Mens East League Division 2 North
Norwich Dragons 1s 3:2 City of Peterborough 4
Off the back of their great away win last week Dragons approached the game hungry for another 3 points. The early exchanges of the game were scrappy with neither team able to build much possession or momentum. However, Dragons were able to find the net, Rupert Snelling picking up the ball in the Peterborough ‘D’ and working a fine reverse stick shot (1-0) Dragons. Both team settled down after this and, though they started to have much more of the ball, Peterborough were not able to create many shooting opportunities and those they did make were comfortably saved by Robbie Whiting in the Dragons goal. Dragons increased their lead when Rupert Snelling forced the ball in from near the penalty spot (2-0) Dragons. Dragons were not able to settle on their 2 goal advantage, giving possession away too cheaply, but at the same time creating a number of break away opportunities.
Half time score 2-0 to Dragons.
Dragons scored their third goal when Ed Smith calmly fielded a penalty corner which went straight through the stopper and then passed to Jason Wolfe who’s spin and shot defeated the Peterborough keeper (3-0 Dragons). Dragons looked comfortable at this point, but Peterborough scored from a penalty corner (3-1) and were then gifted a second goal when the Dragons defence misfielded the ball, it coming through to a Peterborough striker at the top of the ‘D’, who’s first time shot lodged in the bottom of the goal (3-2). This spurred Peterborough on and Dragons endured a frantic last 10 minutes to come out 3-2 winners.
Final score 3-2 to Dragons.
Dragons man of the match was Jason Wolfe.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Mens East League Division 4 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s 2:2 Sudbury 3
The Dragon’s started off strongly as they have done in previous weeks. Pressurising the Sudbury defence, terrorising runs down the flanks by Simon Nisbet and Lewis Wilkins gave the opposition a lot to think about as the Dragons attack peppered the Sudbury stronghold. A short interchange between Mark Flatman and Adam Sayer brought about the first goal as they bounced pass to one another before Sayer crashed a ball towards the goal. The keeper could only deflect the shot a metre back out where captain Cley Hamilton was on hand to sweep the ball into the back board to make it 1-0 Dragons. Further smart play from Ricky Powley and Barney Price provided several opportunities, but none were converted. Dim Ives pulled off a few saves to keep the Dragons ahead along with Andy Hipper heading a much changed defence with stand ins Jon Price and Henry Eades. However before the break the Dragons goal was breached after a series of short corners lead to a Sudbury goal making the score line 1-1.
Henry Eades continued his fine debut for the side getting the better of his opposite number and providing decent balls out from the back. The Dragon’s second goal came from a through ball to captain Cley Hamilton who turned his defender inside out before lashing a reverse stick cross to Dan Cheesman to control and hit the ball in to make the score 2-1. Halfway through the second half the Dragons went down to 10 men. This brought about added pressure on the Dragons goal which lead to the tying score. Sudbury then held out despite a late drag flick attempt by Henry Laming only to be denied by the in form Sudbury goal keeper.
Final score 2-2 with Henry Eades man of the match.
—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 IES 4
Norwich Dragons Mens 3rds had to make a number of changes to the team due to unavailabilty. This allowed the team to include a mixture of youth and experience. Jonty Gosling made his debut in mens hockey at the age of 14 after good recent displays for the Under 16 and Boys development team and Ollie King was promoted from the 4th team after good recent performances. The team were also pleased to have the addition of the playing experience and knowledge of Phil Yorke-Smith and Mal Hant.
The Dragons made a good start and were immediately on the offensive testing the opposition defence. The pressure was converted into the award of a number of short corners but the initial attempts at direct shots were well saved by the IES keeper. Jonty Gosling was playing well on the right side of defence winning the ball with strong tackles and pushing forward with the ball to start attacks linking up with team-mates and he was justifiably voted man of the match.
