This Week’s Results

Team	Opposition	H/A	Score	Scorers	Player of Match
L1s	Ipswich-East Suffolk 1	H	0-3 (L)		Holly Setchell
L2s	Norwich Dragons 3	A	0-3 (W)	Georgia Rant Shelly Seaman Lucy Buxton	Grace Kidner
L3s	Norwich Dragons 2	H	0-3 (L)		Harriet Rant
L4s	Pelicans 2	H	4-3 (W)	Lisa Harwood Niamh Somers Amy Forse x2	Gill Walker
L5s	Watton 2	A	4-0 (L)		Louise Brooks
L6s	Beccles	H	3-4 (L)	Adelice Stanley x2 Mia McGhee	Mae Clarke
L7s	UEA 3	H	1-4 (L)	Brittany Hopkins	Maisie Dearmer
L8s	UEA 4	H	0-4 (L)		Rosie Tarleton
M1s	Kettering 1	H	0-2 (L)
M2s	Norwich Dragons 3	H	2-2 (D)	Joe Flatt Eddie Gould
M3s	Norwich Dragons 2	A	2-2 (D)	Charlie Creasy Jon Miles	Stuart Kelly
M4s	Norwich Dragons 5	H	1-4 (W)	Will Kirby x3 Bobby Sheppard	Robin Clarke
M5s	Norwich Dragons 4	A	1-4 (L)	Will Kidner	Matt Armstrong
M6s	no fixture
BD A	TBC
BD B	Dereham	H	0-6 (L)		Theo Demetriou
GD A	Pelicans	A	5-0 (L)	Dragons conceded
GD B	East Coast	A	2-7 (W)	Imogen Dolding x4 India Bunn Katie Hume Rosie Smith	Charlotte Douglas

East League,  Ladies 1N
Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s v IES:  0-3

Ladies 1s lost 3-0 to IES 1s. A long high intensity game against a very good team. The first half was very slow.  Our decisions were not accurate and we needed to pick up the pace, which was seen at times in the second half, where we were more aggressive and moved the ball quicker. There were many defending short corners, most of which were successfully defended against. We are ready to take what we have learnt from this match into training and work on what needs to be improved. Player of the match went to Holly Setchell for her consistent hard tackles, and her aggressive attacking play.

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

Goalscorers:  Georgia Rant, Shelly Seaman, Lucy Buxton
MOM:  Grace Kidner

Dragons 2’s with several people unavailable for different reasons welcomed Harriet Green, Lucy Buxton, Sophie Farrow and Piper Hempsall into their team. They were also pleased to see Georgia Rant finally arrive just before the start of the game via Taverham, even though her sister Harriet Rant, who was playing for the 3’s, manged to get to the correct pitch on time!!

Inter-club games are never easy but this was a good game played in the right spirit. The first goal came from a strong shot from Hannah Hardy which was well blocked by the 3’s. However Lucy Buxton who was in a great position was first to the ball and fired it into the goal from a narrow angle. This gave Dragons 2’s the lead and they went into half time 1-0 up.

In the second half Dragon 2’s started to apply a bit more pressure. The second goal was again assisted by Hannah Hardy who saw Shelly Seaman in a great space and slipped the ball to her. Shelly Seaman took her chance and from a acute angle fired it towards the goal, giving the keeper little chance, to make it 2-0. The third and final goal came from a lovely ball across the pitch from Grace Kidner to Harriet Green. Harriet Green then fired the ball into the D and found Georgia Rant on the P spot who deflected it skilfully into the goal to make it 3-0 to Dragon 2’s.

Player of the match for Dragons 2’s went to Grace Kidner who played LB for the first time and had a great game. Donkey of the Day went to Georgia Rant for thinking Dragons 2’s would be playing Dragons 3’s at Taverham. 

