Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 1-2 Magpies 5s

This was a disappointing result for Dragons who seem to be going through a difficult patch at the moment. Following the recent defeat to Watton 2, Dragons really needed a good win to keep them in the promotion race.

Dragons took the initiative by scoring first. When Dragons play well they are able to move the ball around. Dragons had been under a lot of pressure from the start , after defending 5 short corners in the opening 5 minutes. The ball was eventually cleared and moved swiftly up the pitch from Gemma Rump, to Sophie Farrow, Megan Williams and eventually to Claire Canning who swept the ball towards Kate McKenna to slot the ball away on the far post.

Kate had a good game, and was unlucky on a number of occasions not to add to her goal tally.

Christine Musowe and Sophie Farrow also had a good game in the defensive line.

The majority of the game Dragons lost their composure, passing the ball into dead spaces and letting Magpies dictate the play by not posting up .

The forwards had a disappointing time. They were no match for the Magpies who defended well.

Laura Tuck saved even more embarrassment for the home side, when a Magpies player slipped through the defence and was one on one with the keeper, however Laura kept her cool and made the save.

The final score was 2 -1.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2

Norwich Dragons 5s 3-2 Beccles

This is the match the 5’s were all eager to play, Beccles are the contenders for the top table position. They had a similar set of results to the 5’s but were behind on games due to pitch issues meaning the two teams hadn’t met yet this season. Chiara started us off with match statistics, basically she told us we had to win 3 out of the next 4 games to maintain a high league position, no pressure!

We arrived early to practise and get warmed up, the team were ready and for this game also welcomed a debutant for the club, Clare Moylan into midfield. Beccles had first push back and the first 10 minutes were quite evenly matched, the playing styles quite different, the 5’s having more of a passing game and Beccles going for long strikes through the pitch. At bottom of the diamond Vicky Earley was on hand to intercept and hussle the Beccles players and move the ball up the pitch and out wide to waiting wingers Mel Widdows and Clare. The ball was passed around the opposition picked up by Lisa Harwood and pushed forward to Zara Howes running forward out on the wing. Beccles quickly pushed into defensive mode and thwarted our first efforts. The 5’s were keen to stay in the opposition D, ball fed back in by Rachel Bruce across the D and pushed in on the post by Zara. Cheers by all in white!

Beccles were now keen to match the score and it was end to end. Beccles trying to break through the centre of the pitch. In the D, Jemima Williams was controlling the centre, with Jess Tye-Leech and Helen Marsh supporting either side. Beccles were resilient and managed to gain a short corner, using their powerful strikes, they managed to slip the ball at lightning speed onto the back board.

The 5’s maintained their effort and pushed forward, Chiara Bond with go-go gadget arm reach was supporting the forwards firing the ball up into the D. The second goal came from a scramble in the D, Zara passing ball in, keeper deflection, opposition defence trying to clear the ball, Chiara finally getting that final push to edge it over the line.

At half time the score was 2-1. With the 5’s, 13 pairs of legs and Beccles with their 11 players, the pace and focus needed to be maintained, Chiara’s words echoing in our minds.

In the second half we and Amy Forse in goal had a nervous moment when a long strike passed all players, looking like it was heading off the pitch, it pinged off the post and back into the D. Amy charged, so did Beccles, the ball was cleared we all breathed out! Laura Hansell and Rachael Matthews swapped in to pick up play in midfield and ran the ball through and down the wings.

The battle was continuing and the defence were continuing to hold strong, charging on shorts, intercepting and feeding the ball out wide. Beccles managed to squeeze another ball into goal. 2-2. The final and winning goal of the game came from another pick up from Zara, who by now was attacking at will down the right and having beaten several players to get into the D, she unleashed a lovely reverse strike into goal behind the keeper.

The last 10 minutes of the game was like being in slow motion, the score had to be maintained till the end! And it was. 100% effort given by whole team, impressive performance against a good opposition.

Zara was deservedly voted player of the match for her great game.

Photos from the game here.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 3-3 Bedford 1

The first game after the festive break saw Norwich Dragons host Bedford 1s, who had beaten the dragons in their opening fixture 2-1. With both teams in the top 4 of the league at the start of the day, it promised to be a close encounter. Dragons were missing 5 of their regular first team players, but welcomed Shelly Seaman, Nat Beal, Sophie Thomas and Pollyanna Watson (on her debut) to the team.

Bedford started the game the more positively of the two teams, encountering lots of possession, but the Dragons newly formed defensive line up (Maddie Denman, Shelly Seaman and Sophie Thomas) kept the chances to a minimum. At times when the home side had the ball, their passing looked phenomenal, easily beating the Bedford defence but unfortunately not creating any clear cut chances. It was the away side who broke the deadlock first, scoring 2 quick goals after Dragons failed to clear the ball and were caught on the back foot too often. Dragons were not deterred and one of their fine passing moves down the left hand side saw Marie James pick out Nat Beal in the circle who calmly slotted home to halve the deficit. The home side were buoyed by the goal and by the fantastic home support but unfortunately found themselves down by 3 -1 at half time after Bedford clinically finished to score just before the break.

The second half, in contrast from the first, saw Dragons on the front foot and playing some great hockey. Coach Pete Tomas called for dragons to be more positive and on the front foot and players responded accordingly. Rachel King driving forward with the ball at every opportunity caused the Bedford defence major problems. It was one of her amazing runs that led to Dragons second goal. King took the ball down the left and round on the baseline to cut the ball back, past the outrushing goalkeeper, to find Nat Beal who was perfectly placed to score hers and Dragons second of the match.  Bedford still kept pressing forward themselves and earnt themselves many short corners but were unable to convert any of these thanks to some great work from Player of the Match Siobhan Cleeve and the defensive line. Dragons were patient and disciplined, keeping their shape and moving the ball round the pitch effectively and were soon rewarded with their third and equalising goal. Once again King attacked the Bedford defence but this time she was rewarded when her cleverly driven shot from the top of the circle went into the corner of the goal giving the Bedford GK no chance.  Both teams continued to push forward looking for a winner but the match ended in a highly entertaining draw, which on reflection the home side were more than happy with.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N
Norwich Dragons 2s 2-2 Bedford 2

After the extended Christmas break, Dragons Ladies 2’s were keen to get going again and made the trip down to a much improved Bedford 2’s team. Due to unavailability issues, there were a few changes to the squad,  which saw the return of Ally Windsor-Waite from injury and welcomed back Laura Goodbun and gave a deserved 2nd team debut for Lauren Lawrie.

Despite a decent warm-up, things didn’t start well for Dragons, with Bedford scoring on their first attack of the game within the first 2 minutes, a break down Bedford’s left, saw the ball fired into the D and the forwards were quickest to react. Dragons knew they had to settle and respond, which they did with a good spell of possession and a number of quick breaks, getting in behind the home team’s defence. From one such spell, Laura Goodbun managed to steal the ball from the home team and find Laura Shreeve who broke at speed, drawing the defender and the goalkeeper before slipping a perfect ball to Hannah Hardy to slot home for the equaliser.

The remainder of the half saw Bedford continue to threaten, as Dragons weren’t quite on their game, but were working hard together to get into their flow. The midfield needed to dig deep and work hard defensively as a unit – Gail Thomas on the left was breaking down a number of the Bedford attacks, whilst the defensive line of Rowan York-Smith, Ally Windsor-Waite, Angela Murgatroyd and Amy Forse needed to be extremely well organised, to nullify the Bedford overload. Unfortunately a second goal came before the break, meaning the home team took a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Dragons had to sharpen up a little, take more care of the ball to retain possession better and look to become more compact when they didn’t have the ball. This they did right from the start of the half, with Pip Howes in the centre mid position working with Karen O’Neill Simpson, managing to quell the main Bedford threat in the centre. Marcy Windsor-Waite threatened going forward on the right and was well supported by some good running from both Geo Beckwith and Lauren Lawrie, who was having a strong debut.

Midway through the half Dragons deservedly found an equaliser; Marcy Windsor-Waite cleverly intercepted a ball across the D and did not hesitate to make a pass into Hannah Hardy who’s first time shot was saved by the keeper, only for Laura Shreeve to react quickly by picking up the rebound and placing the ball under the keeper.

From here on both teams had chances, with Bedford probably having the better opportunities, but Dragons were defending much better as a team and managed to prevent any further goals, despite needing to defend a number of short corners. The visitors always threatened on the break but never really had clear cut opportunities.

Dragons know they can play better, but a point away from home, against much improved opposition was not a bad start to the New Year. Player of the Match was split amongst the team (notably the defenders). The team will continue to work hard in training with a tough run of fixtures coming up.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier Division
Norwich Dragons 3s 8-0 Loddon 1

Dragons came back from the Christmas break invigorated, and quickly stole possession from the Loddon push back. Passing was sharper from the off, with players finding space to utilise the whole of the pitch, creating triangles and using the weighted pass into the corners for forwards to run on to.

Play was dominated by the Dragons, who pressed high and took every opportunity to attack the goal. The breakthrough came after just five minutes when a second short corner awarded to Dragons was converted with a change from the usual straight strike to start, opting for a short ball to Sian Lawrie. Catching the Loddon runners of guard Lawrie expertly returned the ball to a waiting Issy wolfe to tuck it in on the post.

With the pressure maintained, the second goal soon followed in free play with a back foot squeeze from the top right of the D by Caroline Wolfe. The bobbling ball bounced over the keeper’s foot into the left post of the goal.

Play was recycled well through the midfield and around the back, with the Dragons defence soaking up the odd Loddon break through. Bottom of the diamond Natasha Falzon, along with left and right defenders Laura Bruce and Carmel Windsor-Waite all met the loose balls which came through to them, and they distributed out wide with ease to the midfielders. Any threat that did break through was well covered by Sarah Wagstaff, smothering any opportunity early on.

The third goal was another well-worked short corner: the injection being slipped right to Natasha Blyth, who then wall-passed back to Caroline Wolfe on the p-spot to tuck the ball clear of the keeper into the net.

Number four was another short corner, following text-book recycling around the D (practiced at Tuesday’s training session), where Hazel Sumner struck from the top of the D with immense force, injector Issy Wolfe waiting to deflect the ball just over the line on the left hand post.

Half time Score Loddon 0, Dragons 4

Dragons remained consistent in the second half with their attacking play, and use of the whole of the pitch, transferring the ball right around the back through Sarah Wagstaff. Issy Wolfe claimed her hat trick with an open play goal scored from the left with a tomahawk, supported by POM Lara Taylor.

Issy’s fourth, again in free play, came when she took the ball across the top of the D to space on the right and struck it home.

Tireless work from Natasha Blyth, Sam Franklin and Hazel Sumner opened up further opportunities, and another short corner was awarded. This time, the simple straight strike from the top of the D by Caroline Wolfe straight down the middle to hit the backboard for her hat trick.

Loddon should be commended for their effort, which never dropped. They gave our defence a wake up call where keeper Kristina Smyth was, at last, called into action, kicking the ball wide and clear to avert any embarrassing slip up.

The Dragons’ final goal, initiated by a Caroline Wolfe strike from the top was almost seen clear by the Loddon keeper. However, waiting on the right hand post Sian Lawrie swiftly retrieved the clearance and tapped in.

Full time score Loddon 0, Dragons 8

—————————————————————————————————————–

More photos here.

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 3-1 Lowestoft Railway 1

This was a very good start to the New Year. Lowestoft Railway were one place below Dragons in the league and with the top of the table exceptionally tight every point matters.

Dragons Ladies 4s have a reputation for being a slow starting team, and yet again they conceded an easy early goal. Lowestoft Railway didn’t have many chances to score, but they took their opportunity when a player was left unmarked to slot the ball past the keeper Laura Tuck.

Dragons tried a number of different approaches to get the ball in the Railway net. They tried hitting from the edge of the D, unfortunately the opposing defence were too good at blocking the shot.  Short corners were again not clinical enough, and the home side were beginning to get frustrated.

Two goals came in fairly close succession, the first from a well worked short corner that saw Debs Smith pass to Sophie Wood, who’s shot came off the keeper and looped in, the second created by the young forwards moving the ball quickly around the D, dragging the keeper out of position before a well placed Anja Finegan slotted the ball in at the far post.

The last five minutes saw an impressive attacking display with player of the match Claire Canning hitting the post, and a number of shots just drifting wide.

Debs Smith was instrumental in midfield controlling the play, and scoring the third goal.  Bella Capps made some very important tackles at the back. Megan Williams and Sophie Farrow worked very hard.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 4-0 Norwich City 6

This was the Ladies 5’s first game in 3 weeks, so the first 10 minutes looked rather slow as bodies were getting used to moving at speed.  After this the flow and pace was back to normal and the ball was doing the work pinging between the opposition players.

The Dragons defence of Jess Tye-Leech, Freya Clogan and Jemima Williams were a force and prevented many of the opposition balls passing them by.  City were playing long balls through to their forwards which were being read and intercepted by the defence.  Communication was coming loud and clear through from Alice Smith in Goal, guiding players.

Once the Dragons found their flow, the play ran smooth from Vicky Earley tenacious at the bottom of the diamond passing the ball out wide to Mel Widdows or Helen Marsh who both had lovely runs up the pitch.  Megan Farrant was playing centre forward waiting for those balls to be passes through and shaking off the opposition who were packing the D.

Chiara Bond is able to use her speed and skills to shake off the opposition and find space at top of the diamond and support the midfield.  On one of these passes from a run up the D, Chiara passes the ball round the opposition to Lisa Harwood waiting in the D, who slapped the ball into the left corner of the goal.

The Dragons were fired up and ready for more.  At this point the defence were pushing high, passing up the line to Laura Hansell, who showed her skill at picking the ball up at speed, passing to Rachel Bruce who has become a calm and collected goal scorer.  Weaving the ball into the D and across the goalie who tried to kick it clear but didn’t bargain on a waiting Lisa who pushed it behind the line. The third goal is a blur from too much excitement at scoring a third time for Lisa.  Half time score 3-0 to the Dragons.

The Dragons knew that the opposition were becoming frustrated at the score line and would be coming out determined to score or hold us back. We needed to continue playing in the same style, supporting each other.

With Holly Bailey having a run at bottom of the diamond and Lucy Morton adding her skills to the forward line both had the speed to outrun the opposition, Lucy running the ball into the D.  At this point even the defensive players were nearly in the opposition D, the Dragons were ready for the next goal and it came from Rachel slipping past the opposition and passing across the goalie to a waiting Holly, sweeping it in!

City tried a few long hits past the Dragons midfield, one slipped though and was chased down, the City forward hit a lifted shot and Alice testing out her new body armour gave it a chest bump and it was hit away.  Final score 4-0 and the Ladies 5’s are back to top of the table.  Great work!!

———————————————————————————————————
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 6s 3-0 Watton 3

All credit to Watton for making a good game of it with only 10 players. But the Dragons came away with the biggest grins  because they overcame their traditional problems of starting slowly and failing to find the net to record a handsome win. In fact, in the first half it was more a case of Carrow Road than Hall Road as first Catherine Matthews ‘scored’ a brilliant rebound off her shin which eagle-eyed umpire Jess Tye-Leech refused to allow, and then nearly everyone on the pitch booted, heeled, shot over the bar, nearly hit the corner flag and generally got the Christmas break out of their system. However, Dragons began to put their passing game together, and when POM Gill Walker (who can claim assists on all the goals) fired a pass across the goal, Beth Elgood swooped and slid from the left first on one foot then on no feet at all to crash the ball home.

Watton threatened, and although the plan had been to bring Jo Eke up to create a more attacking formation, her speed was needed  to track back as the opposition occasionally managed to overrun our defence, who were a little bit too keen on pressing up. But the defence steadied, and for the first time proved that Katy Saide, Katie Franks, Alice McNeile and Ginny Simkin could rotate through all the positions, which gives the 6s a new element of flexibility. ‘Frank’ even had a very creditable spell at left mid, and we’ll be using her there again. The end result was that Laura Tuck kept a nice clean sheet.

In the second half, Dragons really began to use their passing game. The mids looked particularly strong with the addition of Rachel Matthews and Jade Blanchflower who both have plenty of speed and excellent tackling skills. Jade combined well with Beth down the left, and when Rachel moved to the right to back up Catherine or Jess Vernon, Dragons began to threaten down both channels. This created more space in the middle, where Gill Walker had her strongest game to date at the top of the diamond. A penetrating pass through the middle found Sarah Norman poised and ready to sweep the ball across the face of the goal to finish beautifully in the corner. Well into the second half the move was repeated and though we originally credited Sarah with the goal, the umpires gave Catherine the last touch from her poacher’s position.

This was an excellent start to the second half of the season. Go 6s!

Dragons had some different levels of players this Saturday, some inexperienced and some experienced. The home side had played Norwich city in October away and won. In the first quarter Dragons were already losing 2-0 even though they did have some good chances with the ball. A few minutes into the second quarter Lilly Sore scored a reverse push past the keeper. Unfortunately after that the home side didn’t get any more goals. But all their players played fantastically and had some great clearances and runs. Sometimes our defenders got caught up in defending short corners and Norwich city in the attacking position anyway. The final score was 4-1 to Norwich City.

Men’s East League Division 6NE
Norwich Dragons 6s 2-3 Watton 2s

The first half of the match which finished 1-1 could have seen either side lead by a margin. McCartney Aldous opened the scoring with a high shot from the top of the D after a period of fine attacking play by Tom Vaughan, Joel Lawrence & George Bowman produced some great first touch interchanges. This led to a period of short corners which several variations failed to extend the lead. Watton equalised with a down the middle attack & were deigned twice by goal line clearance by skipper Mike Banham. With Dave Pentin, Alan Quinton, Pedro Goss & Sol Blazer running midfield it was a solid first half which seemed to be forgotten after the break as the middle seemed to get bypassed. Still the defence of Ray & James Hansell(who had a really strong first half) with  Andy Carver & Aldous were not troubled until late in the second half after a flowing move saw Tom Vaughan score for the 2^nd game running. Watton did equalise with minutes remaining & dragons lost Quinton in the same move to a shoulder injury. Watton then decided to mount a full attacking rush with 2 minutes remaining & Dragons turned the ball infield when playing for the corner was the best option & suffered the consequences. Freddie Dixon in goal was as confident as ever & James Hansell was awarded MOM.

A busy weekend of East Indoor Hockey culminated in Norwich Dragons Ladies being crowned East Indoor Women’s Division 1  Champions.

Having been runners up last season, Norwich Dragons HC Ladies Indoor Team were determined to put in a good performance in this season’s East Region Hockey Association’s Women’s Division 1 Championship this weekend.

Captained by indoor specialist Kate Trelawny Gower and coached by Pete Thomas, the squad of Marie James, Lizzie Moulton, Rachel King, Siobhan Cleeve, Hayley Toleman, Maddie Denman, Olivia Thomas, Niamh Lowe-Davies and Louise Murray got off to a good start against Bishop’s Stortford with a 4-2 win.

Expected to be the toughest game of the day, the squad had a long wait for their next fixture against Wapping and despite getting ahead quickly and moving to a seemingly comfortable lead, Dragons allowed Wapping to get right back into the match, holding on for a 7-6 victory.

With Wapping having beaten Bishop’s Stortford in the penultimate game of the Tournament, Dragons knew that avoiding defeat in their last game would secure the title.

With a convincing 8-0 win over Broadland, Norwich Dragons finished undefeated and were crowned East Region Hockey Association Women’s Division 1 Champions, giving them promotion to the East Premier event next season.

The Men were also in action and finished 7th in a tough tournament.

On Saturday, the Men were edged out 3-4 by Waltham Forest (Pebble stroke, Rohan x2). Second game got off well with a stroke from Ben but ended 1-9, with 2 disallowed. Lost to a well organised Bourne Deeping side by 3-11.  Goals for Pebble (glorious solo effort), Mitchell Smith and a BD foot (Henry). Tough day at the office but enjoyable all the same. Perhaps a bit late to get things organised on the pitch but Jason is giving it a good try. Mentions too for Richard Smith, Ali Smyth, Robbie Bell, Sam Avery (upgraded from Manager to winger in an unselfish transfer by Phil York-Smith) and Peg-Leg Snelling(cameo).

First up on Sunday was the Old Southendian’s side featuring a suspiciously familiar left back. A close fought game ran out 4-7 in OSE’s favour with goals from Alec Steele, Jason Wolfe and Sam Avery x2.
In the second game things didn’t quite seem to go right. What seemed like a largely even contest ran out 1-6 to Wisbech with Alec slamming home another goal.

Last up were Bedford – Prem A side and likely champions this was a daunting final game and there were some slightly negative pre-match conversations. Not a bit of that showed in the game with Dragons forcing Bedford to forget any thoughts of an easy win. Wolfe, exhausted by his exertions fell asleep on a Bedford shoulder late in the first period and was rewarded with a 1 minute “rest” by the umpire. With the score 1-3 at half-time (an incredibly “experienced” link-up between York-Smith and the slightly hobbling Snelling) an upset was a real possibility. A coolly taken corner from Pebble Billy-Stone set up a dramatic end to the day’s play and another was added again by Pebble. The game finally ran out 3-5 and Bedford were duly crowned champions.

Well done everyone who played. Indoor hockey is a gruelling game at times but we fought all the way to the end. The final day was wildly polarised between youth and experience and there will be some sore bodies tonight.

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier Division
Norwich Dragons 3s 0-0 Broadland 1

Following on from last week’s impressive victory over Loddon Ladies 1st Team, Dragons were looking to finish the season strongly with a convincing win against Broadlands Ladies 1sts in order to secure their place at the top of the League once more.

Broadland brought the game to Dragons straight away, who were caught slightly off guard and did not seem fully prepared in the first 5 minutes. The Ladies 3s have been working hard on training in developing their distributive play, particularly moving the ball around the back in order to outlet the ball. This was badly needed against an energetic and switched on Broadland team who closed down play quickly and were swift on the break.

Dragons worked hard to keep possession of the ball, but struggled to ajust to the bouncy pitch, meaning many passes and interceptions were not kept fully under control. They worked on hard on this throughout but did not appear to be in control of the game in the way that previous results would have suggested against this Broadland side.

Debs Smith worked particularly hard at top of the diamond, driving forwards at speed with the ball and distributing it out to the wider players where Lara Taylor and Sian Lawrie made some excellent runs. Laura Goodbun caused Broadland their biggest problems, running at her trademark pace into the D to put some crosses and shots away. Whilst a couple hit the target Dragons were unable to convert these into goals.

Player of the match Kristina Smyth had her fair share of work to do to keep the clean sheet, with some brilliant saves and some brave keeping off of her line. Carmel Windsor- Waite was her usual calm and collected self under pressure, clearing many balls from the D and getting them down the line to the midfield.

Dragons were, unfortunately, very lucky to gain a 0-0 draw after a Broadlands goal was disallowed for not touching the backboard on its way to crossing the line and a separate open goal was missed, placing the ball inches wide of the posts. This wasn’t the type of performance that Ladies 3s are used to giving and there is lots to take back to training to work on for January.

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 1-3 Broadland 2

After a convincing win last week over a Carrow side, Dragons were optimistic about this weekend’s battle against Broadland 2, especially after they beat them so convincingly in the first leg at the Den.

Yet again Dragons had the lion share of the procession. They worked hard to keep the ball, especially in midfield with Claire Canning, Megan Williams and Gemma Rump having a particularly good game. Dragons did commit a few loose passes especially when not under pressure. They have been working on our communication and passing in training, and although this has improved over previous weeks in still an area they can improve on.

Player of the match Charlotte Pounder returned to this team, and was obviously feeling a lot more confident after her debut last week. After taking a particularly nasty knock to the shoulder from a lifted free hit, it seemed to make her more determined and she took the game to Broadland, never giving up.

The Dragons forwards were missing the pacy Anja, and had to rely on passing the ball and moving into space to get the ball around some solid Broadland defenders. This week they lacked accuracy and unfortunately a lot of our chances were wasted by poor final touches and a good goal keeping display.

Yet again Dragons were awarded a dozen or so corners. These are becoming a frustration to the forwards as again they failed to convert any of them. This is something Dragons must work on after Christmas. The only time Dragons came close to scoring at a short was from a tremendous strike from Sophie Wood, the ball rising in the air, sailing over the keeper’s head and into the goal before dropping. The goal was initially awarded, and them following a discussion between the umpires was disallowed. Sophie Farrow did well injecting the ball.

Sue Cross scored Dragons only goal today. It was similar to her goal last week, with this time Claire Canning intercepting the ball, and having the vision to pass the ball into the D, were Sue was unmarked near the post and able to slot it in.

Dragons allowed Broadland to score three times. The majority of these started from “big hits” that bobbled and bounced through the midfield. The defence were unlucky, because the few times they lost their player or their shape they seemed to be penalised. Chelsea Crawford had a great game as centre back stopping many of these big hits, but Dragons struggled when the ball bounced past her to regroup.

Although the score was emphatic, Dragons can feel proud of the effort today.

POM : Charlotte Pounder

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0-2 Norwich City 5

What the 5’s would like to remember from the weekend game against City 5’s is how the second half was played.  Unfortunately the first half lacked the 5’s usual attack from the start which was needed against a strong robust opposition who regularly play together and strike those long balls through to speedy forwards.  The 5’s were damp but warmed up, team positions organised ready for the off.  The defence of Jess Tye-Leech, Freya Clogan and Beth Elgood were quickly put to test and held off the charging opposition.  The 5’s regained possession with some excellent interceptions from Vicky Earley, to pass the ball up to midfield.  The opposition were quick to try and close down the home team and the midfield of Racheal and Catherine Matthews, were working hard to pass the ball around and through to players before getting picked up.  The first City goal caught the 5’s on the hop with a long strike perfectly placed to a waiting forward who slotted it home At half time the home team knew that the game play had not been our best but was better toward the end of the half.  We were determined to improve this for the second half.

There was more pace and aggression to keep possession and score.  The defensive trio were working hard with Freya channelling those City players. Chiara Bond was on a mission and was firing balls up to the forwards, she blocked the opposition and was lightening around the pitch.  Megan Farrant and Lucy Morton both picked up wide balls and out ran the opposition.  The 5’s had several chances on goal but none passed the keeper.  Toward the end of the game all players were pushing high really wanting that elusive goal.   Nothing was getting in Helen Marsh’s way and she weaved through the City players, steam coming from her ears.  Beth was reading the opposition play well and could pick up those through balls before City players.   This was a much better half and the effort was doubled by everyone.  A couple of considerations for the next game, no faffing about in the D, smash shots off and just having an awareness of your team players around you when passing.  The next game will be played in the mode in which we started the season.

————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 6NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 2-4 Dereham 5

Dereham 5’s go 3-0 up as Dragons fail to crisply hit their passes or intercept the through ball which are stopping on the tricky surface.  Alan Quinton & Tom Vaughan hit back with a goal each.

After halftime Dereham get a fourth and goal line clearances by Mike Banham & McCartney Aldous with fine keeping by Freddie Dixon ensured that Dragons ended 2-4 down but closer than in the first match against them. Come the 3rd game at the Den, Dragons might just show them how far they have improved. Thanks to Tom Vaughan & Andy Carver for coming into the side late. Thanks to Pat Goss for running the bench. Thanks to Rob Coyle for taking the umpiring appointment at short notice. Well done Ray , Sol, Guy, Butts, Rob L, Pedro & George for the 100% effort again with the other guys mentioned above.

Well done lads, Christmas off for fine performances recently & lets start the year with the same team & go through January unbeaten starting at Watton on Jan 2nd.

—————————————————————————————————————

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 4-1 Norwich City

Dragons started strong with quick and confident passes in the first quarter allowing them to maintain possession and attack well. Unfortunately they were not that coordinated and this along with a lucky break from City allowed them to capitalise.

However the home side came back strong in the second quarter and played well with a great mixture of passing and skills. Continuing to play well on and off the ball for the rest of the game, with some great individual and team performances allowing Jonathan Chaney Baxter to score three goals and Jose San Millan to score one. It was a great game and well played by all involved.

Final score: 4-1 to Dragons

Captain: Joe Osborne

Man of the match: Jose San Millan and Jonathan Chaney Baxter

A number of photos from the day here.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 1-0 Harleston Magpies 2

The last match before the Christmas break saw Dragons make the short trip over the border to Harleston. With Dragons unbeaten in 5 and Magpies form improving this was always going to be a closely fought encounter, unlike the opening match of the season where Dragons put eight past their local rivals.

The game started evenly with both teams unable to keep the ball particularly well. Dragons start was well below par and it took a while for the players to settle into the game. Magpies capitalized on this and were able to win a succession of early short corners to put the Dragon’s defence under pressure. Determined work in the windy conditions by Maddie Denman and Hollie Limmer, meant that nothing came of these attacks. Dragons eventually started putting their passing game together with the endless running of Rachel King creating some good chances with one spectacular reverse stick shot going inches wide.

The second half was of much better quality from Dragons and they looked like the team who were fourth in the table. However, they still had to rely on some fantastic saves from player of the match Siobhan Cleeve to thwart Harleston when they did break forward. With minutes remaining Dragons won their first short corner of the match when Rachel King burst through into the box. It was King herself who took the initiative from the corner, neatly sidestepping a defender and striking the ball. The GK saved the first shot but could do nothing about the venomous strike from Stacey Lee that put the Dragons ahead. Dragons were able to hold on for the last few minutes to complete their first double of the season and extend their unbeaten run to 6, with 5 wins amongst them.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N
Norwich Dragons 2s 3-2 City of Peterborough 1

So the final whistle blew to seal the 3pts and a reversal of the 3-2 scoreline at Peterborough in the first game of the season. Having secured 13 points from a possible 15, Dragons will be delighted with their recent form, as they get to grips with this League. Still lots of work to do, and important to now rest and recover from injuries over the break but also maintain their fitness levels. Well done and thanks to all the Coaches, players and sideline support, for their efforts and commitment to date!

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier Division
Norwich Dragons 3s 9-0 Carrow 1

Starting the second half of the season comfortably in the top half of the table Dragons 3s were ready to return to their winning form, and they did so with style. From the offset Dragons played with composure, holing their shape and moving the ball well across the pitch. The first half saw three goals from the Dragons, all from short corners. The first a straight strike from PoM Debs Smith, next a patient one-two between Natasha Blyth and Debs Smith around the Carrow side to secure the second. The third out to Holly Bailey to strike, the rebound followed up to be secured by the teamwork of Debs Smith and Issy Wolfe (who secured the goal on the post).

When Carrow contested goal a sharp Kristina Smyth kept the conceded goals to nil with a stick deflection on the right corner.

Lots of positive play with textbook triangles, and switching swiftly through the defenders (Laura Brice, Sarah Wagstaff and Carmel Windsor-Waite) helped create lots of space for the Dragons.

Half time score Carrow 0:3 Dragons

Going into the second half the one aim given from Captain Natasha Falzon to the players was to score in open play. The team promptly responded working hard no matter the score line. A long corner taken by Natasha Falzon to a waiting Natasha Blyth just outside the right of the D was expertly stepped in to the area and struck with great force, deflecting off of a Carrow defender and into the roof of the net.

Gaining in momentum and seizing every opportunity Dragons continued. Wolfe taking a quick free hit from half way, slipping it right to Katie McKenna who in turn moved the ball swiftly onto a waiting Sian Lawrie to get the fifth goal.

Capitalising on another short corner opportunity a strike from Smith was pinched off of the line by Wolfe seeing the score to 0:6.

Still not stopping this time Smith and Sian Lawrie worked in duo to score from a tap in on the left post.

