This Week’s Results

Team	Opposition	H/A	Score	Scorers	Player of Match
L1s	City of Peterborough 2	H	2-1 (W)	Kate McKenna Sam Franklin	Polly Watson
L2s	no fixture
L3s	Christchurch 1	H	0-0 (D)		Elsa Scott Beth Prakash Catherine Matthews Piper Hempsall Georgie Manly
L4s	Loddon	A	5-3 (L)	Hannah Edwards Aditi Naik Niamh Somers	Mia Somers
L5s	Herlings	H	3-0 (W)	Liz McDonnell x2 Gemma Ballard	Emma Merryweather Mae Clark
L6s	East Coast 3	A	3-4 (W)	Hatty Harrison-Mobbs Mia McGhee Claire Stuart Lara Nuthall	Georgia Heaton
L7s	Breckland	A	0-3 (Breckland conceded)
L8s	Magpies 7	A	8-0 (L)		Esther Jacobs
M1s	Horncastle 1	H	8-0 (W)	Mark Beckett-Flatman Roman Cassidy x2 Dan Rix x2 Matt Knights Sean Orton Cley Hamilton	Dan Rix
M2s	University of East Anglia Men 2	H	1-4 (L)
M3s	Pelicans 2	A	3-2 (L)	Matt Hull x2	James Goodson
M4s	Newmarket 2	H	3-0 (W)	Bobby Sheppard Tommy Gale Dan Murphy	Arj Puvanachandra
M5s	Ipswich Cranes 1	A	4-3 (L)	Ross Barnshaw Jason Wolfe Andrew Cross	Alex Wolfe
M6s	Pelicans 4	A	4-0 (L)		Josh Cormack
BD A
BD B	Dereham	A	3-1 (L)	Rahul Kaushal	Rahul Kaushal
GD A	Yarmouth	H	7-0 (W)	Mia Rutterford x4 Mia Norris x2 Indian Bunn
GD B	Magpies	A	0-0 (D)

East League,  Ladies 1N
Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s v Peterborough 2s:  2-1

Goalscorers:   Kate McKenna, Sam Franklin
MOM:   Polly Watson

The Ladies 1s secured 3 points winning 2-1 against City of Peterborough 2s after a few weeks of disappointing results. The game began as a relatively evenly matched affair, with chances from both sides coming before the break. However, the score-line remained at 0-0 at half time. The dragons went a goal down mid-way through the second half, as Peterborough executed a slick short corner routine, deflecting the ball high into the goal from the left post. The score-line was shortly brought back level after a short corner for the dragons saw Kate McKenna slot the ball over the line. With only a few minutes to go, the hosts began to pressure the ball higher up the pitch. This led to a mistake from the opposition defence and a loose ball sent towards the top of the circle was picked up by Sam Franklin, who took the opportunity to put the Dragons ahead by slapping the ball past the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner. With some smart possession hockey in the final few minutes, Dragons held onto the lead to secure the 3 points. A solid performance from the team, and a great 1^stXI debut from Alex Daplyn. 

East League, Ladies 2NE
Norwich Dragons Ladies 2s – No fixture

East League, Ladies 2NE
Norwich Dragons Ladies 3s v  Christchurch 1s:  0-0

MOM: Elsa Scott, Beth Prakash, Catherine Matthews, Piper Hempsall, Georgie Manly

Ladies 3s double their season’s points with a 0-0 draw against Christchurch 1s

After a rousing team talk from substitute captain Beth Prakash and a sermon on the Wolfie Ways from Caroline Wolfe, Dragons had a solid warm up and a cracking game, we just couldn’t convert! POM votes showed what a good match the 3s had, split between half the team and resulted in a 5-way tie.

Thanks to Caroline Wolfe for managing (aka shouting at us!) and the ladies 2s that used their no game weekend to come and support.

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s v Loddon:  3-5

Goalscorers:  Hannah Edwards, Aditi Naik, Niamh Somers
MOM:  Mia Somers

Ladies 4’s lost 5-3 in a tough match against Loddon. Some lovely play and amazing team spirit but luck was not running our way today.

In typical 4’s fashion a spread of votes but the amazing Mia Somers was player of the match!

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League,  Division 1
Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s v Herlings:  3-0

Goalscorer:  Gemma Ballard , Liz McDonnell x2
MOM: Emma Merryweather, Mae Clark

Dragons Ladies 5s played a hard fought game against Herlings.

