkinson and of course ‘2 goal’ Rob Jenkins, but the Man of the Match goes to Ollie Browne for his tireless efforts up front.   

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 6-2 IES 5

After initial panic over availability subsided with a few new closet players found emergency care for children , wives and numerous animals, the Mens 5ths headed towards Ipswich with a full squad. Keepergate was resolved by Robbie Bell kindly hanging around in the rain post his first loss of the day and having been cleared (no drugs test required) to play and agreement from a very gracious IES captain we were all set.

The standard captains talk then followed with normal bemused looks. The quote resounding around the players was something along the lines of ‘thats a very attacking formation’. Whilst true to the England HA preference the defence was the first aspect to be tested as IES poured forward and the team talk wandered into distant memory. Fortunately Duncan ‘the rock’ Evans marshalled the limited marking and was pivotal in breaking up numerous attacks and kindly allowed Bell to ‘chime’ in between the posts. Buoyed by this platform wing backs Lee and Rich (Jorgen Klansman) started to respond and broke out of their 23 metre line which in turn fed the much starved mid field trio of Quinton ‘centre land rover mid really?’ , Kaushal and Jones. Once beyond the midfield the ball passed slickly to the golden stick contenders of Lawrence and Crossman, who aided by ‘yes its a mo’ Key proceeded to punish IES with 5 first half goals.

Super sub Saville is worthy of mention as he dived full ‘lenghtish’ to nab his first 5th team score at the far post showing positioning and poachers instinct that belies his years. Goal of the first half and game though went to player of the match Kaushal who showed the goal hangers how it should be done. A great drive in from the 23 metre line took out 3 IES players and his text book finish low to the corner from the top of the d would leave all his coaches saying ‘ I taught him that because no other 5ths forward finishes from the top of the d in the bottom corner’….

Arriving at half time with a strange 5 goal advantage left the captain bereft of motivational options so the standard speech was rolled out and IES immediately sensed an opportunity (someone did mention they hadn’t had a clean sheet this season). Strong possession and use of a mature player who can only be described as a true time lord lured us into a pace we didn’t fully understand. The ball remained unobtainable for long slow periods of time until a change of pace caught dragons napping.

Fortunately one of the IES players had a minor melt down around the line not being quite straight and dragons found them selves a man up. With no idea how to benefit from this dragons could only add one more to the first half tally and IES (deservedly) won the second half 2-1. Many people would look back at the golden stick contender and consider that he only managed to net twice in the second half after the whistle had stopped play. Others would say this was backed up by the swift exit after the game without paying match fees – don’t worry Mr T knows where you all live!

Over all a very good performance. A good competitive game made even better by the hospitality and great teas from IES. Hopefully they might even let us have a game on their ‘smurf turf’ next year. Goal scorers were Lawrence (yes I am a ball room dancer) x2 , Crossman (hat trick avoidance) , Saville , Kaushal and Keys (yes he melted it in).

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Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N 
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:4 Saffron Walden

Norwich Dragons tasted their first defeat of the year on their home ground at the Den when they faced Saffron  Walden who had been relegated from the Premier Division last year.

The match was fiercely contended with both teams playing the match at a high tempo playing some attractive possession hockey. There were opportunities created at both ends and player of the match Freddie BRISCOE had an outstanding game in goal for the Dragons being gamefully employed by the visitors. However it was WALDEN that finally broke the deadlock. However the Dragons levelled the match immediately. Some excellent build up play led to Rachel KING dribbling the ball past the Saffron Walden defence and striking the ball on her reverse stick side with venom at the top of the D scoring what could only be described as contender for the goal of the season as the ball flew into the net.

Norwich Dragons had their chances to take the lead but it was the visitors that were more clinical as they capitalised as the Dragons defence failed to clear their lines. Again the home team reacted immediately another individual effort from KING taking the game to 2-2 at the break.

The Dragons had the majority of the possession in the second half, more short corners than the visitors and very nearly took the lead for the first time in the match only to see the effort from Marie JAMES verve just past the outside the post. However a mistake from the home team gave Walden possession on the half way line and this was punished as the speed and quality of Waldens passing left the Dragons trailing once again. Before the Dragons could gather composure they were knocked minutes later as the visitors scored again. To Dragons credit they continued to push forward created several chances. A number of short corners were awarded to the home team but these all went begging.

This was by no means a bad performance by the Dragons and they shouldn’t be down beat about this result. These were very strong opponents who were skillful and well organised, certainly the strongest opponents the Dragons have met this year who were clinical in their finishing and who punished any mistakes presented to them. The Dragons will benefit from matches such as this and will grow as a team. They remain joint top of the league which is no mean feat for a newly promoted team but from this performance and others they need to get better at short corners.

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Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:1 Cambridge Nomads

Norwich Dragons Ladies 2’s travelled to Nomads with a slightly depleted squad in terms of numbers (with 8 players unavailable), however, what they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in quality and determination. Playing a Nomads team sitting one place above them in 2nd place, Dragons knew they would need to play well to take anything back up the A11!

And play well they did, with Gail Thomas being a very welcome addition to the team, sitting in the heart of the Dragons midfield, helping to pull the strings alongside a slightly jaded but determined Debs Smith, the two linked up extremely well, dominating the middle.  The forward line included Laura Tompson-Wright making her debut for Dragons.  With news faces playing together for the first time, the team could have been excused for taking time to settle, however this was not the case, as the players gelled incredibly quickly and the early encounters were pretty even.

Hannah Hardy, filling in a left-back, linked up well with the hard working Niamh Lowe-Davies at left midfield and both ensured that any Nomads pressure down the right was quickly closed down.

With Helen Kelly making some impressive runs and Sarah Radley as determined as ever, Dragons put plenty of pressure on the Nomads defence, however could not force the breakthrough. Some good pressure saw Dragons force their first short corner, Gail Thomas had a strike from the top of the D, which took a slight deflection off a Nomads defender before flying past the keeper. Unfortunately this was ruled out for being slightly too high. Nomads tactic of playing on the break caught Dragons out late in the half and they conceded a short corner. Nomads made it count with a shot to the left, which was deflected inside the post. A 1-0 scoreline at half time was not a true reflection on the game.

Dragons regrouped at the break and came out full of belief. Within 4 minutes of the restart, they forced a short corner, this time Gail Thomas was clinical, smashing the backboard with a clean strike to level the scores. From the restart, Dragons won possession, Charly Burgess made a strong run down the right, and found Laura Tompson-Wright in a great position in the D. Laura showed good composure to slot the ball through the keepers legs, to take a 2-1 lead; 2 goals in 2 minutes!

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier League
Norwich Dragons 3s 0-3 Dereham 3

Dragons Ladies 3s went into their match against Dereham 3s with focus and determination aswell as a few team changes and new faces. Dragons dominated possession from the start and had some great linking play throughout the team but just could not find the back of the goal.  Dereham countered quickly with a break and slipped it past the keeper. Dereham scored twice more in open  play in quick succession with one more slip and a deflection.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 0-3 Diss

On what has to be the coldest day of the season so far we set off for a nice early start in Diss. It was certainly a game of two halves – with Diss dominating the play and scoring all three goals during the first 35 minutes of the game and Dragons taking charge of the second half.

Dragon’s midfield worked hard in the first half trying to move the ball wide and along the line with Holly Bailey, Natasha Falzon, Sue Cross and Gemma Rump providing strong passing and decisive runs up the wing, however every time they reached the opposition’s 25 the play was turned in the opposite direction.  Diss didn’t have any major breaks in play or one on one situations with the keeper, in fact they had relatively few shots on goal during open play and those that they did have were decisively saved by Cara Anderson (PoM). All of the Diss’ goals came from short corners – and Diss certainly had enough of them, at least 12 by my count.  The first goal was a lucky deflection from the keeper and onto a Diss stick which then went up and over the keeper’s head (even Diss couldn’t believe their luck). The second was from a slipped ball across the goal and into the corner and the final was another very lucky shot which rebounded off the post at such an angle that it crossed the line at the opposite side of the goal! Dragon’s main chance of a goal came from Rosie Korn who was denied on the line during a mad scramble at the goal mouth.

After the break Dragons came out fighting and truly took control of the second half. Laura Goodbun made some amazing runs down the right wing – leaving the Diss players standing. Marcy Windsor Waite and Sophie Farrow worked beautifully as a pair moving the ball through the middle and left – all of the above had some excellent opportunities but Diss’ keeper was having a good match and saved every shot.  Lorna Travers had a shot which hit the post and Gemma Rump was with in a hairs breath on the left.  While Diss certainly didn’t give up during the second half the Dragons’ defensive line saw off most attacks before they hit the D, with Laura Bruce and Freya Clogan making every attempt to switch play back in Dragon’s favour. This determined attitude by the Dragons team meant that Diss were not able to increase their score from the first half.

This was another game where everything we have practised was put into play, good passing, letting the ball do the work and shooting as soon as we crossed the D but somehow the ball just would not go over the goal line. It was a really good team performance and everyone should be pleased with the part they played.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 4-0 Evergreens 2

Ladies Dragons 5s have a strong comeback after a two week break for Division 2 with 4-0 win and some cracking shots on goal to seal the deal.

The beginning of the game did not start with the same promise as the end result. After a small injury to Rachel Matthews and a break by Evergreens it looked like Dragons were not in control the game. The Evergreens took their chances and won a short corner. Luckily, this was seen off easily by the dragons 5’s awesome defence of Sarah Nortcliff, Katie Buxton, Emma Buxton and Jess Tye Leach.  After this moment though, Dragons 5s took control.

Playing some excellent balls through, the midfield played well together with Lizzie McDonnell holding the middle. Chiara Bond as usual was making stunning runs up the right & Rachel Mathews making some excellent passes up the left. Dragons dominated the game and beguiled the Evergreens who could not keep up. Dragons took their chances with Evergreens deflecting many shots until a short corner was given. Dragons made the most of this short working the ball around the circle until eventually a lifted ball from Izzy Woodcock (Player of the Match) was struck mid-air  into the back of the net by Lois McGregor. Not long after pulling ahead, Izzy Woodcock struck again with an excellent ball into the far corner.

Half time Dragons were two nil up but came back even stronger keen to seal the deal of a comfortable win. Dragons continued to dominate the game with some excellently worked balls by Anja Finnegan. One of these balls got trapped just in front of the keeper, where Lois McGregor pulled it back to give Izzy Woodcock a clear shot on goal. Not satisfied with the first two goals she played a part in Izzy hammered it home with a lovely lifted shot.  Finally finishing the game, Lisa Harwood who worked hard throughout the game scored a determined goal slowly over the line which finished up Dragons 4-0 up and a very happy team & happy coach in the hard-working David Bond.  

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s 2-2 Hornets

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Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0-4 Magpies

On Saturday 9^th November’s match Dragons development girls played to amazing standards. Magpies were extremely strong but the girls did not give up. During the first 20 minutes of the game due to Magpies strong attack two goals were scored but our defence were constant and kept clearing the ball. However due to Magpies adult strong defence the ball kept coming back. After the first 20 minutes from some amazing passing and runs from Carmel Windsor Whaite, Lucy Morton and Brooke Simmons the ball was so close to the goal, unfortunately due to strong defence from the Magpies the ball never reached the goal. In the second half of the game from strong defence especially from Carmel Windsor Whaite and some amazing saves from Alessandra Pellegrini only one more goal was scored. Then from really good pressure and hassling from all the girls the ball stayed in mid-field for the rest of the game. Unfortunately though due to the strong defence of the Magpies the score at the end of the game was 0-3 to Magpies. Unsurprisingly Carmel Windsor Whaite won player of the match for great consistency of play throughout the game and for playing amazing defence.

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Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 1-3 Norwich City

Ben Nkrumah’s fantastic save in the first half taking out the opposition player.  Conor Adams’ great chance in the second half. Good passing teamwork from the players allowing Connor to slot the ball towards goal, but unfortunately the opposition keeper kept it out. Tom Williams’ goal from a short corner from a great pass from Pedro and a hard hit from Tom to finish it off.

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Boys u14 Sunday 10/11/13

Dragons player of the match was James Hansell.

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Hoof table as at 09/11/2013

U10 boys won the Magpies tournament with 4 wins out of 4. 3-0 v Pelicans(Casper, William & Ben) 2-0 v Magpies(William, Jake) , 8-0 v Watton (James*3, Ben 2, Cameron 2 & Casper) & the tournament winning victory (in the 3rd game) 1-0 v CIty – winner scored by the teams player of the tournament James! Boys made coaches Cross & Panter proud. Special mention to Alex Wolfe 4 clean sheets 5 days after putting on a keepers kit for the 1st time.

Under 12 Boys finish 3rd with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses (both by a single goal). A good first tournament with a number of the Boys playing at Under 12 level for the first time, who really grew into the tournament as the games went on.

An excellent performance from the U12 girls; in 5 of their 7 matches they had over 60% possession, more like over 80% in a couple of matches. Unlucky not to score. They were fab and should be very proud of themselves!

Under 12 girls finish 4th and under 10 girls finish fifth. Thanks to David Pentin and Gemma Rump for managing.

Under 10 Girls

Manager:

David Pentin

Team:

Tilly Connors Beckett (GK)

Lucy Curtis

Jemima Watson

Sasha Armstrong (Captain)

Mia Bailey

Simran Rai

Octavia Udy

Stella W W

Under 10 Boys

Manager:

Crossy
Team:

James Cross (captain)

Edward Cross

Ben Panter

Arjuna

William Bowman

Casper Lind

Jake Reynolds

Oliver Smith

Alex Wolfe

Cameron Tasker

Dragons u10 boys played 4 games won 4 games , scored 14 goals & didn’t concede…..and won!

First game was a 3-0 victory versus Pelicans – with James dominating the middle of the pitch Casper & William weaved their magic down the wings to create a number of opportunities. One such run from Casper ended with him hitting the post & leaving a simple goal for Ben who was in the right place at the right time. Casper & William both scored goals their forward play deserved.

Game 2 saw Magpies dispatched 2-0. The deadlock was broken in this closer game with a crisp shot from the top of the D by Jake, whose run forward was timed to perfection, William sealed the win with his 2^nd goal of the day.  Keeper Alex yet again had a quiet game thanks to committed defence from Edward, Arjuna & Cameron.

Game 3 came the crunch – win & the tile should be ours!  Perfect start, the ball broke to James at the top of the D & his clean strike was too good for the City keeper…..30 seconds gone, only 12 minutes 30 seconds to hold on!  Yet again thanks to tireless work by Skipper James most of City forward runs were stopped and any that made it to the D were well defended by the team, yet again Alex held firm in goal.  Full time & joy all round…..the team knew this was the game to win if we wanted to finish 1^st, all the more sweeter beating City J

Game 4 & it was time to enjoy ourselves, Watton battled hard but were steam rollered 8-0, with 6 outfield players all wanting to score, new boy Oliver had his best game nearly scoring, defender Edward was very pleased when given the call to run forward at will! Scorers were skipper James with a hatrick, two more from our very willing front runner Ben, two for our defender given licence to roam,  Cameron & one more for our right wing wizard Casper. Keeper Alex was able to relax in this game, sit in his goal and chat to Sue (his keeper coach).   At the end the boys all voted for their player of the tournament,  all had to think hard as everyone had worked hard & played very well , the vote for his tireless work up and down the pitch , 4 goals and bringing team Jelly babies,  went to skipper James Cross.  Coaches Cross & Panter were very proud…..roll on the next tournament!

Under 12 Girls
Manager: Gemma Rump
Team:

Jodi Rump (Capt)

Molly Finegan (GK)

Lara Taylor

Lucy Buxton

Scarlett Udy

Esme Potter

Aspen Gilvey

Heather Tasker

Ellie Woods

Under normal circumstances following a tournament the match report would include a brief report, including perhaps particular moments from individuals,  from each match played; however, having looked through all of the notes written during and after each match, there seems little point as the same comments were made each time, namely that the girls had a phenomenal tournament! That it was a real team effort, is reflected in the fact that no player of the tournament could be decided, instead it was ‘Team of the Tournament’.

In the initial match, during the first half, the girls were a little defensive and slightly reticent, perhaps slightly rusty having not played in a tournament since the end of last season; however, it really didn’t take them long to get into their stride,  with the match ending in a 0-0 draw.

The second match ended 1-3 to Norwich City B’s, who went on the win the tournament. There was some excellent play, not reflected in the final score. The marking was good, there was some excellent defending, and the one goal demonstrates how much of a team effort it was; the ball came from Esme in defence, to Lucy on the right wing, to Lara just outside the D, then a pass to Jodi in the D, who had a shot, which was well defended by Norwich City, straight to Heather who put the ball in the net. This was an excellent display of team work, and a reflection of the tournament as a whole.

The third match was possibly the most frustrating of the seven, as Dragons were definitely the superior team, having by far the majority of possession. Unfortunately, and I quote from Gary, parent of Aspen “there was nothing more they could have done; there appeared to be a magnetic field preventing the ball from crossing the line” He is not wrong. The team battled and battled, with the ball rarely, if at all, leaving the attacking half. Poor Molly, in goal, could only watch from a distance, but no matter how hard they fought, the ball just wouldn’t cross the line! A real shame, but not a disappointment as the commitment and determination cannot be faulted.

The fourth match, against Dereham, ended in a 0-0 draw. The team were proactive and had a high percentage of the possession, although, following their battle in the previous game, were perhaps showing a little tiredness, and were not spreading out and using the pitch as they had been in previous games. A good save from Molly ensured that Dereham didn’t get ahead, and there was good positive tackling at both ends of the pitch.

Any tiredness had disappeared in time for the fifth match against Norwich city A team, and the girls played a fabulous game. As with most other games, they had the majority of the possession. They began the game on the attack, and put simply, they didn’t stop! Every single team member played their part to ensure that the match was great for the spectators and team members alike. Defending was excellent, passing was fantastic through the midfield, and goal scorer Aspen, had listened well to advice, ensuring that she was available on the post to slot the ball in behind the keeper when it had been put in the D. A tremendous effort!

The sixth game, against pelican’s A team resulted in a 0-0 scoreline, and yet again Dragons had the majority of possession, but unfortunately just couldn’t get the ball past the post. Not a single team member can be faulted, as it wasn’t for lack of trying. Perseverance most definitely prevailed over tiredness!

The final match, against Magpie’s A team was always going to be a tough one; however, yet again the girls battled and battled, so although Magpies went away the winners, and went on to come second in the tournament, the Dragons could leave the field with their heads held high.

It is fitting here to include some comments from the parents, just to demonstrate that I’m not exaggerating; the girls really did have a phenomenal tournament! I could be here all night if I include everything, so here are a few snippets: “fantastic!”, “real team effort!”, “never gave up!”, “worth getting out of bed on a Sunday morning to watch this!”, “I never realised that U12 hockey could be so exciting!”, and so it goes on….

If the standard of play from these girls today is anything to go by, then this team will be a force to be reckoned with in future tournaments. I echo the words of the parent who said it’s worth getting out of bed for…. (although I didn’t think that when my alarm went off and I could hear that it was raining rather hard!). A thoroughly enjoyable tournament which saw everyone arrive and leave in high spirits.

Well done girls!

Under 12 Boys

Manager: Ali Smyth and Lewis Wilkins

Team:

Angus Reid Edwards (GK)

Angus Blazer
Theo Wood
Jamie Yates
Dan Murphy
Jono CB (captain)
Harry Smith
Tom Linford

George Wright

The team arrived at around 12:45, in the cold and rain but soon warmed up with some shots against Angus R.E, who was our goalie. We were soon ready to play our first game which was against Norwich City B.

Throughout that game we were attacking most of the time and were dominating play and possession.

Despite having so many shots, we only won 1-0 and the goal came from Jonathan C.B with a little lifted pass into the goal.

After that game we had no rest and were playing our next game against Norwich City A on the same pitch. This game wasn’t as easy as the last, as they got the first goal within the first few minutes. However, seconds later they lost possession and a nice clean pass from Theo at right back to Jonathan, then to Tom Linford on the right wing, which played an early ball into Daniel Murphy who played the ball into the goal. Ali was especially pleased with our play. Unfortunately they broke through to score at the very end, making the final score 2-1.

We had a break between games and at the same time the heavens decided to open! This didn’t dampen our spirits in any way as our 3^rd match, against Watton, was a comfortable win of 1-0 with Daniel Murphy getting the goal. Our forth match was against Magpies B. We thought we were in for a tough one…

But we were wrong as we went 1-0 up with a goal from Angus Blazer who was set up by Harry. In the closing minutes, they caught us on the break, to settle it 1-1. Our next match was against Pelicans. George Wright had come from JDC training to help us in the final few games. He swapped positions with Theo in right back. We couldn’t find a goal but neither could they so it ended 0-0 thanks to Angus Reid Edwards saving a reverse stick shot in the last minute. Our final game was against Magpies A. On the day they were just better than us as it ended 1-0 to them.

Over all we finished 3^rd and was a good day for both the under tens and under twelves. It was a promising start to the season and can only get better.

Yes, 9 current (and one past) Norwich Dragons Hockey Club members went off to Oxford yesterday to represent Norwich High School for Girls in the national Girls Day School Trust Under 18 Hockey tournament.  Not content with taking the Under 15s crown in February this year, the girls returned victorious with more winner’s medals around their necks and a big shiny trophy.

Congratulations to all the girls!!!

A tournament report will follow……..

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 4:2 Cambridge City 3

Norwich Dragons bounced back from last week’s disappointment with a fine come-from-behind win against visitors Cambridge City on Saturday.  Without Nick Charlish and Cley Hamilton and with inspirational skipper Ed Smith still on the slow path of recovery from his career-threatening knee injury, seasonal debuts were given to promising youngsters Alex Browne and Steve Woodward.

Dragons started the game brightly, with excellent link-up play between the front three of Browne, Snelling, and Knights, and Turnbull stitching things together in midfield to create a series of half-chances that went begging.  It was slightly against the run of play, then, that Dragons found themselves behind, a turn-over in attack resulting in a string of City corners, the last of which keeper Whiting could only parry into the roof of the net.  And it was to get worse.  First, Dragons lost gifted left-back Dave Sloman to an interesting challenge and had to summon Rob even-slower-man Wagstaff from the treatment table, and then a breakdown in communication in midfield between Flatman and overseas professional Rutledge let City in again to nudge a first-time strike past Whiting’s despairing right pad.  Rutledge will have to work on his grasp of the local language – and quickly – if he is to settle among his new team-mates.

City might have been disappointed not to add to their lead as Dragons struggled to cope with City’s pace up front and with the fluidity of the movement of their midfield.  Crucially, though, Dragons managed to peg one back on the stroke of half-time, Browne smashing home following a goal-mouth scramble before Wagstaff’s and Smith’s fiery words at half-time were the catalyst for what was basically a superb second half.

The back four were outstanding:  Wagstaff adding composure on the ball and the dark arts of veteran defending, Overstall and Smith full of bite in the tackle, and Smyth just about single-handedly shutting down City’s right side in a defensive performance for the ages.  The goals had to come as reward for a commanding team performance.  Wolfe might have contributed – at last – to the spiralling family tally, only to see his crunching strike turned away.  It was Snelling, though, who levelled the scores by tucking home Browne’s brilliantly disguised pass at the far post before Wagstaff put Dragons ahead, claiming his first goal of the season after a slick three-pass, one-touch short corner routine.  The coup-de-grace came with Snelling’s second, smeared home from a short corner won by a bullocking run from Woodward.  It was nothing more than Dragons deserved for a gutsy, classy display against an excellent City side.

After the game, man of the match Rob Turnbull said “It was just important to keep playing our own game.  I said I was going to go rock and I did.”

Dragons’ next game is away at Ipswich in what will be another test of character away from the home comforts of the Den.

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:2 UEA 1

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:10 Felixstowe 3

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 2:6 UEA 2

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:2 Dereham 5

Norwich Dragons Mens 5ths first league game ended in a 2 nil defeat to Dereham 5ths. Both sides fielded young players who showed they are more than ready for league hockey. Goals came in each half with the 10 Dragons players having to defend strongly. Highlights of the game for Dragons was the work rate and commitment of Hamish Packham and James Whitmore in midfield.

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Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 1:4 Pelicans 1 

Dragons Men’s 1s travelled to King’s Lynn to take on Pelicans for their first away league match of the season. Last season saw Dragons lose the equivalent game, before gaining revenge at home in the return fixture, so a close encounter was anticipated.

The game started with Dragons looking the more dangerous side, pushing forward more than their hosts and threatening to break through a couple of times, only to be thwarted by last ditch tackles, or missing the killer ball.

Pelicans meanwhile seemed happy to try and keep possession and build their way in to the match, using the speed and skill of their forwards to hold the ball up and bring their midfield into the game.

It was Pelicans who took the lead, mid-way through the half, when a long aerial pass bounced in the Dragons circle and was dispatched over Robbie Whiting and into the goal by a deft touch from the Pelicans forward.
This bouyed Pelicans who began to look more lively in the final third and started to cause more problems for the Dragons defence. This soon led to a second goal when some quick interplay at the top of the Dragons circle allowed a Pelicans midfielder to fire off a shot at goal. Dragons’ keeper Robbie Whiting produced a good save, but could do nothing about the rebound that was calmly slotted past him by a spare Pelicans player.