Still making use of all of the pitch Lauren Lawrie switched through Windsor-Waite with a mighty ball to an again waiting Blyth. Her magnificent cross was expertly deflected into the goal by a sprinting S Lawrie.

The final goal was worked in well between Blyth and McKenna.

Final Score Carrow 1’s 0:9 Dragons 3’s

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 6-0 Carrow 2

Dragons’ ladies enjoyed another win this weekend. This time they travelled to Langley school on a particularly blustery Saturday. They were delighted by the win, but the score possibly didn’t reflect on how dominant the visitors were today.

Dragons were awarded at least a dozen short corners. They were all well executed with Sophie Farrow doing a sterling job at injecting them. The visitors tried a number of different approaches involving the entire forward and midfield lines. The ball agonisingly avoiding the goal on all but one occasion. Sophie Farrow converted the only goal from set play; having injected the ball she waited at the left post to deflect the ball into the goal. This is still an area the Dragons aim to improve, as their conversion rate all season has been low. They also had at least a dozen shots that were either saved or drifted wide.

In the first half Dragons tried to take the game to Carrow. Anja Finegan, Sophie Wood and Charlotte Pounder were all using their pace to attack the goal from both flanks. Sophie Wood broke the deadlock with a great strike after fifteen minutes.

A flick was awarded to Dragons when the Carrow captain stopped the ball on the line with her foot. Unfortunately, Sue Cross stepped forward and lifted it straight at the keeper.

The second goal was down to some insightful play from centre midfield Megan Williams, she received the ball just over the half way line, looked up and slotted the ball through a gap in the Carrow defence to find Sue Cross unmarked in the D with only the keeper the beat.

The ball rarely came over the half way line. Not only did Laura Tuck keep a clean sheet, but she only touched the ball in the warm up.

After half time, Dragons only had a 2 – 0 advantage.  Following a stern talking to by Captain Kate Atkins at half time and her words “ keep away from number 8” and “PASS the ball!” still ringing in the Dragon ears they tried a different tactic. Instead of running straight at the goal, the team passed the ball around Carrow and found it much more effective. The Carrow defence were strong, but they were not as agile as the young Dragon forwards. The third goal came quite quickly after the break.

Charlotte passing the ball to Sophie Wood, receiving it again, then forwarded it to Anja Finegan who swept it first time past the home team’s keeper.

The fifth goal saw Gemma Rump receiving the ball, pushing it into the D to Megan, who passed it back to Louise Davis and then to Sophie Farrow. Sophie took a shot that was saved by the keeper, but was only cleared a far as Sue Cross who bundled the ball and herself over the line.

The last  goal was a lot more stylish. The ball was moved into the D by Megan Williams , Charlotte pushed to back to Gemma Rump. Gemma swept it to Sophie  Farrow who lost no time in finding the back of the net.

Megan Williams was very unlucky not to be on the score sheet, two of her shots crossed the line just after the umpire had blown for a short corner.

Scorers : Sophie Wood, Anja Finegan, Sophie Farrow X2, Sue Cross X2

POM : Sue Cross

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 5-1 Norwich Dragons 6s

———————————————————————————————————

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 6s 1-5 Norwich Dragons 5s

The 5s duly completed their expected win over the 6s in some style, but with the result never in doubt the 6s played with great determination and no pressure. The goals came at regular intervals, and highlighted the differences  between the two teams. The 5s have more power in the attacking circle and a little more steel in the defensive circle.

The 6s believe themselves to be a stronger team than at the beginning of the season, and indeed team selection could be a challenge in the second half with so many players at a similar skills level competing for games. So in one sense they were disappointed not to have kept the score down, but at least they scored – a beauty from open play. Lucy Morton picked up a long ball and raced through, beating a defender before slotting the ball confidently past the keeper.

The 6s consider they held their own in the speed and passing moves down the pitch, with Lucy, Catherine Matthews, Jess Vernon, Beth Elgood and Sophie Thurtell all prominent in the attacks. But once entering the attacking circle, the forwards were duly nailed and unable to work a single penalty corner. Once the 5s went a couple of goals up, Beth dropped back and showed tenacity in the tackle, with Rosie Skipp and Sarah Norman also doing plenty of defensive work. Jo Eke dropped to the bottom of the diamond and played her usual 100 per cent game. Ginny Simkin continues to improve week by week, and Katy Saide and Katie Franks got POM votes.

The 5s proved very skilful at pressing the 6s hit outs, which enabled them to keep the 6s penned back in their defensive quarter. Moving Bridget Le Good into defence in the second half relieved the pressure somewhat, and Catherine at the top of the diamond was able to get Jess, Lucy, Rosie and Sophie away more easily. Several players got POM votes and four players shared the honours – Lucy for a great goal, Catherine for her energy, Beth for her tenacity and Kat (the Kat) Speirs for yet another awesome performance in goal. So 5 went in, but you should have seen the ones she saved, blocked, kicked clear. So 6s and 7s – enjoy the festive 7  a side next week from 10 – 12.30 and the relax until January. But not too much!

Norwich Dragons Masters Over 40 Men have progressed safely though to the England Hockey Shield competition having been knocked out of the Trophy today in a 5-2 defeat at home to Dereham.  Jon Price’s team progressed to the final of the Shield last season at the Olympic Park, so the old boys will be drifting off to sleep this evening (in front of the TV) dreaming of another successful cup run.

A link to photos from today can be found on the Masters Men’s Page here.

EH Masters Ladies Over 35s Trophy

Pelicans 0:7 Norwich Dragons

A repeat of last season’s opening round of the Knockout Trophy, Norwich Dragons Masters Ladies over 35s took on Pelicans, although this season saw an away rather than home fixture.  Dragons took a little while to find their rhythm and it was Ally Windsor-Waite that opened the scoring from right midfield. Determined to improve on last season’s 3-0 win, Captain Marie James pushed the team on and alongside late call up Lizzie Moulton in the middle of the pitch, Dragons were dominating possession.

The second goal took a little while to arrive, however further goals from Caroline Wolfe x2, Marie James, Laura Shreeve, Hannah Hardy and Lizzie Moulton, saw the visitors finish with a 7-0 victory.

Guest keeper Kate Bond was superb in goal when called upon, although an unexpected sideline back pass did catch Kate and Rowie chatting, resulting in a hasty retreat by keeper and defence to protect their cleansheet!

A great team performance from all members of the squad.

Team: Kate Bond, Marie James, Sarah Wagstaff, Rowie York-Smith, Angela Murgatroyd, Karen O’Neill-Simpson, Lizzie Moulton, Ally Windsor-Waite, Laura Shreeve, Lisa Harwood, Hannah Hardy and Caroline Wolfe.

EH Championship Boys Under 14s
IES 3:4 Norwich Dragons

Dragons went into this match with a strong squad which included goalkeeper Alex Wolfe stepping up from the Under 12s. The early pressure was from IES who managed to convert a good chance to take a 1-0 lead. Shortly after Jose San Millan scored an equaliser for the Dragons. Jonathan Chaney Baxter cooly slotted the ball home for the Dragons to take the lead before his strike partner Joe Beadman added to the tally to put the Dragons 3-1 ahead. The first half was dampened by Jose having to be taken to A&E with a split eye lid meaning Dragons had to finish the game with only eleven players.

IES kept the pressure on Dragons and scored to bring the game back to 3-2. Dragons reopened a two goal cushion after Raunaq Singh Rai scored after a mazey run from the top of the ‘D’ follow a short corner. As Dragons tired they had to work hard to limited IES chance but were stuck in their defensive half. IES pulled one back but the Dragons’ defence of Harry, Blue, Edward and William held firm as Dragons came away with all three points. Raunaq was voted man of the match by his teammates.

EH Championship Boys Under 18s
Bury St Edmunds 2:1 Norwich Dragons

Dragons went down 2-1 to a good Bury outfit but with only 11 men Dragons put in a performance to be proud of.  Superb passing hockey and solid defending was topped off with a top right drag flick goal from player of the match Henry Laming.  Many thanks to David Pentin for travelling as a late call up umpire.

A few photos from Matchday are here.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 0-3 Bromley & Beckenham

Dragons played host to a strong Bromley and Beckenham side on a warm Saturday afternoon at the Den, which felt more like June than October.

It was the visitors who started brightly putting the Dragons’ defence under early pressure and through a scrappy short corner took the lead. The home side grew into the half and non-stop running from player of the match Rachel King created chances and short corners. The visiting goal keeper making some good saves to deny any chances being converted.

Coach Pete Thomas called the Dragons to step forward in the second half, but it was the London side who started it strongly and soon doubled their lead within minutes of the restart. Dragons were encouraged by the tremendous home support and continued to push forward, the ever tireless King combining well with Hayley Toleman to create further chances, but could not force the ball over the line.

Bromley and Beckenham were well organised and disciplined and they made it difficult for the home side.They continued to push forward and Dragons’ goal keeper Siobhan Cleeve made some excellent saves but could do nothing about a deflected short corner effort which extended the away sides lead and effectively sealed the game.

Dragons need to seek encouragement from the chances they created, which on another day could have seen a different result. Another home game against newly promoted Maidstone awaits next week where Dragons will aim to add to their points tally for the season.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 1-2 Bedford 1

Dragons set off early on a chilly, but sunny morning to face a very competitive Bedford team who recently played National League Hockey. Although Dragons had an emphatic win last week, they knew this week would be a new test.

Bedford started the brighter, having much off the possession and made Dragons work hard to keep possession of the ball. Bedford won numerous short corners but were unable to convert thanks to some excellent defensive work from Maddie Denman and Niamh Lowe Davis. The home side continued to push players forward and were rewarded with two similar types of goals, both coming from wide areas and Dragons unable to prevent the ball going in at the back post. Dragons’ player Louise Murray was forced off for part of the game due to a clash of heads which meant a reshuffle but this didn’t deter the Dragons who created a few opportunities and were rewarded with short corners but, unlike last week, were unable to convert them, thanks to some good work from the Bedford goalkeeper.

Dragons started the second half much better and were rewarded for their patience with a well worked team goal. The ball starting in defence with Niamh Lowe Davis was passed to Olivia Thomas who quickly moved the ball to Stacey Lee, whose cross was met expertly by Hayley Toleman to score her 4^th goal in 2 league games. Dragons felt they could get something from the game and after another head injury, this time to a Bedford player, they pushed forward in search of an equalizer. Lee worked  herself in the Bedford circle to be challenged by the keeper winning a short corner which unfortunately came to nothing. Bedford had chances to increase their lead but for some fine saves by goal keeper Siobhan Cleeves.

A few photos from the game here.

As the Ladies 5’s stepped out onto the shiny blue pitch we knew to maintain our position in the table we had to secure a win and hopefully increase the goal difference.  City 6’s had the first push back and off we chased, they tried to put long balls through to their forwards.  But with Holly Bailey reading the play and her long strides the balls were quickly intercepted.  Pushing up the pitch Zara Howes, Helen Marsh and Charlotte Pounder used their skills to bypass City.  The Dragons forwards of Den Howes, Lisa Harwood and Megan Farrant were in the D and moving the City defence around to get some shots in.  Unfortunately goals denied. The majority of play was favouring the Dragons and we knew a goal would come. Chiara Bond at the top of the diamond was always on hand outside the D to intercept the ball and pass it right back.  With City trying to halt Den from getting her stick on the ball in the D she weaved around the defenders and cracked off a lovely shot into goal.

City were getting frustrated and it showed in their game, they only had a few chances in our D before being picked up by our speedy strong defence of Jess Tye Leech, Freya Clogan and Laura Hansell.  They passed the ball around the back to move it further up the pitch and also pushed forward as City tired.  Rachel Bruce had an excellent game moving into free positions and lovely passes along the wing between herself and Zara.  At half time the score was 1-0 and with some words of wisdom from Krystina Smyth and advice from David Bond we were set for more goals.

The Dragons had a shuffle of positions to give Laura a chance to stretch her legs up the wing, Helen’s grit required at the bottom of the diamond and Holly in on defence.  Charlotte who is often a blur on the pitch from high speed interception, passed the ball around well and out to the forwards.  Megan ran out wide to pick up balls and run them up to the D.  With a few balls hitting the feet of City players and several short corners later, we felt a goal must be coming! With a slip to Chiara and a lovely slap into the goalie, the rebound was picked up by Zara and pushed in.  2- 0.  With the game becoming quite physical we were pleased when the final whistle was called.  Congratulations to Rachel, player of the match for her skills, continued effort and first player to receive a green card!

A few photos from the game here.

A few photos from the game here.

Some photos from the day here thanks to Sue for the home photos.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 8-0 Magpies 2

In the 7th year of this fantastic end of season tournament between UEA Hockey Club and Norwich Dragons Hockey Club, Dragons managed to squeeze through on sudden death penalty flicks to give an overall tally of UEAHC 4 tournament wins to NDHC’s 3.

This season’s event was played in the best spirit ever, showing the great friendship between the City Centre Clubs, as well as the personal friendships between players.

Dragons were concerned that the emerging trend of winners might continue, with UEA the bookies’ favourites to grab the trophy back, particularly when UEA Ladies ‘upper’ team took the lead in one of the first games, however Captain Kingy inspired the troops to recover the situation.  A great drag-flick from Tabba to get the sides level, a fantastic solo goal from the skipper Rach and then young Aoife stepped up to score what turned out to be the winner.  She had to leave the pitch before the end to throw the javelin in the Norfolk Schools Athletics Championships and win her event, meaning she represents Norfolk at the East Championships!  Credit to UEA though, they never gave up and scored a goal with two minutes left on the clock, to give a final score of 3-2 to Dragons.

On the other pitch, the Men’s ‘lower’ teams were battling out a 2-1 win to Dragons, giving the underdogs a two point advantage, however, the students were enjoying the sunshine and upped the stakes by securing a late equaliser in the second Ladies’ match (2-2) and victorious over the Men’s ‘upper’ Dragons team 4-0!!

So after 4 matches the tournament score was 2.5 to Dragons and 1.5 to UEA, meaning the Mixed game would play a major part in the destination of the trophy.

UEA played far better than Dragons, making full use of the team and came away with the 4-1 win, which tied the overall event at 2.5 points each.

As per the tournament rules, penalty flicks had to decide the eventual winner.

With the 5 flick takers decided on each side, up stepped Hannah to take the first for Dragons, the deadly sin of a late change of mind meant she flicked the ball at the keepers hand for an easy save.  However having scored two great goals during the Mixed game Jo didn’t manage to convert her flick for UEA, Robbie making a strong save.

So 4-4 in flicks meant sudden death.  Under the excellent umpiring control of Mason Wright supported by Henry Eades, the order was changed for the flicks with UEA stepping up first and Robbie made another great save.

Hardy redeemed herself by slotting her flick away to seal the win for Dragons!!

Excellent umpiring by all, special mention to Henry for his three games and to Gary and Hazel for their help on the day.  Thanks to all our supporters and to the Teas Ladies Amelia and Persy!

Photos of the penalty flicks here.

Congratulations to Esme Potter and Lara Taylor for their part in an excellent day for Norfolk u13 Girls on Sunday, being crowned East Champions with 6 wins from 6 games, the team scored 22 goals and conceded just 1, a long but highly successful day, well done girls!!

Some photos of the Dragons here.

After the success of the Boys Under 16 Indoor Team making it to the National Finals this season, the Men’s Masters Over 40s were today at the National Final of England Hockey’s Over 40s Shield at the Lee Valley Centre against Taunton Vale.

Having had most of the possession in the first 10 minutes, NDHC lost their way a little and allowed Taunton Vale to gain some momentum and a number of short corners.  After 20 minutes a foot on the line from one short corner resulted in a flick, which the Somerset side converted. Then with 2 minutes left of the first half, Taunton score again, Dragons 2-0 down at halftime.

A better second half for Dragons and with just 14 seconds left on the clock they are awarded a flick which Jason Wolfe calmly slotted away, unfortunately too late to change the outcome of the game and Dragons finish on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline.

Congratulations to Taunton Vale.

Photos from the day are here and a video clip of their walkon here.

You did us proud boys!!

The squad of
Theo Korn – Gk
James Cross – Captain
Tom Jackson
Edward Cross
Ben Panter
Harvey Nkrumah
Jake Reynolds
Freddie Royall
Sam Reynolds.

This age group doesn’t have a National Final, however the boys have shown they are the best in the East this season.

Hockey Report Card for Winter League Season 2014-15

Name:  Norwich Dragons Hockey Club

Class: of 2014-15

Teacher: Hockey Coaches Extraordinaire

Position in Year Group: 1st in some, not 1st in others but all round great season

Summary of Final Placings for Winter League:

Ladies 1s following back-to-back promotions secure their position in East Premier with a 7th place finish  and 7 point buffer from the 4 teams that are relegated.

Men’s 1s achieve second consecutive 3rd place finish.

Ladies 2s Champions and 100% of wins, not just invincibles, incredibles!

Men’s 2s recover from shaky start to finish 8th to improve greatly on last season.

Ladies 3s finish one place better than last season in 4th with a good finishing run, after a bizarre win-lose-win pattern to their games.

Men’s 3s were in danger of finishing 2nd but managed to make 3rd place their own, a massive improvement over last season.

Ladies 4s didn’t quite get the consistency they needed to match last season’s 5th place and finished 8th, albeit with 4 points more this season.

Men’s 4s our second Champions of the season, leaving it until the last game to hold off Ipswich 3s.

Ladies 5s achieved 4 points more than last season despite finishing 2 places lower.

Men’s 5s finished 9th following promotion last season.

Ladies 6s having finished bottom of Norfolk Division 3 last season secured 2nd place and subject to any weird reshuffles of the league should see them promoted to Norfolk Division 2.

Men’s 6s a new team for this season and finished a fantastic 4th.

Ladies 7s were our other new team for this season, seeing a core of the team being our Get Back Into and Girls Development rising stars and proving that 7 is a lucky number they finished a comfortable 7th.

Detail of Final Places:

Ladies 1s

Men’s 1s

Ladies 2s

Men’s 2s

Ladies 3s

Men’s 3s

Ladies’ 4s

Men’s 4s

Ladies’ 5s

Men’s 5s

Ladies’ 6s

Men’s 6s

Ladies’ 7s

Having beaten local rivals Norwich City and Harleston Magpies to qualify as County Champions, the Norwich Dragons U16 boys took on the representatives of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in the East Regional Indoor tournament and finished runners up to Old Loughts to qualify for the National Finals.

The boys are the first Norwich Dragons HC side to represent the club at National Level, the full set of fixtures for the weekend are shown below:

The boys are shown below after securing second spot in the East Championships, Tom Williams and Henry Laming are also in the squad.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 3-1 Magpies 2s

Norwich Dragons Ladies played hosts to arch rivals Harleston Magies for their last home game of the season and, having been beaten earlier in the season by them, they were determined to prove they are closing the gap on their fellow Norfolk based team who have dominated over previous years.

The Dragons were at the heart of the Harleston defence immediately and within the first 5 minutes Harleston found themselves a goal down. Some excellent work from Dragons forward Kate TRELAWNY-GOWER who beat the Harleston defence with a ferocious pin point pass from the left into the path of Hayley TOLEMAN who showed great composure skilfully taking the ball around the keeper .

The Dragons tails were up and they did not let up as they forced Harleston back into their own half  dominating this match and creating a number of chances. A through pass from Marie JAMES put TRELAWNY-GOWER through on goal but her effort was closed down by the keeper. On another occasion  TRELAWNY-GOWER, through on goal,  stumbled to the ground as she set herself up for a strike. JAMES went close when she was put through by TOLEMAN only to see her effort closed down by the keeper too.  Unfortunately the fact that the Dragons were unable to capitalise on the chances created proved to be detrimental as the visitors were awarded a short corner from which Lauren MICKLEBURGH saw her strike from the top of the D end up in the Dragons goal.

This goal gave HARLESTON a life line and new found belief. As the second half got underway the Dragons, who perhaps were dwelling on their earlier missed chances, now  looked nervous and began playing deeper but in doing so invited pressure from Harleston and made it unnecessarily difficult for themselves.  It allowed Harleston to grow into this match who were now pushing and testing their opponents.

The Dragons defence held strong with player of the match Lizzie MOULTEN having a monumentus performance allowing nothing to get past her supported by 16 year old defender Maddie DENMAN who, although put under intense pressure, showed maturity and resilience in her play as she has throughout the season making the left defence position in this team her own.

These were nervous moments for the players and spectators alike as the match was on a knife edge.  The second goal was to be crucial and although the Dragons dominated much of the first half, opportunities were now falling equally to both sides.  Finally a second goal came and to everyone’s delight it was to the Dragons; some good work again by TRELWANY-GOWER who got herself in a goal scoring opportunity only to be fouled by one of the Harleston defence resulting in a penalty stoke being awarded. TOLEMAN confidently stepped up burying the ball in the corner for her second of the match.

Joy turned to dismay as almost immediately TOLEMAN was shown a yellow card for a tackle from behind on her opponent resulting in the Harleston player falling to the ground. This was disappointing as everyone knew that this card meant, not only were the Dragons down to ten players, more importantly that TOLEMAN would be suspended for the Dragons next and final match of the season.

With ten players the Dragons worked hard to protect their lead and relied on their experience to get them through the next ten minutes or so whilst TOLEMAN was off the pitch. They stretched Harleston and managed to keep possession of the ball preventing the visitors opportunities. As TOLEMAN returned to the pitch the Dragons surged forwards and increased their lead through, in form, TRELAWNY GOWER who finished in style firing the ball in the roof of the net; a real crowd pleaser to end the match.

Overall a good performance by the Dragons and an excellent well deserved three points.

—————————————————————————————————————–

The u14 Girls 7-a-side team excelled again in the England Hockey Tournament, this time in Cambridge.  With a 4-1 win over the hosts, being 1-0 down at halftime and a walkover result of 8-0 against Chelmsford who didn’t send a team.  The girls then had a friendly match to finish of the day with a 12-0 win.

The Dragons are sitting pretty at the top of the Division.

Photos from the day here.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 0-3 Tunbridge Wells

Norwich Dragons were hoping to get back to winning ways against Tunbridge Wells after suffering defeats since the Christmas break. This was always going to be a tight match; both teams being mid table with only 3 points separating them.

The Dragons started the stronger putting the visitors under some early pressure but were knocked when, completely against the run of play, Wells took the lead from a short corner routine.

The home side did not look defeated and enjoyed the majority of the possession and pressure in the first half with player of the match, Sarah RICHARDS, doing some great work in the centre of the park. Unfortunately it just didn’t seem to be the Dragons day and uncharacteristically they were unable to covert the chances that they created in open play and at short corners.

Almost immediately after the restart Wells got their second. This clearly dampened the Dragons spirits but lifted Wells who were now playing with confidence and gradually eased the Dragons out of the match.

Wells went on to score the third and final goal of the game through another short corner seeing the Captain Rebecca ROSS complete her hatrick.

The Dragons travel to Ipswich next week so will need to put this match behind them and focus on getting three points away from home.

Photos from the second half here.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s A-A Cambridge City 2

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 3
Norwich Dragons 7s P-P Lowestoft Railway 2

—————————————————————————————————————–

Norwich Dragons Ladies Over 35s beat Norwich City 6-0 in Round 2 of the England Hockey Knockout Trophy on Sunday.  With two goals from Natalie Beal early in the first half, the home side were quickly in their stride.  The first came from a great ball into the D from influencial player Laura Shreeve, to fellow forward Lisa Harwood, who laid off the ball to Natalie Beal to slot home.  Before her second goal, Beal also came close when she lobbed the ball over the City keeper, only to see the ball strike the crossbar.  However, no such bad luck a few minutes later when Shreeve played an inch perfect cross for Beal to slot into an open goal.

On the stroke of halftime Dragons won a penalty corner which found its way to Hannah Hardy who drove the ball past the keeper for a 3-0 halftime lead.

Just 8 minutes into the second half, Beal was on the scoresheet again with her third and Dragons’ fourth.  Another great ball from Shreeve found Beal, who scrambled the ball home.  Beal scored her fourth from a pin-point angled cross by Hardy.

Dragons had several further opportunities to increase the victory, however just one further goal was scored, a second for Hardy.

The home sides’ defence of Ally Windsor-Waite, Angela Murgatroyd, Louise Davis and Lucy King in goal had a few penalty corners to deal with and one or two breaks, which they coped with well, allowing the usual defenders Donna Vaughan and Lizzie Moulton to move further up the pitch to join captain Gail Thomas and Karen O’Neill-Simpson in midfield.  Injury to forward Sue Cross brought a premature end to her match in the first half.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s – No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s – No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier Division
Norwich Dragons 3s 2:0 Loddon 1s
A very blustery game welcomed Dragons back from their extended Christmas break (as their previous 2 games had been postponed due to frozen pitches).Determined to get straight back into their hocey groove Dragons were hard on the attack from the start. Taking the first push back Caroline Wolfe dropped the ball back to Geo Beckwith (PoM), who inturn crossed the ball out to the right hand side. The Loddon 10, despite being one man down, weren’t going to make things easy for the 14 strong Dragon side. Intercepting a pass and with the wind on their backs they made their first bid for goal. Driving down the left side of the pitch, with some neat one-two’s, they made their way into the Dragon D. Their first strike on goal was safely seen away by the dragon keeper, Amy Forse, but sadly onto the foot of a Dragon defender.Loddon promptly took their short corner. Quickly to the top of the D, but closed down by the speedy 1 runner, Natasa Falzon, Loddon slipped the ball right and took a strike at goal. Deflected by Forse Loddon again picked up the deflection. Closed down by Laura Bruce Loddon lost the ball and Bruce allowed Dragons to turn play sending it down the right line to Hazel Sumner. Keeping the Loddon 10 on the back foot as they made their way back down the pitch Dragons started to use the extra man to their atvantage, stretching play in both length and width. From right to left, Sumner, Pollyanna Watson and Harriet Green switched the ball through the mid field creating gaps where Loddon would have had their 11th player. Using this to their advantage Dragons pressured the Loddon D.Taking time to bring the ball out of the D and play it around the outside, changing their direction of attack allowed forward Caroline Wolfe to take a shot. Quickly closed down by the Loddon defneder Wolfe had to take the shot with her back to goal. On target for the right hand top corner but just tipped onto the crossbar by the Loddon keeper Dragons were denied the goal and awarded a long corner.Still with pace in their legs, Loddon hounded the Dragons back into their own half. A pair of strong Loddon forwards using their pace and the wind to their advantage. Dragon defenders Sarah Wagsraff and Natasha Fazon traked the players and guided them on to the waiting stick of their fellow team mate. Once again on the attack Dragons continued to make use of their extra man. Crossing the ball through Geo Beckwith they managed to fing the fast legs of Laura Goodbun. Along woth Marcy Windsor-Waite the three of them passed the ball around the Loddon defenders allowing Geo Beckwith to take a strike on goal. Once again quick on her feet the Loddon keeper managed to tip the ball wide of the goal but his time keeping in on the pitch. The deflecting ball was quickly picked up by Sophie Farrow who swiftly swept it in passed the keeper on the lleft post.

Determined to keep in the game Loddon took their center ball from the restart and were immediately on the attack. However, with 11 behind the ball it didn’t take too long for Dragons to win possesion again. Pressure resumed on the Loddon D, eventually winning a short corner from the Loddon defenders. Out to the top of the D and slipped right, sever strikes were unable to make it passed the remainding Loddon players.

As the half time whistle blew Dragons were in the lead 1:0

Back from the break Loddon took the push back. Their two forwards with some great linking play manouvered the ball around the Dragon players and into their D. A strike on goal was saved by the diving left glove of Amy Forse, maintaing the Dragons clean sheet for the game.

Continuing to use the extra player to their advantage Dragons made the ball do the work, using good switching play and adding fluidity to their game. Despite the wind they managed some great weighted balls allowing their team mates to run into the growing gaps created by the tiring Loddon team. Charging onto the ball Laura Goodbun found her self in a one-on-one with the Loddon keeper. Determined not to give Dragons an easy goal the Loddon goalie ran at the ball, sliding and winning it. Sadly Goodbun was unable to avoid the charging keeper and was taken out by the tackle, hurting her shoulder and rendering her unable to play the remainder of the game.

Fatigue was clearly getting to both sides as the play became increasingly frantic. The break in play, as the injured Dragon player was taken from the pitch, allowed Dragons time to gather and refocus their approach. Undetterred the Dragons soldiered on.

Dragons sideline ball, taken by Windsor-Waite was passed back to Laura Bruce, who in turn crossed it to Watson. Finding Debbe Santa-Clara Dragons continued their forray into the Loddon D. Once again using the extra player to their advantage Santa-Clara passed the ball wide to Alice Guest, finding space she continued the ball to Hazel Sumner. Dragon play was starting to gain momentum again as Sumner crossed the ball to Beckwith. Quick thinking and her eye on the player Beckwith spotted Wolfe waiting on the P spot. Her sure pass allowed Wolfe to take a strong sweep of the ball securing the Dragons second goal.

Final Score Norwich Drgon Ladies 3’s 2:0 Loddon 1’s
—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 1:2 Evergreens 1s

With the game starting in the worst weather conditions I have seen in a long time both teams retreated to the dugouts with less than 2 minutes played as visibility was terrible and the rain was hitting like bullets! After 5 minutes sheltering, very damp teams returned to the pitch to continue the match.Both teams were a little slow after the Christmas break and it took a little while for Dragons to find their hockey brains but once found there were some lovely demonstrations of passing down both sides with Kate McKenna and Chelsea Crawford (joint PoM) working well down the right and Abi Cowe and Mel Widdows doing the same on the left.Due to the great passing the forwards received the ball well and made a good few attempts on goal with Holly Bailey crossing the ball neatly in front of the goal, but no one could get a stick to it to nudge it across the line.The first goal came from Evergreens, they broke in midfield and were able to get ahead of the defence, while the initial shot was saved by keeper, Laura Tuck, but the Evergreens player didn’t give up and gave the ball a second push which made it over the line. Dragons as usual rallied quickly and with some lovely play through the middle from Gemma Rump and Katie Buxton (joint PoM) gotthe ball back into the oppositions D. The goal came from Amelia Dawson who cracked the ball at goal, hitting a stick as it went, which deflected the ball up and over the keeper’s head.At half time the game was tied and Dragons seemed to be playing well, communication was better and the neat passing remained. It was bad luck that in the first 10 minutes of the second half a penalty flick was awarded after the ball hit a defenders foot on the line during a short corner. Laura Tuck made a valiant attempt to dive and save the goal, but just missed.

Dragons had at least 70% of the possession after this and had several short corners awarded in their favour but Sue Cross and Amelia Dawson were unable to get clean strikes on goal and the Evergreens defence where strong and therefore able to intercept slipped balls. In the last 10 minutes of the game Dragons tried hard to draw level, with Louise Davis pushing up from right back and managing to drive the ball into the D on more than one occasion. While many attempts were had they just couldn’t beat the keeper.It was a well fought game, against the team at the top of the league, and there are a lot of positives to move forward with next week.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:0 Evergreens 2s

Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s had a slightly shaky start back after Christmas. A 0-0 draw was not quite the result they were looking for against Evergreens 2s, however the clean slate was testament to the excellent defence work by the re-jigged defence of Bella Capps, Jess Tye Leach and Emma Buxton. With the wise owl Christina Murgatroyd in goal i felt this defence looked confident and well organised. Taking up bottom of diamond and man of the match Carmel Windsor-Waite showed her maturity and ball distribution skills to their up most. Lisa Harwiid and Laura Hansell held some excellent positions but the ball could not find them.

