Mens East League Division 2N
Norwich Dragons 1s 0-1 Cambridge Uni 3

Dragons’ stuttering conclusion to their campaign continued with a 1-0 defeat at Cambridge University on Saturday.  Without Sloman and Turnbull, Wagstaff opted not to cut Price and welcomed back Smyth from his metatarsal injury.  So strong was the Dragons squad, they could afford to leave Snelling on the bench, preferring the pace and youth of Browne, Charlish, and Knights up front and opting for a mobile midfield to match the students with Smith and Rutledge alongside Flatman.

The game started frenetically, Dragons determined to play at a high tempo for the full 60 minutes at least once this season.  And chances flowed – Browne might have had a first-half hatrick, Knights missed ball and all when it must have been easier to score, while at the other end Collinge pulled off two magnificent saves and Price cleared off the line to keep honours even.  The game was too open and Dragons looked to truncate the midfield with the injection of Wilkins, Rutledge struggling with a bruised hip.  Somehow the first half ended goalless.

The second half, though, saw more of the same.  Charlish at last broke his duck with his first shot on target this season while Rutledge steered wide from six feet and at the other end the students were a constant threat, only the resilience of Price, the composure of Smith, the experience of Wagstaff, and the electric pace of Overstall keeping them at bay.  In the end, a soft goal was the difference – a weak short corner strike somehow sneaking through to put Cambridge University ahead.  Dragons were rocked but rallied and went agonisingly close in a short corner melee which first saw Browne, Snelling, and Wilkins denied before Rutledge tucked it away with the inside of the left foot.  And an equaliser would surely have come had they not lost Smyth to a career-threatening graze to the left eyebrow – after the game, skipper Smith said “it was horrific – easily the worst injury I’ve seen since Rich Smith was literally decapitated at Nomads.”  And there was still time for the most dramatic of finales, Overstall playing in Browne with an impossibly well-disguised pass (Bowthorpe for Sprowston) and the rebound falling to the rampaging Wagstaff who saw glory but hit only side-netting.  Dragons deserved the equaliser for the spirit they’d shown, but no-one could begrudge the over-privileged, over-indulged, tax-bludging students the three points.

After the game, Smith supported Overstall after the defender’s controversial comments on twitter:  “he’s just disappointed that not everyone takes the man of the match award as seriously as he does; he was hoping for a bit of recognition after the difficult week he’s had.  To be able to put to one side the emotional turmoil of his private life and put on a performance like that is pretty special.”  He refused to be drawn on whether rumours of a burgeoning relationship between Overstall and Flatman were affecting team chemistry.  On Wagstaff’s last minute miss he was diplomatic:  “sure, it might have been wiser had he waited until he’d scored before yelling ‘Hiawatha!  Who’s your daddy now?’”

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Mens East League Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 1-5 Dereham 2

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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons 3s 2-10 IES 3

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Mens East League Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons 4s 5-0 UEA 3

Dragons took to the pitch knowing that only a win would do in this bottom of the table clash with the students.

UEA took the game to Dragons early on with a number of attacks, however the home side weathered the storm and slowly started to dominate the midfield with Gareth Green, Rich Moulson and Rob Jenkins playing good one-twos and eliminating the UEA players at will. Dragons’ first goal soon came when good play between Ben Watson and Garnett Jones saw the ball fall to Ollie Browne to finish with aplomb. The pressure was still intense as Dragons pushed on to try and get a second. Green soon obliged and Dragons went into the break with a healthy 2-0 lead.

After a break and encouraging words from the skipper Jon Price, the home side pushed on knowing a third would see us in an unassailable lead. Jones was finding his ‘feet’ and harrying the youngsters in a way that was reminiscent of the days of his own youth. Watson is growing week by week (quite literally!) and was showing glimpses of what is to come in the future. For his display he was voted man of the match – again! He worked tirelessly and never gave up on a ball and whilst he didn’t manage to score he set up our fourth goal dispatched by Browne. The fifth was scored by Jones who managed to reverse stick flick the ball past the keeper.

So job done and three points in the bag.. The only downside was the game ended with another breakdown. This time it was a Green hamstring tear which might put him out for the rest of the season!

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Men’s East League Division 7NE
Norwich Dragons 5s 1-2 Ipswich 4

Dragons welcomed Ipswich to the Den this week in an eagerly anticipated clash with a place in the tope three the reward.

Dragons were missing some stalwarts but needless to say replacement stalwarts stepped in to take up the gaps left by Keeler (off playing with needles) and a still absent (with ball room leave) Lawrence.

Having won the toss and hedging on the sun not being an issue Dragons stayed at their favourite end. Ipswich started in a strong and robust manor and soon Packham again (shipping about 10 stone to his oppo) caused issues with his pace until he ran into and was run into by a robust Ipswich midfield. This was followed by a painful ball to the knee but the youngster picked him self up and returned soon after.

Ipswich looked dangerous and built well through fast breaks backed up by some nice pull backs from the right wing. The Dragon defence was up to the job if not sometimes leaving things a little bit too fly by wire. Latoy (call me Gordon), Davis (call me Issac), Coyle (what rugby?)and Webb (stayed on my feet) worked well and the pressure was absorbed resulting in Dragons moving the ball forwards with confidence.

Ryan up front combined well with Cross and started to bring the supporting middle field of Quitien and Kay into play. Chances came and eventually good play was rewarded with a calm finish from Ryan and Ipswich knew they had a game on their hands. Ipswich were still creating chances and thought they had scored as the ball was moved across goal  , leaving Bell out of position, and the midfielder slotted towards the inside of the unguarded post. But from behind Bell came a full length diving Latoy (likened to a squirrel protecting his nuts) to steer the shot wide to applause from his fellow team mates. Man of the match was his at this rate!

