This Week’s Results
| Team | Opposition | H/A | Score | Scorers | Player of Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1s | Colchester 1 | A | 1-2 (W) | Mima Watson Kate McKenna | Mima Watson |
| L2s | Ipswich 2 | H | 0-2 (L) | Shelly Seaman Esme Potter |
|
| L3s | Norwich City 2 | A | 2-0 (L) | Kristina Smyth | |
| L4s | Evergreens | H | 2-2 (D) | Lisa Harwood Amy Forse | Lillian Sore |
| L5s | Magpies 5 | A | 4-1 (L) | Mary Bowles | Emily Grint |
| L6s | Dereham 3 | H | 5-2 (W) | Mia McGhee x3 Hatty Harrison-Mobbs Lara King | Mia McGhee |
| L7s | Broadland 3 | A | 3-1 (L) | Lara Nuthall | Emma Dyer Erin Aldous |
| L8s | Magpies 8 | H | 0-0 (D) | Rosie Tarleton | |
| M1s | City of Peterborough 3 | A | 1-2 (W) | Ollie King Jack Hallworth | Patrick Gordon |
| M2s | Norwich City 3 | A | 3-2 (L) | James Cross Eddie Gould | James Cross |
| M3s | Norwich City 4 | H | 7-1 (W) | Jon Miles x4 Will Kirby x3 | Jon Miles |
| M4s | Sudbury 3 | A | 1-5 (W) | Alberto Embarba x2 Phil York Smith Tommy Gale Josh Rollason | Alberto Embarba |
| M5s | Norwich Exiles 1 | H | 1-1 (D) | Josh Bingham | Robin Clarke |
| M6s | Norwich City 6 | H | 0-3 (L) | Graham Cormack Young MOM: Daniel Shirley |
|
| BD A | Watton | A | 0-11 (W) | Ayrton Rant Will Sexton x2 Hector McNeil Raul Wigglesworth x4 Tom Skelton x2 Blade Earley | Will Sexton Raul Wigglesworth |
| BD B | N City | H | 0-4 (L) | Dylon Bondi | |
| GD A | N City | H | 5-2 (W) | Mia Rutterford Lucy Courtier x4 | Josie Kell |
| GD B | blank |
East League, Ladies 1N
Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s v Colchester 1s: 2-1
Goalscorers: Kate McKenna, Mima Watson
MOM: Mima Watson
The Ladies 1st team played an inspirational match, winning 2-1 against Colchester Ladies. The first half saw Colchester leading 0-1 after scoring from a short corner, however, we made an amazing come back in the second half scoring two wonderful goals. The first was scored by Jemima Watson, and the second by Kate McKenna after receiving a well worked ball from Lucy Morton. Incredible work from everyone and a solid defensive line!
Player of the match went to Jemima Watson for her fantastic goal and great skill.
East League, Ladies 2NE
Norwich Dragons Ladies 2s v Ipswich 2s: 0-2
MOM: Shelly Seaman, Esme Potter
Dragons lined up against Ipswich looking to improve on the previous week’s performance, as this new team builds together.
The home team started strongly with a good spell of possession but failing to capitalise on this early pressure. Ipswich grew into the game and forced Dragons deeper, however goal scoring chances were few and far between.
Eventually the deadlock was broken with Dragons disappointingly allowing a ball to go right across the D, which was put away at the back post, giving Ipswich a slender lead at halftime.
Whilst Dragons had good spells in the 2nd half, Ipswich always looked comfortable and continued to move the ball around the back well. Dragons possibly sat back too much and should have pressed the visitors a bit sooner, as when they did this bought them success. In doing so however they left gaps, meaning Ipswich forced a late short corner home, with just 5 minutes remaining.
Player of the Match votes were split, the final vote a tie between Esme Potter and Shelly Seaman.