Despite these efforts it was nil nil at half time.Dragons came out stronger in the second half, however the whole game required a bit more pace & passion especially up front and connections in mid field. A cracker of a shot from Rachael Matthews was unlucky not to go in. There were some excellent efforts with long runs from from Issy Wolfe, Jade Blanchflower and Anja Finegan, however all these players need to start to think more about releasing the ball with a considered pass. Chiara Bond continues to own it at top of the diamond and showed what you need from mid field; tireless attack and defence which was aided by her obvious maintenance of fitness over Christmas.

All in all I think we will feel more room ready for next week against Watton.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s 3:1 Norwich Dragons 7s

A cloudburst just as the match began could not dampen the spirits of the 6s and 7s as they renewed their rivalry at the start of the second half of the season. The season had started with a comfortable win for the 6s, but the 7s showed how much they have learned and improved by pushing their rivals until the final whistle. Megan Farrant, player of the match for the 6s, scored a hat trick. Her third goal was worthy of any team – she injected a penalty corner for Bridget Le Good to crash towards the near post for Megan to deflect in. All the more remarkable, the 6s thought, because most of them were dying on Wednesday and had not been able to turn up for training and pen corner practice.Plenty of sympathy for Amy Hunter, who nearly called off herself through illness but had an excellent game in goal. She stopped every hard shot from every angle and it took the ‘work rounds’ to beat her. A pass from Bridget to Megan in the first 10 minutes saw Megan slip the ball in from the right. 6s may have thought they could go on the rampage, but  7s had other ideas.Lucy Morton, now moved up from the development squad, was a speedy handful through the middle of the pitch, and the 6s had to send in two defenders whenever she approached the circle. Lottie Korn took her on when Lucy went left, and Katy Saide, now playing central defender, was solid in the middle.The 6s dropped their concentration and 7s equalised through Kat Speirs, the kind of smart straight slap shot that she can do well.  With Jane Morton also dangerous on the break, Jasmin Daniels wisely held back at the bottom of the diamond for the 6s, or Lucy, Tracy Stuart-Sheppard or Gill Walker would have been through.

The 7s’ mids made some impressive runs, and Claire Fairhurst was again effective both on the edge of the circle and on the baseline, but the 6s defenders, completed by Katie Franks, held their nerve and Alice Smith did not have too many direct shots to deal with.Up the other end, the 6s put the 7s under plenty of pressure.The 7s defenders, with Emma Banks (7s player of the match) displaying some excellent reach and Jo Baker putting in some brave tackles, kept Megan at bay (most of the time) and prevented Rosie Skipp from getting clear shots on target. Emma North is another player who improves with every game, either in defence or moving through the centre.  But the 7s defence was caught square at one point, and a ball slipped through to Megan gave her another clear sight of goal. She doesn’t miss those.Vicky Earley added some extra determination in the second half, but the tackles kept on coming.  Persy de Magdalene and Emma Cadley get more confident with each match.

6s varied from some lovely flowing passing moves using plenty of width to some pretty ropey finishing in front of goal. Ciara Willmott is now an assured right mid, and Sarah Norman, another player struggling with illness, may not have been her usual sparky self but she turned in a good team performance. Jo Eke has moved up to the top of the diamond and with her skilful distribution, the mids kept on creating opportunities. Ellie James, making her Dragons’ debut, had an excellent game for the 6s. Operating mostly on the left she showed speed and stick skills, read the game really well, and blended into the team as though she had been playing for them all season.The 6s won in a workmanlike way, showing that they do have a good new formation that should bring them more goals. The 7s played really well, and with renewed confidence. They need fear no team and proved that the more they relax and enjoy their game, the better they play.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Division 3
Norwich Dragons 7s – See above

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s No Fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 7:2  Lowestoft Railway 1s
—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 City 5s (friendly)

For the first game of 2015, Dragons travelled to Taverham for a friendly with Norwich City 5s.  City 5s are currently in the same league as Dragons and this was seen as a good game to help run off some of the turkey consumed over the Christmas period.

Dragons started well and were linking up play nicely.  John IVES once again dominated the right midfield and got off a few crosses to the Dragon forwards.  One chance fell to Adam SAYER who swept the ball just outside the City goal.  Another ball in found Adie KEMP who again was unlucky to have his shot blocked by the City keeper.  The Dragon pressure kept up and a short corner saw a neat slip left from Will KIRBY to SAYER.  The shot went through the City keeper’s legs and hit his ankle where it deflected sideways, not unfortunately into the goal.City did start to press Dragons and managed to break through midfield.  Defenders Peter DAVISON, Will IVES and Sam MANN calmly dealt with any danger.  Any balls that came through were then dealt swiftly by keeper Dim IVES.

Once again Dragon midfield generals Stu KELLY and Rob GOODSON got the ball up to the forwards.  Nick TURNER showed some strong runs down the left and looked dangerous in the City D.  Dragon’s efforts were rewarded with another short corner and this was put away from a straight strike from KIRBY.The second half saw more of the same type of play as Dragon’s worked themselves up the pitch, completing passes and working off the ball for each other.  Chances came again and weren’t converted, but Dragons kept on working.

Sam MANN showed he has a place in gymnastics if he ever quits hockey, with some flying and rolling tackles against the City forwards.  Will IVES made some strong runs down the side of the pitch and made some good passes through to the Dragon forwards.  One pass that did come through to Dragons, found Robbie WHITING on the left of the City D.  WHITING took the ball on his reverse stick and let rip with a shot that rocketed into the City goal.Further pressure from Dragons saw Will KIRBY get another goal and the game was as good as over.  Dragons win 3-0, but could have had more if their finishes were more clinical.  Despite being the first game this year, Dragons displayed some very promising hockey and are looking forward to their game against Dereham next week at the Den.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s No Fixture

-————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 6NE
Norwich Dragons 5s No Fixture

—————————————————————————————————————

Men’s East League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 6s 1:1 IES 5s
—————————————————————————————————————

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League

Norwich Dragons 6:1 Dereham

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 6:5 Lowestoft Railway

The girls played a fantastic match on the 10th of January 2015 against Lowestoft Railway at the UEA. Winning with an excellent score of 6-5. We dominated the game and we were 4-3 up by half time. Anna Brook scored the first goal, Lara made an excellent pass into the D where Anna took advantage of this pass and scored our first goal. Sophie Thurtell (captain) then scored the next goal.

However, Lowestoft fought back and scored 2 goals. But we were determined to take the lead again, Lily Sore who played left forward scored our third goal. Ellie Hipper had a great game and was awarded player of the match, she scored an amazing hat trick.The girls used the width well getting the ball out onto the wing to and then drove it into the D for many shots on goal. Brooke Simmons played at excellent game as left defence pushing up when needed and passing the ball down the line.

Chelsea our adult was very strong in defence with Isobel Keane as they cleared the ball very well to our mids. We had a few new members who played fantastically and didn’t give up.  We would like to thank Bridget for her excellent support and coaching.

Norwich Dragons Men’s over 40s managed to come away from a competitive match against Norfolk over 60s with a 3-1 win.  The County side included two of our treasured Dragons, in John Butler and Mike Banham.

Both the Men and Ladies took part in the East Indoor Division 1 Championships this weekend.  The Men had some tough opposition including Ipswich, Bourne Deeping, Bishop’s Stortford, Wapping, Wisbech Town and Sudbury.

The ladies played 5 and won 4, losing to winners and last season’s Premier Division team West Herts.

Results as follows:
vs Broadland – 8-1 win

vs Phoenix – 7-1 win

vs Royston – 14-1 win

vs Bishop Stortford – 4-1 win

This set up a deciding game against West Herts.  Unfortunately the time of the game had been changed without the team being advised, so one player was not at the Sportspark and the rest had just eaten, expecting another hour until the game.

West Herts pressed hard from the start and soon found themselves 2 goals up, they scored another before Dragons replied to make the score 3-1 at halftime.  Another two goals for West Herts in the second half gave them the 5-1 win and promotion to the East Premier.

A fantastic performance for the Ladies in their first experience of this tournament. Well done to coach Tom Vaughan, Captain Kate Trelawny Gower and the squad of Freddie Briscoe, Donna Vaughan, Maddie Denman, Lizzie Moulton, Emma Tabrett, Hannah Hardy, Laura Tompson-Wright and Hayley Toleman.

Some photos from Saturday’s games here and Sunday here.

Men’s East League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 6s 3-6 Ipswich Cranes 2s

After a mammoth struggle to put a team together, 13 players made the trip to Ipswich for the rearranged match against Cranes. With 4 players making their 6s debut, the pre-match talk was about learning names, a too-frequent experience this season. Cranes proved to be quick on the break and after some pressure scored a well taken goal from a short corner. A second followed but a stunning goalline save from Ben Nkrumah kept Dragons in touch and a good through ball from Rich Davis was well dispatched by Gary Burgess to leave the score at 2-1 at half time.

Cranes started the second half strongly and scored early. Dragons continued to build good pressure and create chances but a Cranes short corner was well stopped by Robert Coyle, 6 inches behind the line, to make the score 4-1. Cranes continued to attack but learned that they could not play the ball around Ben Nkrumah as he thundered out to flatten a not-insignificantly sized Cranes forward (got the ball first). Andy Key pulled one back but an unlucky deflection to a Cranes forward (might have been Coyle again) gave Ben no chance and the two goal cushion was restored. Mike Banham scored yet another short corner but Cranes continued to find ways through the Dragons defence and the match eventually finished 6-3.

Man of the Match was Ben Nkrumah who looked like an experienced keeper despite making his first outing in Men’s Hockey. Some excellent stops and great, calm, decision making.

Many super performances from our players young and old, we were just a step behind them for most of the match. Despite the result, an enjoyable end to Men’s 6 action for 2014.

We have used 34 different players and 8 goalkeepers, had 2 games conceded to us and 2 postponments. It’s been an exciting half season. Roll on Part 2!

The Dragons Boys progressed to the England Hockey National Finals as runners up in the East Competition with results as follows:

2-1 loss to Sudbury
9-1 win over Berkhamsted
3-2 win over City of Peterborough
4-3 loss vs Old Loughtonians

Goalscorers:

vs Sudbury – Ben Watson 1
vs Berkhamsted – Tom Williams x2, Jonty Gosling x3, Ben Watson x4
vs Peterborough – Ben Watson x3
vs Old Loughtonians – Ben Watson x3

Fantastic to be the first Norwich Dragons HC to represent the Club at National Finals.

Full Report:

Having beaten local rivals Norwich City and Harleston Magpies to qualify as County Champions, the Norwich Dragons U16 boys took on the representatives of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in the East Regional Indoor tournament at UEA, being used as a full size indoor hockey pitch.

Dragons opened the tournament against the Suffolk representatives, Sudbury. Dragons started the game in confident style, with Sudbury seemingly content to sit deep and absorb pressure before launching attacks on the break. Despite creating the majority of chances, Dragons fell behind mid-way through the first half, and trailed 1-0 at the break.

After a half-time team-talk that focussed on increasing the tempo, Dragons had a disastrous start to the second half, going 2-0 down within 30 seconds. After this, the performance improved markedly, but with a 2-goal cushion and a strong defence, Sudbury proved extremely difficult to break down. With 2 minutes to go, Ben Watson did pull a goal back following good work by Jonty Gosling, but it was too little too late for Dragons.
Final Score: Norwich Dragons 1-2 Sudbury

Dragons second game was against the Hertfordshire side, Berkhamsted. Dragons played this game at a far higher tempo, and with Berkhamsted very new to indoor hockey, Dragons started to create chances quickly, with Jonty Gosling scoring a first half hatrick, before setting up Tom Williams at the back post. Berkhamsted pulled one back from a penalty corner, only for Ben Watson to coolly flick home a Dragons corner on the stroke of half-time.

The second half saw more of the same, with clever movement from the Dragons forwards creating space behind the Berkhamsted defence for the the backline of Tom Harris and Alex Stone to exploit the walls to good effect, leading to second half goals for Tom Williams and a further three for Ben Watson.
Final Score: Norwich Dragons 9-1 Berkhamsted

Dragons third game was a must win match against a good City of Peterborough side that had confidently dispatched Sudbury in their previous game. A very tight game followed, with neither side giving up much in the way of chances, Peterborough struck first to go 1-0 up, but Dragons levelled through Ben Watson via a penalty corner, and the score remained tied at the break.

In the second half, Dragons struck first, Watson finishing smartly after good work from Stone and Gosling. Peterborough pushed strongly, but the Dragons defence stood strong and when Peterborough did manage to fashion a chance Ben Nkrumah in the Dragons goal proved up to the challenge. With Peterborough pushing on by taking their keeper off they were vulnerable to being hit on the break, and Dragons ruthlessly took an opportunity to increase their lead courtesy of Watson with his hatrick. There was still time for Peterborough to force and convert a late corner, but not to restart the game, giving Dragons the win.
Final Score: Norwich Dragons 3-2 City of Peterborough

Dragons fourth game was against Old Loughtonians, who were on course to win the tournament having dominated their games against Peterborough and Berkhamsted, despite not playing with a goalkeeper. Dragons knew goal difference could be a key factor in the tournament final positions; and were determined not to let Old Loughtonians over-run them. A tight opening few minutes saw little in the way of chances for either side, but Old Loughtonians were clinical with theirs, scoring 3 times in the opening 8 minutes. Dragons took the bold move of removing their keeper and going man for man with Old Loughtonians, which seemed to cause Old Loughtonians to sit a little deeper and settle on their lead.

At half-time, Dragons stressed the importance of keeping the work-rate as high as possible and converting our changes. The boys took this to heart and produced a 12 minute period of incredible work-rate, frustrating their opposition, limiting them to just two real chances, one well-converted penalty corner, and a second that was superbly stopped on the line by Rohan Kaushal. At the other end, Dragons proved clinical, Ben Watson scoring twice in open play and converting an unstoppable penalty stroke after good work by Kaushal. Further chances did come, Kaushal chasing down what appeared a lost cause, only to see the effort come back off the post with Watson unable to collect the rebound; Stone finding his way into the D but seeing his cross touched away at the last second as Kaushal looked set to score; and Kaushal converting from Watson’s pass, only for the equaliser to be ruled out for a questionable foul. Despite a great second half performance, the result meant Dragons had to rely on other matches to determine their fate.
Final Score: Norwich Dragons 3-4 Old Loughtonians

As it happened, Old Loughtonians comfortably overcame Sudbury to confirm the title as theirs, and despite a spirited effort, Peterborough were unable to overturn the goal difference deficit to Dragons in their match against Berkhamsted, meaning Dragons finished runners-up and qualify for the National Finals in January.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:1 Canterbury 2s

Double Delight for Dragons – a second successive double for Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s in the East Premier Division

—————————————————————————————————————–
Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:0 Newmarket 1s

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 4:1 Saffron Walden 1s

Norwich Dragons welcomed Saffron Walden to the Den determined to do the double on them having beaten them earlier in the season.

The Dragons started the stronger and time after time got the better of the Walden defence. They took an early lead with Sarah Richards getting her first goal of the season. Dragons continued to dominate the match playing some attractive hockey zipping the ball around and finally got their second just before half time; some intricate play from the Dragons saw player of the match Kate TRELAWNY-GOWER unselfishly pass to Hayley TOLEMAN who had found space behind the keeper who made no mistake giving the Dragons a 2-0 lead going into the break.

The Dragons continued to pile on the pressure as the second half got underway and within the first 10 minutes got a third goal. This time it was Donna VAUGHAN who struck the bal sweetly from the top of the D from a short corner.

The Dragons seemed to relax when the third goal went in and allowed the visitors too much time and space. Walden took full advantage of this and were not giving up without a fight. They enjoyed more possession than they had previously and put pressure on the Dragons defence causing their keeper, Siobhan CLEEVE, to make some excellent saves. For 15minutes the Dragons lost control of the game and Walden managed to get a goal back. The home side regrouped fighting back and got a fourth goal through Kaye TRELAWNY-GOWER who executed a drag flick from a short corner routine. This dashed any hope that Walden had of a come back and the match finished 4-1.

An excellent team performance from the Dragons who go into the last game before Christmas in a fantastic position in the league. Some great performances  from all but in particular the young Dragons Maddie DENMAN, Olivia THOMAS and Niamh LOWE-DAVIES continue to impress and grow in strength and confidence with each match played in this league.

Photos from the game here.
—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 3:0 Yarmouth 1s

Dragons arrived early at Cliff Park and were delighted there was no frost, bright sunshine and no biting wind; infact it almost felt as though gloves and ‘under armours’ were surplus to requirements! Dragons were forced into a number of changes this week due to unavailability and injuries, meaning both Geo Beckwith and Pollyanna Watson stepped up to the 2nd Team squad.

After a good warm-up Dragons were quickly into their game, forcing a couple of early short corners, the second of which was slipped to Laura Tompson-Wright, who dispatched the ball clinically, for an early Dragons lead within the first 5 minutes.  Dragons continued to retain possession well and attacked strongly particularly down the right, through the Windsor-Waite ‘duo’ of Marcy and Ally, who with their tricky stick skills, looked to get in behind the Yarmouth defence. Pollyanna Watson and Natalie Beal were connecting well down the left flank and Geo Beckwith was having an impressive debut upfront, combining well with Aoife Lowe-Davies. Dragons continued to threaten the Yarmouth goal, however with Yarmouth getting players behind the ball and with a keeper in top form, the score remained 1-0 at half time.

With the call at halftime to keep their patience and retain ball possession and shape, Dragons did just that, moving the ball confidently across the back through Ally Windsor-Waite, Hannah Ellis and Sophie Thomas. With Karen O’Neill Simpson and Gail Thomas pulling the strings in the middle, Dragons always felt their patient hockey would pay dividends. Space in the D proved to be difficult to find, so short-corner routines were always going to be important. After a period of concerted pressure mid-way through the half, Dragons earned another short corner and the call came from the defensive line, advising where the potential gaps were; Gail Thomas took this advice on board and found Aoife Lowe-Davies with an inch perfect pass, and Lowe-Davies made no mistake, bravely deflecting the ball home from close range.

Dragons continued to have the lions-share of possession, although credit to Yarmouth who defended stoutly as a team. The final goal came from an ‘alternative’  short-corner routine! The ball eventually found its way back to the red-faced injector, who fed the ball back in towards the P Spot, where Marcy Windsor-Waite had found a great position and calmly placed the ball past the outcoming keeper.

Yarmouth always put up a strong performance at home, so Dragons were delighted to come away with the points but more importantly in the way they played against a team looking to defend in numbers. Joint Players of the Match were Ally Windsor-Waite and 2s debutant Geo Beckwith, however once again it was a fine overall team performance, with every player playing their part.

The team were once again very grateful for the Dragons sideline support this week, makes a big difference, particuarly for an away game.

With one game to go until a well deserved break, Dragons will be looking to maintain their high standards and put in a strong performance against visitors Newmarket.

On a very wet, grey Sunday in East Anglia the older Young Dragons had the better plan by playing indoors at Town Close School, whilst the under 14 girls had to travel to St Neots to get wet outside!!

Outdoors:

The Under 14 Girls 7-a-side team went to Cambridgeshire to play the next round of matches in the England Hockey Girls Under 14 Development league.  Having beaten Colchester 17-0 and Cambridge City 5-2 in the first round, they went off this morning with lots of confidence.

Hosts St Neots proved the tougher opposition and the girls fought hard for a 4-3 win with goals from spread around the attacking players of Anna Brook, Heather Tasker, Lara Taylor and Lucy Morton.  Next up were Colchester and having beaten them convincingly in October, the girls were hoping for a similar result, however what the coaches and travelling supporters hadn’t expected was exactly the same score, the girls winning 17-0 again, what are the odds on that??

Well done to the sideline for keeping a note of the scorers, being Lucy Morton with 5, Issy Wolfe 3, Heather Tasker 3, Anna Brook 2, Lara Taylor 2, Catherine Matthews and Carmel Windsor-Waite.

Next round on 15th Feb hosted by Cambridge City.  When updated, the table will show Norwich Dragons sitting at the top of the table here.  Just in case you are worried, the photo above is not from today, just the Editor’s bit of fun!!

Indoors:

The Norfolk Indoor Championships for the under 18 Girls and under 16 Boys took place in the Town Close School sports hall today under the watchful eyes of Ali Smyth and Pete Thomas.

The Girls under 18s team had there first outing in the event and with just one training session under their belts were delighted to get a 3-1 win in their first game against Dereham, goals from Lucy Hopgood, Olivia Thomas and Maddie Denman.  However, they knew that the indoor experience of Magpies was likely to prove a tougher challenge, and so it was to be.  The girls had taken great confidence from their start to the tournament and caused Harleston plenty of problems but couldn’t quite find the crucial touch for a goal.

Magpies beat Dereham 7-2 in the final game to take the Norfolk title and move on to the Regional round.

The U16 Boys ran out winners, following a nail-biting 11-8 victory over Norwich City, after both sides had beaten Harleston, 5-2 (Dragons) and 9-4 (City). Dragons scorers were: Jonty Gosling, Ben Watson and Henry Laming x3 against Magpies, and Ben x3, Henry x2, Jonty x3, Tom Harris, Alex Bilalis-Stone and one unclaimed versus City.  The boys were indebted to Ben Nkrumah who stepped up to play in goal at the last minute and pulled off a crucial save from a top-corner destined drag-flick against City for what would have been an equalising goal.

The Boys move on to the Regional tournament on 13th December at UEA.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 1:2 Magpies 2s

Under wet, grey cloudy conditions at the Den, the Ladies 2’s went out in good spirits following their team talk, lead this week by Daniel. With Niamh and Aoife Lowe-Davies both making themselves available, and with Ally Windsor-Waite taking an extended lunch break, the squad of 12 looked strong. Captain Hannah Hardy continues to be extremely grateful to the squad, for making themselves available on a regular basis, meaning there is great consistency in the team, so the understanding being developed is a key factor to the teams’ current successes.

From the start Dragons took the initiative, with a quick break from the push back, almost seeing a goal within the first 30 secs. However, in the very next attack the forward line of Aoife Lowe-Davies, Laura Shreeve and Hannah Hardy combined well for the first goal by Hardy with less than 2 minutes on the clock. Credit to Bury, who didn’t let their heads drop, despite the early goal, and within 5 minutes they were level, a short corner being initially well saved high on the line by Ally Windsor-Waite, only for Bury to react quickest and force the ball over from the rebound.Dragons were a little unsettled initially, however they quickly regained their composure and took the lead again following strong work from Laura Shreeve who found Aoife Lowe-Davies in a good position, to turn and slot the ball past the keeper. With no more than 15 mins on the clock, Dragons made it 3-1, following a pacey run down the right from Niamh Lowe-Davies who found Laura Shreeve in space, who picked up the ball cleanly and placed it past the outcoming keeper.

The defensive unit of Ally Windsor-Waite, Angela Murgatroyd, Sophie Thomas and Keeper Freddie Briscoe worked well together to cut out any threats from Bury St Edmunds forwards,  and in addition they supported the Dragons attacks exceptionally well from deep. Special mention must go to Dragon’s Player of the Match Karen O’Neill-Simpson, who had an exceptional game at the bottom of the diamond, breaking up play in her usual commited way, but also finding some good space deep in the middle and distributing the ball excellently out wide.Just before the half-time break, Dragons scored a 4th from a short corner routine, clinically slotted away by Gail Thomas.The second half saw continued Dragons pressure, with some good sharp passing moves and fast flowing hockey. Marcy Windsor-Waite and Hannah Ellis in the wide positions, helped release the forwards with strong early passes, working good space in behind the Bury defence.

A number of short corners were forced, one of which was clinically dispatched by Gail Thomas for her  2nd of the game, a perfect strike into the corner. Laura Shreeve was next on the scoresheet creating space for herself with some tricky stick skills, to score at the near post. Shreeve then completed her hat-trick, with more tenacious work infront of goal, working the ball beyond the outrushing keeper and once again stretching from a seemingly impossible angle, to nudge the ball home at the far post. Gail Thomas, (with new stick), quickly followed suit completing a hattrick of her own, once again a smartly taken effort, from another well worked short corner routine.To their credit, Bury St Edmunds continued to look to push forward and a momentary lapse in concentration just before the end, saw a somewhat soft effort sneak in at the Dragons left post. This completed the scoring, making the final score 8-2 to Dragons.

An enjoyable day at the office, despite the wet conditions. The manner in which this game was won was the most pleasing, with the team playing their strong passing game and working hard for one other, to get their just rewards. Dragons will continue to work hard as a team in training, to ensure their fitness levels remain high, as they go into the final 3 games before the Christmas break, looking to continue to build on the strong base they have built for themselves.

Norwich Dragons were in action on Sunday and Monday this week.  On Sunday the Men’s Masters played in their England Hockey Knockout fixture and on Monday a combined Ladies 1s/2s Team gave Norwich School 1st Team a warm up game in preparation for their East Finals.

Norwich Dragons Men’s Masters 5 v Wisbech 5 (Wisbech win 5-3 on penalty strokes)

What a game! what weather ! what if !

Dragons entered the Mens Masters o40’s this year in round one with the hope of having a more even game than in the cup last year when we suffered a 7-0 drubbing from Norwich City.  A more even match you could not have asked for with the scores 0-0 at the start (obviously) 4-4 at half time and 5-5 at full time. Flicks were traded, 1-1,2-2,3-3,4-3 and then the game was finally decided when Wisbech converted their last flick and won the match 5-3 (or 10-8 to be precise).

Every player played their heart out in a good spirited game and the spectators (my wife!) were treated to a goal fest.  Thanks go to the umpires and Wisbech, who nearly conceded, for making it a fun, if not wet Sunday afternoon. The Trophy may be over but we now move onto the Shield happy in the knowledge we can score plenty of goals!  Probably the kiss of death for our next match which will be a 1-0 slog!

Jon Price
Masters Manager

Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s/2s 4:0 Norwich School Girls 1st Team

With several current and ex Norwich Dragons Players making up the Norwich School 1st Team; Freddie Briscoe, Ruth Willmott, Alice Guest, Lucy Hopgood, Emma Moolman, Klara Moolman, Sophie Cullens, Laura Bailey, Amy Brown and Sarah Radley, it felt more like a Dragons training game.

Lucy Hopgood had an excellent game for the School, creating problems for the Dragons when she played in the centre and then on the right.  Freddie pulled of some great saves and Alice and Ruth worked hard in defence feeding the ball out to the midfield at every opportunity.  On the Dragons team strong saves from Siobhan and a couple of goal line clearances from Donna and Shelly ensured a cleansheet for the hosts, however, the fire power and link up play of the midfield and forward line came through, with Hayley x2, Sarah and Karen bagging the goals.

The Young Dragons were in action at Harleston on Sunday 2nd November.

Dragon’s Girls U12 A Team came 6th in the Magpies tournament this Sunday. The team was Annabelle Hodgson, Charlotte Knight, Francesca Sabberton, Harriet Marlee, Lucy Buxton, Nicky Dawson, Sofia Groves, Stella Windsor Waite and Tilly Connors Beckett. The results were:

won 5 – 0 (Harriet x 2, Charlotte, Lucy, Sofia) v Dragons B
lost  1 – 3 (Lucy) v Magpies A
drew 0 – 0 v City B
lost 1- 0 v Dereham
lost 0 – 3 v City A
drew 1 – 1 (Annabelle)  v Pelicans
won 1 – 0 (Nicky) v Watton
drew 0 – 0 v Magpies B

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 3:2 Ipswich 2

Norwich Dragons played hosts to Ipswich Ladies second team. The Dragons who had been defeated in the last four games were in desperate need of a win and although Ipswich had not chalked up any points so far this season, the Dragons took nothing for granted and knew this was going to be a battle especially as this Ipswich team were strengthened as their first team, who are in the National League, did not have a match this week.

The Dragons on the other hand are having horrendous injury problems this year; four of their regular first team players being unavailable to play so the Dragons were reliant on the youngsters stepping up to the plate.  Fielding one of the youngest starting 11 sides for many seasons the team were understandably nervous and took some time to settle and find their attractive flowing hockey that they were capable of.  Ipswich took advantage of this and were the first to score. The Dragons were quick to respond; a short corner routine was saved by the keeper fell to stand in skipper Donna Vaughan who finished in style.

The half was fairly even with end to end chances by both sides. Ipswich took the lead for the second time in the match but just before half time the Dragons responded through a drag flick by Kate TRELAWNY GOWER.

The second half the Dragons came alive and started believing in themselves and were by far the better of the two teams and finally got their reward from the continued pressure that they put the ipswich defence under.  A short corner delivered by Shelly SEAMAN found Kate TRELAWNY GOWER on the post to steer the ball past the keeper. The last 10 minutes were so tense. The 3 points being so valuable to the Dragions caused the nerves to return to the players, the crowd and the sideline support.  Ipswich could sense this and tested the Dragons defence earning a short corner right at the death. Fortunately, Ipswich failed to stop the injection and Dragons were relieved to hear the final whistle.

There were many great performances but Player of match was awarded to Niamh LOWE-DAVIES who had a brilliant match in midfield and Sophie MULLAN who worked tirelessly in the centre of the park.

This young Dragons team battled and worked  PROUD TO BE A DRAGON and got a well deserved win. There was much home support for the Dragons which they were very appreciative of and undoubtedly this spurred them on for this victory.

Some snaps from the game here.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 5:2 Christchurch

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 0:2 Tunbridge Wells 1

Norwich Dragons travelled to Tunbridge Wells hoping to end their run of three consecutive defeats but the home side had other ideas. They welcomed three new comers to the squad due to unavailability because of half term and injuries and their work rate and commitment was second to none and nobody looked out of place in this league.

The Dragons started the more spritely of the two teams and dominated for the first 20 minutes however could not convert their chances. The home side eased there way into the match and at half time it was goalless.

The second half saw the Dragons press forwards and were awarded a number of short corners throughout the match but we’re unable to convert. This proved to be criminal as the home side capitalised on a mistake by the Dragons who gave possession away cheaply. The home side took full advantage and took the lead.

This proved to be fatal for the Dragons who lost their shape as the clock was ticking down and Wells growing in confidence resulting in a second from a short corner routine with 10 minutes left.

This was frustrating for the Dragons as they had the better of the chances but in this league if you don’t take them you get punished. Good experience again and a match that proved to the visitors that they are comfortable in this league and are able to compete but need to take their chances.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 3:0 Framlingham

In perfect conditions at the Den, Dragon’s Ladies 2’s entertained Framlingham 1’s in a game which the home side were looking to extend their 100% record, however were fully aware that Framlingham always provided strong opposition, and hadn’t conceded many goals so far this campaign. Due to an unfortunate run of injuries and unavailability particularly in the 1’s, the 2nd team saw a few changes, notably Pollyanna Watson making her first appearance for the 2’s this season.

The final whistle was blown by umpires Hazel Medler and Mason Wright, (who kept a strong competitive game flowing really well), securing another 3 points for Dragons and maintaining their great start to the season. This team continue to work really hard for each other, both in training and on a Saturday. They are growing in spirit and in their all round understanding of how to play together as a team, which is a huge credit to all involved.

To  see a few snaps from this game click here.

Ten members of the Girls Development Squad  went to Colchester on Sunday to play their first triangular tournament in the England Hockey Under 14 7-a-side Development League, and came away with two excellent wins, beating Cambridge 5-2 and Colchester 17 – 0. We set off with some apprehension, having never entered a tournament at this level before. We were excited at the prospect of playing different teams. Coaches Jason Wolfe and Bridget Le Good decided on a very attacking 2 – 3 – 1 formation, giving the midfield plenty of responsibility for running and tackling back.