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

MOM:  Harriet Rant

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s v Pelicans 2s:  4-3

Goalscorers:  Lisa Harwood, Niamh Somers, Amy Forse x2
MOM:   Gill Walker

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League,  Division 1
Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s v Watton 2s:  0-4

MOM:  Louise Brooks

Dragons 5s played Watton 2s away and lost 4-0. First half we had two unlucky goals scored against us, and one good goal. Dragons had some excellent chances but just missed the target. Second half Dragons found their form and were much better, but still failed to score and Watton scored on a break to end the match 4-0. Watton played well, we had some good chances. Looking forward to the next match… 

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

Goalscorers:  Adelice Stanley x2, Mia McGhee
MOM:  Mae Clarke

It was a level game between the two teams, we went out strong and Mia McGhee got in there early to bring us 1:0 up. Unfortunately a couple of decent short corners and some nice runs down the middle by them made the score look slightly less attractive towards the half time whistle. A slighly scrappy goal by myself (Adelice Stanley)  brought us back into the game and we went into the break 2:4 down. The second half saw a much stronger Dragons team, we had some lovely passing play, particularly in mid and used the final minute to score another even scrappier goal (me again). But alas it was not quite enough in the end. Man of the match was very spread but Mae stole it in the end for a fantastic game at top of the diamond. Onwards and upwards as always 6s!!

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 2
Norwich Dragons Ladies 7s v UEA 3s:  104

Goalscorer:   Brittany Hopkins
MOM:  Maisie Dearmer

Ladies 7s had a strong start against UEA 3s, Dragons scoring first with straight strike at a short corner from me. UEA responded almost immediately, converting a penalty flick after a stunning goal line save by my thigh (sorry Nola 🥴). UEA then put the match to bed with a further 3 goals, leaving us with a final score of 1-4.

MoM to Maisie Dearmer for some beautiful runs down the right despite being definitely quite ill…with Lucy Courtier a close second!

Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 3
Norwich Dragons Ladies 8s  v UEA 4s:  0-4

MOM:  Rosie Tarleton

This was a really gutsy performance by the 8s. We are now well into the second half of the season and the 8s are giving it everything they’ve got in order to improve their standard of hockey – without losing the great team spirit and friendship that has hallmarked their performances.

So with high availability for once, the captains went for the bold step of selecting just 13 players in order to help with making the best use of the subs. In the past, using more players has not actually strengthened the team or enabled the less-experienced players to understand their positional roles. There is also a new focus on attending training, which has been so beneficial since Christmas. On Wednesday the players were trying new skills and discussing solutions to hockey problems. Before the match, the team planned how they would put training into action. 

In the early stages, the plan worked. Kristina Smyth always puts up an outstanding performance  when she plays in goal for the 8s, and part of the benefit of using her experience is the way in which she guides the defenders in front of her. Emma Young is improving every week with her clearances and marking. Jess Lockwood and Jo Lees are always solid and in the first half Rosie Tarleton and Karen Davidson shared the holding role, and linked well with mids.

A brave but perhaps misdirected attempted to stop a high ball opened the scoring for the Us, but after that the defenders learned to focus on making the tackles and letting Kristina stop the shots. The students were fast in the outfield and clever about passing the ball in the circle. This tested the ability of the defenders to keep on their marks, and led to a certain amount of scrambling and a lot of penalty corners.  Well done to Jess, Emma, Jo, Rosie and Nic Harrison for holding firm – and to Karen  for knowing when she had to come back to defend. During the frantic spell, Kristina saved a penalty flick.

Ellie O’Kane was back after a few weeks absence, and began to make an impression in midfield. She showed a willingness to run the length of the pitch with any opponent on a raid, and her jab tackling improved throughout the game. Kaia Peris has also not played many games, but showed some very nice touches – and some even nicer determination when tackling. Louise Crouch-Read is another player making an increasingly positive contribution.

Possibly the skill difference between UEA and the 8s was the visitors’ ability to be first to the ball and to show greater speed and stamina as the match progressed. This made life very hard for the forwards, mainly Johanne Steward and Ceris Burgues who had to create their own opportunities. Ceris formed useful partnerships with Ellie and Kaia. This was her last match for Dragons, and we hope it was memorable for many positive reasons.

Towards the end of the second half, Dragons defence faded in stamina but not in spirit. Some players are still recovering from virus and injuries, and this was a step up on last week’s performance. Dropping Bridget Le Good back to bottom of the diamond gave Dragons a bit more welly in getting the ball out of defence, and also released Rosie to play a more creative role. For her tenacious tackling in defence, accurate passing and determined running in attack, Rosie was voted player of the match.

Once again, there is a lot the 8s can take from this match. Their heads never dropped, they worked hard at moving the ball around, and they encouraged each other. Typically, even other members of the squad turned up to support. Come on 8s!

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

MOM: 

 

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

Goalscorers:   Joe Flatt, Eddie Gould
MOM:  

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

Goalscorers:  Jon Miles, Charlie Creasy
MOM: Stuart Kelly

David and goliath. The tortoise and the hare. Norwich City vs. Man City. These are all stories of incredible underdog performances and today witnessed a new tale for the history books. Listen closely fellow readers as I recount the story of the men’s 2s vs. 3s.