East League, Ladies 2NE
Norwich Dragons Ladies 3s v Norwich City 2s: 0-2
MOM: Kristina Smyth
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s v Evergreens: 2-2
Goalscorers: Lisa Harwood, Amy Forse
MOM: Lillian Sore
Only the second game into the season, the 4s started with some new combinations today. As expected, Evergreens started hard and hassled the Dragons players, making sure they did not have much time on the ball. It was Dragons who had the early territory though, camping in Evergreen’s D for a chunk of time as short corner after short corner was awarded. Unfortunately, Dragons were unable to capitalise, and soon Evergreen were exerting pressure of their own. Some fabulous saves by Mia Somers kept the scores even until a quick break by Evergreens used to exploit tired Dragons legs (the team were working with no-substitutes) led to a goal.
The second half saw the arrival of Sarah Wagstaff on the pitch, coach and captain having to rush on as injury cover. Again, Evergreens exerted early pressure and were awarded with the first goal of the half, a deflection from a short corner attack. Dragons kept their heads up and kept trying to work the ball around the pitch, with big shifts put in mid-field by Hannah Edwards and Gill Walker to distribute to Lisa Harwood and Charlotte Dowson on the wings. Eventually Dragons were rewarded with a short corner, which lead to a goal by Lisa Harwood. That goal led to increasing belief in the Dragons team, and three minutes before the end a break down the left by Lily Sore and feeding into Amy Forse led to another goal. Evergreens were awarded a final short in the dying minutes of the game, but a cool save by Mia kept it to 2-2. MOM votes were split evenly across the team, reflecting the hard work put in by all, but the winner was Lily for her great attacking play on the left.
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 1
Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s v Magpies 5s: 1-5
Goalscorer: Mary Bowles
MOM: Emily Grint
Dragons started strongly and caught Magpies off guard but their young, well-drilled team were quick on the break and Dragons had to work hard to keep on top of them.
A Dragons short corner led to a great strike by Jane Wells, sadly blocked by their runner. Claire Stuart made good use of the wing and there was great joined up play in midfield by Mel Widdows, Emma Merryweather, Louise Brooks and Nat Crisp. End to end play in the first quarter eventually led to Magpies finding their way through a battling Dragons defence to score their first goal. Despite Dragons holding their shape well, a second Magpies goal was scored via a short corner.
There were some great saves by Mia Somers and Kate Atkins, Lou Davis, Georgia Butterworth and Emily Grint worked tirelessly in the face of repeated attempts at goal from Magpies. They scored their third goal, despite Emma displaying her usual determination in midfield.
Lizzie McDonnell and Mary Bowles worked brilliantly together in the second half, resulting in a goal from Mary…making the score 3-1. A near-miss by Jane in 60th minute left the bench on the edge of their seats. However another break from Magpies lead to the final score being 4-1.
Great work rate by all, just couldn’t quite match the speed of the Magpies runs and passes. Thanks to captain Gemma Ballard guiding us from the bench. Onwards and upwards!
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 1
Norwich Dragons Ladies 6s v Dereham 3s: 5-2
Goalscorers: Mia McGhee x3, Hatty Harrison-Mobbs, Lara King
MOM: Mia McGhee
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 2
Norwich Dragons Ladies 7s v Broadland 3s: 1-3
Goalscorer: Lara Nuthall
MOM: Emma Dyer, Erin Aldous
The first half showed Dragons to be having a strong game against Broadland 3 with many opportunities on goal, winning short corners and maintaining pressure on the hosts. Dragons continued to deliver clean, clear passes and played the ball well, using the wings successfully. Erin Aldous as bottom of the diamond, kept the shape in midfield and was excellent at moving the ball around, making Broadland work! Claire Fairhurst began on as Left forward and had some great attempts at running the ball down the line and bringing it into the D via the baseline, Lois Metcalfe was receiving the rebounds well and Lara Nuthall managed to keep her game by the goal putting endless pressure on their goalie!
Our mid’s were also showing great play of attacking wide, Sophie James joined us from 8’s and had a particularly good game and it was great to see how over the past season her confidence has clearly grown!
Us defenders had a quiet first half, however unfortunately conceded 2 goals, the first from a short where the ball rebounded of my stick! Apologies team! The second being that of their forward being by the post and taking the opportunity to be swift! Something we can definitely learn from!
Jessie Young and myself have played in defence together many a time and we appear to be reading each other well and having great advice from Des allowed me to be an effective pivot at the back! Briony Johnstone joined us as right back and was playing some great clean, strong passes up the wing regularly.