We dominated the first half with all three goals being scored by play from the right. First goal was a deflected goal crossed from Lizzie McDonnell and tapped in by the Herling’s defence. 2nd goal was crossed from Lizzie to Gemma Ballard with a classic tap in. 3rd goal was the result of a cross from Jane Wells and tap in from Lizzie.

2nd half saw Herlings coming out stronger with some strong hits out and important interceptions. Dragons Defenders: Lou Davis, Georgia Butterworth and Emily Grint absorbed the pressure and Gina Hunt put in some good saves to keep us in the game. Lou even made a save on the line! Midfielders Emma Merryweather, Nat Crisp, Lara King and Mae Clark worked hard to break up the play. Emma fell over in the middle of the pitch (really no idea how!). Final Score 3-0 Win. POM – joint between Emma and Mae! Well done all. Go 5s!!!!!

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 1
Norwich Dragons Ladies 6s v East Coast 3s:  4-3

Goalscorer: Hatty Harrison-Mobbs, Mia McGhee, Claire Stuart, Lara Nuthall
MOM:  Georgia Heaton

Dragons came out cocky, and let two goals by in the first ten minutes. Suitably humbled, we pulled our socks up, picked our sticks up, and remembered how to play hockey. Hatty Harrison-Mobbs put away a messy goal, via the keepers shin pads, but the crowd roared it’s appreciation (well, the sub and someone’s boyfriend). Within the next few minutes Mia McGhee scored a cracker.

Half time came and we congratulated ourselves on equalising, but suggested more goals would be optimal. Having eaten too many sweets, we went back on the pitch on a sugar high.
Newcomer Georgia Heaton, who had a fantastic game, crossed the ball forcefully through the D, where Claire Stuart niftily popped it in – who breathed a sigh of relief as we were now in the lead, and despite turning 40 recently, she hasn’t lost her edge.  Our fourth goal was courtesy of Lara Nuthall, assisted by Fern Daly.

We had several scuffles on our defensive goal line, with Esther Jacobs playing marvelously. Fern frequently picked up the ball on the edge of D and moved out further up the pitch.

Unfortunately the opposition scored a third goal, whilst Briony Johnstone had gone off the pitch coughing a lung up, which nobody noticed, so we were a man down when that went in.

It was a harder match than we anticipated, but the East Coast ladies were friendly and fun to play against. Cracking match tea as well.

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 2
Norwich Dragons Ladies 7s v Breckland:  Breckland conceded

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 3
Norwich Dragons Ladies 8s v Magpies 7s:  0-8

MOM:  Esther Jacobs

Dragons put up a very spirited defence away against Magpies 7s, who are currently romping away with Division 3. The Magpies, playing a settled blend of experience and youth, have won all their matches and have had only one goal scored against them so far – and they have now scored 50. The 8s never seriously looked like making a dent on this record, although there were a few forays in the second half which were nearly the stuff of which dreams are made!

The captains decided to set out a defensive formation as this was the 8s best chance of making an impression. To an extent, they achieved their goal because they held Magpies to just about their ‘average’ goal feast.

Where Dragons are improving is in their determination to be first to the ball and get their tackles in, and to get the ball out wide when under pressure. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two sides is that Magpies demonstrated how to find team mates all over the pitch with firmly struck passes that were brought immediately under control, where Dragons know they still have a lot of work to do in this area. 

Magpies scored 5 in the first half, but Dragons played a lot better in the second. There was some stand out performances, particularly from Esther Jacobs in goal who must have saved two dozen shots. Her POM recognition was not just for her blocking but also for her strong kicks out wide, particularly impressive when she could stand up tall and impose her presence on the marauding forwards.

Dragons mids caught the eye. Sarah Lucas played mostly at the top of the diamond and was electric throughout the game, particularly good at tackling back. Nic Harrison gets better every game, and drove forward at every opportunity but also played a steady wide role when defending.

All the Dragons team played some good hockey at times. As individuals they again demonstrated their willingness to work for each other. This was a game that everyone enjoyed, even though it was something of a lesson in how to play the game from a very sporting team. The 8s might well expect that they can carry forward the lessons learned to next week’s game when they play against a team who might be more at their level. Perhaps!