Picture the scene, a brisk Saturday afternoon fourteen men, nay, heroes gathered together at the Den to face off in the ever epic NDHC derby between the 2s and 3s. These heroes knew they faced an uphill battle against the odds, outnumbered and out gunned but were they scared NO! There were butterflies in the stomach and nervous toilet trips of course, but not for one minute did the plucky 3s feel unready for this mammoth task. And so, after the long wait, the game finally begun with the blow of the whistle and you could feel the pantheon watching from above for what promised to be a fantastic, feisty and frantic game of hockey.

The first half saw some excellent interplay between Kit Scott, AJ Edwards and Jon Miles upfront with numerous chances just missing wide of the target or flying past the back post untouched with the 2s sitting deep and inviting pressure, pressure we gave. After 15 of so minutes disaster struck. A quick free hit saw a ball enter the D where a 2s striker turned and found the bottom corner with a good reverse stick finish. The 3s responded with more liquid hockey and some beautiful passing plays but were thwarted by the 2s keeper. All over the pitch we saw stick tackles and desperate challenges and the 2s struggled to keep up the pace and beauty of the 3s play, a sign the away side took of respect but none the less disruptive to our Barcelona-esque tactics. Despite all of this pressure the underdogs saw themselves down 2-0 just before the half when a crash ball found its way to Eddie Gould who fabulously (and fortuitously) deflected the ball into the top corner.

You would think at half time our plucky protagonists would be dismayed, 2-0 down but once again my dear reader you would be wrong. With all the chances and beautiful play we knew more chances would come our way and if we kept playing how we were then the goals would come. Captain fantastic gave a rousing team talk (think “Once more into the breach, dear friends…”, “We shall fight them on the beaches…” etc) and distributed the liquorice all sorts (a debatable choice this week) before once again sending his band of merry men out to undertake the impossible.

The second half saw a change in fortune for our fellows with the ticky tacky hockey leading to Charlie Creasey slotting a beautiful finish into the bottom corner to bring the 3s back into the game. Seeing the opponents on the ropes saw our underdogs change tactics (The “going for it” method) throwing caution to the wind and going for the jugular. A scrap in the opposition D saw a goal line clearance using an illegal body part leading to a penalty flick being given and the ice man himself, Jon Miles, stepped up to guide the ball into the corner, the stands erupting in celebration, the fans going wild and we even heard a small squeak of joy from the often-taciturn Stu Kelly. The final 5 minutes saw the biggest backs against the wall defensive performance ever witnessed with every single member of the 3s putting everything on the line to ensure the precious point was kept including a gift from the gods as an uncleared save from keeper extraordinaire Tom McLean saw Eddie Gould hit the post with the follow up.

After what seemed an age the umpires blew for full time and the comeback was complete, they’d done it! A 2-2 draw, feeling like a victory and I believe everyone player on the pitch will agree the most enjoyable derby game in a long long time. A few special mentions are needed with an unnervingly good performance from Stu Kelly earning the MoM award and DoD going to John Ives for falling off his chair whilst reaching for a slice of pizza, I won’t mention his height but it probably played a part.

Shout out to the 2s for being a fantastic opposition and giving us a game that will be fondly remembered for both teams I hope, a really really enjoyable derby (even ignoring the score).

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

Goalscorers:  Will Kirby x3,  Bobby Sheppard
MOM:   Robin Clarke

The game started pretty even as both sides found openings. Eventually Dragons 4ths found Kirby in space on the left post who’s shot was deflected in off the keeper. With a goal up the game remained open with both sides pressing well. Another was added by Kirby before half time to ensure Dragons 4ths felt a bit more comfortable.The second half opened up but the end result was put beyond doubt by Kirby completing his second hattrick in two games. Kirby then set up Bobby Sheppard for the 4th. Dragons 5ths didn’t stop at any point though and finally got one past Chris Millar with Will Kidner slotting home. Good game had by all and thanks to Pat and Sharpie for umpiring. Men’s 4ths man of the match to the engine room performance from Robin Clarke.

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

Goalscorer:  Will Kidner
MOM:  Matt Armstrong

Dev Girls A  

Dev Girls B  v East Coast:  7-2

Goalscorers:
MOM:  

Dev Boys A v 

MOM:   Theo Demetriou