In the second half the heavens opened and at one point play became impossible! A soggy second half allowed us to again concede from a short; however wearing a mask in torrential rain does limit sight and again Broadland were great opportunists! However, the fantastic Lara got what she had been working for all game, and scored a well-deserved goal bringing the result to 3-1.
This score does not reflect play at all and this should have been a game we should have at least drawn let alone win! From the defence point of view, we get to see the whole game play in front of us and we had many chances, something to take from the game would be to practise bringing the goalie out of their comfort zone and go around them. We had most of the possession and kept pressure both halves, an unlucky loss! With Biblical rain too! A quiet second half meant poor Northy got soaked through too; well played goalie!
Finally, a big thank you to Des who gave some great feedback and something we all need to apply to our games moving forward.
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 3
Norwich Dragons Ladies 8s v Magpies 8s: 0-0
MOM: Rosie Tarleton
Dragons 8s started their season with a very encouraging draw against Magpies 8s. This match had plenty of end-to-end excitement involving two teams who were similarly set up with blends of youth and experience. Perhaps Magpies had the edge in goalmouth action and shots on target, but the luck of the draw on goalkeeper availability brought Kracking Kristina Smyth to the 8s. Her calmness under pressure and her ability to kick powerfully with either foot gave Dragons a solid base.The defence also looked pretty solid, with Jo Lees in the middle backed either side by Jess Lockwood, Johanne Steward and Rosie Tarleton and they all got in some excellent tackles and improved the accuracy and power of their hit outs. Rosie was a particularly strong blocker and tackler, and she sealed a POM performance by doubling up as a speedy midfielder.
The 8s welcomed two new players to the squad. Charlotte Carr proved her flexibility from the start by playing up front and in defence – typifying the willingness of this team to do any job asked of them. Louise Crouch-Read also impressed with some good distribution and marking-back at the top of the diamond. Another double debut for Louise – first time in the 8s and first time in that position. Bridget Le Good was bottom of the diamond, and she got a lot of accurate long hits away. The 8s were very encouraged that these long passes were picked up by Charlotte, Sadie Jacobs, Shaniece Claxton, Johanne Steward and Emma Young. All five of the players taking a stint up front could work the ball into the circle, but the Magpies defence was very resolute and shots on target were hard to come by.
Potentially, the 8s have a strong midfield. Nic Harrison had to carry out a more defensive role on the left in this match to keep two strong right sided players quiet, and she began for form a good understanding with Jess. Ceris Burgues was a brave powerhouse in the centre, able to hold play up and push forward at speed despite some unfortunate strikes to the legs. Shaniece also did very well in her turn as left mid.
The 8s have two new captains this season. Johanne Steward and Jess Lockwood have enthusiasm and determination in abundance, and pronounced themselves very pleased with this first result. They noted the strong camaraderie, and the fact that the heads never dropped. Players kept running until the final whistle, and switched flexibly as the needs of the match dictated. Not surprisingly, 10 players got at least one POM vote. The captains also concluded that the team spirit should carry the 8s through the hard work that needs to be done on certain key skills. We know what they are and we are committed to achieving. But we start with pride and a hard-won point!
East League, Men’s 2N
Norwich Dragons Men’s 1s v City of Peterborough 3s: 2-1
Goalscorer: Ollie King, Jack Hallworth
MOM: Patrick Gordon
Men’s 1s make it two wins out of two with a closely fought 2-1 victory against Peterborough 3s. A deft deflection from Ollie King gave Dragons the lead before the break. A cracking half volley from Jack Hallworth put Dragons 2-0 up before Peterborough dragged one back from a short corner after the final whistle.