IES were making occassional fast breaks and taking advantage in the early stages of the match of some loose Dragons midfield marking and Sam Clark had to make an important save to ensure IES didn’t take the lead against the run of play. Dragons finally took the lead when for the first time they tried a variation at a short corner which allowed Jon Goodson to score from close range,1-0 Dragons. The Dragons tightened up their marking and IES did not trouble the Dragons keeper for the rest of the half and Dragons continued to create chances with the ball being moved down both flanks with Matt Jenkins playing well on the left. Dragons went into the half-time break with their one goal lead and Peter Davison gave a calm and encouraging team talk.
Dragons continued to dominate in the second half with Jon Goodson and Mal Hant forming a strong partnership in central midfield. Dragons made the match safe with a second goal when after good approach work by Ollie King the ball was fed to Will Kirby who took the ball round the keeper before drilling the ball into the unprotected goal for the team’s 50th league goal of the season,2-0 Dragons. The icing on an excellent attacking performance was applied when Adrian Kemp scored with a reverse stick shot from an acute angle from the base-line,3-0 Dragons. IES were awarded a late short corner but a strong stick deflection on the line from David Pentin ensured the IES shot went wide and the Dragons clean sheet was preserved.
With the clash of Dragons two promotion rivals producing a win for the 3rd placed team the lead has now been extended by a further three points.
—————————————————————————————————————–
East Men’s Hockey League Division 6 North East
Norwich Dragons 4s 4:3 Sudbury 4
After their superb victory the previous week, Dragons travelled to deepest darkest Sudbury knowing they needed to work hard to show that beating the league leaders was no fluke.
Dragons started well keeping the pressure on Sudbury with the ball mostly in the Sudbury half, but did look lethargic at times allowing Sudbury to easily get the ball. Dragons still created chances but could not test the keeper enough. Sudbury rarely threatened the Dragons goal and spent large parts of the first half passing the ball in their own half of the pitch, and not really able to break Dragons down.
The score remained 0:0 at half time but Dragons knew they were the better team and just needed to step up a gear.
The second half the game came to life and even with Dragons being more in control, Sudbury took the lead with a hard hit into the area which was poked home by their forward. Dragons responded superbly as Sudbury’s lead lasted about 5 minutes, once again with Dragons having the more pressure, Jake Hardesty responded the quickest to slot home after the keeper saved the short corner shot from Mike Banham.
Minutes later Dragons had the lead, with good work from Chris Harrison who drove the ball from his own half past 2 players up to the oppositions 25 yard line, passing to Ben Harvey who slipped the ball to Chris Matthews who crossed to Jake Hardesty to push home his second of the afternoon. Dragons now in total control they added a third after Andy Key played in Chris Matthews who after a slight interception from the defender showed good individual play to shoot across the keeper for a stunning finish.
Another short corner followed and again Jake Hardesty reacted first after the keeper saved to push towards goal only for the ball to hit a defenders foot, a clear penalty flick which was converted by Mike Banham. 4 goals in 15 minutes showed the attacking play was paying off.
Dragons as they have done a few times this season switched off to let Sudbury get back in the game, who were getting the occasional chance on the break, they did this twice and Dragons failed to clear a very loose attack as both responding goals all but trickled over the line to give Sudbury a chance at a draw.
To help see out the game Paul Keating and Chris Harrison dropped back, alternating every few minutes to support the defence, although Dragons still pressed on looking for another goal as Sudbury began looking less likely to get the equaliser.
An excellent second half saw Dragons claim victory but need to be sharper when controlling the game, that is 2 games in a row where a solid victory has slipped into a nervous final 15 minutes.
Man of the match was again nominated between 5 players, with Jake Hardesty taking the honours after his quick reaction display to score 2 goals.
—————————————————————————————————————–
East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 1s 6:3 Framlingham
Unlike last week the Dragons were slow off the mark and confusion within the first minute of the match gifted Framlingham a goal.
The Dragons remained calm keeping their heads and began putting the Framlingham defence under pressure but were finding it difficult to break them down as the attacking twenty five yard area was very congested. The Dragons settled into the game and began to move the ball quickly playing some excellent one touch hockey and it was this style of hockey that Framlingham couldn’t live, it created openings and resulted in Shelly SEAMAN scoring for the third consecutive week putting the Dragons on level terms. The Dragons second came from some excellent link up play between SEAMAN, Marie JAMES and Laura SHREEVE which ended with the final pass finding Nat BEAL who made no mistake in firing the ball home. BEAL netted twice more in the first half taking the scoreline to 4-1. Framlingham threatened the Dragons defence on a number of occasions and just before half time converted a short corner going into the break 2-4 down.