Dragons began brightly, with plenty of possession, but initially the attacks were breaking  down in the circle, where we were not taking shots or following up. Cambridge had four strong attacking moves, and although Alessandra Pellegrini made two good saves our failure to get  back meant they had two shots on target and scored twice.  Dragons believed they could still come back, and in the second half everything that had been going wrong went right. Arabella Sabberton and Carmel Windsor-Waite were solid in defence, and the Dragons’ midfield of Lara Taylor on the right, Issy Wolfe in the middle and Anna Brook on the right were controlling the game, with Heather Tasker and Catherine Matthews  doing equally well when they rotated in. It was the midfielders (Anna Brook 3 and Issy Wolfe  2) who achieved the clinical finishing to complete a remarkable second half turn round, with the forwards Lucy Morton and Anja Wimmer working hard up front and doing plenty of unselfish running.

We understood that Colchester, who had lost to Cambridge, were strengthening their team so Dragons were sent out with the instruction to continue to press hard and take their chances. Dragons scored inside three minutes, and after that it was an avalanche. Anna Brook was on fire and scored 6; Heather Tasker got 4, Issy Wolfe 3, Lara Taylor 3 (and she made many more with her midfield crosses from right to left) and Lucy Morton 1. Alessandra impressed by coming out to the edge of the circle and making some excellent clearances.

To their credit, Colchester kept their heads up, tried to keep their shape and their goalkeeper bravely continued to stop shots from every angle.

On 19 November, Dragons play Chelmsford, St Neots  and City of Peterborough in the second triangular tournament. There is little danger that the Dragons will let this first amazing day go to their heads, because most of this squad can remember it was not long ago that they too were on the end of some pounding defeats.  But the girls are now playing well, and at last bringing into their matches the skills they are developing in training. Today’s success was built on the  confidence they have earned from two successive wins in the league.

Our thanks to the supportive families who provided the transport to make this day a memorable one.

Under 16 Boys Match Report:

Norwich Dragons U16 boys hosted Norfolk rivals Harleston Magpies in their latest group stage match in the England Hockey cup.

With a win and a draw from their first 2 games, Dragons were a point ahead of Harleston in the table, but expected a tough test based on Harleston’s results to date.

The game proved to be a tight affair, with the majority of playing in the middle third, and both teams struggling to create real clear cut chances.

Harleston took a first half lead after winning a short corner, which was coolly converted after their forward beat the Dragons runner and shot into the far corner beyond the reach of Declan Cobb in the Dragons goal.

Dragons levelled things up before the break when Ben Watson’s snapshot was only half cleared and Rohan Kaushal followed up with a reverse stick effort over the keeper and high into the net.

The second half saw Dragons start stronger and have the majority of possession, however, with the side pushing on they played themselves into trouble by over-committing and allowing the Harleston forward to intercept a pass and run clear before drawing Cobb in goal to finish on the reverse stick.

This seemed to click Dragons back into gear, and for the next ten minutes they looked the more dangerous side, however, the breakthrough didn’t look like it was coming, until, somewhat fortuitously a Harleston defender deflected Ben Watson’s cross past his own goalkeeper.

Dragons had a couple of good chances to take the lead, Watson unable to get a clean shot off following a good break, and Rob Chaney-Baxter unable to get a stronger touch on a good cross to divert it goalward.

The last ten minutes saw the pendulum swing back to Harleston, who camped in the Dragons’ half. Despite this intense pressure, Dragons managed to limit them to half chances from difficult angles, and were able to keep them at bay.

Full Time: Norwich Dragons 2-2 Harleston Magpies

Under 14 Boys Match Report:

Norwich Dragons u14 boys – 1

Bury St Edmunds u14 boys – 2

Dragons started the game very slowly and seemed to spend most the first half chasing the ball. Tricks that usually work did not and players that usually dominate their position were struggling. This saw Bury St Edmunds go two nil up with not the most amazing of goals you will see. But dragons had their chances to score in the first half, with Jono Chaney Baxter going close on a couple of occasions. Bury St Edmunds passed the ball around Dragons very well, showing great composure on the ball. Bury seemed more determined that Dragons and were winning the 50:50 balls easily.

Dragons were a different team in the second half! Ben N in goal was making some great saves and was never going to let a goal in, the defence were marking much better, Raunaq Rai dominated central defence, Edward Murphy showed off his snazzy stick skills on the right, Freddie Dixon at right defence was winning every tackle or interception he made, George Bowman was sprinting back from up front to help the defence, making tackles at the top of Dragons’ D and Charlie Nunn started to control central midfield. The change was amazing and resulted in many chances for Dragons to score. George Bowman took such a chance after a smooth passing move saw George in front of the keeper, calmly slotting the ball home between the keeper’s legs. But despite the better play and pressure, that second goal would just not come. There were chances for 1v1 with the keeper, goal mouth scrambles and shots flying just wide of the post. But unfortunately, it was not to be on this occasion.

The boys should be proud of their second half performance, but need to learn that they need to work hard and play good hockey for the whole of the match. The boys have played two, won one and lost one in this league. Ipswich East Suffolk are next on 9 November!

Player of the match was Ben Nkrumah.

Performances of note: George Bowman’s tacking back showed great determination and willingness to be a team player, Raunaq worked tirelessly in central defence, McCartney’s leadership as captain was impressive and Ben N’s saves in the second half kept the boys in the game.

Thanks to Ray for his help, even though James was not playing. Thanks to Laura Tompson Wright for umpiring.

Women’s East Hockey League East Prem
Norwich Dragons 1s 0:3 Bromley & Beckenham

Norwich Dragons suffered their first defeat of the season when they played hosts to Bromley and Beckenham. The visitors, who missed out on promotion last year, were always going to be the Dragons toughest test so far in this league.

The first half saw both teams having an equal share of possession without creating any clear cut chances until the visitors were awarded a short corner mid way through the half which they dispatched cleverly giving them the lead. Just before the half time whistle the Dragons had the chance to draw level. A determined Kate Trelawny Gower made an interception on the attacking 25 yard line and drove the ball past the Bromley defence. The keeper was quick off her line and Trelawny Gower skillfully dribbled the ball beyond her reach and struck the ball towards the open goal only to see it drift wide of the post.

The Dragons remained upbeat and positive in the second half believing that they could get something from this game. It was end to end hockey but the home side were frustrated as they were not able to play their free flowing hockey due to the visitors work rate and physical strength however they did create some chances to score but unfortunately could not capitalise. Bromley put further pressure on the home side as they doubled their lead; a short corner resulted with defender Donna Vaughan blocking the ball on the goal line with her body. A penalty stroke was  awarded which Bromley converted. Bromley grew in confidence with this 2-0  cushion and although the home side kept fighting it did not seem like it was going to be their day.  As they pushed forwards searching for a goal Bromley broke and although some determined defending on the top of the D by Lizzie Moulton the ball fell to Charlotte Ridout who clipped the ball brilliantly at the top of the D and dispatched the ball like a bullet high into the roof of the net leaving the keeper no chance. This wasn’t the Dragons best performance but some credit has to go to Bromley who halted their play.  They put the Dragons defence under immense pressure at times and player of the match was rightly awarded to Maddie Denman who had an outstanding performance at left defender demonstrating maturity, strength and composure for someone so young against a side who were strong, physical  and well seasoned at playing this level of hockey.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 8:1 Norwich City 2

With the rain clouds threatening up at Taverham, Dragons were keen to continue where they left off last week, this time with a full complement of players!

Despite having the lions share of the early possession, the score remained nil – nil for some 15 minutes. It was important for Dragons to keep their shape and remain patient, which they did well, being strongly marshalled by Hollie Limmer and Gail Thomas in the middle of the pitch, who helped stretch and spread the play for Dragons.  The first goal was somewhat fortuitous, after the ball appeared to hit a number of sets of feet in the D, a scramble then ensued and the ball was forced over by Hannah Hardy.  The second and third followed quickly, following some excellent individual skills by Dragons Player of the Match, Laura Shreeve – the second of which was a brilliant run along the back line, beating a number of players before firing the ball into the roof of the net from an acute angle; the third was created by Shreeve and finished off well by Laura Tompson-Wright. Dragons went into the break 3 up.

The half time talk focused on maintaining our shape and continuing to show the strong teamwork and work ethic that had proved successful in the first 35 mins. Dragons continued to apply the pressure from the whistle and the goals quickly followed; Laura Tompson-Wright scored early on, then completed her hat-trick with a smartly taken reverse stick strike. Shreeve and Hardy each added another, whilst Aoife Lowe-Davies also got a well deserved goal, following her tireless running for the team.

Full credit to City, who continued to work hard and push forward when the opportunities arose. A spell of pressure in the last 5 minutes, saw City force a good save from Freddie Briscoe. Further pressure saw the home team earn a couple of short corners, the second of which was slipped left, the strike hitting a Dragons defender on the line. The penalty flick was awarded and was well dispatched into the corner by Hannah Jarvis, despite Briscoe getting her right foot to the ball.

Another good performance by Dragons 2s, who are developing nicely as a team.

U16 boys began their EH Cup campaign (league system for initial rounds) with a double header against Dereham & Spalding. The boys ran out 8-2 winners over Dereham, hatrick from Henry Laming, two from Jonty Gosling & one apiece for Ben Watson, Robert Chaney Baxter and Tom Williams.

Playing back to back against Spalding was a tougher match, and they took a 1-0 lead, equalised at an overtime corner at the end of the first half from Ben Watson.  The second half saw Dragons really pushing for the win, but the goal just wouldn’t come & ye boys were indebted to a smart late save from Declan Cobb to preserve the draw.

U18 Girls travelled to Long Sutton for the first round match which is a straight knockout, so knew they would need to hit the ground running.  An extremely sandy pitch slowed the girls down and it took some time for them to find their stride, however when it came, the travelling fans were rewarded with some lovely flowing hockey.  By half-time the girls were 5-0 up and cruising.

To the credit of the Long Sutton they started the second half well and were rewarded with two second half girls, both from short corner deflections off Dragons players.  Dragons managed just two more themselves, giving a final score of 7-2 and progress into the next round.

Scorers were Olivia Thomas x2, Sophie Farrow x2, Laura Goodbun, Aoife Lowe-Davies and Ruth Willmott.  Joint players of the match were Olivia Thomas and Aoife Lowe-Davies.

Some photos here.

The girls have been drawn away to Spalding in Round 2 on 5th October.

Team:

Edward Murphy (captain)

Pedro Goss

Jono Chaney Baxter

Robo Chaney Baxter

Charlie Nunn

Mark Savill

Ben Nkrumah (GK)

Manager: Natalie Beal with assistance from Pat Goss

17^th June saw the annual 7 a side Development League tournament held at Taverham, run by Broadland HC. There were three matches.

The boys turned up and were a tad worried about the tournament for three reasons…

1: They only had seven players (2 late drop outs)

2: They saw the Norwich City teams and concluded that they would get thrashed (see below…)

3: They saw that Norwich City had adults playing for them (although this was because they did not have enough boys and actually, the adult they did face, played just right in the end)

But, they had nothing to fear…

Dragons versus Norwich City 1 3:1 win

In this game, they played against a team with an adult. To his credit, the adult played in an appropriate way and did not dominate. A tentative start saw the boys go one nil down, with the city attacker finding himself with Ben to beat; he finished with an expert lob leaving Ben in goal no chance. This seemed to spark the boys on and they continued their passing game, often finding themselves in the D and testing the City keeper repeatedly. The three goals were scored by: Pedro Goss (2) and Charlie Nunn.

A great performance, showing real character to come back from 1-0 down against the team the boys thought they would be thrashed by.

Dragons versus Norwich City 2 1:1 draw

A slight error saw the game start without an umpire! We wondered why the three reasons for Dragons getting a short corner in the first minute were ignored! The game was restarted and Dragons piled on the pressure throughout, keeping the ball and creating many goal scoring chances. The goal was well worked with unselfish play from Charlie and Pedro – a pass across the face of the goal saw Robo CB arriving at the far post to finish in style. But City did not give up and although they only had a few chances, were able to score. Dragons had opportunities to win; three shots just eluded the player on the far post and ended up going wide. A game which Dragons dominated and other than getting the ball in the net, could not have done anymore! Special mention to Mark who played on, hobbling, following being hit by a hockey ball.

Dragons versus Dereham 3:1 win

Dragons knew that a win would seal a tournament victory; a draw would rely on goal difference maybe; a loss would mean finishing lower down in the results.

The boys started brilliantly with a goal coming very early on. But, to add some drama to the game, the boys thought they would concede a goal! A great smother by Ben in goal saved the initial shot, but despite Mark’s valiant dive to keep the ball out, the follow up shot rolled over the line. But Dragons then showed real determination and team work to score two more goals to win the game convincingly and also to win the tournament convincingly.

The goals were all scored by Pedro who was the top goal scorer in the tournament with 5 goals and received a trophy and a bag of Skittles.

Final tournament place: First

The boys played ever so well. The ball was moved quickly on, the boys made great movement off the ball, they made great effort to get back and support their team mates if the ball was lost, they showed great composure and passed the way they were facing. The boys played some good hockey.

Nat’s player of the tournament goes to Edward Murphy who worked hard in his attacking defender role, just in front of the back two, making some great tackles and interceptions. His drives at goal led to many chances and many of the team’s goals. He showed great composure, making the right pass on many occasions.

Well done!

U10 Boys finished 7th out of 11th in Regional Finals. The boys all played very well against some very strong opposition.

Bluehearts 1-0 (L)
Cambs City 1-1
Felixstowe 1-1
Old Loughtonians 2-1 (L)
Broxbourne 2-1 (W)

With the A team playing in the Regionals at Harleston, this was a chance for the wider squad of Under 10 Boys players to show their ability, and they certainly did that by coming second out of five at Dereham.  The boys won 3-0 v Pelicans, 2-0 loss to City A, 1-0 win against City B and 2-1 win over Watton.  Brilliant stuff by the boys!

A group of Norwich Dragons Hockey Club under 16 girls have formed the core of the Norfolk u16 County (JAC) Team this season, today’s fixtures played at Framlingham College confirmed Norfolk’s second place in the event.

Playing today, and in the photo above showing off their medals with their team-mates, were Niamh Lowe-Davies, Pollyanna Watson, Sophie Farrow, Maddie Denman, Sophie Thomas and Olivia Thomas.  Ruth Willmott was unable to make this match, but played her part in the previous fixture.

Well done girls!!

A few more photos here…..

Norwich Dragons Hockey Club sent a mixed under 15 team to Norfolk’s first mixed friendly tournament against Dereham and Watton at Dereham. They played 4 x 20 minute games and won 3 of them and drew the other, giving them the overall victory.

Coach Amelia Dawson said “Excellent performance from a mixed Development side in tournament this morning. Won the tournament overall and played some excellent linking hockey that showed real maturity and class.”

Well done everyone!

Ladies 3s

Norwich Dragons 3s 1:0 Norwich City 3s

This season’s final game was won
By Dragons’ thirds at Taverham
Dawson’s squad came out to prove
That with the ball they all could move:
Such style and flair, they each did run
On a taxing pitch in springtime sun.
Tenacious spirit and determined play
From end to end on this derby day.
Play switched nicely around the back
With chances galore when City were slack.
A flick was won from a foot on the line;
Laura Tompson-Wright stepped up this time.
It wasn’t to be – she hit the post,
And then for a while we seemed to coast.

Then back on form with running at speed
Laura G and Marcy taking heed
Of Amelia’s rousing half time speech,
They frustrated City with their awesome reach.
Tash Falzon was our POM today
With tackles calmly on display.
Fluid technique and triangular passing
Tenacious energy, goals for the asking.
At last our chance with two to go:
Goodbun Racing – she’s not slow;
Passed to Wolfe at the top of the D
Around the defender, Farrow’s free;
Slipped to Sophie, and with her skill
She scored the goal – we won ONE-NIL!

Some photos from the game here.

Girls Development

Norwich Dragons 0:5 Magpies

Captain: Lara Taylor

Player of the match: Lara was player of match because she ran up and down the pitch quite a lot, and had a couple of close shots.

4 Memorable moments:

1.  Allesdandra made some really impressive saves. Rosie ran really well and was effective at passing the ball up the pitch for others to get it. Mia’s defending was really good because she managed to get the ball out of the D a number of times. Issy was great at running up and down the pitch, swapping constantly from defence to attack. Anya was strong in the short corners and had some really hard shots. Rachel was brilliant at short corners and hitting it out very firmly.
2.  We had a close shot on goal, but it hit the post. Carmel was really great at running out and getting the shots from short corners. Also, Sophie and Megan were good at getting the ball into the D. Lucy was great at getting the ball and taking it up the pitch, but in future we should have a few more people supporting her in the D. Lastly, Catherine was strong at getting the ball off defenders and bringing it up the pitch.
3.  Everyone tried really hard and gave it their best, but Harleston were really good. Next time I think we should focus on tighter marking and getting to the ball more quickly, In addition, I think we should try and get a few more shots off on goal and keep defending as we did.
4. Tabba and Abi were very useful because they gave clear and positive advice and were always there to support us in getting the ball. Thank you Tabba and Abi

For all except the Ladies 3s and Girls Development, these are the final match reports of the season, they both have a final fixture next week.

Many thanks to Match Report writers for their submissions throughout season. The Writer’s Young Writer Award goes to the International Hockey Celebrity Thomas Rutledge.  President Mike Hardy said “he’s really not as old, or unfit, as he looks, we are honoured to have such an internationally renowned hockey talent at the Club, we fought off many National League Clubs to sign him, I consider the fees to have been worth every penny because we have him as he is developing into his prime – his grasp of the English language is also quite remarkable”.

On the pitch, the highlight of the season has to be back-to-back promotions for the Ladies 1s who progress into East Premier, now just one Division away from National League hockey.  It is exactly 10 years since the team were last at East Premier level and it is the plan to make that the minimum level they play for many years to come.

The Men’s 1s concluded the season in a very credible 3rd in Division 2N, finishing with a change in formation and a fine win over the Champions of their Division, Spalding (see match report below).

Several other teams finished in their highest positions in history, as well as the first season ever for the Men’s 5s and Ladies 6s.

HOWEVER – for the match of the decade, comeback of all comebacks, ‘we will fight them on the beaches’ half time teamtalk, the best way to get to a hockey match – check out this week’s match report for the Men’s 4s.

Mens East League Division 2N

Norwich Dragons 1s 4-3 Spalding 1s

Dragons finished the season in fine style with a sparkling 4-3 victory over league champions Spalding in the sun at the Den on Saturday.  It was a fitting way to mark a celebratory occasion – the match was preceded by the unveiling of a plaque renaming the home bench “The Snelling” in honour of the legendary forward’s contributions to the club.

Still without Flatman and shorn of the experience and athleticism of Wagstaff and Gosling, Smith was forced to offer a recall to Overstall and opted for a tactical reshuffle, Turnbull starting in the hole behind Knights and Browne in a midfield diamond.  And the reshuffle paid dividends, Dragons starting brightly with Spalding struggling to track the home side’s midfield runners.  Turnbull it was who gave Dragons the lead, Browne turning a delightful ball round the corner for the trequartista, in perhaps his last game for the club, to crash past the advancing keeper.  Spalding replied almost at once, working an overlap down the Dragons right and scrambling the cross home at the far post.  They carried a constant threat on the break, forcing Collinge into two fine saves and skipper Smith into one of the season’s more agricultural challenges.  And had Rutledge’s lasso not been working the damage might have been worse – the umpire forced into taking action and noting that if the great hook came out too many more times he might just have to take the extreme move of asking that it not happen too many times more.

Dragons took the lead again, though, in what could only really be described as a modern-day miracle, a Boys’ Own story for the ages:  Sloman hammered a wild shot miles wide only for Charlish to pop up and steer the shot home with what the uncharitable might describe as a miscontrolled trap.  The clouds parted to reveal choirs of angels singing Hallelujahs; only coach Wagstaff was unmoved:  “as the tallest member of his family, it was time he stepped up.”  Again Spalding responded, a mazy run eluding three weak challenges before a brilliantly disguised finish left Collinge stranded.  If Spalding had sensed it might not be their day when Charlish at last got on the score-sheet, they must have known the game was up when he doubled his season’s tally inside the opening 35 minutes.  Another inviting ball around the corner from Browne played Sloman in who, instead of finishing properly, chose the harder option of knocking two one-twos off the keeper before pulling the ball back to Charlish to hammer home first time.  After the game, man-of-the-match Charlish explained his belated discovery of a goal-scoring touch:  “I seem to find it easier when there’s not a keeper in the way.”

Dragons might have been further ahead at the break, Wilkins reverting to his Kylie routine when slipped in down the left and Knights denied by a great save from the keeper with Browne alongside him unmarked.  Instead it was Spalding who equalised for a third time at the start of the second half.  And again Dragons went ahead, an inviting ball over the top from Turnbull pounced on by Knights, once more ignoring Browne inside him unmarked but this time slipping the ball under the advancing keeper.  Spalding had chances to equalise, Collinge defusing a glorious one-vs-one chance and a fierce short-corner strike and relieved to see a very late opportunity glanced wide.  At the other end Knights was denied following a fine turn and drive at goal, Turnbull should have done better at the far post, and Overstall would have laid on a third had he been able to pick up Smyth’s inviting cross; improbably, after the game he claimed his legs had been feeling a little heavier than they look.

It was a terrific win against a strong and skilful Spalding side – a marker for next season and a reminder of the standards that need to be reached more often.

After the game Smith was effusive in praise of his players.  Of Overstall, winner of two awards (including the hotly contested annual ‘Skinniest Legs’ title), he said “he’s been a project this year; we’ve given him a lot of care and a community in which to thrive.  If he can just get his personal life sorted he’ll have a law unto himself next season.”  On Flatman, winner of the Most Improved award, he observed “the way he contributed in the last two games of the season compared with the first two shows just how far he’s come this year.  Next year he might even learn how to dribble.”  Of Rich Smith, he said “he’s been a rock at the back for us this year – almost literally.  It’s a pity he doesn’t drink because I made the sloe gin for him especially.”  The final words had to be reserved for Overstall, though:  “he’s played his socks off this season.  You can’t ask for more than that.”

—————————————————————————————————————–
Mens East League Division 3NE

Norwich Dragons 2s 1-2 North Walsham 1s

Dragons 2xi pulled a brave face for their final outing of the Hockey season against promotion candidates North Walsham 1xi. After a commendable tail end to the season which saw inspired performances against Table Toppers Dereham by scoring first and then holding off their strong attack for 60 minutes before going behind, a nail biting game against IES 2xi which was battled to the death of the game with a last gasp goal from the IES captain and a compelling 4 -4 draw against Norwich City 3xi’s proving the Dragons team to be no push over and really show team spirit to pick ourselves up from what has been quite an off season and display true colours.

What a match to finish with, North Walsham needing a win to secure their potential promotion where as the Dragons playing for pride and vengeance for the earlier defeat in the season. As seen in the recent weeks Dragons started strong, with a positive mentality and organised structure frustrating Walsham in the early exchanges. Ollie King and Jason Wolfe giving the opposition much to think about with lots of movement and link up play. Walsham haphazardly felt their way in to the game, growing with frustration by Dragons dynamic play tempers were fusing on the pitch leading to cautions being shown by the umpires. Dragons started pressing further up the pitch as their confidence grew. However the deadlock was finally broken by Walsham, who sprung a counter attack by ex-dragon Ben Miles with quick direct play was able to score an individual goal a make the dragons take the game to the next level. Dragons hit back hard with a quick response, delightful build up play from Greame Smith and Simon Long allowed the Dragons to get into the Walsham D. Paul Bullard connected with a first time sweep on the leftside backline through the keeper and into the top corner. Bullard was feverish not sure how to celebrate his first goal for Dragons.

Dragons were able to bring the half to the end at 1-1, Captain Cley Hamilton was emphatic by the way the team had been playing and pushed for the team to maintain their positive display in the half time team talk.

The Dragons continued the second half as they did the first, pressing hard and containing Walshams attack. Wide men Simon Nisbet, Barney Price and Chris Simmonds kept Walsham hot on their toes with great connecting play leading to a series of short corners. Again Walshams frustration was evident and they started pushing men up the pitch to apply pressure on the Dragon defence. Sam Mann was in fine form, plucking out Walshams constant aerial attack and right wing play. Getting into the last 10 minutes of the game, Walsham only had a few roles of the dice left and against the run of play were able to bundle the ball over the line. Dragons kept the push on for the equaliser but with the match drawing to a close were not able to find the net. Match ending 1-2 to Walsham. Dragons man of the Match Sam Mann.

Thank you to all that took part of the Mens 2xi Hockey this year…and I hope you all are looking forward to dusting off your sticks for next year.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE

Norwich Dragons 3s 5-3 Dereham 3s

—————————————————————————————————————–
Mens East League Division 5NE

Norwich Dragons 4s 8-6 North Walsham 2s

For the last game of the season, Norwich Dragons Men’s 4s let the train take the strain and took the old-fashioned method of transport to a hockey match by jumping on the train at Norwich Station for their trip to Cromer to face North Walsham Men’s 2s.

Dragons started the game knowing that they were safe from relegation, whilst North Walsham were desperate for a win to give them any chance of staying up. It showed. Dragons seemed to have left their hockey skills on the train whilst North Walsham wanted it more and were up 5-0 within 20 minutes. By half time they were 6-1 up though a glimmer of hope was given to Dragons by a well-taken goal from Ollie Browne.

At half-time Captain Jon Price delivered the sort of team talk that Churchill would have been proud of.  Field Marshall Moulson suggested a slight re-jigging of the formation and we were off again. Within 5 minutes of the re-start our one goal became two and two became three with the poacher Andy Cross slotting home twice in quick succession. Walsham were starting to get nervous.

With continued drive from the midfield through Garnett Jones, Richard Moulson and Rob Jenkins, Dragons started to believe that they could claw the game back. So when Andy Saunders and Ollie Browne scored in quick succession we were at 6 – 5. Safe to say that Walsham were very jittery at this point. They had every right to be after yet another flowing move that Andy Saunders score his second to draw the game level.

North Walsham now seemed a spent force as they faced wave after wave of Dragon’s attacks. Garnett Jones contrived to hit the post and Richard Moulson had a flick saved on the line. Finally with only 5 minutes to go Andy Cross completed an improbable hat-trick from his customary 6 inches out from goal. At 6 -7 Dragons twisted the knife once more with an inch-perfect if slightly pedestrian pass from Player of the Match Chris Wilkinson finding Andy Saunders in the D. He slammed it home to complete a slightly more probable hat-trick and the miraculous comeback was complete.

As we left the field feeling slightly giddy from our win we acknowledged the efforts of our captain this year, Jon Price. The role of captain is often thankless but today (for once) we thanked him and hope that he looks back on a tough but ultimately rewarding season with pride.

Experienced campaigner Mike Banham, who has played more games of hockey than most people have had hot dinners, said he had never played in a game like it.

It was truly the Comeback of all Comebacks (from losing 6-1 at halftime to winning 8-6)
—————————————————————————————————————–
Men’s East League Division 7NE

Norwich Dragons 5s: No Fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–
Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N

Norwich Dragons 1s 3-3 Dereham 1s

With back-to-back promotions secured for Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s, the last game of the season brought an exciting local derby to the Dragons’ Den on Hall Road Norwich.

The visitors hit hard from the start but Dragons remained composed and absorbed the pressure well. The home team took the lead from a short corner. Emily ROLLS demonstrated good composure on the ball, passing the ball to Hannah PALMER who secured Dragons their first goal. Dereham were quick to attack again and Freddie BRISCOE made a great save to keep the visitors briefly in front. However, Dereham were quick to reply and were soon 2-1 ahead.

Dragons dug deep and played some simple and effective hockey. Switching it around they found space on the right and Sarah BORRETT and Olivia THOMAS linked up well.  Some great work from PALMER on the goal line resulted in an inch perfect ball for 15 year old Olivia THOMAS (photo) to pick up on the move and calmly slot into the goal out of the keeper’s reach to equalise and give THOMAS her first goal for the Ladies 1s. Dereham continued to show promise in attack with some quality stick skills and linking play allowing them to put away their third goal.

Dragons fought back and started to regain momentum with Marie JAMES and Rachel KING dominating the midfield and causing trouble for the visitor’s defence. Another short corner resulted in a beautiful reverse stick cross from Lizzie MOULTON which was put neatly away by Helen KELLY. Dragons continued to push and missed a couple more chances.

Throughout the game both sides played some quality hockey and provided a good game for their spectators.

Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s move into East Premier next season on the back of two highly successful seasons and look forward to bringing more high quality hockey to the Dragons’ Den.  The squad has included a great mix of youth and experience throughout the season, with several teenagers playing a key role alongside players that have played National League hockey and represented their countries.

With the quality of coaching on offer, the opportunity for players to train alongside outstanding players and the facility development plans for the hockey centre on Hall Road, the future is very bright for this city centre hockey club.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE

Norwich Dragons 2s 2-0 Framlingham 1s

Final game of the season saw Dragons take a strong squad to Framlingham on a bright warm spring morning. Dragons started the game brightly with Niamh Lowe-Davies looking lively on the right of midfield. The early stages saw Dragons force a number of short corners, however Framlingham defended them well.

Framlingham always looked lively on the attack, counter attacking at pace. Ally Windsor-Waite was having a good tussle at right defender and was ably supported by Angela Murgatroyd in the middle and Ruth Willmott on the left who has looked sharper and sharper as the season has progressed.

Despite dominating possession and playing some patient passing hockey, the goals didn’t come before the break.

The second half saw a similar pattern start to emerge, with Dragons building play well through Alice Guest, Debs Smith and Gail Thomas. Aoife Lowe-Davies was becoming more influential in the game too, holding the ball up well and passing in her usual calm manner. Strong runs also came from the lively Sarah Radley and Emma Tabrett, Tabrett making one excellent run on the back line, which she was unfortunate to be penalised for.

It was from this spell that the first goal of the game came, having had a discussion with the umpire, Hannah Hardy was more determined than ever to intercept a defensive hit-out, having picked up the ball, she unleashed a shot from the top of the D which nestled neatly into the corner. From there on it was all Dragons, with strong quick attacks, a second goal was always likely.

Finally this came from another short corner, which Gail Thomas slipped far left, finding Dragons Player of the Match Hannah Hardy in space, her firm push finding a gap between keeper and defender on the line, to force its way in. A deserved second goal for the team, taking the 3pts and ensuring Dragons finished in their highest ever position of 3rd in the league.

Many thanks go to our travelling band of supporters for their support and encouragement this season, and for the many miles they have travelled with us. Also to sideline manager Mike Hardy who has organised and encouraged the team week in week out.

However, final word goes to this fine team for their achievements this season in taking the team to their highest ever position in this League; this team continues to grow and build and that is due to the hard work and commitment shown by everyone. The future is extremely bright for this team and for the Club.

———————————————————————————————————
Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier League

Norwich Dragons 3s 1-0 Evergreens 1s

Dragons were set to end a disappointing run of losses from previous weeks and after a tough yet close match last week Dragons were determined to bounce back, knowing full well that they needed to put 100% effort in to end victorious. The early drive to Holt had team spirits high!

From the off Dragons started strong with solid passes across the pitch, Evergreens were soon put under pressure. The defence worked as a strong unit from the back with Sarah Wagstaff confidently manoeuvring the ball across the pitch with Natasha Falzon making precise passes to Marcy Windsor-Waite. Who, to the surprise of the opposition, was comfortably using her stick skills to pass numerous players attacking the left side of the pitch. Great triangle passing with Hazel Summer put Dragons in the attacking D early on in the game. The chances were coming but Dragons needed that final touch to clench a goal.

