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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

The hoof table as it currently stands

1	Ladies 3s	4.67
2	Ladies 4s	4.50
3	Ladies 1s	4.28
4	Mens 3s	3.78
5	Mens 2s	3.56
6	Mens 4s	2.61
7	Ladies 2s	2.29
8	Mens 1s	2.21
9	Ladies 5s	1.72
10	Girls Development	1.36
11	Boys Development	1.33