Dragons tried to push back into the game, and did have a couple of good breakaway chances, as well as a period of sustained pressure, but ultimately were unable to gain anything from this.

With half-time looming, Pelicans added a third, their centre-forward manging to create a yard of space for himself to produce an empathic finish high into the net.

Half-time – Pelicans 3-0 Dragons

Dragons team talk focused on getting our basics right and building our play more, and the second half saw an improved performance as a result.

Pelicans did increase their lead when a crash ball into the circle was deflected home, however, aside from a few penalty corners that were well defended by Dragons, there were no more clear chances for Pelicans.

At the other end Dragons did create more during the second half, with Matt Knights flashing a shot inches wide of one post, before adding a simple tap-in following some good inter-play with Cley Hamilton.

Despite some more pressure and further chances, Dragons were unable to create any further clear chances and had to settle for a 3 goal margin of defeat.

A disappointing day for Dragons, who know that they can play better and will need to raise their game for the visit of Cambridge City’s 3rd XI next week.

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 8:0 Sudbury 2

After a disjointed performance against Harleston Magpies last weekend Dragons bounced back with a flurry of goals against the 10 man Sudbury side. The second match of the season saw Gary Burgess taking on the captaincy.

Dragons dominated from the first whistle and it wasn’t long before the first penalty corner. Veteran striker Ricky Powley showed he is still a formidable force in the forward line with a strong flick from the top of the circle that narrowly missed the roof of the net. The pressure continued and with his first touch of the season Alex Browne came from the bench to score. Browne then followed this up minutes later with a great strike from open play. Dragons continued to dominate and played simple and uncomplicated hockey. At one point left back Burgess found himself in the circle and unleashed a cracking reverse stick shot that seemingly shocked his team mates as much as the Sudbury keeper.

Following a couple of unsuccessful penalty corner attempts a great ball into the circle from Steve Woodward was picked up and cleanly dispatched by Simon Nisbet. Dragons were able to use the full width of the pitch and the ball was passed confidently amongst the team. Ricky Powley broke through the Sudbury defence following a lengthy run and put the ball past the goal keeper to take Dragons to 4-0 at half time.

The second half started with a quick second goal from Simon Nisbet who was at full stretch to take the newly promoted side to 5. With their noses clearly in front Dragons were able to stretch the field with defenders Glenn Masterson and Piers Gordon Brown finding themselves on the other side of the half way line. With this dominance, balls into the circle were frequent and both Nisbet and Browne found their second and third goals respectively from fluid passes inside the circle. Nisbet came agonisingly close to a third but following a goal mouth scramble missed the target by inches.

In the latter stages Sudbury found some speed and broke into the Dragons circle for the first time and were awarded a penalty corner. Goal Keeper Matt Collinge confidently kicked the ball away and Dragons were swiftly on the counter attack once more. It was Alex Browne who again took control of play and scored his fourth goal of the game. As the match came to a close Sudbury never gave up and continued to push their opponents to the final whistle. With seconds left on the clock a well drilled pass came into the Sudbury circle and from nowhere Lee Peck pounced on it to sweep it in at the back post. A spirited performance left the Dragons side with an impressive 8-0 victory at the final whistle.

Norwich Dragons 2’s take on UEA at Dragons Den on Saturday.

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 1:3 Pelicans 2

Dragons 3s suffered a first ever league defeat at The Den against a strong Pelicans 2nd XI.

After going 2-0 down to an early short corner and a well worked goal from open play, Dragons settled into their trademark passing game and began to threaten with Matt Jenkins and Adrian Kemp forcing good saves out of the in-form Pelicans keeper.

At the other end, Elliot Wang made some crucial saves to keep the score to 2-0 and was well supported by the solid tackling of Neil Shorten and a vital goal line clearance from David Pentin.

With Stu Kelly doing well to break up the play and the supporting wing-backs Will Ives and Henry Eades offering attacking options, Dragons continued to look a threat against a side who were playing in the league above last season.

Dragons started off the second half with increased positivity and urgency and were unlucky to stay 2-0 down after a spectacular drag-flick from Henry Laming was pushed to safety by the Pelicans keeper.

A goal was never far away however, and a turn of pace from man of the match Jon Goodson saw him burst into the D and his cross was inadvertently deflected into the net by the visiting defender.

Pelicans responded with chances of their own and stand-in full back Dan Cheeseman made some vital blocks and solid distribution to set Dragons back on the front foot with some notable classy skills from Alec Bidet-Steele causing problems for the defence.

It looked as if the game hinged the next goal and it very nearly came to Dragons. A cross from John Ives flashed its way across the goal and Will Kirby was inches from claiming a deserved equalizer.  The decisive goal was scored by Pelicans to make it 3-1; the striker dispatching a classy finish into the top corner to leave the keeper with no chance.

Dragons refused to let their heads drop and pushed on, with Chris Wilkinson starting some good passing moves with his link up play on the right hand side. Unfortunately, the final ball was elusive for the team and despite a series of late short corners, they were unable to get a second or third goal to claim a share of the points.

Lots of positives from the game and a vastly improved performance from last week. Dragons will no doubt continue to improve and hopefully get a result they deserve as they adjust to a faster-paced division.

Photos from this match here

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 6:1 Sudbury 3s

After last weeks disappointment losing to Pelicans,  Dragons were determined to improve and take the game to the visiting Sudbury side. It was last week’s scorer who got the 4^th’s off to an excellent early 2 goal start.  Sam Mann scored the first and Mike Banham slotted home his second short corner of the season. Ollie King followed up another Banham corner to get the 3^rd goal. Sam Mann then finished a flowing move from deep in the dragons half. The half time lead of 4-0 was increased by Andy Key and another from King before Sudbury got a consolation goal.

The start of each half saw fast, flowing hockey only to be spoiled at the end when passing stopped and too much tired running with the ball was attempted leading to  too many interceptions.

Man of the Match was Elliott Wang who was inspired in the Dragons goal. The 4ths are looking forward to next weeks game at UEA 2nds and will hopefully build on this very positive display. 

Photos from this match here

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Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 4:2 Wisbech 2

Dragons welcomed newly promoted Wisbech seconds to the Dragons’ Den for their opening fixture of the new league season. Dragons started brightly, controlling possession of the game and limiting Wisbech to attacking on the break. Matt Knights opened the scoring, pouncing on a loose ball to the left of the D and firing home past the Wisbech keeper (1-0 Dragons). Rupert Snelling made the score 2-0, following up on shot which was saved by the Wisbech keeper to flick the ball over him into the net. Matt Knights scored his second of the game with a deft touch through his legs past the keeper. This made it 3-0 and this was the score at half-time.

Wisbech stepped up their press in the second half, putting much more pressure on the Dragons’ defence. The Dragons defence held strong, but Dragons were unable to control the ball and play as they had in the first half. This meant they had to play on the break and, after good work down the left hand side by Dave Sloman, Mark Flatman found himself free in the circle and he launched an unstoppable shot past the Wisbech keeper making the score 4-0 to Dragons. Dragons were reduced to 10 men towards the middle of the half and Wisbech score on the break-away to make it 4-1.

Dragons man of the match was Mark Flatman

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 0:3 Magpies 4

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 1:3 Watton 1

Dragons travelled to Watton for the start of a new campaign full of confidence following back to back championships and a solid pre-season.

After a scrappy start on a difficult pitch, it was Watton who began to make the early chances, testing the defensive line and forcing keeper Robbie Bell into a number of good saves. The defence held firm with the experience of David Pentin and Peter Davison providing a solid barrier as Watton looked to break the deadlock.

Dragons looked to hit their opponents on the counter attacking down both wings with Henry Eades, Will Ives and Barnie Abraham all supporting the attack with pace whilst maintaining their defensive duties.

Despite the early pressure, Dragons took the lead against the run of play. Good pressing from Jon Goodson and Alec Bidet-Steele in midfield forced Watton back towards their own D and some neat one touch play from Adrian Kemp and Matt Jenkins set up Ollie King to clip the ball around the advancing keeper.

The goal lifted Dragons and they continued to press with Stu Kelly putting in committed tackles in midfield to break up the Watton play set Dragons on the attack. A solid, driving run from John Ives led to the ball finding Adrian Kemp in the area, who was unlucky not to make it 2-0 firing narrowly wide under pressure from the keeper.

HT 1-0.

After the break, the game picked up in intensity and Watton began to attack in waves and got their reward with a goal into the bottom corner. Dragons struggled to maintain their attacking momentum and short passing style and began to sit back, attempting to catch Watton on the counter.

Shortly afterwards, Watton made it 2-1 from a penalty flick; Henry Eades penalised for a high stick in the D which looked to prevent a goal scoring opportunity. The lead was increased further minutes later with a fine goal, expertly taking out of the air by the striker who provided a classy finish to seal his hat-trick and ultimately seal the win for Watton.

Despite the result, Dragons can take many positives from a game which was always going to be a tough challenge. With influential captain George Walker shortly to return from injury, the team can look on to the forthcoming season and look to build on the success of the previous two years.

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 2:4 Pelicans 3

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s: No Fixture

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 1:1 Breckland

Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s dominated play in their game against Breckland but a win was not to be and Dragons 5s had to settle for a frustrating 1-1 draw. In the first half, Dragons were quick to pick up the pace of the game and drove the ball down to the attacking circle numerous times but were unable to drive home the goal despite the best efforts of Rosie Korn who was firing them at the goal only to be deflected by the Breckland keeper.  The defensive barrier of Tammy St John, Jess Tye Leach, Emma Buxton  and a rotation of Lotte Korn and Helen Marsh were an unstoppable combination that deflected any of Breckland’s attempts and gave Dragons nothing to worry about.

Lotte & Helen were debuting for the Ladies teams today. Rotating at left back, both more than earned their place in the team putting in some excellent tackles & learning as they went from the more experienced players.  Dragons were determined in the second half but alas Breckland managed to sneak a goal past our defence and finish it after a deflection off the keeper Alice Smith.

Dragons came back strong winning a number of short corners & their goal finally came after a strike from Anja Finnegan and then finished from an impossible looking deflection by Jade Blanchflower (Man of the Match). Dragons continued to dominate play and have a lot of possession within the D but despite best efforts from Charlotte Stance, Lois McGregor, Anja Finnegan, Chiara Bond, Kerri White and Katie Buxton another goal just was not going to happen. Strong defending by Breckland and a key sweeper kept any attacks at bay. Dragons reflected on the game afterwards and know what they need to do to up their goal scoring ability.

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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s 0:2 Beccles

Yet another new Dragons’ team proudly made its league debut as the club goes from strength to strength, but on this occasion instead of a squad of talented and eager youngsters taking centre stage, a number of ‘Get Back Into’ ladies took to the field.  It was one of those weeks when most teams were short of players because of conflicting events.  But, the former players responded magnificently for the tussle against Beccles, who were formidable in the Norfolk Premier Division until they finally had to concede through lack of players last year. Beccles have re-emerged in Division 3, and although they are not yet a big squad, they look as though they have enough seasoned and powerful players to take this division comfortably.

But the Dragons pushed them close. After frightening themselves by discovering that some players hadn’t picked up a stick for up to seven years, they set about their task. Sally Sabberton-Coe and Hayley Shorten were combining up front with well-weighted passes and clever runs.  Megan Bowe amazed with her reach and her speed at the bottom of the diamond- matched by Ness Boon who can still operate down both wings. Natasha Falzon was a solid centre back who cut short the Beccles raids, and she was well supported on the right by Tara Johnson and the left by Jasmin Daniels, two young players about whom far more will be heard this season. Kate Nichols covered plenty of the pitch in midfield, and pushed up into the attack, where Claire Fairhurst took up good positions and drew the opposition. Laura Tuck, fighting her way back to fitness, was only beaten by two very good penalty corners from Jodie Sharp. Dragons had plenty of position and chances of their own, and could have scored if it had not been for the annoying habit of the goalposts moving from where they should have been, and perhaps a little rustiness about shooting on sight.

This game was an excellent example of Get Back Into hockey, Mike Hardy and Pete Thomas holding the team together on the line and the returning players prepared to give it everything (despite no doubt suffering for a few days afterwards).  That stiffness will soon wear off – just remember how much you enjoyed the match.

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Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: 2:9 Norwich City

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Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:1 Yarmouth

Captained by Katie Franks the Girls Development team were narrowly beaten by Yarmouth.  Issy played well through the middle, Mia made some great tackles and Carmel played really well in defence.   Player of the match went to keeper Mollie who made some great saves.

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The ‘Dragons Hoof’ table as at 21/09/2013

Having started our Give it a Go Sessions on Saturday 31st August&7th September, if you would still like to try hockey, please register by clicking here and we will get back to you with more details. Sticks and some shin pads provided, gumshields recommended if you want to take part in a game (essential for under 18s).

Fancy trying a new Club this season or just moved here?  Anyone interested in joining for the season 2013/14 should click here and we will get back to you with more details, no commitment.  Players of all standards can get in touch as we look to build on another successful season at our city centre home.

As we prepare for the next exciting season in the story of Norwich Dragons Hockey Club, the following pre-season friendlies have been put together by Andrew Cross.  One of the highlights sees our good friends from the Dutch Hockey Club Ijsseloever flying over to take part in a round robin event at the Den on Saturday 31st August.

Some of the away fixture times are still to be confirmed.

An unusual start to the league campaign this season sees the Ladies 3s starting league fixtures on 14th September, whereas the Men’s 5s have to wait until 5th October for their league games to start!  League fixtures will be posted on the website as soon as possible.

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club adult skills training starts this week at the Den.  The coaches have been working hard preparing the sessions to get you ready for the new season, so dig out your hockey kit and make sure you are there on time for the relevant sessions, details can be found in the Adult Coaching Sessions section of the website.

If you’ve forgotten which end of the stick to hold, BBC Sport have a helpful reminder here!

New players interested in attending any coaching sessions, please contact us to find the most appropriate session.

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From under 8s to over 40s, Norwich Dragons HC are proud to play Mixed hockey in the right spirit.

The Norwich Dragons Mixed Summer League comes to an end this week with 19 teams, 74 fixtures and well over 200 players enjoying their hockey in the ‘close season’!

Now bring on pre-season training for the winter league!!

Whilst the Ladies and Men’s fitness sessions are still in full flow on a Tuesday night, thoughts start to turn to the stick and ball coaching sessions for Adult and Young Dragons.

The sessions and start times have been published on the website, click to find out more:

[button link=”http://norwichdragonshc.co.uk/senior-dragons/senior-coaching-sessions/” color=”red”]Adult[/button][button link=”http://norwichdragonshc.co.uk/young-dragons/young-dragons-coaching-sessions/” color=”red”]Young Dragons[/button]

East League Fixtures for 2013/14 Season have been loaded, a few months work for Fixture Secretaries begins now to sort timings etc!:

Men’s Fixtures: http://www.east-leagues.co.uk/showdata/sqlresults/emllatest.htm

Ladies Fixtures: http://www.east-leagues.co.uk/showdata/sqlresults/EWLlatest.htm

Opening fixtures see Men’s 1s host newly promoted Wisbech 2s; Men’s 2s host Magpies 4s; Men’s 3s away to Watton; Men’s 4s visit Pelicans 3s; 5s start 2 weeks later & travel to Dereham 5.

Ladies’ 1s host Pelicans; 2s away to North Walsham.  Norfolk Ladies fixtures will start to be slotted by Fixture Secretaries now that the East have been published.  Finalised timings and fixtures won’t be known until later in August.

With around 45 different clubs and approx 120 teams involved in fixtures against our 11 adult teams, there is a lot of work to do!

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club wishes Toby Price all the best for his trip to Dusseldorf on Sunday when he will be representing England at under 16s level, during next week.  Toby is the son of Dragons Jon and Lynne (Neeps), brother of Barney and Grandson of ex-Norwich Union Men’s HC President (1988-96) Nick Price.  Having played at Dereham HC since he was 9 years old, last season Toby moved to Magpies where he broke into the Men’s 1s at just 14, scoring his first goals in Premier ‘A’.

This month Toby has already represented England against Belgium at Folkestone and British colleges at Lilleshall.

Toby was spotted at the Den last week fine-tuning his skills playing for George’s Thorpe St Andrew School Mixed team against Pentin’s Dragons!

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club are pleased to be able to provide free taster sessions for Years 4, 5 and 6 at Heartsease Primary Academy on 4th July.  Five sessions with 25-30 youngsters at each session will give great exposure for the sport at the school.

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club coaches were busy today assisting at the Norfolk Summer School Games at the UEA.  Support was provided to England Hockey with the hockey fun zone and also to South Norfolk SSP’s hockey team.  #proudtobeaDragon

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club coaches were pleased to provide 30 Gifted & Talented girls from Diss High School with a full day of coaching at the Den on Wednesday 26th June.

All of the girls enjoyed their day and the mini-buses heading back to Diss were buzzing with hockey chat.

Two years ago today, Olympians Richard ‘Rat Man’ Alexander and Niall Stott officially opened the Den on a glorious sunny day.  Since then the Den has been busy hosting hockey sessions for schools, clubs, local bodies and hockey camps. The growth in hockey participation has exceeded all plans.

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club would like to congratulate the Young Dragons that have been invited to the England Hockey East Region Tier 1 training sessions of the Junior Regional Performance Centres (JRPC) during July and August.

The full list invited is as follows:

Dev girls player of the season – players’ choice

Nominees: Laura Hansell, Anja Finegan, Aoife Lowe Davies, Flo Pond, Katie Franks, Harriet Williams, Lotte Korn.

Winner: Aoife Lowe Davies

Dev girls most improved – coaches’ choice

Nominees: Tamsin Billings, Flo Pond, Helen Marsh, Jess Tye Leech, Jasmine Mansfield

Winner: Flo Pond

Flo has improved dramatically through the season to someone who is now comfortable with the ball, keen to get involved in the game and happy to take players on.  She works hard in training, has developed into being a confident, strong player in the team able to influence a game and happy to help others get involved.  She showed great leadership when captain.  A very polite girl, always willing to learn.

Dev girls club member of the season – players’ choice

Nominees: Katie Franks, Tamsin Billings, Mimi Stannard, Jess Tye Leech, Flo Pond, Jasmine Mansfield, Laura Hansell, Sophie James

Winner: Jess Tye Leech

Dev boys player of the season – players’ choice

Nominees: Ben Watson, RCB, Pedro Goss, Jonty Gosling, Ben N, Hamish Packham

Winner: Ben Watson

Dev boys most improved – coaches’ choice

Nominees: Hamish, Ben N, Jonty Gosling and Ben W.

Winner: Jonty Gosling

Jonty Gosling – his skills and game playing ability have come on so much.  He always attends training and works hard on learning and applying new skills.  From dev boy at the start of the season, he has made his way to the men’s third team towards the end of the season.

Dev boys club member of the season – players’ choice

Nominees: Edward Murphy, Andy Carver, Hamish Packham, Josh Bingham, Tom Byrne, Jonty Gosling, Pedro Goss.

Winner: Josh Bingham

Captains Amelia Dawson (Ladies 3s Norfolk Div 1 Champions) and Kate Atkins (Ladies 4s Norfolk Div 2 Champions) and Divisional Topscorers Caroline Wolfe (Div 1) and Debbie Santa Clara (Div 2) collect their silverware at the Norfolk Women’s League AGM and Presentation Night. #proudtobeaDragon

The annual Norwich Dragons Hockey Club friendly Mixed Summer League started on Tuesday 7th May, with a record 19 teams entered this season, there is plenty of hockey on offer at the Den during the Summer.  Joining the usual suspects this season we see the entry of some new teams such as Lowestoft Ladies & Gorleston Men joining forces, two school teams with Taverham High School and Thorpe St Andrew High School (Thorpe linking up with Hales Hornets) and a Charlie Harrison team of allsorts!

A full list of teams is shown below along with the first batch of fixtures for May.  Please contact Andrew with any queries at [email protected].

2013 Teams

Fixtures during May

Mixed Summer League 2013

Following the success of the Dragons Mixed Team on Saturday, the Men’s Team managed to win the Plate event today at the Magpies Weekend of hockey.  Good work guys!

Dragon’s U12 girls just came second in the Watton Tournament on goal difference!!! Results were 3-0 vs Watton (Rachel Bruce hat trick); 1-0 vs City (Rachel Bruce); 0-0 vs Magpies; 2-0 vs Pelis (Brooke Simmonds – player of the day).  Well done girls, the winners Magpies beat Norwich City 5-0, Pelicans  5-0, Watton 4-1 winners but then their match report says that in their final match Magpies could not break down a stubborn Norwich Dragons defence despite non stop pressure on the Dragons defence and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

Dragon’s U10 girls win Watton’s tournament with 0-0 vs Dereham; 1-1 vs Pelis (Charlotte Carr); 3-0 vs Watton (Maddy Reynolds hat trick). Well done girls!

Under 12 Boys following their victory at the Watton tournament. The Boys beat City 4-0 (Edward Murphy, Ollie Shippam, Raunaq Rai x 2) Watton 4-0 (Ollie Shippam, Raunaq Rai x 2, Jono Chaney-Baxter) & drew 0-0 with Pelicans.  This left the Boys level with Pelicans but with a better goal difference, to place them first.

U10 boys lost 0-2 to City then beat Dereham 2-0 (James Cross & Casper Lind) & then beat Watton 3-0 ( James Cross & Joe Beadman x 2) securing second place.

After battling through a tough group phase at the Magpies Tournament with three 1-0 defeats and one 2-0 defeats, the Dragons team came good in the quarter finals of the plate, beating a team including Dragons’ own Dave Pentin 3-0 (Matt Knights, Nat Beal, Dan Cheesman), before beating Norwich School 1-0 on grass (Dan Cheesman) leaving us to face City in the final (who had beaten us 2-0 in the group stage).

Despite early pressure it took us a while to find the first goal, which came after Rupert Snelling deflected home a cross following some great build up play down the right. Some further good passing play down the left hand side lead to Dan Cheesman breaking free 1-on-1 and picking his spot to seal the win.

Squad: Ali Smyth, Rupert Snelling, Matt Knights, Dan Cheesman, Piers Gordon-Brown, Cley Hamilton, Mark Flatman, Dim Ives, Han Roney, Lizzie Cheesman, Angela Murgatroyd, Lois McGregor, Nat Beal, Hazel Sumner and Isi Christophers.

On 20^th April 2013, the Dragons’ under 12 boys team took part in the regional round of the club mini competition.  The competition was held at Harleston and saw two teams from each of the five Counties that make up the East Region take part.  Norwich City and Norwich Dragons represented Norfolk.

This was a first for the club: having a junior team progress to a regional round of a competition.  A significant moment in the history of Norwich Dragons Hockey Club.

There were 2 leagues of five teams who played each other.  The equivalent placed teams in each league then took part in the play offs to rank all the teams, with the top two going through to the national round.

The squad:
Ben Nkrumah (GK)
Edward Murphy
Luke Byrne
Harry Cullens
George Wright
Ollie Shippam
Raunaq Rai
Pedro Goss
Jono Chaney Baxter
Tom Bailon

Non travelling reserves were:
Harry Williams
Jaquan Moore
Dani Long Martinez

Managers:
Ali Smyth
Natalie Beal

Ad hoc medical cover:
Pat Goss (see later)

Match 1
Norwich Dragons 1 Cambridge City 1
The boys dominated this game, although were slow to start; no doubt there was an element of gauging what the tournament will be about as well as getting used to playing against opposition never played before.  The boys’ impressive passing game shone through on occasion.  Tom Bailon made some attacking runs down the right wing.  George Wright controlled the defence well showing some great confidence on the ball.  Dragons scored first when Tom’s skillful run down the right and pull back to the middle of the D saw Pedro Goss score neatly through the keeper’s legs.  A momentary lapse of concentration in defence allowed Cambridge to score a powerful near post goal however.  Final score 1-1.

Match 2
Norwich Dragons 0 Blue Hornets 2
Possession and territory statistics would have shown both teams more or less equal, although Blue Hornets may have edged it.  Dragons certainly had their chances to score.  But the turning point of the game came with the awarding of a controversial penalty flick.  The first strike from a short corner hit George on the line.  George subsequently came off injured as the ball hit his thumb at chest height, yet a flick was awarded.  A harsh decision as the ball was above the back board and George saved it with his hand and stick (the hand being technically part of the stick).  In fact, the tournament photographer managed to capture this moment – perhaps goal line technology is needed at future under 12 regional tournaments.  George was taken away to be looked after by medic Pat Goss and after receiving some TLC from his Mum and after being given an icepack was back in action two games later.  The flick however was converted – Ben in goal having no chance against an expertly taken flick.  Hornets then scored a second to make the score 2-0 to Hornets.