Evergreens were putting pressure on the midfield with some quick precise passes. Player of the match Laura Tompson-Wright and Harriet Green fought hard to break down the play. Green particularly efficient at transferring the ball, soon took possession back. Evergreens were particularly good at long range passing down the wings of the pitch, making a fast paced turnover. Keeper Laura Tuck put some fine saves in to keep Dragons in the game, it was only a matter of time till either team was to score. But with captain Amelia Dawson’s pre-match talk in everyone’s mind Dragons were pushing hard to secure a goal.

With the ‘leisurely’ stick skills of Tompson-Wright, a drive for the D soon found Evergreens under a lot of pressure. Dragons were building up the passes and fighting for the all-important goal. Attacking the D, Caroline Wolfe was successfully awarded a penalty corner after some cynical challenges. A clinical straight shot from Wolfe on goal put Dragons up at half time.

After positive comments at half time Dragons were more determined than ever. Evergreens had chances to get the goal back but with strong tackles from Abi Cowe, they were finding it hard to break through. Dragons found themselves close to giving the points away as attackers were left wandering the 25 awaiting the long range ball but the defence pushed hard to see the ball out of the danger zone.

Tensions were rising as both teams knew the final whistle was soon approaching. The cliché of ‘play to the whistle’ was key throughout the game and Dragons kept composure. There were chances to seal the win but it only took one goal for Dragons to take home the three points.

A close game in the end but a great team performance from every player. Proud Dawson could not have expected more. Next week see’s Dragons last match of the season with local rivals City. Hopes are high to finish the season on a win.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 1

Norwich Dragons 4s  – NO FIXTURE

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2

Norwich Dragons 5s 0-1 UEA 3s

A hard fought battle against UEA meant Ladies Dragons 5s lose 1-0 in  their final game of the season in a match which was so evenly matched it felt like it should be a draw.

The pressure was on from this speedy UEA team who had lots of subs and lots of energy. A final match of the season for the Ladies 5s and final game for some players who are moving to pastures new.

The defence of Sarah Nortcliff, Jess Tye Leach and Emma Buxton were immediately put under extreme pressure. Some excellent and speedy block tackles by Emma Buxton prevented some of the danger but UEA were awesome on the break leaving Jess Tye Leach to maturely handle this one on  one situation. Sarah Notcliff used her normal fearless approach to the last tackle quite often saving the 5s from the grips of letting a goal in.  Alice Smith made some good saves and one pretty good lifted ball wasn’t too much for her.  It was a real shame that UEA manage to convert their only goal from a deflection but they took their chances well.

The mid field were tired by UEAs tireless battles but under pressure man of the match Rosie Korn showed her normal dexterity and persistence often closing down and taking good chances. Katie Buxton who is a reliable player without whom Dragons 5s would be left lacking in both attack and defence played her normal blinder. Connecting well Charlotte Stace and Rachael Matthews showed again how much their game has moved on this season. Effectively driving the ball up the wing again and again.

At half time Dragons 5s were determined that they would come back from this 1-0 position and shouts from Katie Buxton encouraged the team.

If the first half was the game of defence for Dragons the second half was the game of attack. Dragons were pushing up again and again returning the ball to their attacking D. Anja Finegan in her best game was making some beautiful runs handling the ball well and passing any UEA player in sight. As ever Lisa Harwood was looking very handy in the D and it was a shame her spinning pirouette goal didn’t come off. Battling again and again, UEAs defence and keeper were tirelessly deflecting and defending these Dragons away. Lizzy McDonnell shot in a lovely number but unfortunately there was no one of the post to deflect she also fell over but alas there was no goal on the end of it. Winning a number of short corners Sarah Nortcliff pushed up to take the strike however she was unlucky for them not to come off.

Overall despite our loss it is with great pride I write this final match report. Ladies 5s have won , lost and drawn this season but always done it with a smile on their face (apart from the match we do not mention). They have achieved 32 points, zero goal difference 4^th position (2 places higher than last year)  in a tough new league created from the upper half of last years league.  Each and every player has been dedicated to the 5s and as a result developed their game and their confidence. #Proud to be a Dragon.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3

Norwich Dragons 6s 1-0 Watton 3s

It was a very close call, but the Dragons ended their season on a real high by scoring their second win in succession and keeping a second clean sheet as well. The Dragons might like to think it is down to Claire’s lucky purple boots and Bridget’s magic tape, but in fact at the very end of the season they have at last achieved what they needed – most of the team have trained together for a few sessions and made themselves available for the matches. At last, they are not a squad – they are a team.

One of the changes was goalkeeper Alice Smith, but she knows 6s well and looked very secure behind our much-praised defence. This time it was Lottie Korn and Katie Franks  playing wide, and Jo Eke and Jasmin Daniels giving the solid centre core, seamlessly working out who was going to advance and who would sweep. This time the player of the match award went to Katie, who let nothing and no-one past.

With the defenders playing so confidently and initiating the attacks from the back, the mids controlled the game for large periods. Laura Hansell and Helen Marsh have a good turn of foot, but they may just be eclipsed for speed by Izzy Ferguson and Charlotte Pounder, who time and again got through the Watton defence.  Laura, Helen and Claire Fairhurst are battle-hardened Dragons now and they know that this team never does anything the easy way, and a string of penalty corners (with Laura displaying her new skills as an injector) didn’t bring their reward.  But the players’ heads did not drop.

If there could be one criticism of our performance, it could be that we delayed the final pass. Time and again we failed to find Claire, Helen and Amy Hunter who were free in the circle. But come to think of it, only a month ago, there would never have been that many Dragons in the attacking circle. The goal, half way through the second half, was even better than last week. Bridget sent the ball through a crowd of players to Laura, who had plenty to do to steer the ball into the top of the net. A fab shot.

After that, Watton redoubled their efforts and the defenders had to deal with a string of penalty corners, with Charlotte in particular outstanding in her efforts to get back to help. But it was the day of the Dragons. Yeee har!

————————————————————————————————————–
Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League

Norwich Dragons 0-3 Norwich City

The whole team played extremely well on Saturday up at Taverham. Our defence was very strong with some very good tackles and passes from Carmel. However when the ball did get through past Carmel, Molly our goalie made some lovely repetitive saves keeping City at bay. Our attackers were also extremely strong all making good accurate passes to drive the ball forwards. Lara played extremely well in the mid-field and upfront making some accurate passes and always being in space when we needed her. It was a very hard game and although it did not end in success with a 3-0 score to City the team played the right way, fought very well and everyone stayed enthusiastic and continued to play very well until the end of the game even through the wind, rain and hail. A very well done to Lara for getting player of the match and a very well done to the whole team for playing so well and not giving up.
————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League

Norwich Dragons 1-5 Pelicans

Captain: Andy Carver

Coach: George Walker

We got off to an excellent start having an opportunity within the first 5 minutes but our attacks were soon stopped by their adult and captain. Pelicans consistently broke on the counter and managed to squeeze 2 goals leaving it at 2-0 at half time. With a half time team talk directed by George Walker (Mens 3’s captain) we came back strong with attack after attack but we could never get past their adult. Pelican’s strong attack broke through us another 3 times leaving the score at 5-0. This would have been 6 if Ben Nkumrah hadn’t made a superb re-enactment of superman’s flying technique to make an astounding save.  Then through Luke Byrne’s brilliant bit of skill he managed to but a great ball into the D for George Bowman to get his debut goal for the development.

POM: Ben Nkumrah

Congratulations to the Under 12 Boys and Under 10 Boys who will represent the Club at Harleston in the Regional Finals in April.

Under 12 Boys (pictured above) won the County Champs on Sunday at Kings Lynn with wins over Pelicans (3-0, Dani Martinez-Long hatrick), Norwich City (1-0, Jono Chaney-Baxter) and a 0-0 draw with Magpies.  The Boys play in the Regional Finals on Saturday 26th April

Under 10 Boys finished runners up in the County Tournament today. Beat Pelicans 6-0, Magpies 1-0, drew with City 1-1 & lost narrowly to the winners Dereham.  Their Regional Finals are on Sunday 27th April.

Norfolk Women’s Premier League
Norwich Dragons 3s 1-1 City 3s

Facing their closest opposition, with only one point separating the two, Dragons went into their match expecting a close game. The final score of 1-1 was fought hard for by both sides with attempts on both goals right until the last whistle.

Maintaining great passing and pace, Dragons kept good possession in the first half. The forwards worked hard making runs and playing the ball around the D, persistence paid off and Lynne Price scored from a well worked short corner for the Dragons.

The second half saw both sides step up the pace with some notable runs from the young Norwich City team, each time chasing the long balls all the way to the base line. Eventually the well drilled Norwich City team managed to even the score line, scoring from a clinical short corner, deflected in by the injector through the left post.

Undetered the Dragons pushed hard and beautiful linking play from the midfielders led to several more short corners but Dragons couldn’t convert and for the remainder of the half were sadly unable to find another goal. Both teams were very well matched, which is fairly reflected in the final score of 1-1.

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 2:1 Dereham

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:1 Pelicans

Norwich Dragons Under 16 Boys progressed to the East Regional Championships after winning the Norfolk title ahead of Harleston Magpies and Norwich City.

Harleston Magpies opened the tournament against Norwich City, and after a tight first half, ran out 10-4 winners following a strong second half display.

Dragons opened against Harleston, and, having seen their opposition in action, knew they faced a tough challenge.

The first half saw Dragons start well, with an early goal courtesy of Ben Watson, but Magpies hit straight back. The half continued to see-saw, with Dragons leading 4-3 at the break, thanks to goals from Watson, Rohan Kaushal and a Henry Laming penalty corner.

Harleston started the second half strongly, taking the game to Dragons and levelling the scores, before taking the lead. Dragons hit back courtesy of of Ben Watson to leave the scores at 5-5.

Dragons then had their best spell of the game, with Henry Laming adding two further corners to his first half efforts, and Watson adding his fourth goal. There was still time for Harleston to make it a cagey last couple of minutes for Dragons as they pulled the score back to 8-7 with two quick fire goals.

Dragons pushed back and won another penalty corner, expertly converted by Laming to seal the result with his fourth of the match.

Full Time:  Norwich Dragons 9-7 Harleston Magpies

There was little rest for the Dragons squad who then had to face Norwich City in their second game of the day.

With the Dragons squad consisting of just the minimum 5 players, the Boys needed to pace themselves, which handed the early iniative to City, who quickly took the lead.

Dragons hit back courtesy of a Henry Laming penalty corner; however, it was City who continued to set the pace, with Dragons hitting back, before a couple of Dragons corners before half-time put them ahead for the first time for the match at 5-4.

The second half started with City pegging Dragons straight back at 5-5, and pushing hard to take the lead. Dragons’ goalkeeper, Elliot Wang, produced a number of fine saves to ensure that the scores remained level.

Dragons remained patient and played their way back into the match, with the hard work of Rohan Kaushal upfront hassling the City defence not allowing them to find a rythmn. From this hard work Rohan was able to put Dragons ahead again, and from here Dragons pushed on, winning a succession of corners ably converted by Laming, followed by a final goal from a corner returned to the injector Jonty Gosling for a simple finish.

Full Time: Norwich Dragons 9-5 Norwich City

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 1-4 Cambridge Nomads 

Dragons slumped to a 4-1 defeat away at Cambridge Nomads on Saturday.  Already without skipper Ed Smith and the in-form Dave Sloman, Dragons were left to rue Wagstaff’s late decision to deny Masterton his league debut when stalwart centreback Rich Smith went down injured early in the first half forcing the side into a defensive reshuffle, stand-in centreback Rutledge swapping wand for battle-axe to make even Overstall look solid in comparison.

Dragons’ first half was probably their worst 35 minutes of the season.  They struggled to match Nomads’ intensity, gave the ball away cheaply and were loose defensively.  They were lucky to go into the break only a goal down, Nomads finally capitalising on sustained pressure and a series of short corners to hammer one home where Wagstaff had abandoned his post, a rare blot on another good 70 minutes from the veteran.  No doubt the side was rattled by the loss of the composed Smith whose bloodcurdling cry suggested there must have been more to his injury than met the eye.

Dragons were much better after the break, Turnbull stitching things together in the midfield, Overstall prominent as they controlled the ball around the back, and Wagstaff showing unsuspected resources of pace up and down the right wing.  Dragons should have equalised but instead were caught by a sucker-punch, Nomads claiming a controversial goal after a ball lifted into the circle was deemed to have tickled Collinge’s pad on its way into the back of the goal.  It was scant reward for Dragons’ effort and worse was to come with Smyth shown a yellow card for what must have been a mistimed tackle in the build-up to the goal.  A third quickly followed as Dragons were caught on the break after Rutledge turned the ball over, Overstall prefering to deflect a shot high into the roof of the net rather than to take the easier option of clearing the ball off the line.  A well-worked short corner made it four, a score-line flattering to the hosts on the run of play in the second half but perhaps a fairer reflection of their dominance in the first.  Dragons, though, continued to press themselves and nicked a goal back (scant consolation) when Snelling guided a drag-flick in off the keeper’s arm.

On man-of-the-match Overstall’s return to form Wagstaff had this to offer:  “I suppose the one good thing about us all playing so terribly is that it at least gave Alex the chance to look like he belongs in the team.”

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 1-6 IES 2

Dragons came up against a strong IES2xi side. With plenty to work on from previous weeks, the Dragons found themselves down at half time with Andy Kelsall managing to score a consolation. A strong team talk brought spirits up allowing dragons to pressure IES through the second half letting only one goal find the back of the net. Once again a strong defensive display from Gary Burgess leading to his second successive man of the match. Time to turn our fortunes around…

The game finished 6-1 Gary Burgess man of the match

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 2-6 Lowestoft Railway

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

This week saw our team bouyed from last week’s battling performance, even though we were on the losing side, and one determined to start with bang. A number of change had been made with the introduction of Garnett Jones, Andy Hipper and the welcome return of Andy Ives to Saturday hockey.

Dragons started brightly and took the game to Bury from the outset. However it was not until the first round of substitutions that the dragons set out their intentions when Captain Jon Price entered the foray and with his first touch of the ball threaded an unstoppable shot into the corner much the delight or was it derision of the rest of the team.

From that point on there was no looking back as a second was quickly added via a fierce short corner shot from Ollie Browne. Bury had other ideas and pulled a goal back beating stand in keeper Andy Key with a good breakaway goal. Not to be outdone Dragons rallied and Andy Saunders added two fantastic goals from open play after tireless work from midfielders Wilkinson and Jenkins.

Going into half time at 4-1 up the team were keen to work more on good passing and moving as inevitably tiredness would set in. This was duly shown to be the case with many of the players sitting down in the second half! or was that the slippery conditions? The intensity wasnt as great in the second half but Ollie smashed in another short corner to make the score a comfortable 5-1 with time running out. Bury, to there immense credit and unfailing work rate scored the final goal of the match with the best pass of the day, splitting the dragons midfield and defence, finding the left wing who coolly dispatched the ball past a fast approaching Andy Key.

Man of the match – Andy Saunders

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mike Banham demonstrated what a great Club Man he is at the weekend by putting on the keeper’s kit to help out the Men’s 5th team.  Mike now claims the record of being the only outfield player to have represented the club, in the pads, for all 5 teams.

Men’s East Hockey League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 6-0 North Walsham

On a damp day Dragons arrived at the Den missing a few regulars. Fortunately new regulars took their place as the injury list ,Xmas shopping and early pantoes takes its toll on availability.

Mike Banham stepped in between the sticks to complete his secret ambition to have played in all Men’s teams for the club across the last 7 decades.

Dragons started well and slowly learnt each others names. Fortunately for Dragons they remembered to use their claws to remain upright as the opposition proceeded to find numerous landmines on the damp surface. The first half saw close affair but it took the inspire substitution of the miss firing golden stick contender by Butler to break the dead lock. After strolling on and locating space Butler slotted home his first league goal. Webb then added this to lead with his first touch of the game completing most of his hockey ambitions with his first league goal.

Buoyed by this at half time and the continued up right nature of most dragons the energy and legs of the dragons mid field won the end to end nature of the second half.

The defence anchored around the ‘Rock’ Evans eliminated all comers with Franks (has some musician friends) and Davis (Juregen was playing today with his son and grandson)  impressing in their position and ability not to mess up thier hair styles. Lee added to this by seamlessly slotting in when one of the wing backs needed to have a wardrobe moment.

The mid field work of Qunitin (slightly patched up land rover type) , Packham (yes he is quick), Hobdell (thats what i call work rate) and Whitmore (how many times do i need to go round the baseline) was exceptional and set up the win.

The forward line took a while to light up but Butler (no hair to worry about) , Crossman , Bingham (i have my scoring gloves on), Webb (really up front?) and the Green Lantern (Lawrence) final clicked into gear and finished off a fine win.

Goals from Butler , Webb , Lawrence x 2 , Bingham and York-Smith. Again thanks to the umpires and Walsham for a good tussle. Also thanks to those of you who didn’t get as full a game as normal and please bear with me as I cope with us remaining top of the league.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N 
Norwich Dragons 1s 5:0 Cambridge City 2

Norwich Dragons got back to winning ways this week when they travelled to Cambridge. Determined to get three points on the board having only taken 2 from a possible 9 in the last three weeks the Dragons started the game with a high tempo hitting the City defence early and within 5 minutes were awarded a penalty stroke when a goal ward bound shot was blocked illegally. Kate TRELAWNY-GOWER earned the stroke so stepped up only to see her effort saved well by the keeper.

This did not dampen the Dragons positive attacking hockey who pinned City in their own 25 for large periods and created opportunities to score but the City keeper had an excellent match and somehow kept the Dragons at bay.

The visitors had to be patient and waited twenty minutes before finally getting off the mark; Donna VAUGHAN scoring her first goal for the Dragons from a short corner. This settled the Dragons and the second soon followed another short corner scored this time by Rachel KING.

The second half was much the same as the first with the Dragons dominating playing some excellent hockey and having several goal scoring opportunities. Nat BEAL got herself on the scoresheet as she fired home from the top of the D following a short corner routine that broke down. The pick of the goals however was definitely the fourth; Marie JAMES splitting the defence by playing a pin point pass to BEAL in the circle leaving her with the in form keeper to beat; as the keeper came out to close down BEAL showed great skill and composure by lobbing her from the top of the D what can only be described as a fantastic classy finish, a real crowd pleaser. JAMES finished the scoring to make it 5 as she latched on to a drilled pass from TRELAWNY-GOWER and fired into the corner of the goal beyond the keepers reach.

This was a superb team performance by the Dragons in particular Emma TABBRETT who worked tirelessly up front as ever creating space and opportunities for others and again keeper Freddie BRISCOE answered all the questions that City presented and together with the well organised defence always looked in control and confident that the Dragons were to keep a clean sheet.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:0 Panthers

Following on from last weeks fine performance against Cambridge Nomads, Norwich Dragons 2’s were determined to keep the run of results going against Panthers. With a squad of 14 available this week, keeping the balance of the team is always tricky, with the risk of too much change being disruptive, however Team Manager Mike Hardy did a great job in rotating the players.

The game started with Dragons on the offensive from the word go, with a number of strong attacks particularly down the right, through Player of the Match Olivia Thomas, and Helen Kelly, playing against her old team. Despite a period of intensive pressure and a number of short corners, Dragons failed to trouble the scoreboard. This lead to some frustration and at times a little impatience, with Dragons failing to get their fluid passing game working. Failure to use the full width of the pitch meant at times Dragons became a little predictable.

Despite having the great majority of the attacking play, Dragons Goalkeeper Amy Forse was forced into action before half-time, facing a 2 v 1 against her, she managed to close down the Panthers attacker and prevent a pass, which would have lead to a certain goal.

At half-time, Dragons talked about keeping their shape and remaining patient, whilst using the full width of the pitch to stretch the Panthers defence, who at times had 10 players behind the ball.  With Alice Guest and Gail Thomas in the middle trying to spread the play, Dragons continued to pile on the pressure. Further short corners followed, which Panthers defended well, however eventually Dragons made one count, through a smart one-two between Thomases, Olivia and Gail, with Gail lifting over keeper Sharon Weeks to break the deadlock.

Dragons called for concentration, and largely this was achieved, however Amy Forse was once more forced to make a smart save, coming off her line and kicking strongly, when Panthers broke once again, behind the defence. Despite only having 2 kicks in the game, Amy’s contribution was crucial.

With time running down, Dragons continued to press, and with the pressure off a little, one final attack saw Helen Kelly pick up the ball on the edge of the D. A fine goalbound strike by Helen was cleverly deflected just infront of the keeper by Laura Tompson-Wright. A short discussion between the two resulted in Kelly accepting that there was the faintest of touches, by her striking colleague Tompson-Wright!

Whilst not the prettiest 3 points Dragons will have earned, sometimes you just need to win ‘ugly’ and move on!  This result will stand the team in good stead, as breaking down teams, who are set up very defensively, is never easy, but is an important learning curve for the team.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier League
Norwich Dragons 3s 0-1 Dereham 2

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s 0-0 North Walsham 2

Another game where Dragons did everything right, had the majority of the possession and more shots at goal than you can shake a stick at and still that ball would not cross the line!

The game started well with Rachel Hipperson making several excellent drives down the left wing, with Lynne Price and Gemma Rump supporting through the middle. Early shots on goal came from Sophie Farrow, positioned on the post to try and nudge the ball in and Sue Cross with an excellent strike from a short, which was unfortunately too high to count as a goal! Aoife Lowe Davis and Laura Goodbun (PoM) worked well on the right, taking the ball straight down the line right to the end of the pitch before hammering it into the D, again only to be denied by North Walsham’s amazing keeper.  North Walsham only had one real break in play during the first half and this was stopped when the forward ran into the ball as she entered the D.

Dragons started the second half with continued vigour, play was so much in our favour that even defenders such as Abi Cowe and Louise Davis were to be found up near the oppositions D, working the ball around and across trying to enable a forward to get the perfect shot. We thought we had it with an amazing strike from Sophie – but alas the pesky keeper dived just in time!  Again North Walsham had relatively few breaks in play and these were stopped early on through good directions from Morag Morrison in goal and by accurate and thoughtful play from Hazel Medler on the left who turned every attack to Dragon’s advantage with Flora Gregorie making excellent runs into space to receive the ball.

The game ended a slightly disappointing 0:0 – we will continue to work hard next week and try to get those goals to come.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0-10 Dereham 4

Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s were not on their finest form of the season and Dereham 4s (current leaders of Division 2) were on fire as a slick and well drilled goal scoring machine. This was not a good combination.

The goals for Dereham 4s came thick and fast starting in the first five minutes and continuing pretty much throughout the game. There was some strident & exhausting defending by Harriet Williams, Sarah Nortcliff, Jess Tye Leach & Freya Clogan, however the defensive unit failed to gel as well as they have done in previous weeks and Dereham outnumbered them constantly as they took their chances on the break.

The midfield tried valiantly to move the ball up the pitch but did not seem to have the same energy as the previous week and excellent man marking by Dereham meant balls were not reaching Dragons players. Chiara Bond, Holly Bailey, Katie Buxton and Rosie Korn (Player of Match) tried to cover ground however a mixture of experienced and nippy Dereham players kept coming back at them. Rosie Korn’s Player of the match was deserved as she never gave up and showed her growing maturity in the face of adversity.

4-0 at half time the Dragons tried to step up their game and there were moments of their normal playing standards however this was quickly closed down by Dereham who then skilfully took their chances with some beautiful shots at goal. Dragons forwards (Lisa Harwood, Lois McGregor, Izzy Woodcock and Lizzy McDonnell) tried to push forwards and made a few plays however they could not get near the D apart from one short corner from some hard work from Lizzy McDonnell.  Dereham continued to score some excellent in play goals and convert every short corner with exacting aim and pace on the ball.

Dragons tried to remain in good spirits but were deflated, however I have no doubt that this punishing 10-0 defeat will make these Dragons 5s stronger and more determined for next week and we shall return to our normal high spirits and form which makes being a Dragons 5 such a pleasurable experience.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s 0-6 Dereham 5

Dereham are flying high in the division, and duly achieved a significant win over a predominately young Dragons side, but it was by no means a ‘thrashing’. Availability fell kindly for the 6s this week, and they not only had plenty of players, but they also had some of the stronger players from last year’s development team who are not usually available for club hockey. Mimi Stannard was outstanding at centre mid – winning tackles, distributing the ball beautifully and keeping up a high work rate. She shared the player of the match vote with defenders Beth Elgood and Katie Franks. The defenders, including Jasmin Daniels and Flo Pond, were very determined to keep the speedy Dereham forwards at bay, and with Alice Smith gaining in confidence in goal every time she plays, Dragons were about to go in only 2-0 down at half time when Dereham took their third. The Dragons midfield, with Laura Hansell matching Mimi for determination, had an excellent spell at the start of the second half, with Georgie Randon and Sophie James linking with the forwards to give Sarah Norman and Lucy Bracey chances to show off their speed. Claire Fairhurst dropped deeper to link in turn with Ciara Willmott, Amy Hunter and Jasmine Mansfield, and whoever else was rotating, but it was Beth who inspired the best move of all with a run from deep into the attacking third.

Once again, it was in the last third  where Dragons still lack a final pass and they need a few more flames in the attacking circle, but this was a very encouraging performance with a far better team understanding between players. We hope we will see Mimi, Georgie, Flo and Sophie again before too long.  The dev players – Laura, Katie and Lottie Korn (unavailable this week) –  have already staked their claim for regular places.

Dereham, who have what they like to describe as a ‘predominantly mature team’ were very complimentary about our young players and we complimented them in turn for playing happy hockey and scoring two excellent penalty corners. We hope to push them closer on the return, and perhaps not suffer so many self-inflicted wounds by using our sticks to protect our feet! We hope Georgie gets her dancing toes back in time for her musical next week.

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons P-P Pelicans

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: No Fixture

————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 2N

Norwich Dragons 1s 2:2 Sudbury 1s

Summary: This week Norwich dragons travelled to the deepest, darkest depths of Sudbury for an important away game. Although a full squad of 14 people were present a mystery illness had hit four of the players on Friday night making it a tougher game than expected. A late call off by Robbie Whiting meant a debut appearance for new keeper Matt Collinge whose performance was fantastic. This combined with the experienced back four made for a successful game. Dave Sloman used his speed at the back to progress the full length of the pitch and score the opening goal. After a pep talk by coach Rob Wagstaff at half time, the team dug deep and played to win. Veteran Rupert Snelling scored the final goal to the seal the match. Man of the match was awarded to Dave Sloman.

The true story:  Dragons ground out their first away win of the season 2-0 at Sudbury on Saturday to climb to third in the table.  Without co-skipper Whiting, the excellent Matt Collinge was handed his first cap in goal in what was otherwise an unchanged squad.  Coach Wagstaff’s meticulous preparations were undone, though, when, in the build-up to the game, no fewer than four Dragons players went down with a mysterious bug that seems to be going the rounds at the University.  Turnbull initially blamed an out-of-date Chinese, but for four players to suffer at the same time suggested more than just bad luck.

Dragons started the game lethargically, struggling to come to grips with Sudbury’s direct style and the slow Sudbury pitch.  Knights, in particular, seemed to struggle with the dimensions of the pitch, consistently finding it both too narrow and too short to accommodate his rampaging runs.  Charlish looked bright and threatening until he received the ball and Turnbull at least tended to manage two good touches before invariably giving the ball away with his third.  Still, Dragons’ superior quality eventually started to show, Browne and Snelling a threat up front, Woodward and Flatman asking questions with their runs from midfield, and the defence settling into the game strongly.  The breakthrough came following a sustained spell of pressure and patient build-up play, the outstanding Sloman released down the right to drive all the way into the D and and claim his first goal for the club, tucked in from an acute angle with the help of a brilliant dummy from Knights.  Even better chances followed, Charlish somehow unable to reach the ball from a promising position at the top of the D and then Snelling, having rounded the ‘keeper, spurning the invitation of an open net from the sort of distance that will have had the selectors pondering whether it might be time to give Andrew Cross a recall.

The half-time call was for more of the same but with a little more composure in front of goal.  The second half, though, was a scrappy affair, Dragons dominating the midfield but still looking vulnerable against the ball over the top.  Man-of-the-match Sloman terrorised Sudbury down the right, Rich Smith put in another finely disciplined performance and Collinge was commanding in goal but the intervention of the day was from Ali Smyth, a brilliant last-ditch tackle preserving Dragons’ lead and the clean sheet.  Rutledge, too, had to get the timing of his covering tackle absolutely perfect to avoid a yellow card and Dragons continued to struggle with the Sudbury pitch, Woodward lucky to avoid serious injury after falling on the treacherous surface.  The game was only made safe in the closing minutes, Snelling smearing home at the second bite from a short-corner.  It was no surprise that Sloman was again at the heart of things for the goal, latching onto the rebound, rounding the keeper, before unselfishly and uncomplainingly leaving the finish to Snelling.  After the game Sloman explained “I thought it was important for his confidence, really; it’s not every day a player like him gets to celebrate a goal.”

Skipper Smith had warm words for Collinge on debut:  “He had a strong game; Robbie [Whiting] would have his work cut out to regain his place were it not for all the other things his leadership contributes to the side.”  And Knights was full of praise for his team-mates:  “They really looked after me today; when you’re struggling a bit it’s important that the other guys lend you a hand.  They really left an impression on me today.”

Next week Dragons will be looking to continue their push up the table at home against an improving Cambridge University side.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 3NE

Norwich Dragons 2s 3:8 Magpies 3s

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE

Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 Magpies 5s

Dragons 3s hoped to be able to string together back to back wins for the first time this season, against a Magpies team who have struggled in the league so far.

An even first half looked to be drawn, until Will Kirby slotted home in the dying seconds of the half. A well taken goal at a crucial moment changed the game and crucially changed the way both team talks were delivered.

A positive start to the second half was important and when Ollie King latched on to a pass from George Walker in the opening seconds of the 2nd half, the Dragons looked to have taken the game away from Magpies with another crucially timed goal.

Not to be easily defeated, the 10 man Magpies team did not give up their fight and were more than an even match for the Dragons as the game wore on. With tired legs abound, the game inevitably became more and more stretched and Adrian Kemp managed to put the game beyond Magpies with a cool finish.

All in all, well taken, crucially times goals marked the difference between two otherwise well matched sides.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 5NE

Norwich Dragons 4s 3:1 Dereham 4s

This match began very evenly with Dragons passing fluently and Dereham dangerous on the counterattack particularly via their central midfield players.  However Dereham were always susceptible to the pace of Dragons youngsters, with the three Bens, Campbell, Harvey and Watson all having the beating of their opposite numbers.  Rohan was also enjoying the freedom of the pitch using his silky skills to good effect.  The keen tackling of Rob Jenkins and the calmness of Chris W in the middle of the pitch provided a good base for the Dragons to launch their attacks, with Mike B marshalling the defence in his normal manner.

As the first half went on Dragons began to dominate and went a goal up courtesy of Rob Jenkins latching on to a loose ball on the D and then Ben Watson who reacted quickest to a rebound off the keeper’s pads by scoring with a reverse stick lob.

Non playing captain Jon Price was fulsome in his praise for the first half performance noting the contribution of Garnett Jones on the bench, who demoralised the opposition by his mere presence pitch side.

The second half saw the game’s best move, a sensational run down the right wing by Ben Watson, followed by a cross to Ben Campell at the top of the D and a clinical finish by Rob after Ben’s through ball.

Dereham did rally late on and scored from a flick after a creative goal line clearance from Paul Keating.  This put pressure on the Dragons but their defence stood firm using their many many years of collective experience.