Although this was not the best performance of the Dragons, who looked heavy legged and lethargic, they still enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and the second half was packed full goal scoring chances for them which they failed to convert; and as they pushed forward they were caught on the break by Framlingham and looked more unorganised defensively than they have done all season. Framlingham found themselves 5-2 down in the second half, a fourth goal scored by BEAL, but to their credit they did not give up and had a ‘never say die’ attitude and they caused the Dragons some problems on the break; their forwards were skilful and canny and caught the Dragons exposed several times and got their reward with another goal decreasing the deficit to 5-3 which made for a nervous finish. The Dragons finally put the game out of reach of Framlingham, a well deserved goal for Laura SHREEVE who had worked tirelessly throughout the game taking her goal tally for the season to 27 goals.
This was by no means the Dragons best performance but they kept fighting and maintained their togetherness as a team grinding out a win which has given them the precious three points needed which takes them to the top of the league
—————————————————————————————————————–
East Women’s Hockey League Division 2 North East
Norwich Dragons 2s: No Fixture
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 1
Norwich Dragons 3s 3:0 Evergreens 2
A warm and sunny start in Holt made a nice change for this match against Evergreens 2s. Despite the lovely weather the Dragons felt sluggish for the first 15 minutes before settling into some better passing hockey. The triangular formations and setting up for free hits and long corners quickly gave Dragons the advantage and several shots on goal were saved by a class Evergreens keeper. Then with five minutes to go until half time a well battled rebound on a short corner was slotted home by Amy Brown.
After half time Dragons looked more like themselves and got their Dragon fire back. They put immense pressure on Evergreens in the D, winning several short corners, during one of these, Amy Brown once again found the rebound from Caroline Wolfes strike and showed great composure in placing it past the keeper. Dragons third goal came after yet more attempted shots by Captain Amelia Dawson and Caroline Wolfe, when some lovely passing play from the midfield gave Mel Widdows the ball in the D which she put straight in the corner. Final score three nil to Dragons. Once again a great second half after a frustrating first half. Great work rate from the whole team.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 4s 2:0 Breckland
The match started well with Dragons making most of the running, but Breckland consistently man-marked, making it difficult to either drive the ball or pass to another player. On the occasions when the ball made it into the D, strong defending made it difficult to get a clean shot on goal and thus scrappy passing and confused shots ensued. Dragons continued to push forward but the beautiful, pacey hockey of previous matches seemed to all but have disappeared. One positive from the first half was solid defending and a consistent midfield which meant that Breckland were unable to make any attempts on the Dragon’s goal. Tammy St John (Player of the Match) directed play beautifully from the center.
With the score at 0:0 at half time Dragons were determined to try and recapture their usual style of play, Sue Cross, Holly Francis, Lynne Price and Megan Harvey made much better use of the space down the wings, taking the ball out wide and moving it quickly and repeatedly towards the D. Scarlett Brown, Debbie Santa Clara and Annika Richardson made a much more cohesive unit at the front, passing the ball in and out of the D, throwing defenders off guard and creating gaps, and this was how Scarlett was able to sneak the first goal past the keeper. The Final goal came from Holly, from a short corner, a rebound off the post and the keeper before being chipped into the back of the goal.
While I’m sure none of us would like to play this match again it did teach us that we need to always play to our strengths and not let the opposition dictate the pace or style of play. A victory nonetheless.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Women’s League Division 2
Norwich Dragons 5s 3:0 Norwich City 5
Quite frankly, Dragons 5s have been in the doldrums just lately. They couldn’t hit a barn door if they sat on the snick, and they were about as cheerful an assistant on a supermarket meat counter. Drastic measures were called for. El Presidente had a few little words at training, Lois McGregor put on the captain’s armband, half the squad went ski-ing – and hey presto, the rest came up with a big win.