Match 3
Norwich Dragons 0 Bury St Edmunds 1
After a couple of games off, and a chance for the boys to have a burger or two to replace the energy expended in the first two matches, Dragons faced the tournament’s eventual runners up.  But again the game was fairly even and the boys had opportunities.  By now the boys were playing better hockey, showing more confidence and working hard – Harry Cullens, Luke Byrne and Edward Murphy working well in their defensive triangle and Raunaq Rai working hard in midfield and up front.  Jono Chaney Baxter showed some excellent composure as he controlled a pass from Tom which saw him through on goal – he tried to place it, but shot narrowly wide.  Bury St Edmunds converted one of their few opportunities to win the game.

Match 4
Norwich Dragons 3 Bluehearts 1
George had recovered from his earlier injury and was set to start this game, however the team’s fascination with the water based pitch (if you hit the surface, water flies up), not only dirtied Nat’s clothes, but saw green gunky stuff end in George’s eye!  Cue George not starting and emergency treatment by medic Pat Goss on the sideline.  But, turning to the game… The boys dominated from the start. Ollie Shippam going closest with a neat reverse stick strike that seemed to be going in after the defender deflected it, but the keeper saved.  But a lapse in concentration saw Bluehearts score a goal on the break.  At half time, Ali and Nat held a quick poll asking who wanted to win; all the boys raised their hands and what a team talk that turned out to be.  The boys played their best hockey of the tournament scoring three second half goals to win 3-1.  An impressive display showing great character (with George coming on for the second half).  Goals came from Tom Bailon, Pedro Goss and Raunaq Rai.

Penalty Flicks
Norwich Dragons 1/3 Cambridge City 0/3
It turned out that Cambridge City won, drew and lost as many games as we did, scored the same and conceded the same.  And because the result between us both was a draw, the officials had to dust off the rule book.  The decision was: best of three penalty flicks then sudden death.

Cue impromptu penalty flick training session….  Edward, Harry and Luke were chosen to take the three penalty strokes.

Over they went with Ben the goalie.  The rest of the team looked on nervously…. and…. Ben saved, Edward scored, Ben saved, Harry’s flick was well saved, Ben saved…. Ben saved all three and we scored one and did not have to take our third – cue cheering from the boys and much jumping on Ben.  Dragons finished third in their league and would you believe it, had to play Norwich City for the 5^th and 6^th place play off!

Match 5
Norwich Dragons 0 Norwich City 2
The boys tend to worry when they play Norwich City, despite the head to heads this season seeing City winning 2 and Dragons winning 2.  But Ali and Nat talked through various tactics to ensure the boys were prepared for how City could play.  Again, the game was evenly matched.  But it was City who scored – a bouncing ball crossed in from the left saw a Dragons’ defender attempt to stop it, but deflect it past a helpless Ben in goal.  City then scored another to leave the score 2-0 at half time.  But Dragons came out determined to get some goals in the second half, with Tom Bailon and Edward Murphy going close.  In fact, Dragons did score from a short corner: Tom Bailon’s reverse stick hit was rising, but deflected down into the goal to hit the backboard by the keeper.  But, this was disallowed on the grounds that the umpire did not think the ball had come out of the D during the short corner.  City’s coach was as perplexed as Dragons.  Final score: 2-0 loss.

Ipswich won the tournament, beating Bury St Edmunds 3-0 in the final.  Norwich City came 5^th and Dragons came 6^th.

This was an excellent result for the boys.  Both the boys and the coaches did not know what to expect at this tournament.  The boys grew in confidence playing some great hockey.  They did the club proud.  We hope they will be at this tournament next season.

After an amazing season for the Club, approximately 150 Norwich Dragons Hockey Club Adult Team members gathered at Sprowston Manor to celebrate 4 Teams being crowned Champions, 1 Runner Up, 1 other promoted and 2 top half finishes.  It was great to see a full range of Club Members there, from just turned 14 years old to 69 years old and those that have been at the Club less than 12 months to those that first joined in the mid 1970s!!

Not to be outdone by the Men’s 3s, with their amazing achievement of being unbeaten for two seasons at the Den and winning back-to-back promotions, the Ladies 3s completed their season this afternoon away to UEA 3s with a 2-0 win that meant they have won all 22 games this season.  This was with cleansheets in 18 games and scoring 85 goals whilst conceding just 6 goals, 3 before Christmas and 3 after, so 3 clearly is the Magic Number!!

Well done to both 3s teams and of course to the Ladies 1s for being crowned Champions of East Div 2NE this weekend with a 3-0 win over Panthers, Ladies 4s Champions of Norfolk Division 2 in the 3rd from last game (that’s 4 out of 9 adult teams crowned Champions), Men’s 2s for runners up and promotion from East Div 4NE (meaning 5 out of 9 adult teams promoted).  Congratulations also to the Ladies 2s, Ladies 5s and Men’s 4s for all finishing in the top half of their tables and to the Men’s 1s for consolidating their league position in East Div 2N.

Full set of photos from today’s Ladies 3s game available here

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s: No Fixture

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:1 Norwich City 4

Having been promoted after finishing second in their league, Dragon’s spirits were high going into their last game of the season.

Dragons started strong, piling on the pressure to City in the first ten minutes of the game.  Some good team work by the Dragons made it very difficult for City to get the ball out of their half.  The Dragon midfield of Sayer, Flatman, Simmonds, and Nisbet were stringing together some lovely passes which they fed to the Dragon forwards, and resulted in the City keeper having to make some saves.

Unfortunately, City were able to break through eventually and one of the city players was able to cut into the Dragon D down their left wing.  The resulting shot was a goal, with Dragon Keeper Dim Ives having some bad luck at not being able to block it.

Dragon now had to get their heads down and work hard if they would hope to equalise.  Piers Gordon-Brown and Gary Burgess made some strong tackles and helped to bolster the Dragon midfield with their surging runs.

The Dragon forwards were still putting the pressure on City, but couldn’t get an equaliser before halftime.

Dragons came out the second half knowing they were going to have to play some strong hockey and put in a good team performance if they were going to get a result from this game.  The determination in both teams was evident and it was clear it would be a close game.  A late arrival of Andy Hipper to the game gave Dragons their goal.  Hipper came onto the pitch and with his first touch of the game, smashed the ball into the City goal.

The rest of the half saw the ball going from one end to the other.  Dragons had some great chances, in particular from Matt Knights and Ricky Powley, who were unlucky to be rewarded by some fine saves from the City keeper.  The game ended and City must have been relieved as Dragons were certainly pushing for their second goal, with Captain Cley Hamilton leading the charge.  Final score 1-1.  Man of Match: Keeper Dim Ives.

A hugely rewarding season for the Mens 2^nd XI who achieved promotion, and look forward to playing some great hockey next season.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s: No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 2:1 Lowestoft Railway 2

Another glorious morning, a bouncing squad of Dragons with only a couple of enforced changes – and this week a happy ending which we felt we deserved. All credit to Rails, who had only 10 players, but Dragons had most of the possession, and (mostly) achieved the ‘get it, give it and go’ we have been working on all season.

The opening goal was scored early in the first half when Chiara Bond swept the ball towards the goal, and Rails’ keeper Naomi Loftus misread the bounce. But after this, she proved to be a brave shot-stopper and blocked from Lois McGregor who got several shots on target, Sophie Farrow (who crossed the ball beautifully from left and right) Jade Blanchflower, Izzy Woodcock and Claire Fairhurst.

The 5s have a tendency to over-commit in their eagerness to score, and if they are going to go for all out attack they need to learn the press so that they don’t give the ball away through the middle. After one lung-bursting effort they failed to get back and Rails’ Olivia Smith equalised with an accurate hard shot. After that, Abi Cowe reorganised her defence into fortress Dragon, and as usual she was seldom beaten, with Emma Buxton and Katie Buxton equally resilient in the tackle. Left defence is a harder position for the Dragons to fill, but Armiria Pounsford again did the job with credit and showed a commendable turn of foot when she was released into the midfield.

It has been a feature of the 5s game that they have consistently fielded a squad of 14, and on the final game of the season we set sideline manager David Bond the challenge of giving all the players equal pitch time. The players in turn were challenged to play in several different areas in our search for ‘total hockey’, and apart from the odd wobble, the squad responded well. Izzy ‘Whizzy’ Woodcock has been discovered in the last two games and showed she has pace to burn – and she can take the ball with her. Jade Blanchflower, another player to establish herself in the squad late in the season, is a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Lizzy McDonnell can play at the bottom of the diamond, the top, and off the floor, and we all knew that once she had taken a tumble she would pick herself up, win the ball back and score the winning goal, and she had other shots well saved too.

Dragons wanted a few more goals, but the Rails defence was holding firm and their attacks were confined to occasional forays which once again Sue Cullum showed she could clear strongly with confidence. Dragons’ player of the match was Jihanna Allard, who we would love to see back next season. Genuinely comfortable on the left side, she has developed good stick skills, passes accurately and is another fierce tackler. And she is quick –  very, very quick. Suddenly the 5s have players in Izzy, Jihanna and Sophie with Jade, Chiara and Katie adding power to pace who have added another dimension to our game.

Once again the 5s have fulfilled their function of feeding talented players up to other teams, and there are players in the present squad who can look forward to making progress next season. We are jubilant at having achieved sixth place in  the league – exactly the target that coach Pete Thomas had set us at the start of the season. We could not have hoped for more, and in the grim cold days after Christmas it looked as though we might achieve far less. We hope to build on the momentum we created in the last few games by taking every opportunity to play in the summer, and we are most grateful to Lois McGregor, a total ‘5’ who handled all our admin, and to our three wise men – fab coach Pete, sideline manager and chief cheerleader David Bond, and to El Presidente for all their support and encouragement.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 5:0 Dereham

On Saturday we played Dereham in our final match of the season.

During this match we played some of our best hockey of the season. We were on the front foot for large parts of the game thanks to a strong defence consisting of Mark Savill, Andy Carver and Hamish Packham. Our midfield and strikers created good scoring opportunities and won numerous short corners. As a result we scored 4 of our goals from short corners, two going to Henry Laming and one each for Rohan Kaushal and Jonty Gosling.  Another goal was scored by Josh Bingham with a clinical strike. This performance shows how much the team has improved throughout the season. A big thanks should go to all our coaches for all their effort they have pot onto this team and the adults who have played with us this season.

Man of the match: Mark Savill

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:5 Magpies

On Saturday 13th March, the team travelled to Harleston play the Magpies. The match started well and both sides played equally.  Even at 2-0 down at the end of the first half, the Dragons kept up the level of play.  The score from the second half didn’t reflect the way the Dragons played.  We had good movement as a team with the ball and had some good runs into the attacking ‘D’.  However this wasn’t enough against some strong hits from the Magpies. Harriet Williams made some amazing head-height saves in goal and the player of the match was Katie Franks.
Thanks to Ally Windsor-Waite for coaching and Niamh Lowe-Davies for her support.  Well done to all who played!

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Since the opening of the TCH Dragon’s Den on Hall Road in Norwich, by Olympian Richard Alexander, Norwich Dragons Hockey Club Men’s 3s have not lost a game at their fantastic new home, that’s two full seasons.  Thanks to this home form at the Den and being unbeaten this season, the with just two draws throughout the whole of the season, the team have secured their second consecutive Championship title under the captaincy of the legendary George Walker.

Even more of a legend for Norwich Dragons and Norwich Union Hockey Club though, is Adrian Kemp, having been top scorer for the team this season with 19 goals, Adie started playing for the Club in the mid-70s and was part of the 1976 Men’s 1st XI champions team that were promoted to Greene King East Premier.

A full match report for this weekend’s game away to Magpies 7s, a win of 3-1 can be found here.

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 3:4 Cambridge City 3

Dragons travelled to Cambridge for their last league game of the season, which had been re-arranged from earlier in the season.

It was City who started the brightest of the sides, pressuring Dragons and moving the ball well. They opened the scoring following an attack down the left flank, Dragons failed to cut-out the cross or get in front of City attacker who deflected the ball low into the far side of the goal (1-0) Cambridge. Dragons were able to push City back with good use of the aerial ball from Phil York-Smith and Ali Smyth and though they secured a couple of penalty corners, they were not able to get any shots away. However, perhaps a little against the run of play, Rupert Snelling scored from Dragons’ 3rd corner, smashing the ball past the City keeper (1-1). Soon after Dragons lost their captain to injury, meaning that the 11 players on the pitch would have to see the game through. Both teams enjoyed some good attacking play, but there was no further score and it was 1-1 at half-time.

After the break City seemed to lose some of their shape and Dragons created a number of good chances to extend their lead. Dragons took the lead when Matt Knights picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch and, driving up the right into the circle,  he slipped the ball to Alex Browne who fired home from close range (2-1 to Dragons). Dragons were looking very dangerous on the break with Matt Knights, Alex Browne and Garnett Jones running hard and finding holes in the City defence. Despite good chances falling to them though, they were unable to increase their lead. City then equalised to make it 2-2. Dragons then took the lead again when Alex Browne rounded the ‘keeper and rifled a shot into the roof of the net past the closing the defenders (3-2) Dragons. As the game became increasingly end to end City drew level again and then took the winning lead from the final penalty corner and play of the game. Final score was 4-3 to Cambridge City.

Dragons man of the match was Phil York-Smith.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 5:0 Watton 1

Watton conceded this match thereby Dragons 2s are awarded the match 5-0

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:1 Magpies 7

Dragons started the match aiming to finish the season unbeaten but knew their opponents would be committed as they needed victories to try to escape the relegation zone. The Dragons from the start produced their flowing trademark hockey with the ball being passed from stick to stick and using the full width of the pitch with Will Ives and Matt Jenkins playing strongly on the left flank. George Walker was giving an inspirational captains performance driving from midfield and beating opposing players confident that his midfield colleague Stuart Kelly was backing him up and ensuring Magpies could not get forward. Strong play down the right flank by John Ives was enabling the ball to be crossed in and soon the goals began to flow.Will Kirby on his return to the team scored two open play goals with a third being added when Adrian Kemp fired a shot from a short corner into the goal.

The latter stages of the half saw the tempo drop and tensions rise and Magpies came into the match but were contained by the Dragons defence with Chris Wilkinson doing an excellent job marking the oppositions young danger man and the defence was being well marshalled by the cool and calm Peter Davison at sweeper for the Dragons. A couple of short corners were awarded to Magpies but a good save from Sam Clark kept the three goal half-time lead.

The second half saw Dragons still having the greater posession but the final pass was just being played in front of the forward rather than to stick which resulted in attacks being snuffed out withouit troubling the Magpies keeper. A great defensive performance by Henry Eades deservedly earned him the man of the match award.

Magpies started to be awarded short corners and from one of these a shot was stopped on the line by a Dragons foot but the resulting penalty flick was sent the wrong side of the post. Magpies finally got on the scoresheet when the initial shot from a short corner was partially stopped and the Magpies injector reacted quickest to score from close range. Though Magpies took heart from this and pushed on great determination from the Dragons defence including centre back David Pentin made sure no further goals were conceded to keep the Dragons proud record of never having conceded more than one goal in any league match this season and only nine in total.

This has been a great season for the team built on a great gameplan that has been used for the last two seasons and the belief the team has in this and the great workrate and commitment shown in each match and in all the training to prepare for matches.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 5:4 Nomads 1

Dragons’ headed into their last game of the season needing to win to ensure any hope of promotion.  The game turned out to be quite entertaining from a spectators point of view but had Dragons sweating at times as they managed to grind out the result required.

Following a tough encounter against Nomads’ other team on Easter Monday, Dragons started much better immediately settling and putting together some good passes and making an early impression on the oppositions goal.  It remained that way for the first 10 minutes before Nomads started to gain some possession as the game began to balance out.

It was Dragons who made their early pressure count however, taking the lead with good work down the right side from Dan Cheesman, who played in Ollie King to knock the ball across the area and Rob Jenkins got a enough of a touch to see the ball bobble over the line.  Dragons’ didn’t sit back however and quickly doubled their lead from a short corner which was converted by Mike Banham, his strike was on target and deflected off a defenders stick, up in the air and over the keeper.  The umpires discussed the situation and the goal was given.

Now being 2-0 up and playing good hockey, Dragons were cruising and should have gone on to score far more to further strengthen their good start, Nomads hit back however after Dragons failed to clear the ball convincingly, the score now 2-1.

Despite Nomads’ pressure, Dragons caught them on the break with good solo work from Mark Flatman exposing the gap left in the midfield, after covering half the pitch he slipped the ball to Ollie King who pushed home with a solid finish, score 3-1 and Dragons back in control.  A few minutes later Ollie King made sure of Dragons’ control by adding another to make the score 4-1.  Nomads once again were not being pushed aside and responded, firstly with a series of short corners that Dragons simply could not get away; they finally got their reward before half-time to end an entertaining half at 4-2.

The majority of the second half belonged to Nomads, but like the first Dragons had the first 10 minutes and extended their lead further through Dan Cheesman who skipped passed several defenders from the 23 line and pushed the ball under the keeper, with Ollie King refusing to help it over the line!

After that it was Nomads playing the better passing game and exposing Dragons further, they pressed on and got 2 more goals to set up a grandstand finish for the remaining 10 minutes, the Dragons defence held well despite the pressure and did enough to see the game out.

Man of the Match went to Ollie King, having scored 4 goals in 2 games, taking his tally for the season to an impressive 13.

With the first season back for the Men’s 4^th team, finishing a solid 4^th place in the league is an excellent result and may yet get promoted over the summer.  Everyone has improved through the season and in particular the clubs young players which is real credit to the format and training the club has in place, the team will only improve further.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0-6 Herlings

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 1:6 Magpies

The match started and we were soon under a lot of pressure from Magpies. This eventually led to  agoal by Magpies. We then got into the game and played good hockey. After a through ball by Ben W, Robert CB ran on to it and slotted it in. 1-1.

Sadly for us , Magpies came straight back at us and restored their lead very quickly. Ben N kept us in the game but it was still 2-1 Magpies at half time.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 1:10 Dereham

On 6^th April Norwich Dragons Development played Dereham. They were a strong team but we kept it a fairly end to end game with lots of encouragement from Nat. Dereham had a good start and by the end of the first half they had scored 5 times. During the second half we passed the ball well using good skills and hard passes. The ball was down in our attacking D for lots of the second half and we had some attempts at goal. After a nice pass in, Helen Marsh scored the goal. Our play got better and better as the game went on and even though the score was high we played extremely well as a team. The player of the match was shared between Helen (the goal scorer) and Issy Wolfe who has only recently come up from Under 12’s. These two players played extremely well using good skills and the majority of the votes went to them. Overall, despite the score, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and a good game from which we learnt a lot.

Coach’s note: the Dereham team was a very strong and skillful team who played their best game of the season according to their coach.  Dragons worked hard and never gave up and the girls should be proud of that.

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Many congratulations to Gary Burgess and Charly Hemmant who became Mr & Mrs Burgess yesterday at Loddon Church, a few fuzzy heads today for the guests!!

At 3.03am this morning, Andie Goodson gave birth to Jon and Andie’s second little boy, weighing in at 6lb 7oz and feeding happily already.  No name as yet, although Jon said that baby’s big brother Henry will only accept names from Thomas the Tank Engine!  Dad added that Mummy doing well and was a superstar!

Proud to be a Dragon!!

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s: No Fixture

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s: No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s : No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 3:0 IES 5

Dragons’ began the first of their rescheduled games, having to play 3 in a week, against an IES side which could be unpredictable and despite their low position in the league proved to be a tough a test for Dragons.

As it happened, Dragons started well but the game quickly became an even affair with IES tackling strongly meaning there was plenty of turn over of the ball between the sides.  Dragons put together some good passes but IES prevented any real slick play in the opening stages.

With the game starting to head slightly in favour of Dragons, they took the lead through George Walker who after Will Kirby’s effort hit the post, George was first to react and slot the ball home.

Dragons kept the pressure on with the midfield working hard, but IES were equal to it ensuring the ball didn’t reach the forwards as much as Dragons would have liked.  IES started to have their spell of pressure, winning 3 short corners within a period of 10 minutes, excellent running out by Rich Davis ensured the chances were cleared.

The half time talk was around maintaining composure as the game started to get a bit scrappy at times and Dragons needed to re-group.

The second half was similar to the first, both teams enjoying close chances and large periods of possession, but Dragons were able to double their lead when good work from Will Kirby to take the ball into the area and have a reverse shot, it was deflected off a defenders foot and David Thornton ensured the ball got over the line.

The second goal gave Dragons the extra drive and quickly added a third a few minutes later through some excellent play with Will Kirby and David Thornton; combining well to then set up Andy Key who slotted home after well drilled move.

The game was a difficult one for either side to settle, but Dragons took their chances in game they had to work hard for.  Man of the match was a tough one with 6 individual nominations, eventually going to David Thornton.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Today saw Norwich Dragons represented in the NCHC charity 7s tournament, in aid of the Epilepsy Society, by a team of 10 consisting of players from all 5 Ladies teams which was great to see. The team was…..

Gail Thomas                  Hannah Hardy
Olivia Thomas               Debbie Santa Clara
Sophie Thomas             Hazel Medler
Claire Fairhurst              Polly Watson
Bridget Le Good            Laura Tuck

Although a bit on the chilly side the day started with our first pool game against Sprowston played on the new ‘H20’ pitch. This made the match a bit of a lottery as the 1st goals scored by both sides demonstrated.  However Sprowston were the eventual winners 3-1. These were to be the only goals conceded by Dragons throughout their 6 games.

Dragons won their next 2 pool games but due to the format of the points system this left them 3rd out of 4, pipped by ‘Chicks with Sticks’ on goal difference, and found themselves challenging for positions 5-8.  The good form continued as Dragons went on to comfortably win their next 3 games to take 5th place.

On reflection to play 6 games, win 5, score 10 and only concede 3 it was a little disappointing to only get 5th place but everyone pulled together, played really well as a team and seemed to enjoy themselves so a big thank you to you all.

Thanks also to H for all her umpiring throughout the day.

It was standing room only today at the funeral of a top Club Man, Graham Packer.  The Service was very moving and a fitting tribute to a genuinely great chap.

Graham (pictured above standing second from left) was a key individual in Norwich Union Men’s Hockey Club, appearing in our 1950-1967 History Section as Men’s 2nd XI Captain from 1958, he then served as Club Secretary from 1960 – 66 and Men’s 1st XI Captain from 1966-68, featuring in many photos in the 1968-1983 History Section.  Not content with his service to the Men’s Club, Graham was also the first recognised coach for the Ladies Club during the late 70s/mid 80s.  The AGM Papers for the NULHC of 1985/6 Season noting the Ladies’ Club gratitude for his help.

Mike Denham, who played alongside Graham, expressed his sadness at hearing of the loss and said: “Graham was a very steady and reliable defender and a very keen club man. He was also a keen tennis player. I have fond memories of Graham from our hockey days together.”

The notice in the EDP can be found here and in the true NU, and now Norwich Dragons Hockey Club spirit, several ex and current Club Members attended Graham’s funeral to pay their respects, with the family noting their appreciation for the kind words written about Graham from a hockey perspective.

RIP Graham Packer

Later in the week of Graham’s funeral, a former club of Graham’s made contact with us:

Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead Hockey Club

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:1 IES 1

Dragons entertained table topping and champions Ipswich and East Suffolk (IES) at the Dragons Den. On a freezing cold day there was snow in the air when the game started and snow on the ground at the end !

Winning the toss Dragons started with the snow and the wind to their back on the first half. With both teams struggling to play fluid hockey in the conditions, Dragons seemed to settle the better of the two teams. They created some good attacks and were able to put pressure on the IES defence with their press. However, it was IES who opened the scoring from their first penalty corner: a powerful shot smashing into the backboard. This seemed to drive Dragons on and they evened the scored when Lewis Wilkins scored at the far post, finishing off a good passing move in style. Dragons probably enjoyed more of the possession of the ball as the half moved on, but Ipswich & East Suffolk always looked dangerous on the break. Dragons won a penalty corner on the stroke of half-time and though they were not able to get their shot away, IES were unable to clear the ball and Dragons won a 2nd penalty corner. This time Alex Browne smashed the ball home to give Dragons a 2-1 lead at half-time.

It had snowed pretty much all of the first half and continued to snow through out the second half. Despite the conditions, the teams continued to play good hockey, though perhaps not quite at top speed. IES started the half brightly, pushing Dragons back. Though they won a number of penalty corners they were not able to find away passed the Dragons defence. At the other end Dragons created a number of chances but were unable to find the net. IES pushed late to try and find the equaliser but were unable to breach the Dragons defence

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 4:8 Felixstowe 2

Dragons 2XI made the Wintery journey down to Felixstowe for their rearranged game against Felixstowe. While on the way down the pitch was clear and playing however as the Dragons arrived the snow did also…the pitch wasn’t frozen but was starting to build a blanket on top. Both teams stepped out on the field to test conditions and afterwards decided with team decisions that the game would go ahead.

Unfortunately the dragons could not play their normal fast flowing hockey they have come accustomed to this season. Where as Felixstowe’s long ball game appeared deadly affective as they scored two in quick succession. Dragons managed to claw one back through Dan Cheesman however as conditions worsened the Dragons pace was the victim of their wide men and strikers struggling to stay on two feet. Felixstowe put in two more to make it 4-1 at half time.