The only cloud on the horizon was Ben Watson’s post match trip to McDonalds which had team mates worrying that he might be coming under the influence of the the notorious WK.  One hopes this was a one off.

Dragons were indebted to Elliot Wang for some outstanding keeping including one athletic dive to his right to divert a cross away from a Dereham forward who waiting to pounce.  He was unanimously voted man of the match.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East League Division 7NE

Norwich Dragons 5s 9:0 Felixstowe 4s

An abundance of talent was added to with Butler demanding pitch time to ensure things went smoothly, which they did. The first half saw some end to end action with last week’s land rover being replaced by a younger, fitter and beefier model if not a little worse for wear. Once the midfield settled down a nice move was finished off by Alex Bilalis-Stone followed by one more for a Dragon whose name escapes the reporter (might have been land rover upgrade) . Two nil up at the break led to some frank discussions around who wasn’t there last week when we only had ten and the fact we needed to concentrate on pass receive completion ratios!

As the second half progressed Felixstowe gambled more and Dragons began to find the space and the target although some were closer than others. Good forward work from Joel (who suffered from elements of the physical battle) , Rob Lee and Crossman resulted in more circle penetrations and even short corners. Final goal tally was Bilalis-Stone, Lee (made the captains poor pass look good), Saunders x2, Browne x2 and Crossman x3 (am sure one was Joel’s). Man of the match was Alex Bilalis-Stone for his mazy runs which created space and angles for the older players but he has vowed to work on keeping hold of his stick when hitting that Argentinean backhand. Oli Browne did score the goal of the game though after a swift ball in to his path at the top of the D was despatched into the roof of the net in a way reminiscent of Victor Trumper in his prime.

Felixstowe kept coming though and the defence was tested on a number of occasions with Elliot this time allowing for the variation in pace of his back few. Sam Hodbell, Hamish Packham and John Franks put in their normal pacy work load whilst Rich Mouslon was relegated to right back due to a warm up incident. Jones suffered from some stage fright prior to his own personal cheer leaders turning up which resulted in him turning on the style but placing his back to the camera. Unfortunately some of these performances will result in players being dropped to the 4ths if these results continue but otherwise well played guys. Thanks go to a very friendly Felixstowe for making the trip despite traffic issues, Freya and Sue for umpiring and the press photographer for making Joel’s illegal shorts and socks not look too bad!

Photos from this game can be found here

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East League Division 1N 

Norwich Dragons 1s 1:1 Wisbech 1s

Norwich Dragons travelled to Wisbech this week determined to bounce back from an average performance last week, but aware of Wisbech’s tough reputation and respectable position within the league.

The team welcomed first team debutant Laura BAILEY another promising young player from the second team and Rowie YORK SMITH back into the centre of defence following an operation on her foot.

The game started cautiously, with both teams testing the opposition defence and goal keepers without success. Dragon’s opened the scoring mid way through the first half, following some good quick short passes out of defence into midfield for Laura SHREEVE to run behind the defence and combine with Nat BEAL to beat the goalkeeper.

Unfortunately Dragons were unable to capitalise on the lead in the second half and eventually Wisbech’s determined play and appealing to the umpires lead to a goal to level the scores. The game ended with both teams creating chances for the winning goal, but unable to take the advantage.

Laura BAILEY showed great maturity on her first team debut, gaining joint Player of the Match with Maddie DENMAN, who also gave a solid performance in defence.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East League Division 2NE

Norwich Dragons 2s 2:0 Yarmouth 1s

—————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Women’s Premier League

Norwich Dragons 3s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Women’s League Division 1

Norwich Dragons 4s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Women’s League Division 2

Norwich Dragons 5s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Women’s League Division 3

Norwich Dragons 6s: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Girls Development League

Norwich Dragons: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

Norfolk Boys Development League

Norwich Dragons: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

The hoof table as at 02/11/2013

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:2 Newmarket

Norwich Dragons couldn’t maintain their perfect home record but showed tremendous character to come from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw against Newmarket on Saturday.  Dragons were still without Overstall, who continues to work on his game in the lower leagues of Yaoundé, but welcomed back Wagstaff, Woodward, and Rutledge.  Such is the depth of the side this season that veteran Wolfe was sent to the 2nds to rediscover his goal-scoring touch and star Snelling had to settle for a place on the bench.

Dragons again started the game strongly, dominating possession and creating a succession of openings only to find the Newmarket keeper in fine form.  Charlish, in a more advanced role, was especially prominent, his movement and link-play too much for the static Newmarket defence and Dragons spurned three golden opportunities one-on-one with the keeper.  Still, it was a surprise when a limited Newmarket side took the lead, capitalising on a fortuitously awarded short-corner with a slick routine and worse was to come when, at the beginning of the second half, another short corner broke down, and fell kindly for Newmarket to capitalise.  A terrible ten minutes for the home side was capped when influential player-coach Wagstaff’s awful luck with injuries continued and he was forced to withdraw.

A lesser side might have folded, but Dragons rallied and completely dominated the final 30 minutes of the match.  The Smiths at the heart of the defence were rock-solid, fullbacks Smyth and Sloman played rather as rampaging wingers than as defenders, Woodward, Flatman, and Turnbull bossed the midfield and Browne, Snelling, Knights, and Charlish proved almost uncontainable up front.  First Flatman pulled a goal back following an incisive run from Woodward and a subtle touch from Snelling.  Then Flatman was on hand again, following sustained Dragons pressure, to nudge the ball inside the far post.  Dragons should have had more – Browne twice missing gilt-edged chances that left the coaching-staff lamenting Wolfe’s omission, Sloman capping a surging run with a sudden bout of altitude sickness, and Flatman and Snelling declining each other’s invitation to hammer home the winner.  It is a sign of Dragons’ ambitions this season that following such a rousing recovery the team were left lamenting the two points lost.

Goal-scoring hero Flatman continued his superb form, man of the match for the third time this season.  Still a second-team player only months ago, Flatman accredited his remarkable progress this season to the arrival of Rutledge:  “I’ve learnt so much from him since he arrived at the club.  We’re very similar kinds of midfielder, really, box-to-box, mobile, we make the same sorts of runs and he’s so clinical when he gets into the box he really sets the standard.  Most of all it’s his attitude on and off the pitch and the intensity and concentration when he trains.”  Famously enigmatic skipper Smith added “today’s result is a bit like a half-pint of Guinness, really – it’s hard to know whether to celebrate that a half-pint of Guinness is so much better than a half-pint of anything else or to lament that anyone’d order only a half-pint in the first place.”

Next week Dragons are away at a resurgent Sudbury in what will surely be another test of the side’s character, particularly following the club’s midweek commitments.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons came up against cranes to restart their season after a two week break due to void games.

Lack of Match practice was evident as Dragons started slower than usual. As the half progressed Cranes managed to score on the break against the run of play. Dragons tried to make amends by picking up the tempo, however found themselves sprung on again from a Cranes counter making it 0-2 at the break.

The second half saw dragons improve on their sluggish first half. Jonty Gosling played excellently in the middle on his 2nds league debut. Producing strong dribbles and creative passing. His determination led to dragons only goal of the day after a mazy run through the Cranes defence he managed to slot the ball home to make the score 1-2.

Dragons continued to press for further goals with strong pressure in Cranes half. As the match was drawing to a close, Cranes once again caught Dragons on the break to finish the game 1-3.

Jonty Gosling man of the match.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

A hat-trick apiece from Adrian Kemp and Matt Jenkins was enough to send Dragons onto their second win of the season; a perfect response following the disappointment of a narrow defeat to Bury St Edmunds last weekend.

After an early near-miss from Thetford, Dragons started the game with intent and quickly raced into a two-goal lead with Jenkins finishing both goals from close range and Kemp adding a third after some neat build-up play.

The tie became increasingly scrappy as Thetford looked to find a way back into the match; John Ives, George Walker and Adam Sayer and Stu Kelly all finding themselves embroiled in a combative midfield battle as Thetford began to press and create chances. After a controversially disallowed goal, Thetford clawed their way to within a goal of Dragons following a couple of well-worked short corner routines leaving keeper Robbie Bell with no chance.

Dragons continued to press and got their reward before half-time with Kemp receiving a fantastic through ball from skipper Walker to finish past the keeper also benefiting from some unselfish play from strike partner Will Kirby to complete his hat-trick before the half-time whistle.

After eight first half goals, it seemed inevitable that the game would slow to a more sedate pace following the break. While the second half brought fewer goals, there was no less intensity and goal mouth action to the game as it began to stretch, with both teams committed to throwing players forward leaving open spaces in the wide and midfield areas. The width was exploited particularly well by the forwards with Ollie King and Will Kirby continuing to look a threat all game and were both unlucky not to find themselves on the score sheet.

The clean sheet kept in the second half was testament to the solid defensive team expertly marshaled by the experience of David Pentin and man of the match Peter Davison who both stood firm to stop the majority of Thetford attacks. Bell also contributed well, providing some vital saves to preserve Dragons’ two-goal lead. Pentin and Davison’s solid defending allowed for Dragons to expand with Jon Goodson, Will Ives and Henry Eades all given opportunities to show off their attacking as well as defensive qualities with some inventive play out wide.

Dragons continued to push and finally wrapped up their emphatic victory when Jenkins collected a precise ball into the D, drew the goal keeper and finished into an empty net with a reverse sweep leaving Dragons to celebrate a well-deserved victory.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 1:4 Norwich Exiles

After a strong start from Exiles, the home team scored after a strong run down the right hand side led to a well taken goal. They continued to control the midfield and a bouncing ball evaded the defence and was thumped into the net to make it 2-0.

After the half time team talk Dragons started to put more pressure on the opposition and began to force mistakes. However after several promising breaks initiated by the tireless Sam Mann the Exiles scored on the break  to make it 3-0. This seemed to galvanise Dragons who then exerted some real pressure and Andy Saunders drove home a goal from the top of the D to bring the score to 3-1. Dragons started to push forward to try to force a result but consequently left little cover at the back. Exiles took full advantage of this and scored once more on the break to make the final score 4-1.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons found them selves one down on a full collection but remain undaunted in the brief Saturday sunshine. Early pressure resulted in a nice finish from Joel but Dragons spurned numerous chances in a game where end to end action was beckoning. A timely sprint interception left Butler tearing his newly found right groin muscle but he wiped away the tears and resolutely held the back line until that to seemed to tear open. Nomads hit three on the bounce with no return from Dragons – one of which Dragons captain York-(stop the ball for the centre forward for a one on one)Smith was reminded of at numerous points in the bar afterwards. Half time saw Dragons looking at a 1-3 deficit but the heroic sight of Butler applying his ‘tiger’ spray must have inspired everyone as pretty much one way traffic ensued for the second half. Waif like debutant McQuade moved around the pitch with such stealth and speed he was rarely marked and slotted a fine hat trick using some form of quantum mechanics to appear when ever a chance presented it self. Cross (not as in angry man) also finished from inches tidying up a scramble on the line but unfortunately he failed to add to that tally………..(this is the bit where we would have described the Ronny Rosenthal moment).

Other players to note were MOM Andy Hipper who with his land rover like reliability huffed , spluttered and kept going despite not noticing wounds and other small niggles. Elliot in goal looked more than capable of handling any Nomad shots but his defence did leave him with a fair few challenges this week. Sam Hobdell and his mistaken dad Rich Davis (harsh on Sam really) motored up and down in their wing back positions with both also achieving circle penetrations. One run from Sam in particular took out at least 14 Nomads only to selflessly pass rather than try to beat the remaining defenders. Great hospitality and fine spirited umpiring from Sue and hugger Hazel made for a grand day out. Nomads themselves acknowledged the prowess of jones’s performance but he refused the transfer offer of chicken wings and wedges as a full chinese was what he was really after.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Women’s East Hockey League Division 1N 
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:2 Lowestoft Ladies 1

Norwich Dragons were delighted to welcome another youngster to their squad who has consistently performed well for the second team; 15 year old Niamh LOWE-DAVIES earnt her right to experience hockey at this level and had a solid debut relishing the opportunity to play for the first team.

Norwich Dragons started sprightly as they have all season and took an early lead when Kate TRELAWNY GOWER added to her goal tally by dispatching a superb drag flick that left the Lowestoft keeper, Kate BOND, no chance. However for the remainder of the first half the home side looked uncharacteristically pedestrianised and rather lethargic in their play perhaps thinking the game would now be easily won!! This limited their options and attacking opportunities and allowed Lowestoft to play the long direct ball through them earning themselves a number of short corners which they were very well drilled at. So much so that at half time the Dragons found themselves 2-1 down, both goals as a result of short corners.

The second half Dragons looked a different team. They began to work hard and played some attractive attacking hockey. Most of the half Lowestoft were pinned in their own half but chance after chance went begging and somehow the Lowestoft defence, and in particular their keeper, kept the ball out. Finally the Dragons deservedly got their second goal from a short corner routine struck at the top of the D by Marie JAMES which the keeper saved well but could do nothing when the rebound fell to Sarah BORRETT who made no mistake in knocking it across the line. The Dragons could smell victory and bombarded the Lowestoft keeper but it was not to be, lady luck was definitely not with the leaders today, and although went so close so many times the ball would not go in.

The Dragons were disappointed to take only a point from this game. Even though they did not play their best hockey they were by far the better of the two teams. They know their first half performance was not good enough which they will need to put right next week when they meet Wisbech.

Player of the match, Lizzie MOULTON, had a solid performance in midfield and went close herself to taking the victory by beating the keeper only to see her shot cleared off the line by a defender.

Photos from this match available here

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

After a warm-up that seemed to be as long as the game itself, Dragon’s could not complain about not being prepared for this clash with top of the table team Watton. Clearly however, this extended warm-up did not suit the team, as a strong start by Watton, saw them take the lead through Charlie Paine in the first five minutes.

Dragons quickly regrouped and got themselves back into the game, with some strong play on both wings through Olivia Thomas, George Stannett and Laura Bailey, who impressed following her return from injury. Play was end to end, and Dragons keeper Amy Forse was forced into action a number of times, making some fine stops.

In another Dragons foray into the Watton half, the ball found its way to Debs Smith, who had found good space at the top of the D. Her goal bound effort was picked up by Hannah Hardy just infront of the Keeper and her shot, from close range, almost smashed the back board, for a well deserved equaliser.

The second half continued like the first, with both sides having their opportunities. Watton particularly forced a number of short corners, which were expertly dealt with by the Dragon’s keeper and defence, with Ruth Willmott bravely running down a number of shots at the top of the D and Player of the Match, Angela Murgatroyd getting in some great last ditch tackles and taking one shot off the left post.

The last 5 minutes saw George Stannett driving through the Watton defence on the right hand side, unlucky to see her shots fly narrowly wide of the post.

In the end, a draw was probably a fair result for these two evenly matched teams. Dragons will be pleased to have bounced back from last week’s disappointing result, playing some good hockey for periods of the game. There is more to come from this team, but this remains a solid start to the season.

Photos from this match available here

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s Premier League
Norwich Dragons 3s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 4s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s: Slip Date

—————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League Division 3
Norwich Dragons 6s: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

Empresa Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons: Slip Date

————————————————————————————————————–

The hoof table as at 26/10/2013

NDHC Girls Under 16

The Under 16 Girls kicked off Norwich Dragons Hockey Club’s foray into the excitement that is the England Hockey 2013/14 Championships with a 10.30am pushback away to Harleston Magpies.

With 6 of the squad fresh from their Norwich High School for Girls team victory in the GDST Under 18 Championships, and all players in good form for the Club in their various adult teams, confidence was high although no complacency was to be found against Harleston Magpies.

Captain Ruth Willmott ensured all players were fully warmed up and tuned in to the task ahead, with the coaching team of Pete Thomas and Bridget Le Good ready to direct proceedings from the dugout.

With the umpire’s whistle to start the match, the Norwich Dragons girls signalled their intent by pressing forward with a string of excellent passing moves through the midfield, with Olivia Thomas, Emma Moolman, Polly Watson and Niamh Lowe-Davies all showing extreme maturity in their play and the kind of sharp passing that would be the envy of any of the Dragon’s adult teams.

A strong squad of 15 players ensured that regular rotation of the forward line kept the legs fresh and the pressure on the home side, whilst consistency in the defensive line up ensured that any Magpies attack was snuffed out by Player of the Match Laura Bruce, Maddie Denman and Sophie Thomas.  Ruth Willmott had a superb game in front of the defence intercepting the majority of the home side’s attempts to drive through the middle of the pitch, whilst also contributing to Dragons’ attacking moves.  Thanks to the strong defensive unit, goalkeeper Alice Smith had little to do in the first half, however when called on throughout the game, Alice showed great concentration with a number of no nonsense clearances.

A quick and strong forward line of Sophie Cullens, Laura Goodbun, Marcy Windsor-Waite, Anja Finegan, Amy Brown and Aoife Lowe-Davies caused lots of problems for the Harleston defence in and around the D.

The first goal for Dragons came as a result of a succession of short corners, the last of which was not cleared by the defence and a swift pass across to Emma Moolman on the far post saw Emma calmly slot the ball away.

A number of strong moves down the right saw the visitors create further chances, the second and third goals came as a result of great composure from Olivia Thomas who skilfully drove thorugh and round the back of a number of defenders to pull the ball back to the penalty spot, finding the youngest player in the squad Aoife Lowe-Davies for the team’s second and then a carbon copy move for Amy Brown to slam passed the keeper for the third.

A half-time lead of 3 goals to nil was fully deserved.

Again a great deal of maturity was shown by the girls in the second half, whilst they maintained the pressure on the Magpies defence, they did not over-commit and risk conceding a goal, when called on the defence and keeper were rock solid.

Despite lots of action in and around the Magpies’ D, the visitors found it hard to break through the home defence.  Eventually the fourth goal came as a result of a short corner slipped by Amy Brown to Olivia Thomas who was in behind the one and two runners, so had time to compose herself for the shot.

An excellent team performance from all 15 squad members who look forward to their next fixture against Ipswich at the Den on 10th November.

NDHC Boys Under 14

Dragons did find their way more into the match, but were unable to make any serious inroads into Spalding’s defensive circle, despite a period of pressure towards the end of the half. Spalding then increased their lead before half-time after turning Dragons over high up the pitch and breaking at speed with a slick passing move, ended with a fine reverse stick strike into the the corner.

This re-energised Spalding who poured forward for the remainder of the half, and Dragons were indebted to some outstanding saves from Matt Collinge, including one from point blank range with his helmet.

Half-Time:

Spalding 2-0 Dragons

After a good half-time team talk and some tactical adjustments, Dragons came out much stronger after the break, pressing their opposition much harder and denying them space and time to get back into their rythmn.

This pressured resulted in Dragons best period of the match, with Spalding struggling to clear the ball and Dragons winning a couple of penalty corners of their own. Despite both corners being well executed, Dragons were denied a way back into the match by good goalkeeping and an excellent defensive block.

As the half wore on, Dragons began to tire, and Spalding made tactical changes of their own, combined with effective use of their large squad, to regain the momentum. Despite this, Dragons continued to defend stoutly, with the defensive line of Piers Gordon-Brown, Rich Smith, Ali Smyth, Barney Price and Paul Bullard, giving everything, and when they were breached, Matt Collinge continued to produce an outstanding performance to frustrate Spalding further.

Even a penalty stroke awarded against Collinge could not increase the deficit as he produced a fine save with his legs to deny the Spalding forward.

Eventually, however, Spalding’s pressure did tell with two further goals added in quick succession to remove any remaining doubt as to the outcome of the tie.

Full Time: Spalding 4-0 Dragons

A tough game for Dragons against a well organised and skillful side that deserved the win. Dragons will now refocus their attention on the league, and wish Spalding good luck in the next round.

Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 2:2 Ipswich 2

Norwich Dragons secured their first point away from home on Saturday with a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Ipswich.  Without Steve Woodward, the side welcomed back Nick Charlish and were delighted when Ed Smith, Rob Wagstaff, and Jason Wolfe all passed late fitness tests and were cleared to travel with the side.

Dragons started brightly, controlling possession on the slow Ipswich surface and forcing the home side to play largely on the break.  Fullbacks Dave Sloman and Ali Smyth – a late addition to the travelling squad – were prominent pushing forward and it was through an incisive Smyth incursion that the breakthrough came, the fullback released down the left to drive in a devastating cross which birthday-boy Snelling deftly steered home.  A second goal would have been just reward for the Dragons pressure and should have come when Turnbull, rarely even the bridesmaid, it seems, spurned a glorious chance.  Instead it was Ipswich who bounced back with two quick, slick goals in a three-minute period just before the break, the first well-worked from an attacking side-line hit, the second a tap-in for an unmarked striker at the back-post following patient build-up play.  Of the second goal coach Wagstaff lamented “you can work on your defensive structures all you like, but there’s no legislating for individual mistakes like that.  Overstall’s put his hand up and we’ll give him a week off to reflect on the mistake.  Most of all, though, I was pleased with the way the rest of the team rallied around him at a difficult time.”  Asked whether it was a coincidence that both goals came when international Rutledge was off the pitch, Wagstaff added “Of course not.  It’s just that he covers so much ground in a game that you think at some stage you should give him a chance to freshen up.  In fact, he can go all day at that pace and next week we’re just going to have to give him the full 70 minutes.  Particularly on the reverse-stick he sees things that no-one else does.”

For the second week in a row, Dragons found themselves 2-1 down at the break and for the second week they responded to the leadership team’s abrasive challenge.  The equaliser came again from Snelling whose performance surely deserved a birthday hatrick, this time showing great composure to tuck home after sustained Dragons pressure.  A succession of chances followed – to the irrepressible Charlish, Browne, Wolfe, two to outstanding wing-forward Knights.  In the end, though, Dragons were lucky that such profligacy in front of goal wasn’t punished, as Ipswich continued to carry a threat on the break.  They too spurned a string of good chances – and found Whiting again in excellent form in goal.  Dragons might have felt it was to be their day when Whiting sent the Ipswich striker the wrong way from a penalty flick – awarded after the latest error from ice-hockey convert Overstall – and then saw centre-back Rich Smith pull off a clean tackle in the dying stages of the second half.  In fact, though, it was Ipswich who finally went closest – crashing a fine short-corner routine against the bar in the final seconds leaving Dragons relieved and disappointed in something like equal measure when the final whistle went, happy, at least, with their first away point of the campaign against an experienced and disciplined Ipswich side.

Skipper Smith was full of praise for man-of-the-match Snelling:  “watching that game, there’s no way you’d think he was turning twenty-one today, the maturity he plays with out there on the pitch.  There are things we can work on in his game, but basically he’s going to be a very fine player if he keeps his head down and continues like this.  I was sorry we couldn’t give him the three points today but for some players it’s the individual glory that counts in the end.”

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 5:0 Holt Conceded

—————————————————————————————————————–

Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 8:2 City 5

The return of captain George Walker inspired Dragons 3s in what was an emphatic return to winning ways over local rivals Norwich City.

First half goals from Adrian Kemp (see video clip here NDHC Mens 3s Adrian Kemp Goal v City 5s),Will Kirby and Matt Jenkins (see video clip here NDHC Mens 3s Matt Jenkins Goal v City 5s), ensured that Dragons entered half time with a comfortable lead. A brace from Adam Sayer and Ollie King sealed the victory after the break with the gloss fittingly applied by Walker, marking his return to action with the final goal.

After a scrappy opening exchange, Dragons began to create chances, applying pressure onto the City goal with some intelligent play from John Ives and Jon Goodson creating opportunities for the front three.

Meanwhile, the defence held a solid line anchored by the impenetrable Dave Pentin and Peter Davidson who were both well-supported in the wide areas from Henry Eades, Will Ives and Piers Gordon-Brown, restricting City to very few chances and ensuring that Robbie Bell had a quiet half in the Dragons goal.

City sensed they would need a goal to gain a foothold back in the game and began to hit Dragons on the counter with the tireless energy of man-of-the-match Sam Mann instrumental in keeping attacks at bay and getting Dragons back on the front foot.

The game was killed off with a succession of quick goals thanks to some trademark attacking passing and moving that carved space into the City defence.

City gained a consolation from the game with two fine short corners; one drilled into the bottom corner, the other a powerful flick into the roof of the net. This did nothing to dampen the spirits of Dragons who comfortably saw out the game and headed to the bar with that all-important first win of the season under their belts.

Photos from first half here.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons entertained Ipswich 3rds who joined them in promotion last season as champions from Div 6NE. The game started brightly with Ipswich taking the game to Dragons.

A prolonged period of pressure from a dominant midfield saw them take the lead with a well worked move down the right, slicing the defence apart and slotting in past the advancing Dim Ives in goal.

Dragons were put under more pressure almost immediately but a resilient defence of Ray Hansell, Andy Webb and Rich Davis stood firm but when they were breeched, Dim in goal, pulled off a number of quality saves to keep Dragons in the game.

On a rare foray into the Ipswich ‘D’ Dragons were awarded a short corner which the evergreen Mike Banham slotted away. Ipswich still pressed and they too were awarded a short corner which resulted in them going into the break 2-1 up.

After the break and reshuffle, Dragons started the second half much brighter and soon began to take control of the midfield  putting pressure  on the Ipswich defence. Excellent runs by the Bens (Campbell and Harvey) started to pay dividends and Banham scored again from a short corner! Dragons could sense the tide had turned and kept working hard to find the winner which duly came when a combination of a defensive foot in the ‘d’ and some excellent advantage from the umpire saw the deflected ball wrong foot the Ipswich keeper and trickle into the goal.

Dragons then shut up shop and saw out the remainder of the game with an allround excellent team display. MOM Mike Banham
—————————————————————————————————————–

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

NDHC Mens 5ths had a full squad this week and it clearly showed in the result. An organised City side played well but constant pressure resulted in Dragons being 4 up at halftime. The second half was more controlled and good defensive organisation and work kept CIty out. the end result was a 7-0 win with the goals coming from Oli Brown x2 , Joel Lawrence x2 , Matt Collinge , man of the match Andy Saunders and Andrew Cross from some considerable distance.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

With the season just past the half-way point, Dragons were looking for a strong performance against Pelicans, feeling that they had under performed in the away fixture earlier in the season. Dragons started brightly, keeping possession and pushing the Pelicans defence back. They were quickly able to turn their dominance into a goal, with Ed Smith rocketing a deflection into the roof of the net from a well struck penalty corner from Rupert Snelling. With Pelicans looking to play on the break and Sean Kerry creating problems for the defence from right midfield, Dragons goalkeeper Robbie Whiting was called on to make a number of saves. However, it was Dragons who scored next with Jason Wolfe cutting in from the left and, finding room in the circle, calmly shooting past the keeper (2-0 Dragons). Dragons defence seemed to relax momentarily and Pelicans soon struck to make it 2-1. Garnet Jones made it 3-1 to Dragons, smashing the ball home via the goalkeeper. The score was 3-1 to Dragons at half-time.

Though Pelicans continued to look dangerous on the break, Dragons continue to apply the pressure. Jason Wolfe latched onto an aerial ball from Rupert Snelling and drove into the circle from the right. With Matt Knights closing in on the far post, Wolfe’s shot was deflected into his own net by a Pelican’s defender (4-1 Dragons). Dragons extended their lead further when Alex Browne played for (and got) the Pelican’s defender miss-fielding another Snelling aerial: driving into the circle from the left he drew the keeper and passed to Matt Knights who calmly scored into the open net (5-1 Dragons). With only 15 minutes to go Dragons relaxed too much, playing too deep and being too open in midfield. This allowed Pelicans to mount a resurgence which nearly cost Dragons the game. Pelicans made in 5-2 when their forward gathered a long ball and shot from short range in at the near post. A well taken penalty corner made in 5-3 and a shot from open play made it 5-4 and left Dragons looking to play out time. Luckily Dragons were able to keep the ball at the attacking end and saw the game out 5-4 winners.

Dragons man of the match was Robbie Whiting.

Photos from this match here
—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 6:3 Thetford 1s

Dragons started strong and displayed their fast, attacking hockey that is rapidly becoming a regular feature of their games.  Dragons were rewarded with two goals within the first 5 minutes.  The first came from Dan Cheesman driving along the back line before striking the ball at the keeper from an impossible angle taking a heavy deflection in. The second was scored by Captain Cley Hamilton finishing off a delightful passing move with a first time sweep passed the keeper.

Thetford then reacted to this and started to get themselves together.  The tempo slowed but Dragons still kept up the pressure.  A Rich Phillis pass from a free hit outside the D found Adam Sayer, who calmly hit the ball into the bottom corner making the score 3-0. A few more attacks by Dragons resulted in a couple of short corners which unfortunately couldn’t get another goal.  Thetford had a few attacks of their own, but these were confidently dealt with by the Dragon defence of Andy Kelsall, Neil Shorten and Piers Gordon-Brown.  Keeper Dim Ives also made some fantastic saves to keep the ball out of the Dragon goal this half.

Just before halftime, Dragons striker Ricky Powley delivered another goal with a mesmeric reverse stick lob of the Thetford keeper leaving him no options but to watch it sail gracefully into the goal rounded off a great half for Dragons.  Halftime score 4-0 to Dragons.

The talk at halftime focussed upon continuing to play as a team and moving the ball around. The second half started and it was clear Thetford were going to fight to get a result.  They had a few more attacks that pushed Dragons hard and did manage to get 3 goals back.  However, Dragons fought hard and scored 2 more goals themselves.  Up and coming Young Dragon Henry Laming showed his talents and provided a fantastic drag flick goal guided into the top left hand corner of the goal from a short corner that stunned the Thetford keeper.  This was shortly followed by Mark Flatman converting from close range with a cheeky reverse sweep that found the back board. The game continued with Dragons putting pressure on the Thetford goal but couldn’t increase their lead.  Final score: Dragons 6, Thetford 3. Man of the match Dim Ives for his seismic saves.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons Mens 3rd team went into the last match of the first half of the season determined to retain their unbeaten league record. They faced a Pelicans team with a blend of an experienced central core supported by the energy and pace of youth. The early stages of the match were a tense midfield battle as both teams fought for supremacy. Gradually Dragons started to create opportunities but these were thwarted by the Pelicans young keeper who was pulling off excellent saves. When Pelicans managed to get forward the Dragons defence were as strong as normal ensuring there keeper was untroubled and were also starting attacks when they won the ball with Gary Burgess playing well at left back. The half ended in a  goal-less stalemate.

A good half-time team talk by captain George Walker stressing the importance of using the width of the pitch and continuing to play the 3rd teams patient passing hockey and that the goals would come sent the Dragons team out with confidence for the second half. The team took these words to heart and started attacking down the flanks and getting to the back line and cutting the ball back with John Ives excelling on the right. This pressure finally produced the rewards it deserved with a brace of goals from Adrian Kemp and a brace from man of the match Will Kirby who had in previous weeks been providing goal assists. The Dragons defence were still standing firm determined to keep a clean sheet led by the calm head of sweeper Peter Davison and despite Pelicans being awarded two short corners they were prevented from getting any shots towards the Dragons goal. A final fifth goal was scored when a great cross from the left by Alec Bidet-Steele was deflected into the goal by Jon Goodson making a run from midfield to give Dragons a 5-0 win.

This win ended an excellent  first half of the season for the team who after promotion last season have continued playing the same style of hockey with great success in a higher division with a record of 11 wins and 1 draw from their 12 matchs played and lead the Division with a gap to their nearest rivals.

Many thanks to the coaching of Rob Wagstaff which has helped the team achieve these results.

