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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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!!

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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.