The dragons came out for second half frustrated not being able to play their passing style as the ball didn’t travel. Felixstowe put two more in as their simple long ball hockey was paying off further with a 6-1 lead. Dribbling was off the cards, however George Walker amazed the rest by ghosting past 4 players before setting Barney Price up for a lovely finish. This spurred dragons further first of all Andy Kelsall found the corner of the goal from a short and then Matt Jenkins provide a strong strike to bring the scores to 6-4. Dan Cheesman tried to bring the scores to 1 behind however couldn’t find the back of an empty net.

Felixstowe followed up with 2 extra against the run of play to end the game 8-4. In hindsight the Dragons 2XI should have called the game off as conditions were unplayable however when traveling such a distance it’s hard for a team to say no.

Neil Shorten man of the match.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s : No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s : No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 3:0 Norwich City 6

The 5s completed their first double of the season with a 3-0 win at the Den over the City 6s, the same score as it was at Taverham. Both teams had strengthened their squads from the half term fixture, so it was game on from the outset in chilly, squally conditions.

In this match, the 5s brought together all that is best about their game  – moving the ball, (reasonably) accurate passing, a bit of lateral running, plenty of crosses into the box – and this time actually a few of them were converted.  Laura Goodbun was at the heart of all the good work. She had the run of the right side, and could beat whoever was attached to mark or tackle her. She set up the moves for Rosie Korn and Lisa Harwood to score, and was also on hand to move in and score herself.

Katie Buxton was voted player of the match for her performance at the bottom of the diamond, where she controlled the midfield with excellent distribution,to all corners of the pitch. The whole defence emerged with honours. Abi Cowe really has mastered the art of surprising opponents with her ability to surge from deep, with Emma and Katie Buxton there to cover for her if needed – and in this match it most certainly was, as Jo Tilson was on excellent form for City, and always looked as though she would cause problems wherever she popped up.  But somehow it always felt as though Dragons were in control, and goalkeeper Morag Morrison was never seriously threatened and got in some fabulous clearances.

Armiria Pounsford did a good job at left defence, where she was not expecting to play this week. Claire Fairhurst improves with every game. Lizzy McDonnell impressed when she moved up to the forward line, and Chiara Bond worked hard to ensure there were no serious threats from the City left.

A word of thanks and praise to the umpires Sue Huggins and Victoria Broadway. They controlled the game sympathetically, allowing advantages to keep the game flowing and consulting over the one fall attributable to the weather conditions. As ever, Puff looks after his own and the 5s had the best of a miserable day (weatherwise) and certainly the best of the hockey on a fast, exciting pitch.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: 4:2 Dereham

On a cold and snowy Saturday the boys travelled to Kings Lynn to play the Pelicans.

We started the game off well, our defence coping well with the lack of a goalkeeper. After a good passage of play Robert Chaney-Baxter found himself one-on-one with the keeper. He put the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. Our defence did well to keep them out of our D, but a good short from a tight angle drew pelicans level. Not long after, Jonty Gosling found himself in the D after a surging run. He finished with a well struck reverse-stick shot. This gave us a 2-1 lead at half –time.

Again we started the half brightly. After some good clean passing around their D, Raunaq Rai took a shot and scored. Pelicans now began to apply more pressure, coming away with several short corners. These were brilliantly defended by the team, especially with out a keeper. A special mention should go to Hamish Packham who took several knocks. The pelicans did come away with a goal from open play. Later, Oli King after making a break, fired the ball into the D. The goalkeeper mistimed his kick, accidentally putting it into his own goal. The Pelicans kept on the pressure but once again our defence was equal to it. The final score was 4-2. This was an impressive victory, showing how much the team has improved this season. There were some great performances from some of the younger team members.

Also, a thanks should go to our adults Oli king and Will Ives.

Man of the match goes to the whole team.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 1:1 Pelicans 2

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:5 Cambridge Uni 3

Dragons slumped to a disappointing defeat, losing 5-2 to Cambridge University. Hoping to build on their win against Dereham last week Dragons started strongly and were rewarded when Lewis Wilkins scored from close range making it 1-0. Alex Browne doubled the lead from a well worked corner, 2-0 to Dragons. Cambridge pulled one goal back before the break, the half-time score was 2-1 to Dragons.

Cambridge took the ascendancy in the second half, finding time and space on the ball, combined with good running up front. The Dragons’ defence held strong until, with 10 minutes to go they lost 2 of their players to injury. From this point Dragons were unable to gain any purchase in the game, conceding 4 further goals and losing 5-2. Having worked so hard for 60 minutes, it was a shame that they were unable to gain anything from the game.

Dragons Man of the match was Jason Wolfe

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:3 Bury St Edmunds 2

Dragons travelled to Bury on a drizzly afternoon, to what they knew was an important game.  The rain stopped just as the game started and Dragons started well, wining a short corner in the first 2 minutes.  Unfortunately Andy Kelsall’s shot was saved and Bury started to get themselves together.

Play continued to switch between Dragons and Bury, and it was Bury who initially broke the stalemate by scoring.  Dragons fought back hard and were rewarded with a string of short corners.   From one of these, Andy Kelsall was able to smash a ball into the back of Bury’s goal.

Confident runs by Dan Cheesman and Captain Cley Hamilton kept the pressure on Bury.  Mark Flatman, Rich Phillis and Adam Sayer kept working hard in the middle of the pitch to keep the Bury midfield from breaking through.  However, late in the first half Bury won a free hit, which was taken quickly, not allowing Dragons to set their defence, leading to their second goal.  This turn of events led Dragons to feel very frustrated and they entered half time knowing they were up against it.

Dragons came out fighting in the second half.  The Dragons defence did well keeping the Bury forwards out of the game; Henry Eades making some lovely challenges and Gary Burgess showing great determination.  Despite this, Bury managed to score another goal, when a ball hit into the D was deflected through a Bury players’ leg off his stick.  This was an unfortunate goal to concede and there was little Dragon keeper Robbie Bell could do, who had an impressive 2^nd team debut.

Dragons really pushed hard the last 10 minutes, with great link up play between Mark Flatman, Adam Sayer, Barney Price and Cley Hamilton.  Dragons were unlucky not to get a last minute goal from a Ricky Powley pass through to Adam Sayer, whose shot was saved from a flying keeper, as well as Cley Hamilton being unlucky with a shot on goal.  The final whistle blew and the score was 3-1 to Bury.

Dragons left the game feeling frustrated at their performance.  It wasn’t all negative though, as there was some great attacking and defensive play, with which Dragons will have to take advantage of in their remaining games.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 5:1 UEA 3

After last weeks match report mentioned the teams inability to take advantage of short corners the team took note and were much more productive from these set-pieces.The match was played in windy conditions which brought a chill to the Dragons Den.

The mens third team would not allow this to put out the fire of their performance. Early pressure was built from fast flowing passing round the pitch making use of the flanks with John Ives playing well down the right ably supported by Ben Dures who had a fine performance at full-back strong in defence and getting forward on overlapping runs. From the award of an early short corner Dragons took the lead when a good variation allowed the injector George Walker to score from close range. UEA were creating a few opportunities of their own and a ricochet ball was reacted to quickest by a UEA forward who took the ball into the D and went round the onrushing Dragons keeper before putting the ball into the net with a reverse stick shot from an acute angle.

This setback seemed to initially knock the Dragons and the match became scrappy for a while but crucially just before half-time Dragons regained the lead when from another short corner Adrian Kemp drilled his shot form the top of the D into the back of the goal 2-1 Dragons and this remained the score at the break.

The second half saw Dragons come out to build on their lead with Phil York-Smith coming on as sub bringing great ball carrying skills to the forward line. Dragons did not have things all their own way and had to produce some solid defending as the students pressed with Lawrence Singleton making some good tackles. Dragons were getting the ball forward and young Ollie King was holding the ball up well and releasing it to his team-mates these attacks resulted in more short corners being won. From one of these another variation involving Adrian Kemp and George Walker allowed the ball to be played to Jon Goodson in front of goal to score from close range.

A fourth goal was added from a short corner with another shot from Adrian Kemp just inside the post giving the keeper no chance.Will Ives was creating some excellent runs down the left wing for Dragons and was also producing some tenacious tackling to win the ball. The icing on his man of the match performance was capped off when Adrian Kemp completed his hat-trick with a goal from open play to make the final score 5-1. This was the teams final home match of the season and completes two full home league seasons unbeaten and they now have just one rearranged match to play to see if they go through this league season unbeaten.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 4:1 Bury St Edmunds 5

Dragons’ push for promotion requires them to concentrate on their remaining fixtures and go for the win and hope their rivals slip up. Against Bury 5ths they did just that to take a well deserved victory against an experienced Bury side.

The game in the first half very much belonged to Dragons who controlled the midfield with good intercepting play and passing, Rob Jenkins and Chris Wilkinson being solid in the middle and able to release the ball quickly to the forwards, which really gave Dragons the forward momentum to create a number of chances. Continued good passing play from Dragons ensured they remained the more dominate team but the Bury defence and Goalkeeper were in good form to keep out the opportunities. Will Kirby supplying Dave Thornton a handful of good chances which didn’t quite pay off as it had done so for him throughout the season.

About 20 minutes into the game Dragons were still able to pour forward, this time a well struck shot from Chris Harrison was well saved by the goalkeeper with his stick. Bury had chances themselves but rarely threatened the Dragons goal with any clear cut chances as the defence cleared the ball convincingly to release the midfield. This good play eventually led to Dragons forming another attack and this time it paid off as Will Kirby showed good composure to strike from the top of the area to give Dragons a deserved lead.

Given the number of chances and short corners, Dragons should really have scored more, but they doubled their lead with again Chris Wilkinson intercepting to release Chris Harrison who drove to outside of the area and unselfishly slipped the ball to Will Kirby who fired home goal number 2. Half time arrived less than a minute later to give Dragons a comfortable half time lead.

Half time talk was to continue with the good play from the first half and Dragons did that in the opening minutes of the second half to continue where they left off. Bury weren’t sitting back and responded with a controversial goal about 10 minutes into the half however.

The nature of the goal seemed to unbalance Dragons who struggled to regain their composure, feeling very hard done by. Bury started to push forward more looking for an equaliser and put the pressure on Dragons but never really finding the clinical finish in front of goal.

Dragons got regrouped and once again started to drive forward, being first to the ball and using simple passes to grind down the Bury veterans. Dragons got themselves goal number 3 when a Mike Banham short corner strike was saved and collected by Will Kirby who completed his hat-trick after a well struck, on target shot was slightly stopped by the keeper but still went in. Dragons had control of the game once more and continued to press Bury who were now tiring slightly and reverting to hitting the ball clear hoping to find a striker unmarked.

Another short corner was awarded to Dragons which again saw the initial shot saved and the ball fell to the Captain who slotted home from a tight angle to ensure Dragons would take victory and keep the pressure on the teams above them in the league.

An all round excellent performance from everyone, all working hard and really wanting to win. The defence of Ray Hansell, Rob Lee, Andy Webb, Rich Davis and sweeper Mike Banham all working well to ensure quality clearances and kept Bury at bay, the midfield really for the first time in a while were controlling the middle of the park much more convincingly and the 2 forwards just kept running causing the Bury defence all sorts of problems.

Man of the match was a close vote, with 5 separate nominations displaying the all round team performance; and despite his hat-trick, Will Kirby took the honours by just one vote.

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

The good news – Dragons have re-discovered their passing game and created plenty of chances. The bad news – the whole squad can sit on the snick, but they still couldn’t hit a barn door. This could be considered two valuable points away points lost to their nearest rivals in the league. City managed a handful of shots in the whole game, and Giselle Nieuwoudt despatched them away from danger with confidence and composure.

Dragons voted two players’ of the match. Emma Buxton sparkled in defence with some immense tackling and strong clearances. Nicky King was a revelation in midfield, testing her recently injured back back with some long reaches and controlled tackling.

Laura Goodbun is due a hatful of goals for her determined running and accurate crossing, with several shots on target well saved by the city goalkeeper, who is a great shot-stopper. Lois McGregor is also due a change of luck – one sweetly struck penalty corner just went the wrong side of the post and a few others showed she has recovered her appetite for shooting. Claire Fairhurst also made the keeper work, and Armiria Pounsford is developing a nice line in ‘low lifts’

Katie Buxton could only play half a game because of a sports clash, and the Dragons missed her penetrative passes out of defence in the second half. Lizzy McDonnell and Chiara Bond can be pleased with the percentage of ‘completed passes’ that makes such a difference to the midfield. Beth Elgood has been working hard on her tackling and running back and improves every time she plays. Abi Cowe showed excellent tactical decision making over when to surge forward, and when to hold back.

Dragons have plenty of players available this week to face another City team. They need to carry forward the good things from the last couple of matches – plus a big step up in determination in front of goal.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: 1:3 Magpies

On a bitterly cold day a young Dragons team put on an excellent display in spite of the 3 – 1 score line to Harleston. Dragons had a number of young players in this team all of who showed that they are ready to be playing in the development side. In particular Ollie Shippam, Harry Williams and Robert Chaney- Baxter played really well.

Harleston’s goals came one in the first half from a well executed short corner. The second half saw another corner converted. Harleston’s other goal came after an excellent save from Ben Nkrumah which the defence were unable to clear. A tough game for young Ben in goal but he performed well and had a number of excellent clearances.

Dragons kept their heads down and had a number of excellent attacks. Ben Watson in the centre of the park was dominant in the game and created a number of chances as well as taking a couple of shots at goal himself. Ben’s strike from a corner was turned round the post by a defender which denied Ben a excellent goal.

Man of the match was Hamish Packham who showed incredible speed to take the ball of Harleston attackers time and time again. But it was Connor Adams who collected the ball near the dead ball line in Harleston’s “D”, moved the ball across the keeper and reverse stick’d the ball into the net for what was probably the best goal Connor has ever scored.

All in all an excellent performance from the Dragons

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons : No Fixture

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 5:0 Dereham 2

Dragons recorded an excellent 5-0 away win against Dereham, on a day when the weather was far from suited to hockey. The result puts some daylight between Dragons and the bottom 4 relegation places, though they are not yet safe: there is still lots to play for in the last 3 games of the season.

Dragons were initially pushed back by the Dereham attack, but weathered this early storm. They soon started to establish their passing game, with good interlinking play up the left and right flanks and surging runs from the midfield. Dragons opened the scoring through Steve Woodward, who pounced on the rebound off the ‘keepers pads at a penalty corner. Dragons had most of the possession in the first half, but could not convert it into opportunities. Dereham always looked dangerous on the break with their quick, young forwards causing trouble for the Dragons defence, but they were unable to get on the end of a number of crosses and opportunities. The half-time score was 1-0 to Dragons.

Dereham pushed hard after the restart, pressing Dragons high and looking to find the equaliser. Dragons defence held firm though and they extended their lead when a Dereham defender deflected the ball into his own net (2-0 Dragons). Dragons scored their 3rd in the goal of the game, breaking out from a Dereham penalty corner, Alex Browne scoring after a swift interchange of passes up the field. Dragons scored further goals through Alex Browne and Jason Wolfe.

Final score 5-0 to Norwich Dragons.

Dragons man of the match was Dave Sloman.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 4:4 Dereham 3

Dragons started the game well, putting the Dereham defence under pressure. Good passing between midfield who in turn linked up with the Dragon forwards, gave Dereham a hard time.  Unluckily for Dragons, a counterattack by Dereham, by hitting a long ball got through to their forward who pushed it into the goal. This was an unfortunate goal which had gone against the run of play.

Dragons fought back and managed to equalise through Andy Kelsall crashing a ball in from outside the circle deflecting off the keeper into the back of the net. Kelsall continued his strong hitting form by completing all his 16 yard hits through to midfield and the forwards. This allowed Dragons to keep up the pressure on Dereham. Lovely passing and defensive play from Gary Burgess and Chris Simmonds on Dragons left made sure that Dereham didn’t have an attack down their right side. Dragons were unfortunately undone again when another long ball got through the defence to the Dereham forward who played a delightful ball over the Dragons keeper to make it 1-2 Dereham.  Dragons kept pushing and were cutting out most balls from the Dereham defence. Adam Sayer cut out one such ball and slipped it to Simon Nesbit, who fed into Dan Cheesman. Dan dribbled past the keeper and slotted the ball into the goal just before halftime taking the scores 2-2 into the break.

Dragons knew this was going to be a tough 2^nd half and had to work hard if they wanted to get the victory. They took the lead for the first time through a goal by captain Cley Hamilton after a break down from an Andy Kelsall short corner the ball fizzed on to his stick and was duly dispatched to make it 3-2 Dragons. The Dragon midfield of Sayer, Nesbit, Simmonds, Hipper and Price produced some delightful passing and Dereham found it difficult to reply. Dragon captain Cley Hamilton was strong on the ball and made some confident runs to the Dereham defence.

However, Dereham snuck another goal and brought the scores level.  Dragons kept on pushing and a cool, calm Dan Cheesman collected the ball just outside the D from a passing play by Simon Nisbet and Cley Hamilton, and smashed it into the goal making the scores 4-3 Dragons.

Dereham kept pushing and not long before the end managed to score through a short corner to bring the final score, 4-4.  A real battle of a game, which though entertaining to watch, left Dragons feeling that they could have had the win. They look forward to their journey to Bury St Edmunds next week, and 3 points that will bring them closer to promotion.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 4:1 Magpies 6

Norwich Dragons Mens 3rd team made their way through the deep puddles on the roads on the way to Harleston and despite the heavy rain falling found the pitch in good condition and the ball able to zip across the surface which suited their passing hockey style.

Dragons dominated the early exchanges and as Harleston were not playing a forward the Dragons centre back David Pentin was able to support Stuart Kelly in central midfield and release his captain George Walker with several passes. The deadlock was broken when George Walker and John Ives combined down the right and the ball taken to the back-line and crossed to the far post for Matt Jenkins to score from close range 1-0 Dragons. Magpies responded and created attacks of their own using the pace of their youngsters and the hockey knowledge of their expeienced heads in central midfield. From one of these attacks Magpies were awarded a short corner which James Smith received at the top of the D and beat a couple of players before shooting inside the post where the Dragons defender tried to stop it but the ball had just enough power to cross over the goal-line and bring the scores level at 1-1.

Dragons continued to have the greater posession and territory and Jon Goodson was playing well in the Dragons midfield and the young Harleston goalkeeper was making several important saves to ensure parity at half-time. In the break the message was to carry on the same approach and the goals would come. Dragons continued to work down the flanks in the second half and regained their lead when good bulid-up play involving Ollie King and George Walker allowed the latter to enter the D and noticing the Magpies keeper had come off his line Walker unselfishly slipped the ball square for Adrian Kemp to turn the ball into an unprotected goal 2-1 Dragons. The match was made safe when man of the match Jon Price took the ball from the right flank as he overlapped from fullback and drove into the D and fired a thunderous shot into the far corner to increase the lead to 3-1. Magpies were having a few rare attacks in the second half and were awarded a short corner which the Dragons keeper Robbie Bell made a crucial save from to prevent Magpies getting back into the match. Dragons finished the match in style with a fourth goal after good work at the top of the D by Ollie King whose shot at goal was turned in from close range by Matt Jenkins.

This was a great display of hockey by the Dragons and they now have two matchs left to complete an unbeaten season. The only aspect the team could improve on is their conversion rate from attacking short corners as this has dropped off in recent matchs.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s P:P Norfolk Nomads 2

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 4:3 Old Buckenham 2

This was yet another curiosity from the 5s playbook. They scored freely but allowed the Bucks to run at them at will – which is not part of their game. It was a thrilling, error-strewn, end-to-end  game  played in icy rain in great spirit by two teams who gave it everything they had and were a credit to this entry level of league hockey.

So if you are sitting somewhere warm and dry, enjoy the story. The day began with Abi Cowe legging it after her family car to get her hockey stick. She planned to come to the match as the mascot, but we thought she could have a ‘half of a half’. (And given the 4s were unable to play in the snowstorm, that was a result for Abi.) It also meant we played three across the back, a bottom of the diamond, a twin spearhead in attack.

On arrival we huddled about like baby penguins keeping out of the icy blast, and in the first 10 minutes Laura Goodbun sent over three fabulous nicely-weighted crosses onto the P spot and we missed the lot. Would it be a case of ‘same old, same old’? Never fear, readers (and remember you already know the result). Rosie Korn slapped a perfect penalty corner injection to Lizzy McDonnell, whose shot was blocked by the keeper (playing in goal for the first time) but pounced on by Chiara Bond who turned and swept home in style.

This should have been the signal for Dragons to construct a convincing win. But the Bucks were inspired by Susan Lansdell, who players will remember from Norwich Union days. She has a good turn of foot and stick skills to match, and time after time she ran through the Dragons and layed off a ball for one of her youngsters to finish off. So the story was we scored, they scored. Yada yada. Sue Cullum was in fine form in the Dragons goal, and stopped loads. Fortunately she kept her helmet on, or she would have been tearing her hair out at the way we all flocked (penguins again) over to the right to leave players unmarked on the left, lining up to score. Tara Laws, Abbi Thompson and Susan Lansdell did just that. Fortunately for the Dragons, Bucks missed an open goal minutes from time.

This would have been a good match for video analysis, because there seemed to be no real reason why we gave Bucks so much running space. Abi played conservatively while she was on, and grabbed every ball she could reach. Beth Elgood played her second game after a lay-off, and kept her opponents wide. Nicky King played bottom of the diamond and then in central defence, and built on her previous performances. Emma Buxton on the right let nothing past her.

It could have been that our mids failed to get back fast enough and often enough, and that our tackling was rather weak. Too often one-handed jabs were poorly timed and ineffectual. Possibly all of us could have improved our ‘tackling back’ percentage, and once again we allowed the opposition to be ‘first to the ball’. One final aspect of the game that was not ‘Dragons playbook’. We tended to try to carry the ball, and we need to recover that short, slick and snappy passing game which wrong foots opponents.

So how come we won? Lizzy McDonnell moved to the bottom of the diamond and had an outstanding game. Chiara Bond’s confidence was boosted by her goal, and she ran tirelessly and on several occasions made the telling passes to set Laura Goodbun away, and was voted player of the match. Rosie Korn also stepped up to the mark this week. She injected corners beautifully and distributed the ball left, right and centre from the top of the diamond. She showed her value as a secondary striker by always being available in the D and was rewarded with her own goal, the Dragons second. Lisa Harwood and Lois McGregor kept the pressure on the Bucks defence by keeping a high, moving line. Claire Fairhurst and Ciara Willmott also made good contributions, and have now reached a level where more will be expected from them – they handle their short spells on the pitch well, and if they can build their confidence and determination like Chiara and Rosie did this week, they will give the squad even more strength.

Laura Goodbun also deserves special praise for inspiring the Dragons attacks. She was one player who did not tire at all, and as well as proving the crosses, she scored the decisive goals – the last a brave stretching effort to elude a very strong defender.

This week, it was the younger players who caught the eye with their goal scoring efforts, but the Dragons also benefitted from having older, stronger players like Lois and Lizzy available again.  It was great to get the three points from a most enjoyable match which was extremely well umpired – they took every opportunity to let the game flow.We must fine-tune this performance for some harder games to come.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: A:A Dereham

With conditions less than favourable, the boys were still full of enthusiasm and raring to go. After last weeks defeat we were determined not to let it happen again. Dereham started well with a goal against the run of play but the Dragons had control of the game . Plenty of good moves were forthcoming. Jonty Gosling in the middle of the park added real value and his individual run levelled the score. Other attacks from Connor Adams, Pedro Goss and Ollie Shippam eventually gave Ben Watson the chance to add another. Finally a touch goal, again from Jonty Gosling sealed the half time score at 3 – 1. Due to the appalling conditions the game was abandoned at this stage. The game will be re arranged but we will not have our 2 gaol advantage so it will all have to be done again. Our younger players, Ollie Shippam. George Wright and Ben Nkrumah all played well and showed their potential for the future.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons : 1:3 Norwich City

The game started with a Norwich City push back in terrible weather. The rain persisted throughout the match, but this did not dull the spirits of the team. Some early pressure from the opposition resulted in a goal. Dragons soon found their tempo and bossed the latter part of the first half, and deservedly scored an equaliser through a good team build up, and final touch by Flo Pond.

The second half repeated the start of the first half with early pressure by the opposition. Unfortunately two goals were conceded early in the second half. The Dragon’s heads didn’t drop, and pressure was applied on the Norwich City defence, but no breakthrough could be made. Given the appalling conditions, it was a thoroughly entertaining game and a draw would have been a more deserved result. Dragons had about 55% of the possession throughout the game, but with Norwich City’s solid defence, only one Dragons goal was scored.

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Under 10 boys – Brown Dragons (Silver Tournament)

The team: Theo Wood (GK), Gus Sanders, Leo Sargent, Casper Lind, Alex Wolfe, Ben Panter and Jake Reynolds.