—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 4:1 Pelicans Masters

—————————————————————————————————————–

Broadland won the toss and made a good choice of ends, forcing Dragons to play into the low winter sun.  Although Dragons had had a good warm-up, they took some getting used to the bouncier surface of the new Taverham pitch.  Broadland having home advantage and experience of the pitch, played with two very high attackers.  Their tactic was to use the long ball through the field hoping for a lucky bounce to beat the Dragons’ defence.  This kept the Dragons’ defenders on their toes and called for good communication and cooperation.  Hazel Medler, Dragons’ sweeper and Tammy St John, at centre back, both dominated the middle of the field; whilst Sophie Thomas on the left and Louise Davis on the right, alternated between covering in defence and supporting attacks on their respective flanks.  This seemed to pay off because although Broadland developed some strong attacks in the midfield, they were never really able to take advantage of their high forwards.

Both teams were fairly evenly matched in the first half, although Broadland showed more determination and were winning fifty fifty balls.  However, Dragons took the lead, when Amelia Dawson put pressure on the Broadland’s keeper at short range.  After a series of saves and counter-shots, the keeper was eventually beaten when Amelia slipped the ball left for Amy Brown to skilfully finish the move.

In the second half, Dragons stepped up a gear in their work rate, putting together some good passes from defence through midfield.  Several opportunities were taken to pass the ball across the pitch to their defender Louise Davis who pushed up high to instigated attacks down the right wing.  However, Broadland’s defence remained strong and their tight marking thwarted Dragons’ attackers.  This resulted in end to end play, with a number of penalty corners being awarded to both teams, none of which were converted.  Dragons then went down to ten players when one was yellow carded for questioning an umpiring decision inappropriately.  This created a period of unrest in the Dragons’ defence as they had to re-group and adjust positions, resulting in Amy Forse, Dragons’ keeper, making some cruical saves and clearances.  Broadland were unable to take advantage of this situation and when Dragons came back to a full side ten minutes later they were able to hang on to their lead.

Dragons finished the first half of the season top of the division unbeaten, which is a promising start for a newly formed team that includes several youngsters playing their first season at a senior level and veterans alike.  Dragon’s player of the match was Louise Davis.

—————————————————————————————————————–

The fives took an early lead with a cracking shot from the P spot, from Sophie Farrow, expertly passed to her by Laura Goodbun, while the fives may have felt this was an early sign of taking control of the match the fours came back with their usual determination and began to dominate the match. All the work in training on meeting the ball, playing into space and names on balls began to edge the fives a head.  The mixture of young legs and mature heads meant that within 2 minutes Catherine Bourassa had scored the equaliser.  This was followed by the goal of the game by Felicia Roberts, a beautiful ball that went over the head of the keeper and finally for the first half a lovely nudged ball into the corner from Scarlett Brown.

The second half continued to see lovely play from fours. Annika Richarson (Player of the match) kept instigating great movement out to the wings. While the midfield stuck hard and fast to the opposition, stopping them from making any breaks towards a second goal. Gemma Rump worked hard on the left and Laura Bruce did the same on the right to stop any opportunities the fives had to use the wings. Two more goals were scored by the fours during the second half, a lovely little shot through the keeper’s legs by Annika and a brilliant strike from the top of the D by Debbie Santa Clara.

While it is never fun playing a team from your own club, as someone usually has to loose, it was a friendly and well contested match that showed just how strong the Dragon’s club has become in recent years. Well played everyone.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s 5:1 Norwich Dragons 5s

The 5s had a plan to topple their league-leading clubmates, and for the first glorious 10 minutes the game went according to their script. Their best move of the match saw Chiara Bond pass the ball to Rosie Korn, whose first touch found Laura Goodbun who went on a fabulous run down the right and crossed. Sophie Farrow stepped in from the left to sweep the ball home.

However, in an excellent game with both teams making every effort, the 4s showed just why they are top of the league by getting their goal-scoring machine firing. Catherine Bourassa, Felicia Roberts and Debbie Santa Clara made it 3-1 by half time – and with all three goals the 5s could look at themselves and think that they could have played to the whistle, defended better, and cleared more accurately. However, although the 4s could only score twice in the second half, the moves and shots by Annika Richardson and Scarlett Brown were sheer class.

The 5s saw plenty of the ball, and Laura Goodbun in particular was outstanding with her runs and crosses. The 5s need to work on their striking, and at least six opportunities went begging without a shot being taken. But the 4s could claim to have had their chances too, and the score would have undoubtedly been higher if newcomer Nina Holden had not had an excellent debut in goal, having not played for over a year.

Laura shared the player of the match votes with Emma Buxton, who let nothing past her at right back. The 5s defence remained very composed, with Abi Cowe commanding the central position and Beth Elgood and Amiria Pounsford sharing left back duties. Beth timed her tackles well; Amiria continues to improve; and Lizzy McDonnell also stepped in to do some defensive duties and was very capable, though she probably enjoyed her midfield runs more. Katie Buxton and Chiara Bond did their midfield jobs well – harassing the opposing forwards and finding their own. Lois McGregor completed her mission of playing in every position in the first half of the season by doing a stint at the bottom of the diamond. Beth Bygrave made a guest appearance at the top of the diamond in the second half, which allowed Rosie Korn to move up and look promising at left forward, where she has played before with success.

5s still need to work hard at eliminating the seven deadly sins from their game.  The squeaking seems to have disappeared, and no-one jumped over the ball. But there is still too much Carrow Road-type feet and the umpires (who were excellent, and let the game flow by playing advantages) commented on the tendency of left-sided players to stop the ball with the back of the stick. We also tended to be slow moving to the ball.

However, make no mistake, the 5s can be proud of their first half of the season performance, and are an improving side with more to come. Don’t forget there is a full game on Wednesday night  (12 December) for ALL 5s squad players. Meet at 7.15 for 7.30 pushback.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Pelicans 7:1 Norwich Dragons

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

The final score was a 0-0 draw, although both teams had many opportunities to shoot in the D, no legitimate goals were scored during the match.

Captain and Match Report: Jasmine Mansfield

The player of the match was Rachel Bruce because of her strong tackles and constant pressure on the player with the ball and her inexhaustible persistence to help her team get the ball.  Natalie Beal and Karen O’Neill Simpson coached and played as adults.

3 Memorable moments:

1.  Harriet Williams’s great saves as goalkeeper stopping the other team from scoring.
2.  Jessica Tye-Leech’s and Laura Hansell’s critical defensive runs and tackles.
3.  Tamsen Billing’s rapid improvement through the last few weeks reflected in her performance in the game, she found great strategical positions and was more involved in the game.

Overview

All of the players played confidently, providing a tough opposition for Watton. There was little height to the game, sometimes all of the players were only in one half of the pitch. However as the game progressed, we improved rapidly. As a forward, I noticed that we were communicating more than usual by the end of the game, agreeing that if one of the forwards helped the mid fields and defensive players, the other player must therefore hang back and give the team a quick option to move the ball into a safer place on the pitch.

Both teams had sufficient time in the D, although we had lots of time in the D, we had a lack of confidence and there weren’t many tries at the goal, however, Watton was more confident shooting. Harriet Williams (our goalkeeper) and Karen as sweeper provided an unstoppable defensive team.

Overall I think everyone played very well however we may need to consider working on expanding the game and shooting skills.

A few photos from the first half of this game here

—————————————————————————————————————–

The hoof table this week is as follows:

100% record for Under 12 Boys

Norwich Dragons entered 4 teams into the Norwich City tournament: an under 12 boys team, under 10 boys team, under 12 girls team and under 10 girls team.  Sadly, due to the impact of the weather on one of the Taverham pitches, the tournament was reduced by half, Dragons had 8 teams ready and willing to play.

The boys played in the afternoon and were both undefeated at the end of the day.  Both the teams won their tournament with the under 12s winning every match.  This is the first time the under 12s have won a tournament and the first time Dragons top the podium in both the boys competitions. The boys showed great determination and played some lovely hockey at times.

The club is extremely proud of the efforts of all the players and many thanks to the coaches and helpers on the day and at training, that have prepared the teams so well.

Detailed Match Reports:

It was a glorious chilly winters day that saw the Young Dragon team win their under 12 age group without losing one game.  They played extremely well as a team. The defence worked well with help from the midfield which released Tom down the right wing who then passed to the forwards to score the goals. This was the pattern which was so effective in every match.  It was one of the teams finest performances.  There was as usual great support and encouragement from Natalie, Pat and Ray…..and Am (who became the team doctor – see match report)

Match Report by Raunaq with a little help from his paps!!!

Under 10 boys report

0-0 Magpies

This a game dominated by the two defences with the Dragons defence marshalled by Daniel, Captain Tom and James and Edward holding firm.  This was a good result against a strong team.

1-1 Pelicans

We dominated this game from start to finish and created 4 or 5 great chances. Edward, Tom and Joe looked dangerous throughout. When Edward made the breakthrough there looked to be no way back for Pelicans until , from nowhere, they scored a well hit equaliser from the edge of the D.  Pelicans had their keeper to thank for this result.

2-0 Norwich City Bs

City’s keeper was inspired and managed to thwart many attacks.  Tom managed to take two of several chances created.

1-0 Norwich City As

We probed for large parts of this game again without success, Tom scored the only goal of the game. We had a late scare but had to thank Angus for pulling off a great save toward the end.

Overall a great team effort with lots of chances created and a solid defence and keeper. The best thing is that this team still has lots more to offer as it gets used to playing as a unit.

Managers: Andrew and Sue

Norwich Dragons entered 4 teams into the Norwich City tournament: an under 12 boys team, under 10 boys team, under 12 girls team and under 10 girls team.  Sadly, due to the impact of the weather on one of the Taverham pitches, the tournament was reduced by half, Dragons had 8 teams ready and willing to play.

The girls played early on the Sunday.  The girls played well and improved greatly over the duration of the tournament.  Notable performances for the under 10 team came from Molly Finnegan in goal, Lucy Buxton showing great control of the ball and Maddie Reynolds showing great tenacity and with a goal to her name.  Notable performances from the under 12 team came from Issy Wolfe with her tireless running and great control of the ball, as well as Lotte Korn with her solid tackles and determined runs out of defence. The under 10 girls finished fourth and the under 12 girls finished sixth.

The club is extremely proud of the efforts of all the players and many thanks to the coaches and helpers on the day and at training, that have prepared the teams so well.

Detailed Match Reports:

Girls Mini Hockey Tournament Sunday 2^nd December – Under 12’s

Team:

Alessandra Pellegrini (GK)

Ella Mansley

Lucy Morton

Carmel Windsor Waite

Rachel Bruce (captain)

Lotte Korn

Issy Wolfe

Mia Mchgee

Lara Taylor

Match 1 – Dragons (0) v Norwich City (Lions) (1)

A balanced match with Dragons very unlucky to lose a goal as the ball ricocheted of a number of legs and managed to creep over the line despite Issy’s best efforts to clear the ball. Overall Dragons defence performed well with some very strong defending from Carmel and some great saves from Alessandra the  keeper but unfortunately Dragons could not keep the ball in Lions half often enough.

Match 2 – Dragons (0) v Dereham (1)

Despite a strong start Dragons couldn’t convert their efforts into a goal. Dereham played themselves into the match and pinned dragons back in their goal area. Despite good defending and clearing by Lotte, Dragons eventually conceded a goal. Unlucky Dragons!

Match 3 – Dragons (0) v Magpies (4)

Dragons were forced to defend from the start and despite valiant efforts in defence by Lotte, Carmel and Lara, Magpies were worthy winners.

Match 4 – Dragons (0) v Norwich City (Tigers) (1)

A very exciting match that had both teams playing some great hockey. Dragons had really upped their game and were matching Tigers efforts. Some great attacking play from Ella and Mia saw the play move from end to end very quickly but unfortunately one move from Tigers resulted in a goal. This was unlucky for Alessandra in goal because she did some amazing saves. Dragons again unlucky as this game looked like a draw all the way.

Match 5 – Dragons (1) v Watton (1)

Dragons were now starting to play like a team and this was a really exciting match with Dragons deserving more than a draw from the game. Dragons went one down, very much against the run of play but this seemed to spur dragons on and it was all dragons for the rest of the match. All players ran tirelessly to get back into the match with Rachel B and Lucy up front driving Watton back into their own half. The team’s efforts eventually paid off with a good cross goal pass being turned into the goal by Issy for a well deserved equaliser. Dragons maintained their efforts for the rest of the match and were unlucky not to score a winner.

Match 6 – Dragons (0) v Pelicans (0)

Dragons started this match where they left off with tireless running from the whole team. It looked as though Dragons were finally going to get their reward for some strong play by everyone but unfortunately they failed to convert their play into goals.

Overall

Dragons finished sixth today but in a number of matches played far better than their results suggest. Better luck next time girls and fingers crossed for a good start.

Match Report by Rachel Bruce

Managers:  Jason Wolfe and Ally Windsor Waite

Under 10 girls Managers: David Pentin and Hupty

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

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 3:0 UEA 2s

Dragons got off to a great start, completely dominating the first ten minutes.  A combination of fast passing and great movement off the ball certainly piled the pressure on UEA.  Dragons were rewarded within 2 minutes with a Simon Nisbet goal.  The ball coming from the left side was picked up by Nisbet in the D, and a determined strike saw it slot past the keeper.

Midway through the half, Dragons seemed to lose some of their momentum.  The UEA started to pass and managed to link up some passes.  This gave the Dragons midfield plenty of work to keep themselves busy. Dragon persistence was rewarded by a Jason Wolfe goal. After collecting the ball in the D he rounded a defender and the goalkeeper with slick ball skills before slipping the ball into the goal.

With Wolfe and Captain Cley Hamilton upfront, Dragons were looking dangerous.  The pressure was kept on the UEA defence by the midfield and forwards working well to make it difficult for the UEA to break through. This resulted in UEA playing some risky balls across their own goal.  Dan Cheesman was able to intercept one such pass and pushed it pass the keeper to make the score 3-0 to Dragons.

The halftime team talk focussed on continued attack and effort.  Despite a 3-0 lead, Dragons knew that they couldn’t afford to become complacent and would need to work hard.

The second half was fairly uneventful and resulted in no more goals.  A few attacks by UEA were confidently charged down by Dragon keeper Sam Clark.  Good defensive work by Andy Kelsall and Neil Shorten proving as solid at the back as always.

Man of the Match, Nisbet continued to make some fantastic runs down the right side, and once again Henry Laming was causing trouble for the UEA defence with his good stick skills.  Mark Flatman kept up the Dragon attack with some confident runs, but Dragons just couldn’t get another past the UEA keeper.

Fulltime 3-0 to Dragons.

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 5:1 Holt Harlequins 2s

Dragons mens 3rd team went into this match determined to keep their unbeaten record going but knowing the opposition would be tougher than their division position suggested. Initially the Dragons struggled with the fast paced pitch and found controlling passes difficult. Gradually the team became accustomed to the ball pace and started to attack down the flanks and from one of these moves a cross to the back post was swept into goal by Matt Jenkins to give Dragons a 1-0 lead. Dragons were dominating the match but were finding it difficult to beat the Holt keeper despite having several short corners.

The lead was increased when after several shots were saved by the Holt keeper the Dragons cut the ball back to Alec Bidet-Steele who on his debut for the third team coolly applied the finishing touch to add the icing on the cake of his man of the match performance. Just before half-time some careless play by Dragons was punished when the Holt forward intercepted the ball and drove into the D and scored with a strong shot to bring the half-time score back to 2-1 to Dragons.

This had been a better first half performance by Dragons than the week before but the scoreline did not reflect their domination but the team determined to come out in the second half and continue confident further goals would materialise. The early stages of the second half saw Dragons playing their passing hockey and a good driving run from central midfield by Jon Goodson finished with him making a strong pass into the D which the Dragons forward Adrian Kemp applied the perfect deflection to send the ball into the goal and re-establish Dragons two goal lead. This seemed to relax the Dragons players and some good play down the right flank with Lawrence Singleton supporting attacks from full back culminated in John Ives dribbling into the D and firing a low shot into the far corner of the goal to put Dragons 4-1 ahead.

Dragons captain George Walker was having a commanding performance in the cenre of the park. Dragons finished the match in style when a cross from the right travelled right across the D for the left midfielder Will Ives to time his run perfectly and hit a screaming shot that flew upwards and though the Holt keeper got a glove to it the shot was so powerfull that it carried on into the top corner to give the Dragons a 5-1 winning margin.

This result extended Dragons unbeaten run to 10 matchs this season and with their nearest rival losing unexpectedly the Dragons lead at the top of the division increased.

—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 5:0 Ipswich Cranes 2s

Watch out there’s a Dragon about – John Clogan umpiring at the weekend in a Dragon outfit to raise money for Children in Need!

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

If possession won games then Dragons would have won this game handsomely. Unfortunately, it does not: Dragons failed to turn the time they spent with the ball into goals and ended up losing 2-1 to Dereham.

Dragons played some excellent hockey right from the start of the game: moving the ball freely and pushing Dereham back into their own half for large periods of the game. It was clear that Dereham were going to defend deep and look to hit Dragons on the break. Though Dragons defence held firm against the Dereham attacks, Dragons were unable to find a way through the Dereham defence. Eventually Alex Browne broke the deadlock making it 1-0 to Dragons. There was no further score and it was 1-0 to Dragons at half time.

Though Dereham enjoyed more of the play in the second half Dragons still had the majority of the ball, but could still not find a way through the packed Dereham defence. Midway through the half Dereham intercept a weak pass across the back from Dragons and their forward drove into the circle, winning a penalty stroke. John Allison converted for Dereham to make it 1-1. Dragons continued to search for the elusive next goal, but it was not to come. Dragons failed to deal with one of the Dereham break outs and Dereham won a second penalty stroke when their forward was bundled into in the act of shooting. This time Robbie Whiting in the Dragons goal saved the stroke, though Dragons celebrations were cut short when the umpires adjudged him to have moved too early and reset the penalty. However, this made no difference as Whiting again saved, keeping the score at 1-1. Dereham made it 2-1 when Tom Lovesey showed some fantastic individual skills, running round the Dragons defence from a long corner and calmly converting with a reverse stick shot. This made it 2-1 to Dereham. Dragons continued to play the ball around well, but though they created some half chances were not able to get on the end of them. Nor could they convert any of their penalty corners.

They were left to rue what might have been, final score 2-1 to Dereham.

Dragons man of the match was Ed Smith.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 6:5 Dereham 3s

Dragons travelled to Dereham for what they knew wouldn’t be an easy game.  After winning 1-0 against Dereham 4^th XI the previous week, Dragons knew that hard work and discipline on the pitch would be needed if they were to beat Dereham 3^rd XI.

Dereham soon proved that they were going to push hard and attack the Dragon defence from the start.  They took the lead after 10 minutes, but Dragons responded immediately with a goal from Andy Kelsall providing a cool flick finish over the keeper after a short corner break down to bring the sides level.  Both teams were demonstrating great attacking and counter-attacking play, with the Dragon defence putting in a fantastic performance. In particular Andy Hipper and Rich Phillis showing a master class in defence.

Dereham continued to press hard a took the score to 2-1, however once again Dragons equalised straight after, with a cross from Adam Sayer finding Dan Cheesman in the middle of the D, who spun past two players before burying his shot low past the keeper.

Halftime score: 2-2.  The halftime talk highlighted the need for Dragons to keep up their determination and focus if they were to going to win the match.

The second half was a display of great hockey from both teams.  Once again Dragon defence were making some fine tackles and keeper Jim Woodruff making some crucial saves to keep Dragons in the game.  However Dereham managed to get ahead once again to take the scores to score to 3-2.

The midfield continued to work hard and with Adam Sayer and Rob Panter playing some great passing, managing to link up with the forwards.  Henry Laming continued to cause Dereham problems making light work of their defence and midfield with a stunning show of dribbling and passing. He proceeded his great form by confidently lifting the ball powerfully into the top of Dereham’s goal making the score 3-3. This was shortly followed by a Ricky Powley goal. Scoring with a delightful reverse-stick flick after collecting a 40-yard wonder pass from Piers Gordon-Brown to give the Dragons the lead for the first time.

Dragons maintained their pressure as Cley Hamilton collected the ball from a Dan Cheesman pass into the D, rounding the keeper and hitting a reverse stick shot at the goal which Dan Cheesman poached on the line to put the Dragons two ahead. Dereham continued to push hard and managed to fight back to 5-4, but the Dragon determination and hard work paid off with another goal by Dan Cheesman giving him his second hat trick of the season putting the final score at 6-5 to the Dragons.

This was a really great team performance by Dragons.  It was a challenging game that tested the Dragon’s spirit, but hugely rewarding as everybody had shown commitment on the pitch, resulting in a win.  Dragons look forward to their game next week at home against Bury and another great team win.

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 4:1 North Walsham 2s

The Dragons Mens 3rd team had to make some late team changes prior to the start of the match as an Umpire was unavailable and a member of the team who was a qualified umpire stepped in to the breach.These changes did not seem to unduly affect the team as they made their normal fast start to the match and within 3 minutes had taken the lead with a Jon Goodson strike.The match was being played in the North Walsham half of the pitch and chances were being regularly created but the Walsham keeper was playing a blinder to frustrate the Dragons forwards.A Walsham player suffered a head injury but with their team having no substitutes after having a “Terry Butcher”style bandage applied he was able to carry on.

A second goal from Jon Goodson came when a short corner was saved but Jon reacted quickest to flick the ball over the prone keeper into the roof of the net.A third goal was scored by an Adrian Kemp shot and just before half-time the best goal of the match was scored when Will Kirby and Matt Jenkins interchanged passes for Matt to fire home to give Dragons a 4-0 lead.

The second half saw Dragons continue to dominate with good charging runs from the centre of midfield by captain George Walker.However despite creating numerous chances and being awarded many short corners Dragons efforts on goals were finding the wrong side of the post and going wide or being saved by the Walsham keeper.

In one of their few attacks Walsham were awarded a short corner and pulled a consolation goal back with a shot from the top of the D.In the later stages of the match Phil York-Smith came on to produce a good cameo display down the flanks.
Special mention for young Will Ives strong performance against a powerfull opponent who he refused to yield to and consistently managed to disposess.

—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 3:1 North Walsham 3s

—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons  4s 4:1 Loddon 2s

For the majority of the game the Dragons dominated the play and had several attempts on goal in the first 10 minutes, a cracking shot from Annika Richardson hit the post and lovely strike from Beth Bygrave was less than 5cm from the right post.  It seemed that a goal would come any minute, and it did – Annika kept piling on the pressure and managed to beat the keeper and tap the ball over the line.

Loddon had few breaks in play, but made the most of their only short corner of the game, scoring from a battle on the goal line. Dragons decided that one goal for the opposition was enough and just before half time Annika scored her second goal of the match, beating the keeper (who had dived for her first shot) and tucking it into the left corner.

The second half again saw the Dragon’s taking control of play, with lovely passing through the middle, Felicia Roberts and Gemma Rump making the most of the space and playing some lovely balls across the pitch. Sue Cross (player of the match) really shone in the second half, she seemed to be everywhere on the pitch all at once. She scored her first goal from a short corner – a lovely strike that deflected into the goal. Her second goal, also from a short, was outstanding – perfectly hit across the goal and into the back right corner with a satisfying thump!

This team is really coming together, a lovely blend of youth and experience. Play is flowing more and there is a growing sense of confidence in our ability to work cohesively. Well done everyone for a great game.

Photos from this game here

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons earned their third consecutive 1-0 win, and this time the losers were Old Buckenham 2s, who play far better hockey then their position at the bottom of the division suggests. The hardest working Dragon of the match was sideline manager Sue Cullum, who was handed several sheets of paper suggesting ro-ro combinations for the 16-player squad that captain Bridget Le Good thought was a good idea earlier in the week. This unravelled immediately when two players were late from a netball tournament (but at least they were already winners that afternoon).

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

We started off strong and managed to get a good lead in the first few minutes, a few minutes later we scored again. All the way through we played strong and were definitely the more dominant side with nearly all the play in their D. We got a few short corners and attacked well, unfortunately though no goal was to come out of these.

When the ball occasionally did come down our end we defended really well and strongly. Harriet did some excellent saves and Laura cleared everything coming her way and she rightfully got player of the match.

Throughout the second half again we played brilliantly and had many shots although we didn’t score again we maintained our 2-0 lead ending as a well earned victory.

Both goals were scored by Hattie Bracey.

Laura Hansell was man of the match.

—————————————————————————————————————–

The hoof table this week is as follows

Position     Team                                      Hoof Average

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

For the second week running Dragons started the game quickly, playing fast flowing hockey, putting the home side under massive pressure. However, they were not able to turn their dominance into goals, with the Spalding goalkeeper saving everything that was goal bound. Very much against the run of play Spalding broke quickly down the middle of the pitch and, with Dragons keeper Whiting unable to complete a diving clearance outside the circle, the Spalding forward was left to slot home into an empty net. For Dragons, Rupert Snelling was unlucky to score from two well placed corners, the Spalding defence make good saves on the line. Though Dragons continued to enjoy good possession Spalding came more into the game and were able to work the ball to a well placed forward to deflect into the Dragons net, making it 2-0 to the home side. Dragons kept calm and kept pushing forward looking for goals. Alex Browne opened the scoring for the visitors, smashing home from a well worked penalty corner move (2-1 Spalding). Alex Browne then completed his brace, calmly slotting the ball through the legs of the advancing Spalding goalkeeper, rounding off a good Dragons break. Half time score 2-2.

The second half carried on much as the first half ended, but became increasingly fractious as both teams tried to find the winning goals to guarantee the points which are so precious in such a tight league. Dragons created a number of good chances in open play and from corners, but could not find away pass the inform Spalding keeper. Dragons then had a man sin binned, the culmination of a number of stick tackles. They then had another player sin binned for playing the ball above his shoulder. Despite being down to 9 the Dragons defence was not breached and they caused a couple of scares at the Spalding end. However, it was Spalding who scored next, the ball being hit into the circle and being judged by the umpire to have been touched by the Dragons keeper as it went passed him, ending up in the goal (3-2 Spalding). Back to full strength Dragons pushed forward looking for the equaliser. Rupert Snelling made in 3-3 from a penalty corner, his Dragon flick nestling into the side netting in the goal. As time ran out the game looked to be heading for a draw, but Spalding won a series of consecutive penalty corners, during which Dragons received another yellow card, eventually scoring from a worked move with nearly the final hit of the game.

Final score was 4-3 to Spalding.

Dragons man of the match was Alex Browne.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons made hard work of what should have been an easy win. A spirited physical Dereham side made the whole 70 minutes of the match hard work for the Dragons team.

Dragons were not playing well , but late in the first half Dragons only real hockey move of the match resulted in Mark Flatman scoring with a well placed shot.

The second half continued in the same vane as the first, a mis-jointed Dragons coming up against a determined Dereham and only a fine save at the death from goal keeper and man of the match Damien Ives secured a Dragons win.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

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

Scorers:- Mike Banham, Ollie King, Paul Keating and Ben Harvey

Dragons have been undefeated at the Den so far this season and ran out on Saturday looking to keep that record.

The opposition, Bury St. Edmunds 5ths, were currently second in the League so Dragons were certainly prepared for a tough match.

The early minutes of the game belonged to Dragons, keeping the ball well and making some good passes, little pressure was put on the oppositions goal however which led to Bury taking control of the game more. Dragons absorbed the pressure, defending superbly and keeping up the good work of man-marking. Chris Millar was also in good form preventing Bury from taking the lead on several occasions. Dragons however began to regroup again and turned their defending into attack, which led to a short corner, converted by the reliable Mike Banham.

The game settled into 50:50 possession, with both sides making the game flowing and exciting, with chances at both ends, Ben Campbell came very close with an excellent shot from the top of the ‘D’. The work rate from Dragons however ensured they went into the break with a slender 1:0 advantage.

The second half saw Dragons take control of the game, in particular through the first 15 minutes. Right from the re-start excellent pressure from Ollie King and Michael Whitmore saw a free hit quickly taken and fed into the ‘D’ to allow Ollie King to slot past the keeper for his 3rd goal in 2 games, all in less than a minute from the push-back! This was the start to the half Dragons needed and continued to keep possession, defend well and play some good hockey.

Bury once again came back into the game and pulled a goal back through a short corner, at 2-1 the game was set for a ‘grandstand’ finish with 15 minutes left to play.

Not that Dragons let that effect them, as they continued their excellent work and again created chances to extend their lead, which they did through another short corner, whilst the first shot was saved, Paul Keating followed up the rebound to recover the 2 goal advantage.

The game was finished off with Paul Keating taking the ball from his own half into the oppositions area, playing across the ‘D’ which was coolly slotted home by Ben Harvey, a fine reward for his hard work running the right wing.

This was by far Dragons’ best all-round performance so far this season and the Man of the Match nomination proved that this was a real team effort with a 3 way tie until the final vote was revealed. Alec Bidet-Steele took the honours, who’s efforts were excellent, marking a key player out of the game for Bury and releasing the ball superbly to begin Dragons’ attacks.

A final thank you from the Captain, with 16 players the substitutes were hard to manage but everyone worked together and it was handled with great maturity. Well done.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Norwich Dragons continued their run off good form and maintained their unbeaten record by dominating their match on Saturday against their visitors Sprowston Ladies.

The Dragon ladies played an attractive style of hockey keeping possession of the ball well and being patient in midfield before penetrating the Sprowston defence. The Dragons forward line found themselves with numerous goal scoring opportunities but a combination of excellent goal keeping by the Sprowston keeper, Sharon WEEKS, and strong disciplined defending by Sprowston’s back line kept the Dragons at bay until deep into the first half when Gail THOMAS struck the ball from an acute angle just inside the D which ricochet off the keeper and snuck into the corner of the goal. Although the home team continued to pile on the pressure bombarding the Sprowston defence with shots from open play and from short corners they were unable to increase their lead before going into half time.

The second half continued in the same vain with the Dragons in control and pinning Sprowston deep in their own half for much of the game but they continued to struggle to find the back of the net. A second goal finally came through some good passing hockey in midfield resulting in Hannah RONEY playing the ball through for player of the match Laura SHREEVE to steer into the goal.

The game was not short of drama with the Dragons being awarded two penalty flicks in the second half but again WEEKS would not be beaten easily and both efforts were saved.

This was a good performance from the Dragons who were strong throughout the team and never looked troubled by the visitors. The hosts worked hard and played some excellent passing hockey which led to numerous goal scoring opportunities for the strikers but it was not their day in front of goal. Although a good performance the Dragons must be more clinical as on another day they will be punished for not killing the game off with the amount of dominance and possession that they had.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
North Walsham 1s 5:1 Norwich Dragons 2s

Having had a good run of results, Dragons Ladies 2s went into this game knowing they would need to be at their best to come away with any points. Having started brightly, enjoying some good possession though Lynne Price in the heart of midfield, Dragons were disappointed to go behind to a couple of quick goals from North Walsham, through their speedy attacking players.

Dragons continued to press and forced a number of short corners, one of which, despite initially breaking down, was forced back into the D by Ally Windsor Waite, to Sarah Radley, who sensibly squared the ball for Hannah Hardy to eventually force the ball home.

Unfortunately at the start of the second half, Dragons sustained a number of injuries, which resulted in a loss of experienced players in the centre of the pitch. There was some valiant defending, most notably through player of the match Maddie Denman and a number of strong saves by Freddie Briscoe, however, North Walsham continued to press and eventually made this pressure count, as Dragons chased for the equaliser. A couple of quick goals, followed by a further late strike, sealed Dragons fate.