East League, Men’s 3NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 2s v Norwich City 3s: 2-3
Goalscores: James Cross, Eddie Gould
MOM: James Cross
East League, Men’s 3NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 3s v Norwich City 4s: 7-1
Goalscoresr: Jon Miles x4, Will Kirby x3
MOM: Jon Miles
After a tough opening fixture NDHC Men’s 3s faced inter-city rivals Norwich City 4s for their first home game of the season. Dragons got off to an uneasy start missing a few chances and after 20 minutes going 0-1 down after a well-worked deflection by City slotting the ball into the bottom corner of Dragon’s goal. It went from bad to worse as Dragons then lost right midfielder Nick Turner to injury. However the tide finally turned and through striker Jon Miles Dragons hit back twice in quick succession to go into the break 2-1 up. After the break Dragons continued where they had left off with Jon grabbing another goal. With City’s team tiring after pressing high and hard with one sub all game and a combination of a resolute defence (bolstered by the return of Stu Kelly) and quick counter-attacking hockey the game quickly became a rout with Jon taking his final tally to 4 and reborn striker Will Kirby also grabbing a hat-trick. Whilst the numbers look impressive for the forwards in reality it was great team hockey that made it possible with a huge effort put in by Will Main, John Ives and Ed Smith in midfield. Final score 7-1 with MoM going to Jon Miles for his 4 goals and the team looking forward to a tough match-up with UEA 2s next week.
East League, Men’s 5NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 4s v Sudbury 4s: 5-1
Goalscorers: Alberto Embarba x2, Phil York Smith, Tommy Gale, Josh Rollason
MOM: Alberto Embarba
Dragons 4s went on a long trip to face Sudbury’s 3rd team. But the hour-and-a-half trip paid back when they managed to leave behind the cloudy skies of Norfolk to enjoy the sunny spells of what seemed to be the last day of the summer.
It was shortly after the push-back that Dragons learnt the hard way that they were playing on a very slow pitch. In the first minutes of the game quite a few passes ended up short from target and being intercepted in dangerous places. A few embarrassing moments were seen as well, when the ball failed to cross the D after injection in a couple of short corners. Nevertheless, lessons were learnt, and Dragons started to move the ball around effectively by hitting, slapping and lifting it off the ground to overcome the problem. And then the goals came. The first one started with Owain Hall eliminating his opponent in the centre of the midfield and sending the ball to the top-right corner, where Tommy Gale did his part and sent a great pass to the centre of the D where Josh Rollason was waiting to brilliantly finalise a great team effort. The second goal was signed off by Phil York-Smith from a short corner, brilliantly pushed on target. The third goal started with Greg Reynolds moving incredibly fast from the left side and sending in a great ball which was collected by Bobby Sheppard and sent past the keeper, with Tommy Gale tapping in on the right post.
In the first minutes of the second half Sudbury managed to intercept a ball in midfield and move quickly into the D, dribbling superbly around a few Dragons and get their one and only goal of the day. As a response Dragons reacted well and got their fourth goal from a short corner, which was shot on target by Bobby Sheppard but stopped by the keeper, with Alberto Embarba collecting it and scoring, after four consecutive attempts! The fifth goal should have come from another short corner amazingly pushed by Phil York-Smith, which was deflected off the goal line by a defender sitting on the right-side post. We had to wait a few more minutes until another short corner was awarded to see Alberto picking up the ball deflected by the keeper and lifting it to the net. 1-5 win at final whistle, which places Dragons in second position in the league table, in a great game where we could see Will Ives coming back on track from injury and playing at the highest level again.
East League, Men’s 5NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 5s v Norwich Exiles 1s: 1-1
Goalscorer: Josh Bingham
MOM: Robin Clarke
East League, Men’s 5NE(N)
Norwich Dragons Men’s 6s v Norwich City 6s: 0-3
MOM: Graham Cormack
Young MOM: Daniel Shirley
Development Leagues
Dev Girls A v Norwich City: 5-2
Goalscorers: Mia Rutterford, Lucy Courtier x4
MOM: Josie Kell
Dev Girls – no fixture
Dev Boys A v Watton: 11-0
Goalscorers: Ayrton Rant, Will Sexton x2, Hector McNeill, Raul Wigglesworth x4, Tom Skelton x2, Blade Earley
MOM: Will Sexton, Raul Wigglesworth
Dev Boys B v Norwich City: 0-4
In the first half Norwich City had the majority of the ball and went 1-0 up in the second quarter. At half time we lost our keeper that we had loaned. They went 2-0 up in the third quarter and scored the other two in the last quarter. They also had one disallowed. Thanks to Andy Hollis for playing as an adult.
MOM: Dylon Bondi