The team played against Norwich City B and Harleston Magpies B, with two fixtures against each team. Both games against NorwichCity were drawn 0-0, with the teams only defeat in their first game against Magpies. The final match, again against Magpies, resulted in a 1-1 draw and by far their best performance.

All the boys played with determination and 100% effort, and our team performances improved with each game. Our final match against Magpies nearly resulted in a victory, only for Magpies to draw level in the final moments of the match.

After each game, the boys voted for their player of the match.

Vs Norwich City B – Leo Sargent
Vs Magpies B – Casper Lind
Vs Norwich City B – Jake Reynolds
Vs Magpies B – Theo Wood

Thanks to Rob Panter for managing.  Well done to Theo Wood who stepped up to go in goal for the first time.  Thanks to Sam Clarke for working with Theo on the Friday before the tournament to give him some keeper training.

Written by Ben Panter.

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Under 10 boys – Green Dragons (Gold Tournament)

The team: Angus Reid Edwards (GK), Cameron Tasker, Tom Bailey, James Cross, Edward Cross, Edward Taylor, Blue Hempsall.

The U10 green boys played 4 matches against some strong opposition.

1st game drew 0-0 against Pelicans. All boys up front had chances at goal but were unable to convert them.

2nd game lost 1-0 against Norwich A. Majority of play was camped in the Norwich half with lots of chances but Norwich snatched victory with their only shot at goal.

3rd game won 3-0 against Dereham. Tom Bailey, Edward Taylor and James Cross all being rewarded for their efforts.

4th game lost 2-0 against a very strong Magpies side. All the boys played their best hockey in this game battling until the end. Some great saves from Angus Reid Edwards and brave tackling from Cameron Tasker who was injured close to the end of the match.

Ended a respectable 3rd place but felt we could have been runners up with a few more of our chances converted.

Well done to all the boys.  Thanks to Andrew Cross for managing and Sue Cross for assisting

Written by Tom Bailey

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Under 12 boys – Yellow Dragons (Silver Tournament)

The team: Samuel Keeley (GK), Huck Hempsall, Fred Sargent, Mccartney Aldous, George Wright, Harvey Lake, Louis Cann

I personally believe today was a great day for the U12 Dragons B team. Coming first in the tournament was a massive surprise to all of us, and not a single player was disappointed with our performance today on the pitch.

The team was satisfied drawing 0-0 with City, after last weekend. We played a decent game, with some good passing from McCartney and George and some amazing runs from Fred.

Our next game was against Magpies. We all didn’t know what to expect and were thrilled with the outcome 1-0 to us. Thanks to a goal in extra time scored by Louis! I also saw some good saves by our keeper Samuel, some phenomenal blocking by Huckleberry and some amazing effort from Harvey!

For the next match we were against City again. We played the game extremely well. McCartney took an astonishing cross early on in the game to Louis, who hit the ball into the back of the goal. After that the team were feeling pumped and continued to play some brilliant hockey, with more good running, positioning, tackling and passing from Fred, McCartney, George and Harvey and Huckleberry.

We believed the next game was fatal to us being first place. Everyone was probably aching, having previously putting in all their effort. We were running on empty.

Magpies were a strong team and quickly put a goal behind Sam despite trying his hardest to save it. Shortly after we were alert that this was not going down well as they put another goal behind us. Then out of the blue McCartney scored. Our hopes were raised! We were putting it all in, but our all wasn’t enough as in the last minutes magpies scored again, the game ended up 3-1 to Magpies.

The team were disappointed. We thought we’d lost the tournament to the Magpies. We gathered round for the ceremony afterwards waiting for our names to be called in 2nd place. “Last place is: Magpies” we looked at each other in disbelief “second: City” our hearts lept. “First place: Dragons!” We were extremely pleased. Especially the likes of Fred and Harvey as it was their first tournament!

Today I was extremely proud of captaining this brilliant team.  Well done dragons!

Player of the tournament: George Wright.

A special well done to HarveyLake who played hockey for the third time!

Thanks to Tom Bailey from the under 10 team for staying on and helping out in the first game.

Thanks to Natalie Beal and Ray Hansell for managing.

Written by Louis Cann.

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Under 12 Boys – Green Dragons (Gold Tournament)

The team: Ollie Shippam, Harry Williams, Ben Nkrumah, Raunaq Rai, Pedro Goss, James Hansell and Jono Chaney Baxter

In the Ist match against Pelicans we got off to a good start and went straight on the attack, with Jonathan, Raunaq, Pedro and Harry creating some good opportunities but our shots were either straight at their goalie or slightly off target. We were a bit slow in getting back after our attacking moves, which left us vulnerable in defence and Pelicans scored through a lucky deflection. After that we were mainly pinned into our D, and Ben made three great saves. We struggled to clear the ball, and a couple of minutes later they scored again.
The next game was against Norwich City, who also fielded a strong side, and it was pretty even for the first five minutes, but then they got a few short corners and it was only a matter of time before they scored. Despite some good runs from Ollie and Raunaq, we struggled with their clean neat passing and the final result was 3-0
After a breather, our next opponents were Dereham, and this proved a battle, with play alternating between the Ds; but our defence was sound. James made some great block tackles and clearing out wide, whilst Jonathan did some excellent channelling preventing crosses. Raunaq created a couple of good saves from their goalie and it looked like it was going to end in a draw. However, a minute before the final whistle Pedro dribbled up the field, noticed Harry unmarked across the other side of the pitch and made a great through pass; and Harry took the ball into the D, passed to Ollie who neatly stopped it and tapped it into the goal.
Last game was against Magpies, who had beaten NorwichCity, but from the start we went on the attack with Pedro, Harry, Raunaq and Ollie all battling in their D, with one shot after another, and it was only a matter of time before Harry picked up a rebound from their goalie to give us one up. This gave us confidence to do more attacking, with Jonathan pushing forward and making some great runs down the left wing and crossing it into the D. We gained several short corners and Raunaq struck well to put us 2-0 up. However, they were dangerous in attack and Ben made a couple of brilliant saves. James and Jonathan were good in defence – managing to clear out wide and getting the ball out clear from 16 hits. Ben players unmarked in the D Harry scored a Short corner from Raunaq. Then Magpies got one back.

Pedro hit out some fast accurate injections to Raunaq but Magpies defended and after a tussle at the edge of the D the ball went to Harry who dribbled to the right past a defender and a fine strike into the woodwork at the back of the goal, to make it 3-1.

Overall a respectable third place. Congratulations to all the players who worked very hard with no subs to provide a breather!

Thanks to Ali Smyth and Pat Goss for managing.

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Under 10 Girls – Blue Dragons (Silver Tournament)

In the Silver Tournament our tenacious little Dragons Blue namely, GK Tilly Connors-Beckett, Anabelle Hodgson, Octavia Udy, Harriet Marlee, Georgia Rayner, Charlotte Carr, Logan Gilvey, and Jemima Watson all worked really hard having only one substitute available all competition.

They played Magpies B’s firstly, the result of 2-0 to Magpies, second match was against Norwich City B’s ending in 1-0 to NorwichCity, then again playing Magpies ending in 0-0, then faced NorwichCity again when we were beaten 3-0.

Although we had 3 losses and one draw the team battled on relentlessly and we had some lovely chances in the D which we just weren’t able to convert on the day. And our keeper did a marvellous job and saved some great goals! Every single player gave their all and gained some great experience on the day.

Big thanks to the Dragons Blue Manager Ally Windsor Waite who kept them all in good spirits and many thanks to the Umpires.

Written by Jemima Watson

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Under 10 Girls – Green Dragons (Gold Tournament)

The team: Lucy Buxton, Molly Finegan (GK), Scarlett Udy, Simran Rai, Sasha Armstrong, Stella Windsor Waite, Sofia Groves.

Match 1
First we played NorwichCity. It was a very tough game. Sasha Armstrong and Simran Rai did some great clearances of the D. Unfortunately we lost 3 – 0 and we then had to go straight into the next game.

Match 2
We then played Dereham. The next match was a closer match as the ball went up and down the pitch. Scarlet Udy made some cracking attempts at scoring but unfortunately it bounced off the goal post and the opposition were great defenders. Stella WW made some brilliant interceptions. The final score was 1 – 0 to Dereham but it was very close.

Match 3
Lastly we played Magpies, who were a very strong team. Molly Finegan (GK) did some amazing saves as some people thwacked the ball into the goal. Sofia Groves dribbled the ball into safety very well. The score was 2 – 0 to Magpies.

The whole team played very well, the end result was…
1st Magpies
2nd NorwichCity
3rd Dereham
4th Green Dragons

Thanks to David Pentin for managing and Marsha Locke for standing in for Claire Hupton who was ill.

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Under 12 Girls – Green Dragons (Gold Tournament)

The team: Alessandra Pelligrinni (GK), Carmel Windsor Waite, Heather Tasker, Lucy Morton, Rachel Bruce, Catherine Matthews, Ella Mansley, Ellie Woods.

Dragons Greens v Pelicans A 0-0

From the push back these two teams looked well matched. The initial skirmishes were confined to the middle of the pitch with neither side giving much ground until Dragons made a break and put in two great crosses, one after another, in front of the Pelicans goal. Sadly neither were converted but both were good goalscoring chances.

Dragons looked strong in these early exchanges but Pelicans countered with a run at the Dragons goal, shooting wide after some useful defence from Dragons. A big tackle in midfield brought a minor injury to one of the players who went off and was replaced by our sub Ellie Woods.

Another great cross came in from Dragons which we just failed to control. Then came our best chance, an undefended shot on goal which unfortunately was fired straight at the Pelicans’ GK’s legs.

Several late Pelicans short corners followed which Dragons fought hard to keep out. This was Pelicans’ best chance to go up but Dragons defence held firm to keep the final score 0-0. A fairly even match though one which Dragons had the upper hand in scoring chances.

Dragons Greens v Dereham A 0-0

Dragons Catherine put in some long attacking runs to test the Dereham defence but we couldn’t quite get round them. In midfield and defence Dragons progress was hampered by some telegraphed passes that invited interceptions.

A huge long run down the wing was more great work from Lucy with a good pass through to Catherine, who just shot wide. Dragons defence from Heather and Carmel was solid.

A period of pressure from Dereham turned into some tough scraps in the centre of the Dragons half but a short corner was forced, followed by a long. Strong crosses in from the corners forced Dragons back on their defence. This was a late resurgence from Dereham, though Dragons were still looking a marginally stronger team. All the girls put in a solid performance and the score remained 0-0 at the end.

Dragons Greens v Magpies A 0-5

From the lineup Magpies looked a big powerful team. They’d won their matches before this and we knew that it would be a real struggle to contain them.

Heather and Carmel had their work cut out from the start but Heather looked calm and collected as she cleared a ball upfield and Carmel was soon battling for the ball on the right. GK Alessandra was also due for some action and was soon in the fray, keeping out a good lofted shot that was heading for the netting.

Another good save from GK Alessandra kept the scores level before Dragons had a useful break from Lucy which led to our only real chance at goal. A Dragons short corner was well defended and led to a counter attack. The Magpies strikers were very strong, skilful and mobile and a big hit was again well kept out by GK Alessandra.

Dragons defence was tested to the limit by a number of aggressive attacking moves from Magpies. A huge amount of pressure was starting to pile on the Greens leading to a first goal and after a lot of brave defending the second was scored off a short corner from an unlucky deflection off Heather, flying up into the top corner, way out of the reach of GK Alessandra.

The third Magpies goal was a great solo run from their striker through a slightly vaporous defence with a good shot into the corner, leaving GK Alessandra no chance.

Dragons were now looking a bit flustered and losing their shape a little under the constant barrage of Magpies attack and a lot of short corners followed. Our defence weren’t getting out quick enough to the receiver from the short corners, leaving her plenty of time to compose a hard shot, and this made it 4-0. A really unlucky deflection led to an own goal off Carmel, but it made no difference at all to the outcome – Magpies were a great team and just too strong for our Greens.

Dragons Greens v Norwich City A 0-4

Dragons Greens had their work cut out against another really strong side, comprising almost entirely Year 7 girls from Norwich School, with at least three County players among them.

They were also up against a particularly vociferous and noisy crowd of Norwich City parents! City needed a five goal winning margin to win the tournament outright over Magpies and the supporters sounded as if they were keen to help bring that about…

Dragons were playing for pride in this match, and did themselves proud. They were under relentless pressure from City from the start and had to throw themselves into defence throughout most of the game. City had some huge hitters at the edge of the D off their short corners. Time and again Greens were having to face up to defence of short corners and did so with a lot of heart.
The best we could do was keep the goals down and on that measure at least Dragons stretched themselves to the limit. The girls rose to their task and all of them defended with real grit and determination. Without this, the score could have gone a lot higher, but Greens held on and kept City down to four goals, enough only to share the tournament first place with Magpies.

The Girls U12 Greens worked incredibly hard under manager Amelia Dawson to put in a really solid effort to come in fourth out of the five teams, and with a couple of goals from the several chances in the early games they could easily have taken third place. Well done to the whole team for their tireless commitment!

Written by Heather Tasker

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Under 12 Girls – Pink Dragons (Silver Tournament)

The team: Dani Harvey (GK), Alice Martin, Esme Potter, Jodi Rump, Lara Taylor, Louisa Dixey, Niki Kerdegari and Aspen Gilvey.

Match 1 – Norwich City B – 1-0(L)

With three players making their debut for Junior Dragons some teething problems were considered inevitable; however, despite the fact that Norwich City looked likely to score right from the start of the match, the Dragon team worked well together and bearing in mind the pressure they were put under, were unfortunate to concede a goal close to the end of the match.

Feet have an awful and inconvenient habit of getting in between stick and ball, and unfortunately during this match it tended to happen most of the time when the ball was in the D, which led to a barrage of short corners against us. Whilst not ideal, what this did do was demonstrate the excellent defensive skills that the girls’ have built up over the season so far. Determination paid off with our first runner, Lara, quickly reaching the top of the D to put pressure on the opposition, and an excellent clearance from close to the line by Jodi Rump, who was guarding one of the posts. Unfortunately the ball was quickly hit back towards the goal, which resulted in a series of fantastic saves by Dani who, it has to be said is really showing some form at the moment. Further short corners were blocked by the Dragons defence with Esme demonstrating some powerful clearances away from the D.

This game saw most of the play in our own half; however, Alice made some good attempts at finding space to receive the ball from Esme and then use the width of the pitch to make a break towards the other end , and Aspen worked well on the right, linking with Jodi in the centre and Lara in defence. Nikki and Louisa, both playing for the first time up front, didn’t see too much action during this game, which gave them the opportunity to settle in to their new positions.

Match 2 – Magpies B – 1-0(L)

This match saw slightly more action towards our attacking goal, which meant that Louisa and Nikki both had to work hard in attacking play, which they did to good effect when the ball reached them. However, the team still seemed a little reticent in moving forward and attacking.

Every player in the team showed excellent defensive skills, regardless of their position on the pitch, for example, both Louisa and Nikki moved back to help their team mates when required, despite being in attacking positions. More defensive short corners meant more great blocks by Dani, who had to maintain her concentration and direct her defenders. Also a fantastic clearance from the line by Alice, strong tackling and clearances from Esme and excellent running out by both Aspen and Lara kept the goals at bay during short corners. With the amount of defending required from our young players, the fact that only one goal resulted is a testament to their determination.

Some good, strong clearances from Esme, twice saw Alice able to break through the Magpie midfield and make a strong run down the left, whilst Jodi followed in the centre to offer support; similarly down the right, with Lara clearing towards either Jodi or out wider to Aspen, who would drive the ball down the pitch. However, it was noticeable that the girls’ were always ready to defend, rather than actively pushing forward. It sometimes seemed in this game as though there was an invisible line preventing entry to the attacking D. Perhaps this resulted from the constant defending from the first match, but it was clear that it needed to be addressed before the third and final match.

Match 3 – Pelicans B – 1-0(L)

Following a good pre-match discussion, the girls’ entered this game with a renewed determination to move the ball up the field and attack, with the intention of scoring a goal. First Nikki, and then Louisa had their work cut out as true to their word, the girls’ moved the ball up the pitch. Esme and Lara made sure that their clearances from the back were put out wide so that they could benefit from using the whole width of the pitch, Alice and Jodi worked extremely well together moving forward, whilst Aspen watched where they were and made some meaningful runs into the D to receive the ball. Louisa visibly made progress in this game as she clearly enjoyed pushing up with the ball, making some strong and decisive tackles along the way.

Defensively there was slightly less to do, largely because when the ball did come back, both Lara and Esme made considered clearances so the ball was less likely to come straight back into the D. Dani could have thought that she could relax more in this game as the play wasn’t always surrounding her, but she did well to maintain her concentration and watch the play. This meant that she was able to make a strong save when required.

The goal that did come from Pelicans is not a good reflection of the game in general, which would have been more suited to a draw. The whistle of one umpire had gone for a foul against us, which meant that our player who was tackling, as well as the player behind her, stopped playing. The other umpire, who hadn’t heard the whistle played advantage to Pelicans and from this they scored. The goal was very well struck, which cannot be disputed, however, the situation itself was unfortunate, and a real shame for the Dragons who worked so hard during that game.

This match was by far the best overall, and demonstrated that as a team the girls’ are able to defend well and attack well. Moving forward these girls have the makings of a very strong team.

Many thanks to Gemma Rump for managing the team.

Written by Jodi Rump

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Your tournament was brought to you by…

Umpires:

Freya Clogan
John Clogan
Michael Whitmore
Mike Banham
Ali Smyth
Amelia Dawson
David Pentin
Pollyanna Watson
Dan Ryan
Jason Wolfe
Natalie Beal

Fundraisers:
Sue Cullum – raffle (raised £185) (and parents donated prizes)
Andrea Matthews – cake stall and tuck shop (raised £250)

Scorers:
Gail Thomas
Pete Thomas
Sophie Thomas
Hannah Hardy

Tuck Shop and Cake Stall staff:
Andrea Matthews
Catherine Matthews
Rachael Matthews
Jess Tye Leech
Josh Bingham
Laura Hansell

(and lots of parents made the cakes)

Tournament Director:
Angela Murgatroyd (Spike)

General set up and running around all day:
Mike Hardy

Set up and Pack up:
Mike Hardy
Gail Thomas
Hannah Hardy
Andrew Cross
Ali Smyth
Sue Cullum
Andrea Matthews
Mr Buxton
Angela Murgatroyd
Natalie Beal

The Secret Ingredient: The Hoof was recently rescued from a Beef Lasagne Factory.  It has now been mounted ready for presentation at the Awards Night.  Likewise as the season has progressed competition for the top slot has also mounted.

Given the great performance of many of the Dragons’ teams, the Hoof average scores are extremely high.  There is still everything to play for in the remaining weeks of the season.  Here is a reminder of the scoring system.

3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
1 point for a cleanshee
t1 point for each set of 3 goals scored
(e.g. 4-0 win gets 5 hoof points)
These points are then averaged over the number of matches the team has scored.

The Hoof table can be found each week at the end of Match Reports.

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2-5 Spalding 1

Dragons started the game strongly, playing the ball around well and creating attacking pressure. Steve Woodward opened the scoring for Dragons, following up when the Spalding keeper had made the first save from Rupert Snelling’s shot at a penalty corner (1-0 Dragons). Dragons continued to enjoy good possession and pressure in the Spalding half, but were unable to turn this into goals. Spalding always looked dangerous on the break, some good keeping from Robbie Whiting prevented them for scoring until towards the end of the half when they turned the ball over and moved it quickly for a tap in at the far post. The half-time score was 1-1.

Dragons came out after half-time looking to replicate their effort and commitment from the first half. However, it was Spalding who stepped up their game, pressurising Dragons all over the pitch and generally being first to the ball. They scored two well taken goals from penalty corners and then a further 2 goals from open play to make it 5-1. Dragons rallied, but it was too little too late. Gaining the upper hand in the last 10 minutes Alex Browne scored to make it 5-2, but Dragons could not find any further goals.

Final score 5-2 to Spalding.

Dragons man of the match was Garnett Jones.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 6-1 Dereham 4

Dragons 2XI had lost form in recent weeks and were in need of a good win to spur themselves on their way to a possible promotion spot. They came up against an experienced Dereham 4 side. The Dragons started off well with strong attacking hockey, Andy Hipper and Adam Sayer working the middle to keep Dereham on their toes. The first goal came early on when Adam Sayer crashed a ball in from the top of the D. However Dereham managed to strike back soon after when they caught the Dragon defence sleeping to make 1-1. More attack from the Dragons especially Ricky Powley lead to the next goal. Where Dereham conceded a short corner for Andy Kelsall to set up Rich Phillis flying in on the right post to make it 2-1 before half time.

The second half prompted the Dragons to push home their one goal advantage as they further pressured the Dereham defence. Dragons captain Cley Hamilton slapped a cross into the near post which caught a deflection into the back of the net making the score 3-1. Further classy passing brought together Dragons fourth goal which Dan Cheesman snaked his way through the Dereham defence to score from close. Dereham started to tire has the half was drawing to a close. But there was enough time for the dragons to poach two more before the end. The first came from Captain Cley Hamilton who scored the rebound from an Adam Sayer shot while the second was another own goal conceded after Cley Hamilton crashed a ball to the goal only to be deflected again by the same player to make it 6-1 at the finish to the dragons.

Simon Nisbet Man of the Match

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 0:0 Bury SE 3

Norwich Dragons Mens 3s went into this match as league leaders against their closest rivals Bury knowing that if they maintained their unbeaten league record, and that of never having lost a home league match since the Dragons Den had opened in 2011, that they should be crowned as Divison 5NE champions, as Bury would not be able to match their record.

The team started well, taking the match to Bury with a strong firey display from the central midfield partnership of George Walker and Jon Goodson. Dragons began to create chances but were finding the Bury keeper on top form and putting on a great display of shot stopping. The Dragons were sticking to their gameplan of short sharp passing and using the flanks where Chris Wilkinson was playing well this resulted in the team winning short corners but the shots from these could not be got off quickly enough to take advantage of these opportunities.  On the one first half ocassion when Bury had a chance Dragons keeper Sam Clark was able to pull off a good save.

A good attack from Dragons saw the ball fired into the D and man of the match Adrian Kemp produced a great deflection to send the ball flying at pace towards the top corner but just as it looked like this was the breakthrough the Bury keeper produced a great reflex save to nudge the ball over the bar.  From another attack good approach play by Will Kirby drew the Bury keeper and his pass across the D was swept just wide by Matt Jenkins so the match remained goal-less at half-time.

In the second half, the Dragons continued to dictate the match and their strong defence, led by sweeper Peter Davison, controlled the Bury attacks. Peter was supported by excellent marking by Lawrence Singleton and also by David Pentin showing great commitment and putting his body on the line to stop the Bury centre forward. When Dragons attacked John Ives was making strong dribbling runs down the right flank and getting to the byline and crossing the ball but the final crucial touch could not be applied. On the left flank young Will Ives was having a very determined display both going forward and coming back to win posession with good tackles. Towards the end of the match Bury were awarded a couple of short corners but the Dragons defenders Ben Dures and Dan Ryan were quickly out to snuff out any danger.

The final whistle arrived to secure the all important draw for Dragons.

Unfortunately, because this team are in a Division based on percentages, the league won’t declare the Champions until the end of the season, however, some of the best mathematical brains in Norfolk have advised that Dragons cannot now be caught and the celebration of back-to-back titles can begin.

This achievement is down to the great spirit of the squad which has been relatively unchanged for the majority of the season. When players have been needed to step in and help out both experienced and youthful they have bought into the game plan of the team, so well devised by captain George Walker and helped the team to power on. The regular attendance at training led by Men’s Club Coach Rob Wagstaff has been vital in the team’s success and the team would like to pass on their thanks to him for these sessions.
The achievement of the title was especially apt on captain George Walker’s birthday and the birthday cake enjoyed by the team after the match tasted doubly sweet.

The team now must set their sights on finishing the season with their unbeaten record intact as they face their last three matches.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 1-2 Norwich Exiles

Dragons headed into a decisive match after a run of wins with good confidence to continue their promotion push.

On the tricky bouncy Taverham pitch, Dragons struggled to adopt in the opening stages and found it difficult to string together a good set of passes and keep some convincing possession, Exiles were able to take advantage with their experience and looked the more likely to score keeping the ball well.

Dragons started to find their feet a little and got the ball into the oppositions 23 area but failed to create clear cut chances as the experienced Exiles defence intercepted many passes into the area.

Exiles had more of the game through the first half and took the lead after about 25 minutes when their right winger drove almost to the back line and fired home from a very tight angle.  From there it remained 1-0 until half time.

Half time talk was to maintain composure and make the opposition work, as they would tire.  Dragons came out in the second half and immediately looked a better side getting the ball into the area and winning short corners, however none were really able to test the keeper.

With the continued pressure Dragons got their equaliser when Jake Hardesty picked up the ball just outside the area and struck from the top of the ‘D’ to leave the keeper with no chance.  With renewed confidence Dragons at this point in the game looked more likely to score again.  Exiles broke through on a few occasions but the defence held well as it became an end to end encounter.