The half time team talk called for more of the same and warned of the impending Ipswich pressure – Cross selflessly substituted himself to allow fresh younger legs to help pull the Ipswich defence around.

Dragons had chances but couldn’t finish them off – once the ball did cross the line but the umpires decision was final and provided much in the bar discussion as everyone seemed to have seen a different angle (this might have been first half thinking about it). Ipswich were finally rewarded for good pressure and a fine through ball was skilfully deflected passed (clean sheets) Bell. This set the game up for a tense finish  but alas a spectacularly taken own goal from Latoy meant he saw his man of the match goal line clearance get cancelled out.

The crowd cheered but in the end Dragons didn’t do enough with its reaming short corners. York-Smith failed to find Cross on the last short corner and Ipswich finished thankful winners.

Thanks go to Ipswich for providing a good competitive match as well as the umpires (Sue & Doug) and most of all the Dragons players. Last game of the season next chaps ……. let’s finish with a win!

More photos here.

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

Norwich Dragons made the long trek to Saffron Walden for this top of the table clash. The Dragons, trailing seven points behind Walden, knew only a win would be good enough to put the leaders under pressure.

The match was played at a high tempo with possession being evenly shared between the teams however arguably it was the Dragons who had the better of the chances in front of goal but could not capitalise. The frustration showed as the visitors tried to force the play and on occasions gave possession away cheaply. The deadlock was finally broken but it was the home team that took the lead. A goal mouth scramble led to Lizzie Moulton saving an effort on goal by Walden but her actions were deemed illegal and a penalty stroke was awarded which was converted in style.  This knocked the visitors as this was against the run of play. Before the Dragons could regroup Walden took the game to the visitors and increasingly put the Dragons defence under pressure and soon found themselves 2-0 up within 5 minutes. The Dragons settled themselves but felt a two nil deficit as they broke for half time wasn’t a true reflection of the game.

In the second half the visitors looked dangerous and were patient with their build up play. Finally they got the goal they deserved through a short corner routine, Nat Beal finishing clinically adding to her superb scoring tally this season. The Dragons were determined to get something from this game and continued to test the Walden defence and their keeper who was in fine form. Within 10 minutes the Dragons were level. Another short corner routine resulted in Rachel King firing past the keeper. It was now the Dragons who had the upper hand and looked the far more likely of the two teams to take maximum points however time ran out for them and the the points were shared.

This was a highly competitive match between two of the best teams in the league and perhaps on reflection a draw was a fair result. The Dragons showed real character and determination to come back from 2-0 down and their togetherness and team spirit shone through. some excellent performances including the younger members of the team in what was a highly competitive match between two of the best teams in the league but player of the match deservedly went to Rowie York-Smith for the second successive week as she displayed tenacity and skill to hold off the Walden attacks on numerous occasions.
A point from their last 3 games would now secure the Dragons promotion.

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Women’s East Hockey League Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons 2s 1-0 Cambridge Nomads 1

With four games remaining this season, 4th placed Dragons faced the team one place above them in the league, Cambridge Nomads at the Den. Handing well earned Div 2NE debuts to youngsters Sophie Thomas and Aoife Lowe-Davies, Dragons went into the game in good spirits and with the best defensive record in the Division, they were confident of containing the visitors.

Once again from the outset Dragons looked strong, moving the ball about well and building play patiently, especially through the hard working Sarah Radley, Niamh Lowe-Davies and Debs Smith.  With Ally Windsor-Waite making some surging runs from the back, the Nomads defence were under a lot of early pressure. Having earned a couple of early short corners, Emma Tabrett made one count from the left hand side for Dragons, coolly slotting inside the post, for the early breakthrough.

Dragons continued to play some strong hockey, 13 year old Aoife Lowe-Davies up front was making some intelligent runs and worked really hard to break down the Nomads play.  In midfield, the combination of Alice Guest, Gail Thomas, Karen O’Neill Simpson, Niamh Lowe-Davies and Debs Smith ensured very little got through to the defensive line.

The second half saw continued pressure from Dragons and any Nomads attacks were well dealt with by the Dragons defence, with debutant Sophie Thomas looking assured and composed on the left, Angela Murgatroyd playing an assured game in the centre and keeper Amy Forse always alert to clear up anything that found its way near to the goal.

Whilst Dragons didn’t trouble the scoreline further, they had opportunities and played as well as they have for some weeks, which is extremely pleasing for captain Hannah Hardy.

A great all round good team performance, however, special word goes to Aoife and Sophie who performed exceptionally well in the Div 2NE debuts. The Player of the Match votes were largely shared between the two of them, with Aoife just pipping Sophie to the post. With three games to go, this team can continue to be hugely positive about their achievements so far this season, and will look to work hard to keep this going for the remaining games.

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

Norwich Dragons came out strong and dominated from the beginning against a Dereham team that they were beaten by earlier in the season. This time Dragons played a beautiful passing game that Dereham appeared to have no answer to. Dereham weren’t giving anything away easily, forcing Dragons to put their bodies on the line, with Caroline Wolfe stopping a lifted ball from a side line hit with her face. There were early short corners won by the Dragons, eventually leading to the first goal of the game about 20 minutes into the 1st half. The ball went to Laura Tompson-Wright at the top of the D, who went for a shot on goal only for it to be saved and rebound off the Dereham keeper. She followed up her initial strike and managed to get the ball and play it out to the left post where Polly Watson was waiting to pounce on it and push it into the back of the goal.