Having prepared a master plan (with colouring in), Lois demanded that her team play with pace, keep their shape – but move fluidly around the pitch. The tactic brought an early reward when she forced home a great pass from Jade Blanchflower. Equally good goals from Lisa Harwood and Rosie Korn followed, and Ciara Willmott and Sophie Farrow were unlucky not to get onto the score sheet. All the goals came in the first half; in the second, the Dragons were not quite as successful at pressing home their advantages.
City were strong on the counter attack but in defence, Abi Cowe was in fine form again, with Emma and Katie Buxton equally impressive either side of her. Goalkeeper Sue Cullum had been told her holiday was over, and she returned to show no signs of rust as she nervelessly stopped some strong shots and showed her usual good judgement when deciding which long balls to leave well alone.
Sophie Farrow was player of the match, and worked tirelessly in midfield and led the way in lateral running. Jade was equally impressive; she has a lot of pace and her passing is improving with every match. Lizzie McDonnell played a very disciplined game in all the midfield positions. She was the provider and supplier of the telling balls, and was strong in the second half as others faded. Ciara Willmott played her best game for the Dragons so far. She held her position wherever she was played; was unlucky not to score, and began to make her presence felt on the pitch.
Rosie Korn was very comfortable on the ball at the top of the diamond and battled away, winning most of the tussles she was involved in. Particular praise should go to Katie Buxton, who played left defence again which is not her favourite position. Cath Power managed the subs with great efficiency, and she is now back in training after a long injury and is keen to compete for a place in the defence. Praise, too, for Claire Fairhurst, who is getting more and more pitch time – the more she practises, the better she gets.
So all in all a very satisfactory day for the Dragons, who marched off with big grins. Remember this day, girls, when the tougher games come along and we need to repeat all the skills that we put into this game.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Boys Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:6 Dereham
A game where the score line did not reflect the play. Whist Dereham managed all the goals play was much closer to 50: 50.
It was clear from the start that Dereham had some very strong forwards and their constant attacks down their left wing put the defence under just too much pressure and we soon conceded the first goal. In the first half Dragons were kept under pressure but still managed a number of attacks, two leading to short corners. Unfortunately we were not able to get a shot in as the Dereham defence were very quick off the line. As the game progressed Dragons continued to make a number off good attacks. At times the play was solidly in the Dereham half for minutes on end but we simply could not convert this into goals.
In the second half Dereham looked even stronger with constant attacks. Each time Dereham came forward they seemed to have 5 or 6 people on the attack thus resulting in the 6 – 0 defeat. The pressure on the defence was unrelenting also putting pressure on young Ben Nkrumain in goal who made some excellent saves but was unable to manage against such force.
Man of the match was Hamish Packham who despite being new to the game this season managed some excellent tackles and as Captain did his share of keeping the team together and motivated.Not all gloom for this very young Dragons side as some defensive lessons were learned.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Marshall Motor Group Norfolk Girls Development League
Norwich Dragons 0:2 Norwich City
With the help of adults Ally Windsor-Waite and Sarah Wagstaff we went out against the strong opposition of Norwich City. From the push back we managed to hold the Norwich attack at bay with great play in mid and defense, Anja Finegan even proving that forwards can tackle. Unfortunately a string of fouls in the D meant Norwich scored on a short corner much to our annoyance. After half time sweets we played more aggressively with defence making numerous tackles and clearances ensuring only one more goal was conceded. Man of the match was Lotte Korn for her strong and consistent work in defence. Well done everyone.
—————————————————————————————————————–
The hoof table as it currently stands
| 1 | Ladies 3s | 4.59 |
| 2 | Ladies 4s | 4.50 |
| 3 | Ladies 1s | 4.28 |
| 4 | Mens 3s | 3.71 |
| 5 | Mens 2s | 3.56 |
| 6 | Mens 4s | 2.61 |
| 7 | Ladies 2s | 2.29 |
| 8 | Mens 1s | 2.28 |
| 9 | Ladies 5s | 1.82 |
| 10 | Girls Development | 1.36 |
| 11 | Boys Development | 1.33 |