The game became more heated and intense, typical of what was at stake, which led to a yellow card for the Exiles forward for dissent.  Dragons again pressed with the extra man but could not take advantage.

As the game fell into the last few minutes, Exiles stole the victory with a powerful shot from just inside the ‘D’ in a packed area, Robbie Bell did well to get a touch only for the ball to still hit the backboard.  At the restart and with just a minute remaining even a surging run down the left from the Captain could not find a red shirt in the area and the whistle went.

It was a cruel blow to Dragons who deserved a draw at the very least.  Promotion is a tough task now, being joint 3rd with 2 other teams but sadly on a worse goal difference by some margin.  It will require winning the remaining 4 games and hoping other results go their way.

Ollie King was voted man of the match who, at times, took on the Exiles defence single handily to create chances.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:1 Loddon 2

The exasperating thing for those who love the 5s is that you are never sure which team is going to turn up.  There is a side that practises fast, accurate passing from the back to the front, creating plenty of opportunities and winning the ball all over the pitch.  Then there is the team that can’t quite manage to get first to the ball, misjudges the weight of passes, but nevertheless keeps running and never gives up. Unfortunately, it was this second version that turned up to play Loddon 2s, and consequently lost a game they could have won.

In a game of small margins, you also need a little luck, and certainly Puff was not looking after his own.  Dragons were awarded a penalty flick seconds after Bridget Le Good had left the pitch, so she lost her chance to shine and the opportunity went begging. A super shot from Sophie Farrow rebounded from the post with the keeper beaten, and then the Dragons were denied what they thought was a fair shout for a penalty corner when a Loddon player was left hobbling around the D.

But if you make your own luck, then perhaps Dragons did not deserve much more from this very scrappy game. Abi Cowe, joint player of the match with Sophie, performed heroically at the back with Emma Buxton alongside. Beth Elgood and Nicky King shared left defence until the evident strength of Nicky’s play earned her a move to midfield where she could force the ball forward. Sophie Farrow, with her tireless running and excellent reading of the game, has now made a position at the top of the diamond her own. Sophie can and will develop her ability to control the ball and shoot – and switched with Rosie Korn, who played both right and left forward. Rosie has the control and power, and needs to rediscover her ‘buzz’ to return to her best form.

Dragons had several players returning after breaks of various lengths, so perhaps it was not surprising that their touch was a little ‘off’, but it was disappointing that we did not bring more of the defensive drills we had practiced in training into the game.  Loddon scored the only goal through a defensive misunderstanding that left goalkeeper Laura Tuck stranded, and we all need to develop our understanding of where team members are on the pitch so that we can get back to making accurate passes.

Another plus point was the form of Jade Blanchflower, a tireless runner with strength and speed, whose is working on her understanding of when to drive and when to pass – and is definitely a player with bags of potential.

The 5s have several more squad members back next week, so attendance at training is essential because competition for places will be intense.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons : No Fixture

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Norwich Dragons Young Dragons section are hosting an under 10s and under 12s tournament at the Den on Sunday 3rd March with entries from all Norfolk clubs with large youth sections.

Matches start at 9.30am and finish at 4.50pm, so please pop down and see the 1st team players of the future in action and lend a hand to the small band of organisers and helpers that have worked so hard to make this event possible.

Despite going 2-0 up after 25 minutes (photo shows Laura Shreeve celebrating their first goal), Norfolk Police conceded a goal to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) just before half-time to set up a tight second half.  Unable to add to their lead in the next period of normal play, the supporting Dragons on the sideline could feel the tension building.  With minutes to go the umpires blew the whistle, not to finish the game, but to stop play for an injury.  When play re-started, Norfolk weren’t tuned in, and allowed a long ball to be hammered into their D and PSNI managed to force the ball home with just 32 seconds left on the clock!!

Norfolk heads understandably dropped, as the game now went into two 7.5 minute sessions of ‘Silver Goal’ extra time.  Captain Marie James, re-focused the team and they held strong for both sessions, resulting in a penalty flick decider.  Each team had 5 flicks and with Norfolk having missed their first two flicks with good saves by the keeper, the pressure was on.  Northern Ireland missed their second, Norfolk scored the third, as did PSNI, sadly Norfolk missed their fourth but PSNI scored, and the dream was over.

Congratulations to PSNI would go on to the quarter finals to continue the defence of their triple title, for Norfolk they get to play in the Plate competition.  There was some very good hockey on display at the Den today, with Marie and Laura linking up well and Laura’s mazey runs causing major problems for the opposition defence.  Lucy Hayman made a number of critical saves in goal and Kate Trelawny Gower worked tirelessly and skilfully upfront.

Today’s EDP is incorrectly reporting that the Ladies 3s have secured the Norfolk Division 1 title.  Norwich Dragons did not submit this to them in our match report.  The EDP have incorrectly calculated that second place UEA 2s have two games remaining, whereas they actually have four games to go.  We have notified the EDP of their error.

As a Club we will only report promotions or titles when we are 100% certain.

We also did not and would not use the word ‘thrashing’ in our report to the EDP.

On Thursday 28th February, the current holders (winners for three consecutive years) of the Police Sport UK Knockout Cup, the team from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) come to the Den to take on last year’s beaten Plate finalists Norfolk Police.  The Norfolk team includes our Ladies 1s Captain Marie James and Ladies 1s forward Laura Shreeve.

Anyone wishing to come and cheer on our local team should head down to the pitch for a 12pm push-back.  The match is 35 minutes each way, then if the scores even, 20 minutes of golden goal and then if still even, it goes to flicks, at which point Norfolk will really fancy their chances given the Dragons girls are lethal flickers!

Marie and Laura were also selected for the British Police Ladies Hockey Squad last season, they are pictured below with the rest of the squad in May 2012.

Links to each team’s league page can also be found on their respective website pages, along with team fixtures, details of goalscorers and player of the match for each league game, click on the team names below to see those pages.

Men’s 1s – League expects 2 promotions and 4 relegations

Ladies 1s & Ladies 2s – League expects 2 promotions and 1 or 2 relegations

Men’s 2s – League expects 2 promotions and 2 relegations

Ladies 3s – League expects 2 promotions but relegations depend on number of teams in league

Men’s 3s – League expects 2 promotions and 3 relegations

Ladies 4s & Ladies 5s – League expects 2 promotions but depends on number of teams in league next season

Men’s 4s – League currently expects 3 promotions however this could change depending on league structure

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

Dragons travelled to Harleston looking to extend their recent run of good form which had seen them lose only one game of their previous 5. Magpies started the game much the better team. They pressured and harried Dragons from the 1st minute and Dragons found it very difficult to keep hold of the ball, or even to get out of their own half. Magpies scored first, reacting quickest to hit the ball into the net after the Dragon’s keeper had made the first save from a penalty corner. Eventually Dragons started to get out of their own half, but from their attack in the Magpies ‘D’, Magpies turned the ball over and attacked at speed, Gavin Cole scoring a fine individual goal from Magpies (2-0). This seemed to galvanise Dragons who began to come more into the game, gaining more possession and creating attacks on the Magpies goal. The score at half time was 2-0 to Magpies.

The second half saw Dragons step up their game and they were soon rewarded when Matt Knights’ well struck shot was defected in by a Magpies defender (2-1). Dragons enjoyed much of the play in the second half and created a number of good opportunities, but were unable to take them until Alex Browne slotted home drawing the game at 2-2. Dragons continued to search for the winning goal, but could not quite find it. They suffered a late scare in the dying seconds when Magpies were awarded a couple of penalty corners, but their defence held strong.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s P:P Norwich City 4

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 Felixstowe 3

Norwich Dragons Men s 3rd team travelled away from snowy Norfolk and arrived for their match in Felixstowe to find a cold breeze but otherwise perfect weather for hockey. The opposition were able to field a stronger team than they had been able to bring to Norfolk for the previous fixture earlier in the season. The match developed into a contest of contrasting styles with Dragons playing their short passing and using the wings while Felixstowe were playing long direct passes from defence and trying to dribble from midfield. Dragons were creating the majority of the chances and were being awarded several short corners the team however struggled with the slowness of the pitch when performing short corner routines and when they did get a shot off the Felixstowe keeper was saving well. Dragons finally broke the deadlock when Ben Dures followed up a shot by a Dragons forward and when the ball came back off the keeper Ben was in the right place to put the ball in the goal,1-0 Dragons. When Felixstowe had sporadic attacks Jonnty Gosling was playing with calmness and composure way beyond his years and Will Ives was also playing well on the flanks both on attack and winning the ball when called on to help defend. 
The interval came with the lead still intact and Dragons stressed the positives of how they were dominating and creating many chances which if continued in the second half would give the opportunity to stretch their lead.

In the second half man of the match Peter Davison continued to command the Dragons defence to ensure they kept a clean sheet and started attacks with good passing vision and dribbling skills. In central midfield Stuart Kelly at the bottom of the diamond was allways available as an outlet and his great tackling was giving his midfield partner George Walker the confidence to get forward. From one of George’s strong runs forward he was able to release Will Kirby who found his striking partner Adrain Kemp who coolly scored to give Dragons a 2-0 lead.

Occasionally Felixstowe broke forward but good marking and tackling by Henry Eades and Lawrence Singleton ensured the Dragons keeper was untroubled and Felixstowe were unable to even win one short corner in the whole match. Dragons made the match safe with a third goal when Matt Jenkins showed great patience in the D to wait to get in the best position to shoot at goal and arrow the ball through a gap amongst a crowd of defenders into the goal to give a 3-0 final scoreline.

Many thanks to Steve Woodward for the shooting training session he produced for the team on Thursday night which ensured chances were converted into goals.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s P:P IES 5

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:1 Magpies 6

The 5s achieved what is probably their best strategic performance of the season when they held high-flying Magpies to a single goal at the Den. As the season enters its final stages, Magpies have emerged as the team most likely to follow Dragons 4 into a potential promotion place. In the away match, Dragons’ were beaten 6-0 with the Magpies using speed and strength to score at will. This time, the most pleasing thing about the Dragons play was that they had a game plan and they were able to execute it. It was a tremendous boost to have both the Club President and the Lead Coach encouraging them from the side lines, and helping them to keep their shape and urging them to make those extra efforts. Once again we pay tribute to the club officials who are there for us at the last match of the day as the wind chill factor ever increases. They were the ‘12th player’ for the squad – on a day when only 11 players were available.

But what an 11! From back to front and back again they played with true Dragon fire, marking, cutting off raking passes, holding up the attacks and timing their tackles. Sophie Farrow was player of the match, and when she switched to top of the diamond in the second half she achieved a phenomenal coverage of the pitch. Behind her was Holly Francis, who always makes an impact with her distribution skills whenever she is available. Abi Cowe proved nerveless when called upon to stop the Magpies through the middle, with Emma Buxton equally reliable in right defence and Jade Blanchflower making solid tackles on the left and proving her worth in yet another position.

Lizzy McDonnell again impressed in midfield, but the best aspects of her play was some clever and unselfish slip passes in the D which nearly brought a reward. Lisa Harwood and Claire Fairhurst showed good understanding of the need to defend on the right, whilst still making forays up the front where Lois McGregor was waiting for the chances – but kept very busy defending and stopping the Magpies breaking out from the 16. The 5s goalkeeper for the day was Amy Forse. The 5s no longer have a goalkeeper of their own and week after week are delighted to welcome whichever goalkeeper is willing/able to double up for them. Amy needed to be at her very best for positioning and shot stopping and kept the Dragons in the game with a clean sheet at half time. The goal when it came was a well-struck penalty corner from Vicky Blackmore, and there is no shame in going down to a goal of that quality.

Dragons move forward with their spirits high, and once again have the confirmation that if they train hard, listen carefully and go into a game determined to put their plan into action, they can hold their own with the best teams in the division. As we trooped off shattered, bruised, and grinning broadly we knew we had played a great game. (But winning IS more fun…)

In the absence of our professional photographer Roy Harvey, there are a few fuzzy photos from the game here.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons P:P Magpies

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Those adult team players that have been patiently sitting on our waiting lists have now all been contacted to invite them along to the Dragons’ Coaching Sessions.  Our lead coaches for the Men’s and Ladies sessions bring significant playing and coaching experience from the National League, so this is a fantastic opportunity for players to learn from those that have been there and done it.

It is great to welcome the latest group of players to Norwich Dragons, with players from Norwich School, Norwich High School for Girls as well as players wanting to Get Back Into hockey that haven’t played since school.

Our Young Dragons section continues to see huge interest, however we take our duty of care from a safety and also quality of coaching perspective very seriously, so waiting lists remain in place for most Young Dragon age groups.  This is constantly reviewed and whilst new enquiries go on the list initially, we aim to move players through to the coaching sessions as quickly as possible.

We have very strong links in place with most local schools across Norwich, South Norfolk and surrounding areas, with high numbers of youngsters joining us from Norwich High School for Girls, Norwich School, Town Close, Langley, Hewett, Hobart, Acle, Framlingham Earl, as well as many local Primary and Junior schools such as Trowse, Cringleford, Lakenham and Bignold.

We are developing some exciting ideas for next season, across the Club, so watch this space.

The under 10s and under 12s boys and girls are playing Norwich City in friendly mini fixtures this Sunday.

Games at Taverham
u10 Girls
u12 Girls
u12 Boys

Games at The Den
u10 Boys (from 1pm)

If you are around it would be great to give them your support.

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 3:2 City of Peterborough 4

Off the back of their great away win last week Dragons approached the game hungry for another 3 points. The early exchanges of the game were scrappy with neither team able to build much possession or momentum. However, Dragons were able to find the net, Rupert Snelling picking up the ball in the Peterborough ‘D’ and working a fine reverse stick shot (1-0) Dragons. Both team settled down after this and, though they started to have much more of the ball, Peterborough were not able to create many shooting opportunities and those they did make were comfortably saved by Robbie Whiting in the Dragons goal. Dragons increased their lead when Rupert Snelling forced the ball in from near the penalty spot (2-0) Dragons. Dragons were not able to settle on their 2 goal advantage, giving possession away too cheaply, but at the same time creating a number of break away opportunities.

Half time score 2-0 to Dragons.

Dragons scored their third goal when Ed Smith calmly fielded a penalty corner which went straight through the stopper and then passed to Jason Wolfe who’s spin and shot defeated the Peterborough keeper (3-0 Dragons). Dragons looked comfortable at this point, but Peterborough scored from a penalty corner (3-1) and were then gifted a second goal when the Dragons defence misfielded the ball, it coming through to a Peterborough striker at the top of the ‘D’, who’s first time shot lodged in the bottom of the goal (3-2). This spurred Peterborough on and Dragons endured a frantic last 10 minutes to come out 3-2 winners.

Final score 3-2 to Dragons.

Dragons man of the match was Jason Wolfe.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:2 Sudbury 3

The Dragon’s started off strongly as they have done in previous weeks. Pressurising the Sudbury defence, terrorising runs down the flanks by Simon Nisbet and Lewis Wilkins gave the opposition a lot to think about as the Dragons attack peppered the Sudbury stronghold. A short interchange between Mark Flatman and Adam Sayer brought about the first goal as they bounced pass to one another before Sayer crashed a ball towards the goal. The keeper could only deflect the shot a metre back out where captain Cley Hamilton was on hand to sweep the ball into the back board to make it 1-0 Dragons. Further smart play from Ricky Powley and Barney Price provided several opportunities, but none were converted. Dim Ives pulled off a few saves to keep the Dragons ahead along with Andy Hipper heading a much changed defence with stand ins Jon Price and Henry Eades. However before the break the Dragons goal was breached after a series of short corners lead to a Sudbury goal making the score line 1-1.

Henry Eades continued his fine debut for the side getting the better of his opposite number and providing decent balls out from the back. The Dragon’s second goal came from a through ball to captain Cley Hamilton who turned his defender inside out before lashing a reverse stick cross to Dan Cheesman to control and hit the ball in to make the score 2-1. Halfway through the second half the Dragons went down to 10 men. This brought about added pressure on the Dragons goal which lead to the tying score. Sudbury then held out despite a late drag flick attempt by Henry Laming only to be denied by the in form Sudbury goal keeper.

Final score 2-2 with Henry Eades man of the match.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 IES 4

Norwich Dragons Mens 3rds had to make a number of changes to the team due to unavailabilty. This allowed the team to include a mixture of youth and experience. Jonty Gosling made his debut in mens hockey at the age of 14 after good recent displays for the Under 16 and Boys development team and Ollie King was promoted from the 4th team after good recent performances. The team were also pleased to have the addition of the playing experience and knowledge of Phil Yorke-Smith and Mal Hant.

The Dragons made a good start and were immediately on the offensive testing the opposition defence. The pressure was converted into the award of a number of short corners but the initial attempts at direct shots were well saved by the IES keeper. Jonty Gosling was playing well on the right side of defence winning the ball with strong tackles and pushing forward with the ball to start attacks linking up with team-mates and he was justifiably voted man of the match.

IES were making occassional fast breaks and taking advantage in the early stages of the match of some loose Dragons midfield marking and Sam Clark had to make an important save to ensure IES didn’t take the lead against the run of play. Dragons finally took the lead when for the first time they tried a variation at a short corner which allowed Jon Goodson to score from close range,1-0 Dragons. The Dragons tightened up their marking and IES did not trouble the Dragons keeper for the rest of the half and Dragons continued to create chances with the ball being moved down both flanks with Matt Jenkins playing well on the left. Dragons went into the half-time break with their one goal lead and Peter Davison gave a calm and encouraging team talk.

Dragons continued to dominate in the second half with Jon Goodson and Mal Hant forming a strong partnership in central midfield. Dragons made the match safe with a second goal when after good approach work by Ollie King the ball was fed to Will Kirby who took the ball round the keeper before drilling the ball into the unprotected goal for the team’s 50th league goal of the season,2-0 Dragons. The icing on an excellent attacking performance was applied when Adrian Kemp scored with a reverse stick shot from an acute angle from the base-line,3-0 Dragons. IES were awarded a late short corner but a strong stick deflection on the line from David Pentin ensured the IES shot went wide and the Dragons clean sheet was preserved.

With the clash of Dragons two promotion rivals producing a win for the 3rd placed team the lead has now been extended by a further three points.

Photos from this match here

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 4:3 Sudbury 4

After their superb victory the previous week, Dragons travelled to deepest darkest Sudbury knowing they needed to work hard to show that beating the league leaders was no fluke.

Dragons started well keeping the pressure on Sudbury with the ball mostly in the Sudbury half, but did look lethargic at times allowing Sudbury to easily get the ball.  Dragons still created chances but could not test the keeper enough.  Sudbury rarely threatened the Dragons goal and spent large parts of the first half passing the ball in their own half of the pitch, and not really able to break Dragons down.

The score remained 0:0 at half time but Dragons knew they were the better team and just needed to step up a gear.

The second half the game came to life and even with Dragons being more in control, Sudbury took the lead with a hard hit into the area which was poked home by their forward.  Dragons responded superbly as Sudbury’s lead lasted about 5 minutes, once again with Dragons having the more pressure, Jake Hardesty responded the quickest to slot home after the keeper saved the short corner shot from Mike Banham.

Minutes later Dragons had the lead, with good work from Chris Harrison who drove the ball from his own half past 2 players up to the oppositions 25 yard line, passing to Ben Harvey who slipped the ball to Chris Matthews who crossed to Jake Hardesty to push home his second of the afternoon.  Dragons now in total control they added a third after Andy Key played in Chris Matthews who after a slight interception from the defender showed good individual play to shoot across the keeper for a stunning finish.

Another short corner followed and again Jake Hardesty reacted first after the keeper saved to push towards goal only for the ball to hit a defenders foot, a clear penalty flick which was converted by Mike Banham.  4 goals in 15 minutes showed the attacking play was paying off.

Dragons as they have done a few times this season switched off to let Sudbury get back in the game, who were getting the occasional chance on the break, they did this twice and Dragons failed to clear a very loose attack as both responding goals all but trickled over the line to give Sudbury a chance at a draw.

To help see out the game Paul Keating and Chris Harrison dropped back, alternating every few minutes to support the defence, although Dragons still pressed on looking for another goal as Sudbury began looking less likely to get the equaliser.

An excellent second half saw Dragons claim victory but need to be sharper when controlling the game, that is 2 games in a row where a solid victory has slipped into a nervous final 15 minutes.

Man of the match was again nominated between 5 players, with Jake Hardesty taking the honours after his quick reaction display to score 2 goals. 

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 3:0 Norwich City 5

Quite frankly, Dragons 5s have been in the doldrums just lately. They couldn’t hit a barn door if they sat on the snick, and they were about as cheerful an assistant on a supermarket meat counter. Drastic measures were called for. El Presidente had a few little words at training, Lois McGregor put on the captain’s armband, half the squad went ski-ing – and hey presto, the rest came up with a big win.

Having prepared a master plan (with colouring in), Lois demanded that her team play with pace, keep their shape – but move fluidly around the pitch. The tactic brought an early reward when she forced home a great pass from Jade Blanchflower. Equally good goals from Lisa Harwood and Rosie Korn followed, and Ciara Willmott and Sophie Farrow were unlucky not to get onto the score sheet. All the goals came in the first half; in the second, the Dragons were not quite as successful at pressing home their advantages.

City were strong on the counter attack but in defence, Abi Cowe was in fine form again, with Emma and Katie Buxton equally impressive either side of her. Goalkeeper Sue Cullum had been told her holiday was over, and she returned to show no signs of rust as she nervelessly stopped some strong shots and showed her usual good judgement when deciding which long balls to leave well alone.

Sophie Farrow was player of the match, and worked tirelessly in midfield and led the way in lateral running. Jade was equally impressive; she has a lot of pace and her passing is improving with every match. Lizzie McDonnell played a very disciplined game in all the midfield positions. She was the provider and supplier of the telling balls, and was strong in the second half as others faded. Ciara Willmott played her best game for the Dragons so far. She held her position wherever she was played; was unlucky not to score, and began to make her presence felt on the pitch.

Rosie Korn was very comfortable on the ball at the top of the diamond and battled away, winning most of the tussles she was involved in. Particular praise should go to Katie Buxton, who played left defence again which is not her favourite position. Cath Power  managed the subs with great efficiency, and she is now back in training after a long injury and is keen to compete for a place in the defence. Praise, too, for Claire Fairhurst, who is getting more and more pitch time – the more she practises, the better she gets.

So all in all a very satisfactory day for the Dragons, who marched off with big grins. Remember this day, girls, when the tougher games come along and we need to repeat all the skills that we put into this game.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:6 Dereham

A game where the score line did not reflect the play. Whist Dereham managed all the goals play was much closer to 50: 50.

It was clear from the start that Dereham had some very strong forwards and their constant attacks down their left wing put the defence under just too much pressure and we soon conceded the first goal. In the first half Dragons were kept under pressure but still managed a number of attacks, two leading to short corners. Unfortunately we were not able to get a shot in as the Dereham defence were very quick off the line. As the game progressed Dragons continued to make a number off good attacks. At times the play was solidly in the Dereham half for minutes on end but we simply could not convert this into goals.

In the second half Dereham looked even stronger with constant attacks. Each time Dereham came forward they seemed to have 5 or 6 people on the attack thus resulting in the 6 – 0 defeat. The pressure on the defence was unrelenting also putting pressure on young Ben Nkrumain in goal who made some excellent saves but was unable to manage against such force.

Man of the match was Hamish Packham who despite being new to the game this season managed some excellent tackles and as Captain did his share of keeping the team together and motivated.Not all gloom for this very young Dragons side as some defensive lessons were learned.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:2 Norwich City

With the help of adults Ally Windsor-Waite and Sarah Wagstaff we went out against the strong opposition of Norwich City. From the push back we managed to hold the Norwich attack at bay with great play in mid and defense, Anja Finegan even proving that forwards can tackle. Unfortunately a string of fouls in the D meant Norwich scored on a short corner much to our annoyance. After half time sweets we played more aggressively with defence making numerous tackles and clearances ensuring only one more goal was conceded. Man of the match was Lotte Korn for her strong and consistent work in defence. Well done everyone.

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The hoof table as it currently stands

The Norwich Dragons Under 16 Boys travelled to Colchester on Sunday Feb 10th for their final regional round of the Knockout Competition. After good preparation with two friendlies against a combined Mens 3rd/4th team and the Dragons Masters optimism was high for good performances and results.

After a delay to start times as the previous event at the astro overran the boys finally got onto the pitch for their first match against Colchester. A great start was made by the team with some attractive flowing passing hockey being played with Alec Bidet-Steele and Jonty Gosling slicing through the middle of the pitch and Colchester were slightly on the back foot in open play. Eddie Smith was supporting the attack with strong dribbling runs from right back powering through the Colchester defenders. The forwards Ben Watson and Josh Bingham were bursting into the D when the passes were put through and were also pressurising the Colchester defenders into poor choices when they took the defensive 16’s. James Whitmore was playing simple passes to start attacks on one flank while on the other Henry Laming was dribbling past the defenders to cross into the D or turn back to find team-mates.