Valuable lessons to learn for this Dragon’s team, particularly around being first to every ball, being stronger in the tackle and generally ‘wanting it’ just that little bit more. Next week will see another tough test, however one which Dragons look forward too.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich City 5s 0:8 Norwich Dragons 3s

Dragons dominated throughout the match with good passing and possession throughout the team. It was from this team play that Caroline Wolfe was the first to score for Dragons at close range. Wolfe was also instrumental in the second goal when her cross was converted by Hazel Sumner. Good passing between Olivia Thomas and Pollyanna Watson enabled Amy Brown to add her name to the score sheet when she finished the move with a short range push into the back of the goal. Dragons’ fourth goal came from a penalty corner. Pollyanna Watson injected the ball to Wolfe, who slipped it right to Olivia Thomas, who switched it left between Norwich City’s defenders, for Mel Widdows who made a clean, first time sweep into the goal.

At half time the score was 4 – 0 to Dragons, which was a promising start for Dragons, who so far this season have been a second half team.

Caroline Wolfe opened the scoring in the second half for Dragons when she poached a City defensive hit out. Dragons’ sixth goal came from a long through pass from Louise Davis at right defence into open space for Hazel Sumner who took on a few players before adding her second goal. Isi Christophers then converted a shot on goal from Caroline Wolfe by shimming the ball in just shy of the right post. Dragons’ final goal came from a penalty corner slipped left for Emma Moolman to strike firmly onto the City backboard.

It was a great team effort from the whole of the Dragons’ team with only the keeper Amy Forse not touching the ball. The Dragons’ player of the match was shared between Emma Moolman and Olivia Thomas.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s 3:0 Hornets

Another slow start for the Dragons, it seems that it takes a good 10 or 15 minutes for the individuals to start working together as a team. This was a scrappy match, and while the Dragons came away with 3 points, they are capable of playing to a higher standard than was demonstrated today. Flora Gregorie, Sue Cross and Holly Francis played created a solid midfield, driving the ball towards the D and making attempts to force play out wide, they battled for every ball and chased down players with a ragged determination. Despite several attempts at goal by Debbie Santa Clara, Annika Richardson and Scarlett Brown a goal was not to come for the first 20 minutes, when eventually a lifted ball from Scarlett went above the keeper. Thanks to the hard work of Catherine Bourassa (player of the match) who continuously kept taking the ball back down the wing, towards the goal, a second ball found the back of the net a strike from Scarlett and a deflection from a Hornets player.

After the break the Dragons scored relatively quickly, with a lovely shot from Holly, which rebounded off the keeper and into the goal. The Dragons certainly had the majority of possession during the second half and the ball rarely left the attacking end during the final twenty minutes of the match – defensive players almost acted as midfielders and the keeper must surely have felt a little bored by the end of it all. Players such as Freya Clogan and Gemma Rump worked hard to create spaces, draw the opposition away from position and switch play across the pitch; but clumping seemed to occur and on more than one occasion the Dragons were themselves drawn out of position and had to fight to get back on track. While no more goals were to come, the Dragons fought to the end to increase their goal difference.

Photos from this match here

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

Dragons scored their second successive 1-0 win, but this time they were even more dominant all over the pitch. In this game they created far more opportunities, and credit must go to Julie Elvin, playing in goal for the first time, who stopped several shots. The only goal was a beauty, proving the simplest moves stand the best chance. Bridget Le Good sent a through ball to Chiara Bond, whose first time cross found Lois McGregor, who swept home majestically. Laura Goodbun deserved more luck, using her pace to get into good positions and also working extremely hard to get back and defend. Chiara Bond played her best game of the season so far, exploiting her speed on the right and showing determination to get to the ball first.

There were interesting match-ups all over the pitch. Tash Hancock was solid in the Loddon defence, stopping the runs of Lisa Harwood (again showing plenty of determination), Ciara Willmott (who made some intelligent lateral moves) and Claire Fairhurst, who impresses everyone with her spirit and determination to improve her hockey. However, at the other end, Abi Cowe was playing even better in central defence, timing her tackles beautifully and dealing with the speedy raids of Alice Whitmore. Loddon had Becky Carver, the strongest crosser of the ball on the pitch, but Emma Buxton was always on hand to sweep them up and also did her share of successful tackles.

Katie Buxton continues to improve, and had another strong performance at right mid. Cath Power and Amiria Pounsford combined well down the left and set up some excellent attacks. Morag Morrison was seldom called on in the Loddon goal, but she certainly imposed herself on play if the Loddon forwards tried to move the ball close in the circle.

Laura, Abi and Bridget each secured three votes for player of the match, with other players also featuring.

Still to work on – some more practice on first touch and picking the ball up at speed. Shooting needs attention for power and accuracy. No prizes for the reverse high flick that scared the crows in their roosts behind the goal.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich City 14:2 Norwich Dragons (Recorded result 7:2)

Ben Watson scored both of the goals – one from a short corner and one was a reverse stick hit. Both were very good goals.

Despite being 2 men down spirits were high. We were doing very well against a strong team and we were all pulling together. Andrew Carver was doing a great job defending against the strong attack of Norwich. Our attack was doing their best. Connor Adams and Ben Watson were trying hard to get in the right position but unfortunately narrowly missed the target. Things improved when we won a short corner and managed to turn it into a goal. At half time we were given a good team talk by Piers Gordon-Brown. The second half brought new scoring opportunities for Captain Robert Chaney Baxter with very helpful mid fielding by Raunaq Rai , Ben Harvey and exceptional defending by Josh Bingham.

Sam Harvey was a very important asset to the team saving lots of very tricky shots. Although we had the odds stacked against us we tried very hard and it was an excellent effort from all the team. We must also thank Norwich for lending us two players later in the second half.

Well done everyone for maintaining a fighting spirit in spite of the damp weather and a small team.

Ben Watson was player of the match after being a strong member of the team creating lots of chances and scoring both of Dragon’s goals.

Thanks to Ali Smyth for coaching and Ben Harvey and Piers Gordon-Brown for taking on the role of playing adults.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 1:1 Yarmouth

A great goal from a short corner by Isobel Keane gave Dragons a draw this week. Excellent play in the centre of the pitch from captain Anja Finegan and player of the match Aoife Lowe-Davies. Harriet Williams made an amazing save by running towards the player and taking the risk of leaving the goal open and free. Good to hear the opposition saying well done to our players.

Thanks to coach Natalie Beal and playing adults Emma Tabrett and Lizzie Cheesman.

—————————————————————————————————————–
The Hoof table this week is as follows:

In their first experience of the England Hockey Under 16 Clubs Championship, Norwich Dragons sides came up against strong opposition.

The girls lost 3-0 to Magpies in a reduced first round of fixtures, as a result of Norwich City withdrawing from the competition.  The next batch of fixtures for the girls takes place on Sunday 25th November at Lynnsport Kings Lynn when they play against Dereham and Pelicans.

On the boys side of the tournament, Norwich Dragons hosted teams from IES, Magpies and Norwich City in this round of fixtures.  Magpies will be the local favourites to go through from this group with several players having represented the East.  Due to availability problems with the boys, Dragons had  just 10 players for their first match against the favourites and came away with a 12-1 defeat.  Magpies then went on to beat IES 11-0, so clearly a very strong and in form team.

Dragons then played City, and by now the Dragons had a full team available, they lost narrowly 3-2.  City beat IES 4-1 in the other match at the Den.

The next set of fixtures for the boys is on Sunday 25th November hosted by IES and includes matches against Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.  Then on Sunday 10th February the boys play Colchester and IES in Colchester.

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 3:1 Ipswich & East Suffolk 1s

With players missing for various reasons, Dragons were forced to ‘shuffle the pack’ asking players to play in a different formation and some different positions. As a result, the team took a while to settle, and it is fair to say IES had the better of opening exchanges, forcing a number of short corners, which were well dealt with by Maddie Denman and the rest of the Dragons defence.

Gradually, Dragons started to get into the game, however their performance and work rate was not up to the high standards of previous weeks. With Ally Windsor-Waite and Niamh Lowe-Davies building a good understanding on the right, they started to create some promising attacks, however going into the half-time break the score remained goal-less.

The half-time teamtalk focussed on the need to be more ‘switched on’ and increase the work rate. The team listened to what was said and didn’t disappoint, upping the ball speed, retaining possession better and generally working that much harder for each other.

Dragons first goal came from hard work on the right, with intelligent running upfront to stretch the opposition defence allowing Sarah Radley to win the ball and move it on quickly to Saskia Delacave, who swept the ball in expertly from the top of the D – a classy goal.

The second came quite quickly, with Player of the Match Ally Windsor-Waite, linking up well with Niamh Lowe-Davies. Ally attacked the D, leaving a number of IES defenders in her wake, to pull back a pin-point pass to Sarah Radley who found herself in a great position on the P spot to place the ball over the keeper.

IES never gave up, and put further pressure on the Dragons defence. They pulled a goal back with a very smartly taken goal by Maria Wheelen, coming through from defence.

Dragons showed how much they have matured as a team, Lucy Hopgood continued to pass the ball around nicely in midfield, with Kerri White and Sarah Wagstaff keeping control and discipline in the centre at the back. Dragons kept attacking, with the 3rd goal coming following a bit of a scramble in the D, Laura Bailey however kept her cool, and slotted the ball past the keeper to secure the points for the Dragons.

This Dragons team is really starting to build together nicely. Their desire to dig deep and work hard for each other will stand them in very good stead for the rest of the season.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
North Walsham 2s 0:6 Norwich Dragons 3s

Dragons seemed to start the game better prepared than North Walsham and looked the stronger side.  In open play, Dragons passed the ball from the left, back and round their defence, up the right wing to be slotted into the North Walsham goal by Emma Moolman.  Although Dragons attacked through much of the first half, the ball was frequently given away as North Walsham defended doggedly.  North Walsham were fast on the break and kept Dragons’ defence on their guard.  Dragons won their first penalty corner just as the half time whistle blew.  Hazel Medler stepped up to the ‘D’ and converted the corner with a straight strike, giving Dragons a more comfortable lead.

Despite moments of good play in the first half, Dragons’ captain, Amelia Dawson, felt the team could play better.  Her team talk was tough but obviously effective because Dragons stepped up a gear in the second half.  The goals flowed.  In open play, Klara Moolman scored by taking the ball around the North Walsham keeper.  Amy Brown did the same after receiving a slip left from a penalty corner.  Emma Moolman added her second when she converted a cross from Pollyanna Watson.  Finally, Amelia Dawson dribbled the ball on her own from a long corner on the left around several players along the base line to score from an almost impossible angle.

Despite the final score, North Walsham challenged the Dragons’ defence on several strong attacks, which resulted in Dragons’ keeper, Amy Forse making several good clearances and Hazel Medler deservedly being voted Dragons’ player of the match.  Special mention to Sophie Thomas, who built many of the Dragons’ attacks with great passing and support to Olivia Thomas on the right.  A big ‘Thank you’ to Sophie Farrow for coming up from the Dragons 5s to play a credible rolling substitute.

—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Sprowston 2s 1:4 Norwich Dragons 4s

The Dragon’s opened the game in their usual style… lulling the opposition into a false sense of security by watching them score in the first thirty seconds of the game!

However, the Dragons shook themselves up and began pushing forward, Sue Cross doing a fantastic job on the right wing.

Dragon’s won their first corner of the match, which resulted in a beautiful equaliser by Annika Richardson.  Much of the game was in the Sprowston half, and the Dragons were rewarded with a 2nd goal, put into the D by Holly Francis for the slip into goal by Debbie Santa Clara.  Despite these two goals, the Dragons were a little chaotic in their positioning.

Stand-in captain Sue took the opportunity during a break in the game to give a little pep talk to the team and a few changes in player positions were made for the 2nd half.

These changes and a greater awareness of personal positioning saw the Dragons putting up a cohesive offence, keeping the ball up in the Sprowston 25, with some good work between Beth Bygrave, Sue Cross and Marcy Windsor-Waite, backed up by Flora Gregorie.  Beth in particular did a sterling job consistently stopping the ball getting through the mid-field and bringing it back towards the D.  The defence did have some occasional work to do: Abi Cowe, Megan Harvey, Gemma Rump and Laura Bruce holding the line, and goalie Giselle Nieuwoudt managing to move her frozen limbs enough to make some good saves.  The Dragon’s 3rd goal was off a short corner, Beth making a solid strike for Debbie to deflect into goal at the left post.  The final goal was brought in to the D by Holly, passed to Annika who placed the ball expertly, helping Debbie coming in on the right to make it a hat-trick with an easy open goal.

Player of the Match went to Beth, closely followed by Marcy.

Photos of this match here
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 1:0 Hornets

Goalscorer: Lisa Harwood

Player of the Match: The Team

Dragons were not able to field quite their strongest squad, but by showing far more commitment this week they managed to squeeze past Hales Hornets whose second half tactic of keeping one high forward nearly brought a reward. Dragons’ tactic was to start conservatively, with Lois McGregor as sweeper, and Rhianna Belham, Emma Buxton and Katie Buxton in defence. With Rosie Korn running the midfield, every Hornets attack was dealt with comfortably – but Dragons did not have enough bite in attack.

The second half was more exciting. Dragons dropped the sweeper role, and Sophie Farrow, Jade Blanchflower and Shantelle Melton all provided lateral runs up front and Lisa Harwood played high forward. Hornets also began to find their own high forward, so Chiara Bond, Lizzy McDonnell, Armiria Pounsford and Katie had to work hard defensively as well as create attacking moves. With time running out, desperate measures were called for. Bridget Le Good will probably never dare to run with the ball again, but managed to beat three players down the left, move the ball across the baseline and get the ball through to Lisa Harwood. Lisa came to the ball with her back to goal, turned and pushed the shot home. Lisa had rocked up as a last minute substitute for the injured Nicky King, and was duly mobbed by her grateful teammates.

The match was far from over. Hornets redoubled their efforts, and Morag Morrison marked a welcome return in goal with a good diving save and some strong clearances. With two minutes to go, Hornets got past Morag, but Bridget was on the line to block the shot and Lois was on hand to sweep away to safety – a typical example of the resolute job Lois did all match, an unsung hero.

Dragons can look forward to another ‘scrap’ next week and in training must focus on picking up the ball at speed, thinking about where their pass is going before they make it, and doing something about their flippin’ feet.  With such a good team performance, there was no clear winner of the player of the match, and all the players can congratulate themselves on a job well done.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–
The Hoof table this week is as follows:

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

Dragons made the long trip to Peterborough looking to pick up their first points on the road this season against a side promoted into their division. Dragons were expecting a tough game against a disciplined side, with Peterborough starting life in Div 2 well, beaten just once in their opening six games, and that by a single goal.

For probably the first time this season Dragons came out the stronger side, passing the ball quickly and opening up gaps in the Peterborough defence. Dragons then suffered a scare when centre-back Ed Smith was struck in the face by an attempted aerial pass. Luckily the ball only grazed Ed and he was able to return to the pitch a few minutes later. After a couple of half chances, Dragons won the first penalty corner of the game. The injection was slightly off, but Rupert Snelling improvised well to crash a shot into the corner of the goal. After initially awarding the goal, the umpire conferred with his colleague and adjudged the shot to have been too high, a correct decision which unfortunately ruled the goal out.

Despite this disappointment, Dragons continued to press Peterborough hard, with both Jason Wolfe and Alex Browne having half chances that they couldn’t quite convert. Dragons did take the lead after some good work down the right by Lewis Wilkins, who drove forward and fired in a cross towards Matt Knights in the D. Knights met it with a first time sweep into the corner of the goal.
Dragons continued to press through the rest of the half, but couldn’t find any further breakthroughs. The only scare of the half came when Peterborough broke in numbers and eliminated Robbie Whiting in the Dragons goal, only to find Dragons Captain Danny Knights covering to block the shot.

Half-time Peterborough 0-1 Dragons

Dragons half-time team talk focused on keeping up the level of play from the first 20 minutes of the game and trying to be a bit more incisive in the final third. Peterborough, however, had other ideas and stepped their game up after the break, gaining more possession.

Following a broken down Dragons attack, Peterborough broke forwards in numbers and found themselves with an overload on the Dragons left hand side. A couple of quick passes eliminated the Dragons defence leaving Peterborough with a two on one against Whiting, who was left with no chance as one forward slipped the ball to his colleague for a simple finish.
Despite Peterborough’s increased possession, they struggled to create chances, with the Dragons defence shutting down the Peterborough forward line, and continuing to launch attacks of their own. Despite this, Dragons were unable to create clear chances of their own, Sam Parmenter found his way through a couple of tackles but a Peterborough defender made a crucial last second tackle before he could pull the trigger. Alex Browne also went close, but could only knock Wolfe’s cross straight at the keeper as he stretched to make contact.

As Dragons pushed for the winner they left themselves open at the back and were indebted to Whiting who made himself big to turn away two late Peterborough strikes that could have made for a different outcome.
Dragons did win a late penalty corner, but a miss-trap forced Snelling onto his reverse stick and he was unable to get a clean connection on his effort.

Full Time – Peterborough 1-1 Dragons

Dragons came away pleased to have picked up their first away point, but on a weekend of draws in their division, were disappointed not to have taken the 3 points their first half performance should have resulted in.

Next week Dragons welcome local rivals Harleston Magpies to The Den, who will be looking to move up the table following their first win of the season this weekend.

Player of the Match Dave Sloman

—————————————————————————————————————–

Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 1:0 Sudbury 3s

The Dragon 2XI came out strong against Sudbury at the den. Maintaining high pressure and camping high up in Sudbury’s territory. Good movement and passing proving not good enough to break down the Sudbury defence. Debut were handed to youngsters Will Ives and Henry Laming who very much held there own playing great hockey and showing a clean pair of heels to get down the byline before crossing fantastic balls. The match goalless heading into the break.

The second half witnessed more dragon pressure. Adam Sayer providing a delightful display of passing and ball retention. After a couple of surges from Sudbury the dragons effort finally paid off with a quick midfield movement leaving Dan Cheesman to dispatch the ball low into the goal. The dragons held on for the rest of the half to victory. Final score 1-0, joint players of the match Henry Laming, Adam Sayer and Cley Hamilton.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

This match was played in the first Autumn weather of the season with the teams have to play in heavy rain and strong winds and the sky becoming so grey and dark that floodlights had to be turned on at 11:30 when the second half started!

Despite these difficult conditions both teams played good passing hockey. Dragons made the brighter start playing strongly down their right flank with Jon Price playing John Ives the ball for him to cross from the base-line. From one of these attacks the Bury keeper had to make two great reflex saves to prevent Dragons taking the lead. Bury started to come into the match and Dragons keeper Sam Clark made a good save from a drag flick from a Bury short corner. As the first half progressed the match became a midfield battle with the Dragons midfielders Jon Goodson, George Walker and Rich Phillis matching their opposite numbers.

In the second half Bury gained the ascendency but were prevented from scoring by solid defending by Peter Davison and man of the match Jon Price who was also always providing an outlet to start attacks from defence. When Bury did break through Sam Clark was smartly off his line to snuff out the danger. Dragons were making a few openings with fast breaks but neither team could find the net. The match ended in a draw which was a fair result for both teams in a match which was played in very good spirits by all the players.

This was the Dragons 3rd team’s first real challenge in this Division, which they passed well.

—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 2:2 Norwich Exiles 1s

Given their league position, Dragons 4s expected a tough game against Norwich Exiles, and this was certainly the case.

The initial part of the game belonged to Exiles, with Dragons playing as though nervous of their opposition, with unusually poor passing and tackling. It was a ball not stopped by the defence that gave Exile’s Stuart Hall a chance, which he took extremely well. This gave Dragons the wakeup call they needed as they started to settle on the ball. Ray Hansell at centre back had a superb game and from here on allowed nothing to pass.

Dragons began to move the ball through the midfield and Rob Jenkins started to get the ball in behind the Exiles defence. Exiles conceded a short corner which Andy Key injected to Mike Banham who’s usual accurate strike went straight past the keeper to level the game at 1 -1 for half time.

The second half saw Exiles’ Stuart Hall bag his second to put the visitors 2 -1 ahead, slightly against the run of play. Dragons continued to penetrate behind the Exiles defence and this pressure eventually paid off when an Exiles defender did not bring the ball under control quickly enough, allowing Dave Thornton to pounce, he rounded the keeper and popped it into the net. The score remained at 2 – 2 until the final whistle. Overall a good performance from the team and a good result against an experienced Exiles side.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

This local derby didn’t fail to disappoint the neutrals. With both sides having been relegated from Division 1 last year and going into this game unbeaten it was always going to be a very candid and tight game. Although, in the main the teams shared the possession in the first half, it was City that edged it but they failed to penetrate the Norwich Dragons defence. The Dragons were not quite on their game today, their first touch was sloppy but they maintained their discipline by keeping their shape and defended solidly. The Dragons were patient and waited their opportunity. This came mid way through the first half. An excellent passage of play led to a goal; the City keeper failing to clear the ball from the area but some good improvisation by Nat BEAL gave the Dragons the lead. City responded just before half time; a short corner strike from Emily ANTHONY deflected into the net.

After their half time team talk the Dragons came out fighting working hard and putting the city players under pressure. This forced an error by one of the defenders; a free hit intercepted by Marie JAMES who found Laura SHREEVE in the circle who struck the ball sweetly to make it 2-1. With 15 minutes to go the Dragons looked comfortable and in control of the game and looked the more likely to score but City, who did not stop working hard, managed to skip past two Dragons defenders and win a short corner which they were clinical with making it 2-2. With Dragons pushing forwards to find a winner, City broke again and were awarded a penalty corner which again Emily ANTHONY smartly finished to get complete her hat-trick. To the Dragons credit they always had belief in their ability and showed great character to bring the game back to 3-3. Marie JAMES finding SHREEVE in space again who drove the ball to the back line finding Claire BAKER with a pin-point cross which BAKER connected with, leaving the City keeper no chance.

This wasn’t the best performance from the Dragons although in the second half they played better and looked the likely winners but City worked harder and definitely seemed more determined and ‘up for this game’. In the end a draw was probably a fair result.

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Broadland 1s 0:6 Norwich Dragons 2s

With the rain and hail falling relentlessly, the Taverham pitch was completely saturated, however a glimmer of blue sky on the horizon, meant that sensibly the decision was made to delay the start for half an hour.

Dragons were keen to get going and started brightly, earning an early short corner, which Debs Smith aimed towards the far post, for Niamh Lowe-Davies to deflect the ball past the keeper. Having got the early goal, Dragons continued to press hard, with Player of the Match Laura Bailey and Saskia Delacave playing some lovely hockey in attack.

Broadland won a series of short corners in quick succession, these were expertly dealt with, particularly by Maddie Denman who was out quickly to break down play and Freddie Briscoe in goal, who dominated the line with some strong kicking.

Dragons made their extra work rate and desire to win this game count, with further goals before half time, two from Hannah Hardy and two from Kerri White, who made some excellent runs in from the left, picking up the ball pulled back to her on the P spot and confidently slotting past the Broadland keeper.

The second half saw the sun shine, and despite playing some good hockey, Dragons found themselves under a bit more pressure from Broadland, however the returning Lizzie Moulton marshalled the defence superbly and as always Maddie Denman was outstanding at left-back, both being well supported by Ally Windsor-Waite.

With Debs Smith, Ruth Willmott and Louise Bunning all strong in midfield, Dragons finally got their sixth following a run down the right by Hannah Hardy, pulling the ball back to Debs Smith, to neatly tuck inside the near post.

A really strong performance by a Dragons team who showed the sort of desire and commitment which will stand them in great stead in this League.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Norwich Dragons ladies threes started off strongly during this home game against Sprowston 2s. Some lovely passing and excellent lateral running from forwards and midfielders presented several opportunities for Dragons despite the hail. Sprowston had a strong defence who continued to keep Dragons out the goal. Sprowston had several breaks in play and Dragons defenders did a great job in clearing the ball and switching play back in favour of Dragons so the game felt very “end to end”.

The second half saw Dragons really fall into the lovely hockey which has kept them at the top of the table so far this season. Lynne Price and Olivia Thomas ran tirelessly in midfield creating opportunities. A lovely cross from Caroline Wolfe found Amy Brown’s stick and Dragons had their first goal.

Second goal for Dragons resulted from some excellent overlapping on the right by Olivia Thomas and Amelia Dawson and was struck beautifully into the back of the goal by Lynne Price. Final score Dragons 2 – Sprowston 0

The Dragons’ Player of the Match was Amy Brown.

Photos from first 20 minutes here

—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Lowestoft Railway 2s P:P Norwich Dragons 4s

Due to hail on the hockey pitch first thing this morning, Lowestoft called off the game.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 0:5 Sprowston 3s

There is currently a fragility about the 5s play as they try to accommodate the 27 or so players in their squad, build up their core skills and come to terms with using the ‘diamond’ which, once they get it, will strengthen their game.

Unfortunately for the 5s, the Sprowston players who had already played at a higher level were still full of running and power, and gave them an object lesson in how to hit the ball and how to get to the ball first. The 5s kept plugging away, but all too often they wilted under the pressure and passes were either aimless or not gathered up. When they did get the ball to do the work, keep their composure and move laterally, they showed glimpses of the side they can be. Goalkeeper Laura Tuck was player of the match for a very spirited performance which kept the score respectable.

Lizzy McDonnell, Beth Elgood, Rhianna Belham and Cath Power all showed improving form. The 5s will not be discouraged, and will go back to training knowing what they have to do to get back on track, and will carry more of it forward into their game next week.

Photos from this match here

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–

Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
No fixture

—————————————————————————————————————–
The Hoof table is as follows
Position Team Hoof Average

1 Ladies 4s 5.00
2 Ladies 3s 4.25
3 Ladies 1s 4.22
4 Mens 2s 3.50
5 Mens 3s 3.43
6 Ladies 2s 2.50
7 Mens 4s 2.25
7 Mens 1s 2.25
9 Ladies 5s 1.63
10 Boys Development 1.25
11 Girls Development 1.00

Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 6:1 Bourne 1s

Dragons returned to winning ways this week with a moral boosting 6-1 win at home over Bourne-Deeping.

Dragons struggled to gain possession of the ball in the early minutes and found themselves quickly a goal behind to a Bourne-Deeping break away. Gradually Dragons were able to play themselves back into the game and they started to put pressure on the Bourne-Deeping defence and create some attacking pressure. Rupert Snelling opened the scoring for Dragons, tying the game at 1-1. Bourne-Deeping continued to look to hit Dragons on the break and won a number of penalty corners, but were unable to convert any of them, Robbie Whiting standing strong in goal. Dragons continued to create chances and Steve Woodward scored from a well worked penalty corner to make it 2-1 to Dragons. The score at half-time was 2-1 to Dragons.

Dragons came out strongly in the second half, putting in their best performance of the season so far. Bourne-Deeping were limited to a few corners and chances in the second half, while Dragons piled on the pressure. Alex Browne made it 3-1 to Dragons before Matt Knights scored the goal of the game, latching onto Lewis Wilkins’ fantastic through ball, before rounding the keeper and calmly slotting the ball reverse stick into the open goal. Matt Knights scored his second being first to latch onto a free ball in the circle and smashing it home. Alex Browne completed his brace to round off the scoring for Dragons. Final score 6-1 to Dragons.

Dragons man of the match was Lewis Wilkins.

—————————————————————————————————————–

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

Dragons 2XI came up against a strong IES team that were particularly organised and not shy in front of goal. A couple of defensive errors led to the first couple of goals for IES as Dragons fought hard not to concede more Dim Ives pulling off save after save. The Dragons fought hard to level but only to concede one more before the break to a counter attack after a surge of dragon pressure in IES circle. Dragons down by 3 at the interval.

From the start of the second half the Dragons went on the offensive. Pushing up from the back and a good display of passing from Adam Sayer providing opportunities on goal. Finally a strong dribble from Dan Cheesman struck lucky with a shot lashed into the bottom corner. Momentum was swinging the Dragons way until IES got in behind the defence with a large arial catching the dragons out for an easy tap in which was shortly followed by another. IES 5-1 Dragons man of the match Adam Sayer.

—————————————————————————————————————–

East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 7:0 Felistowe 3s

Summary:

Under ten girls fifth out of seven
Under twelve girls third out of eight.

Thanks to the following managers…

U10 girls David Pentin and Hupty
U12 girls Wolfie and Gemma Rump

Norwich Dragons Girls under 10s

Dragons made an impressive start to the tournament with a 1-0 win (Scarlett Udy) over Magpies B.  It was a superb team performance with some fantastic passing on display.  The mid-field of Jemima Watson and Scarlett Udy worked together well making it difficult for the opposition to make any ground in the Dragons half.

In their second match, Dragons consolidated on their early win with a solid 0-0 draw against Norwich City B.  The defence made up of Sofia Grove, Sasha Hohnen and Simran Rai made some important tackles to keep the game even.

The girls went on to show grit and determination in their next match to come back from 1-0 down against Dereham.  After some persistant tackles in the mid-field by Annabelle Hodgson and Octavia Udy, Scarlett Udy scored a break away goal to draw the game level.  Despite further pressure from Dereham Simran Rai helped to secure the draw with a fine performance in goal.

Following a frustrating game against Norwich City A, the mini-Dragons rounded off the tournament with a well earned 0-0 draw against Pelicans.

Without a regular goal keeper the girls showed great team spirit by volunteering to take it in turns in goal.  Overall, it was an excellent debut for the team putting them in a good position to develop further in the future.

Team – Scarlett Udy, Annabelle Hodgson, Sofia Grove (Cpt), Jemima Watson, Sasha Hohnen, Octavia Udy, Simran Rai.

Coaches – David Pentin and Claire Hupton

Norwich Dragons Girls under 12s

Huge credit must go to all nine players in the U12 side for the tournament held at Harleston, and especially to the new members of the squad – Dani Harvey, Lara Taylor and Jodi Rump – who looked completely at home.

The day started with the sad news that Aimee Lowry was injured, and therefore the squad would be one player down. Despite that, the team went into the first game against Magpies B full of confidence, and playing some fantastic hockey. The game was sealed when Lucy Morton ran half the length of the pitch with the ball, out-pacing the defence and calmly slotting the ball past the advancing goalkeeper. The defence then worked hard to ensure the first three points were suitably claimed.

The second game, against a strong Norwich City B team, saw the team concede an early goal, but rally strongly once they started to believe in themselves and it was no surprise when a combination of Lucy and the skipper Rachel Bruce earned a well-deserved draw.

With seven games to play, there were some concerns that the team might run out of steam – having only one substitute – but the effort was tremendous throughout. There followed a goalless draw against Pelicans, which in all honesty the Dragons girls could easily have won on a different day. They hit the post and had a number of great chances narrowly miss. Ella Mansley was particularly instrumental in controlling the midfield, whilst Lara Taylor was visibly gaining confidence alongside the very impressive Carmel Windsor Waite as the rock of the team’s defence.

A highly anticipated game against Dereham saw possibly the best of the performances, and a 2-0 win was just reward for all the girl’s hard work. Isobel Wolfe ran absolutely tirelessly whilst Lucy Morton continued her impressive exploits in front of goal. This was then followed by two very tough games against Norwich City A and Magpies A, which were lost 2-0 and 3-1. The game against City A was particularly notable for the saves that Alessandra Pellegrini made under heavy pressure.

The final game, against Watton, was much tougher than the team were initially expecting, but they rallied well to secure a 2-0 win via goals from Isobel Wolfe and Lucy Morton.

Overall the team finished a hugely impressive third, and perhaps even more importantly they finished with huge grins on their faces (despite the rain and the sheer exhaustion of the day). A genuine team effort and excellent contributions right across the piece.