—————————————————————————————————————————-

East League, Men’s 2N
Norwich Dragons Men’s 1s v Horncastle 1s:  8-0

Goalscorers:  Mark Beckett-Flatman, Roman Cassidy x2, Dan Rix, x2, Matt Knights, Sean Orton, Cley Hamilton
MOM: Dan Rix

A fast start by Dragons saw a silky passing move finished by this week’s hattrick-chasing-and-failing Rixy (Dan Rix). Then, fuelled by fresh analysis of last week’s game via NorwichCity Tv, Mark Beckett-Flatman pounced to score a saucy reverse. With Horncastle’s goal aching for more, airshot-Knightsy (Matt Knights) and Roman Cassidy stepped up with a goal each to round off the half. Oh yeah, and Rixy pulled an absolute wonder goal out of his proverbial backside – an absolute blinder, no man on the pitch looked as surprised as the scorer as it kissed the top corner! 

The second 2,100 seconds witnessed more solid defending and impressive forward play. Roman saw the Horncastle defence part like the red seas, before he sent a cheeky undercut into the roof of the net…a decent debut. Sean Orton remembered that hitting the ball at goal is a genuine option, so enacted this to rifle one in from a short corner . Pete Dickerson pulled off a devilish double save, and Cley Hamilton then got in on the act with a clinical eighth just to make sure of the 3 points! 

East League, Men’s 3NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 2s v  UEA 2s:  1-4

Goalscorers:  
MOM: 

Goalscores:  Matt Hull x2
MOM:  James Goodson

A tough away game for Men’s 3s away at Pelican 2s who have had some huge home wins recently. A series of short corners ended in a goal for the home side before  Dragons hit back with Matt Hull scoring . A wicked reverse hit into the top corner saw dragons go into half time 2-1 down with all to play for. Dragons then equalised after the half through Matt Hull again via a  own goal! Pelis then took the lead through another reverse through the keepers feet (which he’ll never hear the end of) before the visiting side then weathered a storm forcing captain fantastic (Tom McLean) to make a series of excellent saves but not enough to save him from DoD for being a human sieve. Despite a few half chances  the game ended in a midfield battle and finished 3-2 to Pelis. Another close score and lots of positives to take from the game, on to IES 3s next week. 

Goalscorers:  Bobby Sheppard, Tommy Gale, Dan Murphy
MOM:  Arj Puvanachandra

Dragons started with enthusiasm, and the tireless running of the midfield and forwards meant Newmarket had to work hard to keep the game level. But eventual pressure meant Dragons found themselves 2 up at half time and more chances beckoned. The second half opened up and good goal keeping from Newmarket kept the score the same. Dragons substitutes then told towards the end of the game and a third was added. Goals from Bobby Sheppard (cool slide under the keeper) , Tommy Gale (great composure) and Dan Murphy (classic tomahawk). Man of the match to Arj Puvanachandra closely followed by Tommy and Bobby. Cheers to Ali and Dim for the umpiring and Newmarket for a good game.

East League, Men’s 5NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 5s v Ipswich Crane 1s:  3-4

Goalscorers:  Ross Barnshaw, Jason Wolfe, Andrew Cross
MOM:  Alex Wolfe

MOM:  Josh Cormack

Bottom of the table sides are often difficult to beat on their home pitch. Pelicans scored 2 goals in each half but first half M6’s had enough chances to turn level. Trying to push the game later, the M6’s gave away too much ball especially getting too close to defenders & being picked off. Plenty to work with before visiting Cromer. MOM – Josh Cormack for a tireless display

Development Leagues

Dev Girls A v Yarmouth: 7-0

Goalscorers:  Mia Rutterford x3, Mia Norris x2, Indian Bunn x1
MOM:  Mia Rutterford

Dev Girls B v Magpies:  0-0

MOM:  

Dev Boys A – no fixture

Dev Boys B v Dereham:  1-3

Goalscorer:  Rahul Kaushal
MOM:  Rahul Kaushal

It was a fairly even game with Dragons B team starting well early on, but Dereham upped their game in the second quarter and got two goals. In the fourth quarter Rahul Kaushal scored but Dereham topped that with another goal which made the game 3-1. Well done to man of the match Rahul.

 A big thanks to Steve Linford and Andy Kelsall for their encouragement and support.’