The team took the lead with an open play goal from Jonty Gosling and when Colchester attacked the two John’s Franks and Savill were working hard in the centre of defence. However Colchester began to win short corners and their forward scored two goals when he dribbled through tackle before scoring from close range. When Colchester had to resort to shots from further out Michael Glerum was making good saves. The team were able to score two more goals to go into half-time leading 3-2.

The second half gave the opportunity to put on the young fresh legs of Pedro Goss and Tom Byrne who impressed with their commitment and energy. The team scored a fourth goal from a Alec Bidet-Steele drag flick at a short corner Colchester replied with two goals to make the scores level at 4-4. A turning point in the match then occurred when Colchester were awarded a penalty flick and Dragons celebrations started when Michael flew across to his right to make a diving save. The joy was short-lived when the umpires ordered the flick to be retaken as the Umpire said he had not blown his whistle and from the retake the Colchester player placed the ball to the left of the goal to give Colchester the lead. Late in the match Colchester scored a sixth to ensure victory by 6-4 . The Dragons performance and skill in this match had deserved greater reward than they had received. At the end of the match Mark Savill suffered a nose bleed and had to be treated for this.

The Dragons team had very little recovery time before they had to face Ipswich and East Suffolk and with the driving rain and biting wind players hands were starting to get cold and numb and the Intense! manager(One of the boy’s description) on the sideline was suffering from the shivers. As Mark recovered from his nose bleed his place in the defence was taken by James Whitmore who did an excellent job deputising. The team once again took the match to the opposition and opened the scoring from one of their silky attacking moves which were opening up the opposition defence. Dragons had most of the possession and pressure but could not add to their lead thanks to good saves by the IES keeper. This proved costly when possession was lost and in a rare attack IES equalised. Dragons reacted immediately to this set-back by going straight on the attack and taking the lead within 30 seconds. At half-time the team were still leading 2-1 and Mark Savill showing great determination returned to the team allowing Eddie Smith to move into midfield. The team continued to attack and make chances and Mark Savill was having a strong second half performance. However possibly due to tiredness creeping in as the team played their second match against a fresh IES team and the adverse conditions an equaliser was conceded. The team pushed hard to try to get the winning goal but the teams could not be divided and the match finished 2-2.

The boys have played well and improved in their individual and team play as they have played the three rounds and have acted as great ambassadors for the club when they have played the two rounds away at IES and Colchester.

I would like to pass on my thanks to the parents of the boys for their support in getting boys to the training sessions and friendlies we have arranged to prepare the team and also for providing the lifts needed to get to the away rounds.

Thanks also to Kerri for helping on the sideline at the two away rounds.

Thanks to Ali Smyth for acting as an umpire and his support as Mens Club Captain and to him, Rob Wagstaff and Phil York-Smith for assisting at training sessions run for the team and to the committee for helping organise the round we hosted.

David Pentin

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

Despite a convincing home win against Bourne Deeping earlier in the season, Dragons travelled to the 2nd place team in the league knowing that they were going to face a strong test. Unusually for this league Bourne Deeping played a half-court press from the off, allowing Dragons unopposed possession in their own half. Unfamiliar with playing against this set up, Dragons had a lot of possession of the ball, but struggled to string together any fluid attacking play. Bourne Deeping looked to play on the break, feeding off a quick through ball or aerial into the space left by their press. Bourne Deeping opened the scoring when Dragons failed to field a long aerial ball and the Bourne Deeping forward was able to gather the ball and calmly slot into the net (1-0 Bourne Deeping). Though Bourne Deeping continued to create a number of break aways they failed to create many open play opportunities, though their penalty corner count steadily mounted as the half moved on. However, they were unable to find a way past Dragons ‘keeper Robbie Whiting who was in fine form. Dragons continued to look for opportunities and were able to win a couple of penalty corners for themselves, but were unable to test the Bourne Deeping goalkeeper. The score at half-time was 1-0.

Dragons made a number of tactical changes at half-time, looking to find ways to exploit the possession that the Bourne Deeping half-court game was allowing them. Though Dragons started to make some inroads they still continued to give away penalty corners and Bourne Deeping finally scored from one of these, their forward firing the ball into the net from close range (2-0 Bourne Deeping). This seemed to spur an extra impetus out of Dragons who quickly scored from a deft deflection from Garnett Jones (2-1 Bourne Deeping). Dragons continued to attack and Lewis Wilkins calmly scored from close range at the far post (2-2). Despite Bourne Deeping still having the some break outs Dragons were having their best period of the game and scored their third through Rupert Snelling (3-2 Dragons) with 8 minutes to go. Dragons adapted their formation again and, with their defence holding strong, they were able to calmly see out most of the remaining minutes with the ball deep in the Bourne Deeping half.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:3 IES 2

Dragons faced a top of the table IES side who had yet to lose a game.  They knew it would be a tough game and that they would have to give it all of their effort if they were to get a result.

Dragons started very strong and put pressure on IES for the first 15 minutes of the game.  The midfield were cutting out any through balls from IES and linking up nicely with the Dragon attack.  Strong runs by Captain Cley Hamilton and Simon Nesbitt kept the pressure on IES.    Dragons best chance in this period was a ball into the IES D from Rob Panter, deflected onto goal by Adam Sayer which was narrowly saved the IES keeper.

Midway through the half, the pace slackened and IES started to string together some attacks.  Captain Cley Hamilton sustained a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the rest of the game.  His pace and determination was missed as IES got themselves back into the game.  A counterattack from IES led to them taking the lead.  Not long later, another goal arrived just before half time.

Halftime had Dragons discussing ways in which they could step up their game to resume the earlier spell of attacking hockey.

The first 10 minutes of the second half saw an improved performance by Dragons, but it couldn’t be sustained and IES managed to get another goal.  Dragons fought back and with some excellent runs from Simon Nesbitt were able to worry the IES defence.  A Dan Cheesman goal gave Dragons inspiration and they stepped up the attack.  Keeper Sam Clark made some confident saves and Neil Shorten was quick to the ball, giving IES attackers something to think about.

Dragons were awarded 3 short corners, but sadly couldn’t convert them into goals.  Nevertheless, IES were starting to feel the pressure and were relieved when the final whistle blew.  3-1 to IES.

A tough, but rewarding game for Dragons, who have only lost to IES in their league this season.  If dragons take this performance into the remaining games this season they won’t lose another.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 2:1 Lowestoft Railway 2

Dragons faced a tough challenge as they travelled to face Railway a team who have always raise their performance in past matchs between the teams and Railway had a strong team available. Dragons had a few players unavailable but were delighted to welcome Stuart Kelly into the team as he continued his return from a lengthy absence due to injury after making his return to playing with an appearance for the 4th team the week before. A positive start was made by Dragons and chanced were created with the final touch not being able to be applied. Railway were causing danger with fast breaks using their strong midfield to release their pacy young forwards and with the score goalless an important save was made by Chris Millar in the Dragons goal to prevent Railway taking the lead.

Taking advantage of this let off Dragons took the lead after good play down the right wing with Dan Ryan from full-back releasing John Ives who got to the by-line and crossing the ball for Matt Jenkins to finish from close range. Will Kirby though suffering from ill health was playing well up front for the Dragons holding the ball up and releasing to supporting team mates. The central midfield duo of Dragons captain George Walker and Stuart Kelly were playing strongly and the 1 goal lead remained at half-time.
In the second half the Dragons continued to press and Railway were grateful to their keeper for preventing Dragons scoring an early goal. The attacking waves by Dragons eventually bore fruit when George Walker dribbled the ball strongly into the D and pulled the ball back for Adrian Kemp to score to make the score 2-0.

Railway galvanised themselves and started taking the match to Dragons and were starting to get a number of short corners awarded. The initial corners were dealt with well by the Dragons defence and when the defence was breached goalkeeper Chris Millar justified his man of the match award with great saves. Finally a Railway short corner resulted in a goal as a shot without much pace crept into the far post. This gave Railway hope and they tore forward trying to get a second goal but the Dragons defence held firm with a strong committed display from Henry Eades which exemplified the whole Dragons teams determination to grind out the victory which was secured as the umpires blew the final whistle. This continued Dragons unbeaten League run from the start of the season to 14 matchs with 13 wins

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

Dragons needed to bounce back from last weeks defeat and did it with emphatic style against the league leaders to remain undefeated at the Den.

Ipswich had previously won all but one of their games this season, making the result that more sweeter after Dragons had run them close at the away fixture.  Ipswich may have struggled to travel but Dragons took full advantage to keep promotion on the cards.

Dragons started well with some good hockey and quickly got hold of the game, which turned out to be a high tempo affair for the first 10-15 minutes. Ipswich had their moments throughout the game and started to edge back in, creating some good moves as the game started to balance out.

Some good midfield work led to Dave Thornton up front, who crossed the ball towards Michael Whitmore only to have his chance taken away after a superb own goal finish by the Ipswich defender.  Dragons had a deserved 1-0 lead.

Ipswich once again started to come back into the game looking for an equaliser but the Dragons defence held firm to deny their opportunities.

Dragons continued to worked the ball out from the back and eventually this released Ollie King, who took the ball to the back line and after getting a second chance to cross found Dave Thornton to slot the ball in at the back post.  Dragons continued to press and created further opportunities with Paul Keating coming close with a reverse stick effort.

It remained 2-0 at half time and the team talk was full of positives, but also to not become complacent.

Dragons in the second half were again the slightly better team, although this time were let off on a few occasions as Ipswich also pressed on, getting short corners and just missing the goal.  Sam Clark pulled off some great saves which helped keep Dragons in control.

Dragons added a third, with again good midfield play to get passed the Ipswich defence allowing Ollie King to collect the ball and show good composure to finish well.

Ipswich were not giving up and got themselves back in the game with 2 goals in quick succession, still with 20 minutes to play, it was set to be a close finishing encounter.  Dragons still pushed on to try and get another goal, once again back in command of the game, crosses from Andy Key were in good supply, but no one could get on the end of the dangerous balls crossing the Ipswich area.

Dragons did what was required to see out the match and claim a potential season defining victory, it was a brilliant team effort with high energy and work rate all round.  6 individual man of the match nominations proved this.  Chris Matthews deservedly took the honours by 1 vote with his continuous interceptions and none stop running.

Photos from the match here

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s 5:0 Sprowston 3

Playing Sprowston was always going to be a challenging match, with them being just two places below us in the league and with several recent victories under their belt, but the Dragons were not going to be intimidated.  The match started in spectacular form with 4 outstanding goals being scored in the first 15 minutes of play. Debbie Santa Clara claimed two goals, one from a lovely clip into the corner, Lynne Price (making a return from injury) scored possibly the goal of the season so far, looping the ball at an incredible angle across the goal and behind the keeper and Marcy Windsor Waite finished the first half scoring with a lovely dummy behind the keeper.  All of the above may make it seem like the match was a walk in the park, but Sprowston fought back at every opportunity, they had several breaks in play and more than one attempt on goal. Morag Morrison (player of the match) was kept busy guiding the defense and stopping short corners, her saves were well timed and very effective.

The second half started with Sprowston making a determined effort to score, but a strong defense from Freya Clogan and Laura Bruce, plus excellent midfield support from Holly Francis, Gemma Rump and Flora Gregorie thwarted most attacks, there was one tense moment where a ball hit the post, but that was as close as Sprowston were to come to scoring. Dragon’s continued to fight for another goal, with Scarlett Brown and Catherine Bourassa frequently taking shots but the final goal came from Lucy Campbell, who made a perfectly timed run down the left and made it to the post just in time to slot the ball in past the keeper.

This was another example of just how far the fours have come this season, lovely, well organized and composed hockey from a team rather than a group of individuals – a pleasure to play (and hopefully watch)

Photos from the match here

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 1:2 Hornets

This was a much better performance from the Dragons than the previous week. Both sides littered their game with errors, and the difference between the teams was that the Hornets managed to punish the Dragons for their mistakes and score, whereas the Dragons still struggle in front of goal. Hornets were quickly into their stride, and broke through to score early in the first half. After that Emma Buxton and Abi Cowe, who shared the player of the match vote, dealt capably with the Hornets’ counter attacks. Katie Buxton had switched to left back, and did very well in her less familiar defending role. Jihanna Bonilla-Allard was a definite asset to the squad in midfield, and even though the Dragons did not manage to score before half time, they felt they could still take the match. Unfortunately, a defensive slip early in the second half gave Hornets an easy chance to double their tally, but Dragons did not give up. Laura Goodbun set up waves of attacks, and looked to have scored herself from a narrow angle but a desperate clearance off the line  – and not even a penalty corner to show for it – is typical of the breaks you get when the ball does not run your way.

Dragons goal inevitably came from a Laura Goodbun move, with Lizzy McDonnell sweeping the measured cross into the goals goal with some style. It set up an exciting final five minutes or so, with Dragons laying siege to the Hornets goal but without managing to trouble the goalkeeper.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 3:7 Norwich City

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:0 Yarmouth

Captain: Mimi Stannard
Player of the match and why: Rachael Matthews, had some great runs up the wing.
Coaches: Amelia Dawson
Playing adults: Pollyanna Watson and Hazel Sumner
3 memorable moments: Rachael’s runs down the line, Aoife Lowe-Davis did some great tackles, Jess Tye-Leech did some awesome runs!

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The hoof table as it currently stands

Good luck to our under 16 boys this weekend when they travel to Colchester to play the last round of their fixtures in the England Hockey Clubs Championship.  They have been up against some very strong opposition, fielding a number of regional and country level players, however after some great performances in the Development league and against the Dragons’ Masters, we are hopeful for some good results on Sunday against Colchester and IES.

Sorry for the late notice – the snow has come down heavily in the last hour and settled on the pitch, therefore ladies training tonight is cancelled.

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:4 Bury St Edmunds 1

Both teams seemed effected by the snow enforced lay-off, making for a slightly scrappy opening. It was Bury who opened the scoring, their forward latching onto a moment of confusion in the Dragons defence to fire the ball home from the top of the circle. Dragons survived some further pressure and close chances from Bury, but started to play some better hockey. A quick break away from defending a penalty corner saw Alex Browne equalise for Dragons, making the score 1-1. Dragons continued to improve and establish better possession of the ball. Jason Wolfe scored Dragons 2nd goal, following up on a penalty corner to calmly slot home, 2-1 to Dragons. As the half moved on the weather steadily worsened going through hail to snow. Just before halftime the umpires were forced to stop the game for the flood-lights to be put on as it had become so dark.

Dragons enjoyed their best spell of the game in the 15 minutes after half time, denying Bury space and time on the ball and creating many chances. However, despite coming close, they were unable to add to their lead. Bury weather the storm and tied the scores from a penalty corner move. Bury made some tactical changes, changing their high forward; this, together with some lapse in concentration from Dragons paid dividends for Bury. They scored their third from another penalty corner, despite it being stopped by a defenders foot on the line their forward followed up to fire home.  Bury scored a fourth from a skilful solo run and finish by their forward, 4-2 Bury. Dragons were unable to find a response and, having played some great hockey at times, were left to rue what might have been.

Final score Norwich Dragons 2, Bury 4.

Dragons Man of the Match was Dave Sloman.

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 4:3 IES 3

Dragons started the game strongly and dominated the first 15 minutes.  Good linking up play from the midfield to the forwards created opportunities which Dragons were unlucky not to capitalise on.  Great movement by Matt Knights and some lovely dribbling by Dan Cheesman kept the IES defence on their toes.

The play settled down and IES appeared to get themselves together.  However, the Dragon defence were very confident in putting a stop to any IES attack.  Rich Phillis barely letting anything come through down the right wing.

Dragons kept the attack up and were rewarded with a penalty corner.  Andy Kelsall stepped up to the mark and delivered a sure strike into the backboard.

Another goal went in before half time from Rich Phillis, this as a result of great passing from Mark Flatman and Captain Cley Hamilton.

Halftime score was 2-0 to Dragons.  The team discussed continuing the work rate and hopefully getting a few more goals.  An impromptu birthday song for Captain Cley Hamilton left spirits high.

The second half started and it was clear IES had stepped up their game.  Dragons needed to get themselves back in the game as IES managed to pull a couple of goals back.

Dan Cheesman with some strong attacking play won Dragons a short corner.  Matt Knights scored with a superbly placed Drag Flick.  Not long later, Dragons received another short corner, in which Andy Kelsall smacked the ball into the bottom corner.  4-2 to Dragons.

The rest of the half was a hard-fought affair.  IES continued to push hard and the Dragon keeper Sam Clark was forced to make some good saves.  IES managed to pull another goal back and in the closing minutes of the game were awarded a short corner.  Piers Gordon-Brown was the hero of the hour, knocking the ball out of play, thus ending the match.  Final score 4-3 to Dragons.

A hard-fought game at times for Dragons, who were delighted to hand their skipper 3 points on his birthday.  Dragons look forward to their game next weekend to IES 2^nd XI

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 UEA 4

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 0:3 Bury St Edmunds 4

With their first league game back, Dragons looked to build on their promotion push and faced tough competition at the start of the second half of the season.  Bury were joint 3^rd in the table with Dragons so it all was set for a close encounter.

For the opening periods, it was a cagey game with turnover of the ball happening frequently, however Dragons had the early opening chance when Richard Moulson’s shot at goal took a slight deflection and hit the back board, it was, however deemed to be outside of the area by the umpire and even with no protests from the opposition Dragons were left harshly treated on this decision.

Sadly from then, that became the story of the first half, with the umpires really failing to control the game with numerous questionable decisions given to either team and in particular, at times, even having their decisions overruled by the Bury players , appealing and questioning.  On reflection, the Dragons Captain was pleased with the discipline shown by his players, whilst certainly frustrating at times they showed real maturity to just get on with the game.

With that, it certainly swung the game in Bury’s favour who rightfully through good play took the lead; although Dragons were disappointed as the goal was given to the opposition quite cheaply.  Bury extended their lead through similar circumstances and went in the break 2-0 ahead.

The Dragons captain called for a half time discussion over the attitude shown in the first half towards the umpires and all parties agreed it would be stopped.  Although not completely, it was an enormous improvement.

With Dragons still very much in the game, a slight re-shuffle of positions saw Dragons start the second half brightly, passing better with some early threats on goal.  Bury soon regained their form who were clearly the stronger team and after allowing one of their young players to skip through the defence, Bury went 3-0 up. As the game drew to a close, Dragons enjoyed some pressure towards the end, trying to at least get a goal their richly deserved, however the chances created were rarely getting past the Bury defence with ease and any that did were sadly not finished well.

Dragons came away feeling slightly hard done by, but Bury were the better side being able to control the midfield better.  Dragons had some good spells and will be looking to take on the league leaders next Saturday and play for everything to bounce back.

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

With the worst of the weather behind us there were a few moments of panic when we arrived at the den to find it covered in white, a hail shower had all but obscured our lovely green astro, this was then followed by a snowy downpour and another hail storm, all designed to test our nerves (see pictures on Facebook!)

The match however did begin on time and with Dragons taking the upper hand almost from the start. With a strong midfield comprising of Gemma Rump, Sue Cross, Felicia Roberts and Flora Gregorie making the space, the forwards took advantage of quick runs down the wing and a strong determination to be the first on the score board.  That first goal was harder to come by than we might have hoped, Annika Richardson, Catherine Bourassa and Marcy Windsor-Waite all made valiant attempts, often missing the post by just an inch or having the keeper getting there just in the nick of time. Eventually Beth Bygrave (player of the match) went one on one with the keeper and finally slotted the ball over the goal line. Annika decided that five minutes before the end of the first half would be an excellent opportunity to score her first of three goals.

With a change of end Dragons upped the pace even more with Annika scoring two further goals, one from a beautifully executed short corner. The fifth goal came off a Lowestoft defender, but every little helps and Beth finished the game by nudging in her second goal of the match into the left corner. Morag Morrison had relatively little to do while in goal but directed play from the back and kept the defensive line tight, stopping any Lowestoft attacks before they started.

It was good to see that nearly a month of little to no hockey hadn’t majorly impacted on the quality of Dragons play, looking forward to the rest of the season.

Photos from the game here

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:7 Sprowston 3

Grim. Awful. Miserable. Well, that was the weather and sadly the Dragons played hockey to match it. During the last snowstorm, the necessary number of minutes having being played, Umpire H wisely called the captains together and offered the chance to finish the game on the grounds of safety. The pitch was actually giving amazing grip, but the Dragons game had deteriorated through tiredness to the extent that the amount of obstruction, stick tackles, half-hearted one-stick challenges from behind, meant it was clearly only time before someone got injured. So the match was completed and the result.

Excuses? We had another squad’s worth of players unavailable, and we could have strengthened the team. We also missed not having any subs to give us some respite, particularly when we lost Bridget to being unwell and off the pitch for much of the first half. But the most disappointing aspect of the game was that all the basic errors came back with a vengeance. The  failure to get in some decent tackles were all the more disappointing because we had practised tackles in training during the week. The Sprowston forwards were running through at will, and usually had plenty of goalspace to aim at because the Dragons’ defenders clustered around Amy Forse to the extent that if she had been able to kick, the only thing she would have connected with would have been a Dragons’ player.

Amy made some good saves and clearances. Other bright spots was one excellent run by Laura Goodbun early in the game, with a perfect cross that three forwards could not pick up. Perhaps if we had managed to score first, the Dragons might have found the spirit and determination that was missing from their game. Other bright spots were Lois McGregor’s going back into defence to give it some backbone, with Abi Cowe moving up and playing her usual steady game with added distribution. Jade Blanchflower also stood out for running around the pitch and generally giving it plenty. David Bond gave a good half time team talk, and for ten minutes in the second half we played a little better. But the end came as a merciful release.

Each player should relive this match and take from it the things she can do to improve her game. We surely can’t have another game where all of us play below form.We must return to training with a renewed commitment to playing like Dragons, and that means having physical fitness, technical ability, positive attitude and mental resilience for when things go wrong. We will find that hockey becomes even more enjoyable, win or lose.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 5:2 Pelicans

We started the match well with some strong passing moves and defensive work.  Some darting runs from our mid field produced a pass that was able to find its way through to Ben Watson.  He coolly finished with a flick past the keeper (1-0).  A few moments later, Ben Watson found himself in a similar position which he again was able to finish, pushing it past the keeper.  (2-0).  In the last five minutes of the first half, we were caught short on the break twice which Pelicans clinically finished.

In the second half we pushed on trying to find another goal.  Jonty Gosling took a shot from the top of the D and found the bottom corner (3-2).  With our defence coping well with everything Pelicans threw at us our mid field  was able to play more attacking hockey.  Jonty Gosling, after a run, found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper and was able to score.  (4-2).  With real confidence now our midfield passed it around the Pelican defence resulting in a great cross coolly swept  in by Josh Bingham (5-2).  This was a great team performance showing what good hockey this team can play.

Man of the match:  Jonty Gosling.   Thanks to referees and Rob and Sam for managing the team.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:0 Pelicans

On the 1st of February we played against Pelicans 2 at The Den. Everyone played really well and and put a lot of effort into the game. The score was 0-0 but last time we played them we lost about 20-0. We attacked and defended very well. Jess Tye Leech was in goal and did some great saves, she also won player of the match . Our coach was Ali Windsor Waite and Sarah Wagstaff played as an adult. It was Ellen Martin’s and Helen Marsh’s first match and they both played really well. Anja Finegan, Megan Farrant, Isobel Keane and Aoife Lowe Davies did some great runs and passes up the pitch, Jasmine Mansfield, Tamsin Billings, Laura Hansell and Lottie Korn were always in space so that people could pass to them. Well done everyone. Hopefully we will win next time we play them!

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The hoof table currently stands at……

Our Young Dragons are proud to welcome Queen Margaret’s Girls School from York to the Den on the morning of Sunday 3rd February as part of their tour to Norfolk.  The Girls will be entering two under 12 teams (Queen Bees and Maggie’s Marvels) in the Young Dragons tournament with two teams of Dragons and teams from Dereham and Watton HCs.

The day will also see two Dragons under 10 girls team play in a tournament with a team from Dereham HC.

In the afternoon two Young Dragon under 10 boys teams take on Dereham whilst two under 12 boys teams play teams from Dereham and Watton.

Good Luck to all those taking part and thank you to the organisers, coaches, managers, helpers and umpires.

Those of you that attended the Dragons’ Den opening day will, I’m sure, never forget the excellent demonstration of drag-flicking by GB and Scotland International Niall Stott.  Well, he was showing his skills for real yesterday in the Maxifuel Super Sixes Indoor Tournament at Wembley.

His Man of the Match performance in the semi final with 4 goals, secured East Grinstead’s route to the final, in which they beat Reading 7-1 to win their fifth consecutive title. http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=20854&itemTitle=East+Grinstead+take+fifth+consecutive+title&section=22&sectionTitle=News

Congratulations also to Reading Ladies for their win. http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=20853&itemTitle=Reading+crowned+Maxifuel+Super+Sixes+Champions&section=22

Thanks to the big thaw after the big freeze, the pitch at the Dragons’ Den is now open again and will host the NDHC Men’s Vets v Boys Under 16s on Monday night.

Training will resume for all teams this week.

Sadly due to the continued big freeze and the current forecast of more snow tonight, we have had to join other clubs around the county and declare our home games off to add to all our away games that have now been confirmed as postponed.

With an increase in temperatures forecast at the weekend and possible rain on Sunday, we might see some hockey back at the Den soon, we will keep you posted.

You can still get your hockey fix as Sky Sports 2 will be showing both finals from the Maxifuel Super Sixes Finals live from Wembley Arena on Sunday January 27th.

15:20 – Women’s Championship Final (Reading v Sutton Coldfield)
16:50 – Men’s Championship Final

Due to the continued bad weather all training sessions on Tuesday 22nd Jan, Wednesday 23rd Jan and  now Thursday 24th Jan  have been cancelled.

Still the heatwave hasn’t arrived but we are planning as if all games are going ahead. A decision will be made about home games towards the end of the week and we wait for confirmation from away opposition that these games are still on. In case of further postponements, as per last week, please keep an eye on phones/emails/website.

Around 20 Development Team Young Dragons didn’t let the snow stop them this weekend, in fact it was great news for them as they put away their sticks and replaced them with inflatable inner-tubes to take part in their snowy social event at the Norfolk Snowsports Club in Trowse.  After an hour racing up and down the slopes, a well deserved pizza was waiting for all.  Many thanks to TJ Tye Hopkins and David Pentin for organising and supervising, great fun was had by everyone!

[Show as slideshow]

This quarter’s England Hockey Magazine looks at the benefits of clubs working with schools.  The work that Hazel, Mike B and Butts are doing with the local schools is featured and praised.

It is great to hear that we are slowly growing the team of volunteers going into local schools.  Susan Henderson and Richard Lee Warder have now joined the school coaching team, Ally Windsor-Waite is providing hockey coaching at Trowse Primary School and Rowie is helping get some hockey lined up for Cavell Road School.

In addition to the sessions provided at the schools, the Club hosts tournaments for the Norwich and South Norfolk SSPs for both Quicksticks and In2hockey, two great initiatives to engage youngsters in hockey.

Anyone interested in getting involved with the schools, please get in touch, this is a great way to spread the word and we are always looking to extend our school work.

As suspected all matches home and away have been postponed.

Due to the settled snow and continued low temperatures forecast during this week, all training has been cancelled for this week and games at the Den this weekend are at serious risk.

Look out for your NDHC email with details of the Club’s 2013 Adult Teams’ Awards Night which has been booked for Saturday 20th April 2013.

The email includes details of the fantastic venue, menu, planned events during the night and booking information.  Tickets available in the next few weeks, grab yours early to avoid disappointment.

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 4:1 Newmarket (f)

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:0 Norwich Dragons 3s (f)

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 0:2 Norwich Dragons 2s (f)

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 1: 2 Norfolk Nomads (f)

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s P:P Norwich City 6

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s A:A Herlings

Dragons 5s took an earlier lead thanks to a short corner strike by Lizzy McDonnell, however the strength of the Herlings players and their approach to the game began to wear down the young Dragons team and at half time Herlings were 3-1 up.  After approximately 5 minutes of the second half the Herlings Captain was beaten by an inspired Lisa Harwood, however as the attack developed, the umpires stopped the game because the Herlings Captain had collapsed onto all fours with a recurring back spasm that required an ambulance visit to administer pain relief to allow the player to be moved.  The match was abandoned after a delay in play of over 30 minutes.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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The hoof table this week is as follows:

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s : No Fixture

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s: No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s: Boys U16 (f)

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s: No Fixture

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

A good way to start the New Year with a fresh January afternoon, no rain and a win for the Dragons.  Determined to continue with being the first team on the score board Annika Richardson started the scoring with a lovely shot from a short corner, tucked in the corner and past the goal keeper’s foot. Scarlett Brown decided that she would also take advantage of a short corner and scored after a rebound from the keeper’s pads.

While the goals were certainly the highlights of the first half, what was also wonderful to see was the use of space, the simple clean passes and those all-important triangles down the wings. Felicia Roberts and Freya Clogan (player of the match) made a lovely team down the left, with Freya forgetting for a moment that she is a defender and taking the ball all the way to the D. Laura Bruce and Holly Francis kept the right hand side of the pitch locked down and stopped City’s attacks before they started.

In the second half Beth Bygrave put in a fantastic performance, utilizing the space and making a series of excellent dummies, this was to be rewarded with a lovely reverse shot that skirted in front of the keeper and crossed the line at the tightest of angles.  The final goal came from Megan Harvey who made a well timed run to the right post and slotted the ball in totally avoiding the keeper. The second half also saw excellent team work from Marcy Windsor Waite and Sue Cross, who chased down every ball and kept possession, making City’s life even more difficult.

Some beautiful hockey ladies – keep it up!

Photos from the match here

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 1: 1 Breckland

The 5s were overjoyed with their point at home to Breckland, with the equaliser coming from Laura Goodbun with 34:59 on coach Pete Thomas’s stop watch in the second half. It was a match which the 5s should have had done and dusted in the first half, but once again although they could move the ball up and around the pitch, they created few opportunities in the circle.

Breckland went ahead early in the second half. With Dragons still re-organising themselves after the break, Breckland used their high forward Jane Sheldrake to good effect and she nipped round the defence to score. But then the Dragons defence got their composure back, and each time Breckland sent a powerful ball through the middle for Sheldrake to chase, Abie Cowe was on hand to cut out the pass. Abi showed excellent decision making in mixing her clearances, either choosing to run at the opposition herself or to find a midfielder. Dragons were rotating their defenders, and when Jade Blanchflower moved to right back she was a revelation. She earned the player of the match vote with easily her best game in the league so far, using her speed to run laterally and confuse the opposition before making some telling passes.

Dragons kept pressing. Chiara Bond added some incisiveness when she was switched to right mid, and Laura began to run through the Brecks at will. Kate Goodrum took up some excellent positions on the left, but was not always found. Beth Elgood snuffed out all the threats coming down the right, and Lizzy McDonnell recovered from a painful hit to the foot to hold up the play in midfield and put some passes into the circle that deserved better. Lisa Harwood continues to build her skills and is potentially a very difficult forward to shake off the ball, which is what the 5s need. Lois McGregor was also on the spot but out of luck; Brecks are a very strong side defensively and take no prisoners in the circle. This contributed to the Dragons’ joy at their late, late goal.  All the players believed they deserved something from the game, from Nine Holden in goal who dealt with the occasional forays confidently; to Claire Fairhurst and Armiria Pounsford, who showed their flexibility in their cameo roles on the day. Chiara, Rosie Korn, and Lizzy gripped the midfield and supporters on the sidelines urged the team on. One last run down the right saw Abi move the ball to Chiara, who gave an early ball to the tireless Laura. She cut in from the right and swept the ball home from a narrow angle. No player deserved a goal more. Cue celebrations.

The 5s did miss three regular players from their squad. There is now genuine competition for team places, with another couple of players due to come back from injury as well. Attendance at training is really important, because there are some things the team needs to put right, and it is essential that everyone who wants to play ‘gets the message’ at the same time.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

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The hoof table this week is as follows:

After the Christmas break training will re-start in early January:

Ladies 1s & 2s – One off session on Thursday 3rd January, then Tuesday 8th January onwards (planning friendly Saturday 5th January)
Ladies 3s,4s & 5s – Wednesday 2nd January (league re-starts Saturday 5th January)
Mens 1s,2s,3s & 4s – Thursday 10th January

U10 and U12 boys – Tuesday 8th January
U10 and U12 girls – Wednesday 9th January
Dev Boys – Thursday 10th January
Dev Girls – Friday 11th January
U8s – Sunday 13th January

As we approach the end of another great year in the history of the Club, it feels appropriate to launch a new section of the website with a few highlights in the Club’s past from our formation in 1919 through to the 1980s.  These have been gathered from the Archives at Norwich Union and also a set of photos loaned to us by Mike Denham, there will be more added during 2013.  If anyone has any contributions please let us know.  The following link takes you to the new section and a new menu item has been added to the Home Page:

Click here to go to new section

East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:2 UEA 1

On a sunny day at the UEA, Dragons started uncharacteristically slowly in comparison to previous games this season. UEA were managing to get hold of a lot of the ball and dictate play against a disorganised Dragons side. Two quick turn over balls and poor marking gave the UEA two quick goals. Dragons kept their heads and pulled a goal back from a fantastically worked short corner, which Alex Browne dispatched into the bottom corner for yet another goal this season.

After half time Dragons upped their work rate and pulled level thanks to some excellent running from Alex Browne at the byline to pull the ball back to former UEA player Matt Knights, to score against his old club.

From this point on the urgency was with Dragons as they looked for the winner. Many chances were unfortunately not taken to leave each team with a point a piece.

Man of the match – Sam Parmenter

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s: No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s: No Fixture

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s: No Fixture

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

Breaking with tradition this week Dragons decided that they would like to score the first goal of the game! It was a lovely little deflection behind the keeper from Annika Richardson who was perfectly placed on the left post. Such was our determination to keep a clean sheet in the first 10 minutes of the game we felt we should probably score another goal in order to keep it away from our end so Marcy Windsor Waite obliged with an excellent flick which completely bypassed defense and keeper alike.

As a captain it is really easy to focus on the areas for improvement, the next thing to develop and what can be tweaked to make a stronger team, but this week was an excellent chance to reflect on just how far we have come as a team this season.  The first 35 minutes all went Dragons way with the ball rarely leaving Lowestoft’s half, the space was used, passes were effectively made and players moved the ball with as much pace as the pitch would allow. There were also two more fantastic goals – a fantastic shot from the post by Lucy Campbell and a perfectly placed strike from Catherine Bourassa.

During the second half Lowestoft came back determined to change the direction of play and had more attempts on goal, there was an excellent lifted shot, which was expertly smacked down by keeper Morag Morrison and a couple of short corners that required quick clearances. This turn in play meant that Laura Bruce (player of the match) and Freya Clogan saw a lot more of the ball, but they dealt with the opposition quickly and efficiently giving the Dragons the advantage again. The fifth goal came from Debbie Santa Clara after some excellent team work from the midfield and forwards. The final goal we have Lowestoft to thank, as they placed it behind their own keeper after Scarlett Browns shot hit a defensive stick.

An excellent way to finish for the Christmas break – have a good rest and see you in the New Year.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s: No Fixture

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:4 Norwich City

We started off brightly with some good passing in the midfield.  City got 2 quick goals early on in the half one from a well worked short corner routine.  We came back strong, with our forwards applying good pressure on their defence.  We were unlucky not to get a goal, denied by a good save.  They got another goal before half time to make it 0-3.

In the second half we were able to push on because of some strong defending, especially from Mark Savill.  City’s midfield and defence denied us getting more shots on goal.  They got one more goal in a scramble in the D.  Once again Norwich City keeper stopped us from scoring from a couple of short corners.  Final score 0-4.

Thanks to all the adults who helped.

Man of the match  Ben Watson

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:4 Magpies

Captain: Tamsen Billings

Player of the match and why: Aoife, she made some good tackles, and she made some good runs with the ball and made some good efforts to try and score.

Coaches: Natalie Beal

Playing adults: Natalie Beal, Olivia Thomas, Sophie Thomas

3 Memorable moments:

1.  Dragons having four short corners in a row
2.  some really good hockey skills shown by all players, one of the best games of the season
3.  nice tackles made by Jess and constant pressure from her on the opposition

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The hoof table this week is as follows:

Thanks to the freezing conditions, training sessions for Young Dragons and Ladies have been cancelled Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Added to this the Mens training for Thursday has also fallen foul of the weather.

The forecast is due to change on Friday, so we are expecting Girls Dev on Friday night and Saturday’s matches to go ahead.

The Ladies 5s extended squad session for tonight has been re-scheduled for Sunday at 11am if there is enough interest to run the session, please let Bridget or info@ know.

Congratulations to the following winners of the December 100+ Lottery and thank you again for supporting Norwich Dragons Hockey Club.

£25 – Lisa Harwood
£15 – Emily Rolls
£10 – Keith Mansfield

The draws for both January & February will take place at the next Committee Meeting to be held on Monday February 4th 2013.

Due to the weather training is cancelled tonight, stay in the warm!!

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 2: 2 Cambridge City 3

It was an early start for Dragons this week as they travelled to Cambridge for a 10.30 start against the University. Despite the frost not clearing from the pitch it played well in the warmup and it was agreed to go ahead with the game. Dragons enjoyed the best of the early exchanges, passing the ball well and creating some good opportunities in attack. Steve Woodward opened the scoring for Dragons, following up on a partially saved shot with a reverse sweep into the net. Cambridge started to find some form as the half moved on, winning a couple of penalty corners. From the second of these they won a penalty stroke: Piers Gordon-Brown’s great save on the line rolling onto his foot. The Cambridge player calmly converted the stroke, making the score 1-1. Dragons continued to create opportunities and were unlucky when their one penalty corner of the game hit a Cambridge player foot on the line to see a long corner awarded. The score at half-time was 1-1.

The start of the second half saw Cambridge push more men forward and they started to enjoy more possession through the midfield as they created greater movement across the pitch. However, they were not able to create many scoring opportunities and Dragons always looked dangerous on the break. Dragons found themselves undone when they turned the ball over from their own 16 yard hit, the Cambridge attack quickly reacting to score easily (2-1 Dragons). However, Dragons kept playing, searching for the deserved equaliser. Of a number of chances Jason Wolfe came closest, calmly shooting past the University keeper to see his shot come back off the post. Finally Matt Knights scored for Dragons, forcing the ball over the line from close distance.

Final score 2-2.

Dragons man of the match was Ed Smith

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Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:0 Bury St Edmunds 2s

Dragons faced Bury at home, and after their performance the previous week, were hoping to carry on the team spirit and get the win.

Dragons knew a win against a 3rd placed Bury, would extend their 2^nd place gap.

The game started fast with both teams showing a desire to get a goal early on.  Dragons displayed some good passing, with the defence linking up well with the midfield, who in turn moved it on to the forwards.  This certainly gave Bury cause for concern.  Once again, star performances in defence were fending off any Bury attacks.  A strong show by Man of Match Rich Phillis made sure that Bury would find it difficult attacking down their right.

Having won a short corner, Dragons took a 1-0 lead through a great shot from Andy Kelsall, which took a deflection and sent the ball slamming into the backboard.  Bury renewed their attacks before half time, but couldn’t get through the Dragon defence enough to get off a shot.

The half time team talk focussed on Dragons continuing to show determination to keep the passing and movement up.

The second half started fast again as Bury were fighting to draw even.  Mark Flatman, Adam Sayer and Rob Panter continually worked hard in the centre of the pitch and put some great balls through to the forwards.  Dragons were unlucky not to get another goal from a Dan Cheesman shot which hit the post.

Henry Laming once again had a great game and was certainly worrying the Bury defence whenever he was on the ball.  Dragons were unlucky not to get on the end of a few Henry Laming reverse-stick crosses.

Captain Cley Hamilton provided inspiration in the last 10 minutes of the half, spurring Dragons on to keep up the attack and to keep pressing Bury when they had the ball.

Despite their determination, Dragons couldn’t extend their lead, and the game ended 1-0 to Dragons.  A well-earned 3 points, which takes the gap between 2^nd and 3^rd to 11 points.

Notable performances by Andy Hipper, Andy Kelsall and Rich Phillis.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:1 Norwich City 5s

The Dragons Mens 3rd team travelled across Norwich as Division leaders for this local derby which was given added spice as City were their closest challengers in second place. The late afternoon start coincided with rain showers and a slightly greasy pitch. This did not affect Dragons who made a positive start with Chris Wilkinson and Jon Goodson prominent in centre midfield and John Ives making strong runs down the right and good crosses into the D. This early pressure was converted into a goal lead when Dragons man of the match Adrian Kemp scored.

An injury to a Dragons player caused rearrangement and the match became tempestuous and Dragons were reduced to 10 players when one of their players was sent to the sin-bin. Despite this player disadvantage Dragons coped with it well thanks to strong defending by the fullbacks Ben Dures and Henry Eades and sweeper Peter Davison. City finally pulled an equaliser back even though Dragons were back to full strength when a short corner strike from Guy Marchant hit the astro carpet and bounced up and over the Dragons keeper’s dive and the half finished level.

Dragons had not performed to their peak in this half but an excellent half-time team talk calmly delivered by Peter Davison inspired the team to go out for the second half to raise their levels. The youth and pace of Barney Price and Will Ives started to trouble the City defence and help create chances. Dragons scored the next crucial goal to regain the lead when Gary Burgess showed great patience when he had the ball in the City D to wait for the perfect shooting opportunity to fire a drilled reverse stick shot into the corner of the goal. Though City tried to come back David Pentin in central defence made some crucial tackles and if the defence was breached Dragons keeper Robbie Bell was there to make saves to deny City’s forwards.

Crucially midway through the second half City had a player permanently dismissed and the Dragons took advantage by using their passing style to stretch the 10 man City team. A crucial third goal was scored to kill the match off when a cross to the back post was swept into the goal by Matt Jenkins and Dragons were able to play the match out safely to achieve a great victory.

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East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 0:3 Norwich City 6

Photos here

After a run of victories and with a strong side, confidence was high for Dragons’ to continue their good form and faced a very experienced Norwich City side, who had also been on a good run in recent matches.

Unfortunately, Dragons started poorly on this occasion after doing the opposite in recent weeks, the formation and style of play that City had was causing numerous problems which Dragons could not match.  Within a matter of minutes City had won a short corner which was converted, leaving Dragons on the back foot.  A few key players for City were causing the problems and it didn’t get any better for Dragons as through simple errors allowed City to have a further 3 short corners and they duly converted another.

Dragons could not get foot hold in the game as City then went 3-0 up, all within 15 minutes leaving a lot of work to do.  The man-marking which had worked most of the season for Dragons just didn’t have the same effect, but more stability within the Dragons team started to show as they went on creating some good passing moves and threating the City goal.  The score remained 3-0 at half time.

The second half saw Dragons start to take a bit more control of the game and create chances, on any other day, the chances might have fallen just that bit more in favour of Dragons.  The teams performance in the second half was much improved and City only had a few minor efforts on the Dragons goal, Dragons really deserved something to show for from the game, but it wasn’t to be and failed to score for the first time this season.  In summary, the game was lost after the first 10 minutes and Dragons must work hard next week to ensure this isn’t repeated.

Dragons will be looking for an immediate response against tough opposition next week in Ipswich Cranes and will look at Saturdays result as a ‘one-off’.

Man of the Match was Dave Thornton with his tireless running up front and dropping back into midfield when required.

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

Photos here

The team’s confidence was dented today, with our first defeat of the season. We all agreed we were beaten by a team who stuck to their own game and just out played us.

We were an inexperienced team, with a few of the whiley old heads missing from the squad today.

Annika Richardson was a big miss. When our leading scorer slipped on a hard pitch in the opening 5 minutes and sustained a nasty gash to her lip, we lost one of our most attacking players.

There were some positive points we can take from today. Marcy Windsor-Waite (man of the match) made some lovely runs on the right, and with her pace managed to avoid a lot of the hard tackles.

Holly Francis worked  hard, and  had a couple of near misses close to the goal, which on another day I am sure would have gone in and we would have had a very different result. Some days they go in and some days they don’t.

Felicia Roberts was solid as bottom of the diamond, as was able to intercept some of the hard hits coming out of their half of the pitch.

Debbie Santa Clara as always kept on running, encouraging the others as she went.

Freya Clogan, Megan Harvey and Laura Bruce  tried hard against a very strong team.

We have areas to work on but intend to be back to our winning ways next week.

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

This was a fast, open end-to-end game between two evenly-matched teams, with the difference being that Dragons were unable to convert their runs into shots on target – and City scored one goasl in each half from slightly more chances. From the defence to the forwards, Dragons played their best hockey of the season so far. Giselle Nieuwoudt blocked a dozen or so shots and initiated attacks from her clearances.

Towards the end of the match, Dragons looked at their most dangerous when Abi Cowe and Emma Buxton pushed up from defence and gave the 5s an attacking overload. Abi, Emma, Beth Elgood and Cath Power proved themselves more than capable of getting back and putting their tackles in. Switching Katie Buxton from right mid to bottom of the diamond gave her a chance to show what an accomplished player she has become; Katie is a fearless tackler and a good distributor of the ball. Chiara Bond and Sophie Farrow, who both have pace to burn, flourished on the right and left of midfield. Chiara has improved her ball carrying and Sophie has excellent positional sense. Once again Laura Goodbun proved the strongest driving force in the 5s, and sent in some excellent crosses from the right which unfortunately her team matches could just not pick up, Lisa Harwood and Lois McGregor showed they had benefited from Taff’s shooting masterclass in training earlier in the week and on another day they might just have got a touch or two on target, but in fairness City were not flattered by the scoreline having created more chances – and they may well have been disappointed that the Dragons defence coped so well with the City short corners.

Dragons’ player of the match was Rosie Korn who worked tirelessly at the top of the diamond.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 3:2 Dereham

We started off well with some good play but Dereham’s defence was equal to it.  A lapse of concentration lead to a well taken Dereham goal. Ben Nkrumah,on his debut, made some excellent saves to keep them to a one goal advantage. Unfortunately we couldn’t hold down a swift counter-attack and conceded another goal just before halftime.  At halftime the score was 0-2.

We put the pressure on in the second half with good runs from our midfield and wingers, Rohan Kaushal and Harry Cullens. In a goal mouth scramble Harry Cullens coolly slotted the ball into the goal. With Ed Murphy and Andy Carver not letting anything through the midfield were able to press on. Tom Byrne deflected a cross into the goal to make the score 2-2.  Late into the second half Pedro Goss scored the winner from close range, the score now 3-2. The team showed great spirit and character to come back and win the match, everyone should be commended for their effort.

Man of the match: Mark Savill for his utter skill and determination.

Thanks to Adam sayer and Mark Flatman for their assistance.

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Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
No Fixture

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The hoof table this week is as follows

This year’s Race Night proved to be a massive success for the Club, out-striping the funds raised at last season’s event by several hundred pounds.

Thanks therefore must go to all of the Club Members that contributed in some way towards the event.

We had over 70 punters trying to out-wit the on course bookmakers Hannah and Gail.  At one point seasoned backers Bingham, McQuade and Thomas were seen to be comparing notes about the next race, however with no form to review they were left to rely on lady luck, like the rest of us!!

Prior to the night, 120 tri-cast squares and over 50 horses were snapped up and some fantastic prizes for each race were donated by Club Members.

The third race of the night (Ed’s Special) saw winning horse owner, Club Captain (Men’s) Ali Smyth, take home a sack of spuds courtesy of Han Roney, a voucher from the Diss Auction Rooms of TW Gaze, but more importantly Ed’s mystery prize, which this year was a Victorian Deer’s Foot Page Turner…wow!!

At the halfway stage in the evening, refreshments in the form of over 70 portions of sausage/spring roll and chips were delivered, piping hot, by our new friends at Grosvenor Fish Bar – clearly the best chips in town and what fantastic service!

The highlight of the night, apart from the President receiving a £28 win from Tabba, was Race Number 7 sponsored by Sue Cullum.  Having been through a truly traumatic 12 months, Sue very generously sponsored the ‘Humdinger Race’, which after some highly emotional words from her sister Jo, was auctioned by Ed and raised a staggering £150.  Rather fittingly, a syndicate of Sue’s friends that had been by her side throughout, bid for the horse that eventually won the race.

Many thanks to Taff for her organisation and chasing for prizes and pre-race sales, Ed for being as professional as ever running the evening and sponsoring his race and Sue for her race and bringing such a colourful crowd.  Gail and Hannah for being great Bookies and Tabba for encouraging bets on the night!

Last but not least, our fabulous hosts for the evening, Goals Soccer Centre.

Full list of winning horse owners:

Race 1 – Phil York-Smith

Race 2 – Emma Buxton

Race 3 – Ali Smyth

Race 4 – Amelia Dawson

Race 5 – Katie Buxton

Race 6 – Lizzie Cheesman

Race 7 – Natalie Beal & Syndicate

Race 8 – Chris Harrison

Cringleford School team win the Norwich SSP Quicksticks Primary Competition at the Den.  Some great hockey was played by all fourteen teams that took part on a wet Wednesday morning.  Nearly 200 youngsters benefited from the great facility we have in the City Centre this week.  The successful Cringleford team included two Young Dragons, so there was clearly some home advantage involved.  Cringleford beat Avenue 1s in the final and go forward to represent all Norwich Schools at the County Finals in 2013.

Evening News photo and article here

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club hosted the South Norfolk SSP Primary Quicksticks Competition for Years 4-6 on Monday morning.  A total of 14 teams and over 90 youngsters were involved in the highly successful event.

After 3 hours of hockey, the winning team from Alpington & Berg Apton Primary School emerged as winners.  The six youngsters shown above from the school’s ‘A Team’ were presented with their medals by Norwich Dragons Hockey Club’s President Mike Hardy.

The Club hosts the Norwich SSP version of the event on Wednesday 21st November, the winners of each event go forward to represent their SSP in a County Competition in 2013.