| Team | Date | Opposition | H/A | Time | Score | Scorers | Player of Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1s | 27/01/18 | St Albans 2 | H | 12.30 | 4-3 (W) | Issy Wolfe x 2 Emma Tabrett x2 | Emma Tabrett Olivia Thomas |
| L2s | 27/01/18 | Ipswich 2 | A | 14.00 | 3-4 (W) | Jess Bennett x 3 Kate McKenna | Jess Bennett |
| L3s | 27/01/18 | Loddon 1 | H | 11.45 | 2-0 (W) | Hannah Ellis Sam Franklin | Ally Windsor Waite |
| L4s | 27/01/18 | Dereham 3 | A | 12.45 | 0-4 (W) | Fiona Fletcher Caroline Wolfe x2 Lisa Harwood | Bella Capps |
| L5s | 27/01/18 | Magpies 4 | A | 13.30 | 3-0 (L) | Grace Brown Hannah Edwards |
|
| L6s | 27/01/18 | Hornets 1 | H | 10.15 | 9-0 (W) | Jennifer Buskell x2 Anita Mancini Gemma Bullard x2 Jemima Dorman x3 Amy Forse | Jemima Dorman |
| L7s | 27/01/18 | Watton 3 | H | 11.00 | 1-1 (D) | Adelice Kraemer | Bridget Le Good |
| L8s | 27/01/18 | Carrow 2 | H | 9.30 | P-P | ||
| M1s | 27/01/18 | Magpies 3 | H | 14.00 | 1-1 (D) | Rupert Snelling | Patrick Gordon |
| M2s | 27/01/18 | Pelicans 2 | H | 15.30 | 6-4 (W) | Rich Gill Alex Browne x3 Cley Hamilton x2 | James Cross |
| M3s | 27/01/18 | City 3 | A | 14.30 | 4-0 (L) | Ed Smith | |
| M4s | 27/01/18 | City 5 | A | 11.30 | 2-1 (L) | Jordan Hambling | Will Ives |
| M5s | 27/01/18 | Nch Exiles 1 | H | 13.15 | 2-3 (L) | McCartney Aldous Owain Hall | Owain Hall |
| M6s | 27/01/18 | Nflk Nomads 1 | H | 14.45 | 1-2 (L) | Josh Bingham | Bobby Sheppard |
| BD A | 27/01/18 | City | H | 16.15 | 5-7 (A) | Tommy Gale x2 Will Bowman Ben Panter Lawrie Williams | Tommy Gale |
| BD B | 27/01/18 | Magpies | A | 10.15 | 9-1 (L) | Kit Scott | Kit Scott Tommy Chambers |
| GD | 27/01/18 | Yarmouth | A | 10.00 | 1-1 (D) | Piper Hansall |
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Women’s East Hockey League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s v St Albans 2s: 4-3
After a week off, the ladies were raring to go and well aware of the need to secure 3 points from the game. Saturday saw the welcome return of Sophie Mullan and Lucy Morton to the squad and their energy was a boost to the team.
The Dragons started strongly, passing the ball around the back between Holly Redding, Sarah Jenkins, Sophie Thomas and Lou Murray. Murray started to find space and some fantastic linking play between her and Lara Taylor and Sophie Mullan on the right drove the opposition back throughout the match.
The first goal came from a fantastic piece of individual skill from Stacey Lee, resulting in a short corner. The ball found Hayley Toleman at the top of the D, who flicked it right to Lee and then received the ball back and found Issy Wolfe who managed to slip it past the keeper.
After a quick break, St Albans won a penalty corner of their own and a well taken strike beat Cleeve in the Dragons’ goal to take the score to 1-1. Dragons fought back straight away though, and were strong in attack again. Liv Thomas who went on to share the Player of the Match award, was strong in the middle of the pitch, driving forwards and often being the lynch pin for the excellent switching of play that Dragons demonstrated throughout the game. It was through a fantastic period of interlinking play from the Dragons that the second goal came. Strong play down the right from Murray and Taylor found Toleman at the top of the D, she then passed it on to Issy Wolfe who slipped it past the keeper to take the score to 2-1 at the break.
St Albans started the second half with strength and determination, but some fantastic defence from Jenkins and Redding meant that they were unable to break through for large periods of the game. Unfortunately, another penalty corner was awarded to them and they converted with another well taken strike to take the score to 2-2.
At this point in previous games, Dragons have sometimes lost their way, but on Saturday a great show of team strength took the ladies forward. Slick passing and moving off the ball allowed the Dragons to maintain pressure on St Albans and another penalty corner was awarded. Luckily, Emma Tabrett was on hand to step up and a fantastic drag flick found the back of the net with ease. Tabrett was on great form throughout the match and another penalty corner awarded shortly afterwards was converted with similar precision. Tabrett went on to win the joint player of the match award for these two splendid goals and her unstoppable energy throughout the game.
Whilst St Albans did manage to pull a goal back around 5 minutes from time, Dragons didn’t falter this week and they marched home with a very well deserved 3 points.
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Women’s East Hockey League, Division 2NE
Norwich Dragons Ladies 2s v Ipswich 2s: 4-3
>The Dragons knew they were going to have to dig deep as once again due to injuries and illnesses throughout the teams they had to travel with a bare 12. However as is often the case this brought out the Dragons’ fighting spirit and everyone in the squad was determined to give it their all and fight to the end.
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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 3s v Loddon 1s: 2-0
Dragons 3rd team started positively putting Loddon 1st team on the backfoot from the start. Many chances were created by the forward line of Ally Windsor Waite, Jess Haw and Marcy Windsor Waite, with near misses at both posts and over the cross bar. The midfield line up of Sam Franklin, Tash Falzon, Hazel Knights and Aditi Naik worked hard to maintain possession and release the forwards for attacking opportunities.
Dragons managed to score their first goal from open play which saw a strike from Ally Windsor Waite deflected over the line by Sam Franklin. Despite many opportunities the score remained at 1 0 mainly due to a great performance from the Loddon keeper.
The second half again saw Dragons on the attack, which eventually saw Hannah Ellis convert one of their many short corners and make the score 2 0. The defensive line up of Esme Potter, Kath Mares, Angela Murgatroyd and Emily Roper, who were rarely troubled calmly dealt with any threats to gain another clean sheet. Player of the match went to Ally Windsor Waite, however many players received votes highlighting a good team performance.
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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s v Dereham 3s: 4-0
Another cold breezy start to this hockey match, much like we’ve experienced in the later weeks so we were up for a good challenging game ahead of us.
Dragons started strong and a very well organized structure to our team. We caused worry on the faces of our opposition with our ‘presses’ in every hit out that they had. The wall would not be broken. Ellie James had a beautiful game on the wing driving with the ball with no one daring to tackle her, supported by Fiona Fletcher and Lisa Harwood ready to take the ball into the circle – and soon after a cross allowed Fiona to push it into the goal.
We were soon on their heels after the push back, with Trish Hagan and Neeps Price pushing forward with their slick skills only to be unfortunate this half not to get another goal – then Trish was kindly asked to take a break from the umpire for a few minutes, I think she planned that to get her breath back for a while.
The second half started much like the first but with more goals. Lisa lovingly pushed the ball into the goal after a lovely cross from Neeps, making it 2-0 so far. Not to be left out Caroline Wolfe scored an accurate goal – pushed not hit! She was not happy with 1 so she aimed for another after a short corner into the side of the goal this time by a ‘hit’.
The mid field were ‘trouble’ in their performance scuppering their forwards, and the team work between Vicki Early and (defender) Sarah Wagstaff made the tremendous difference. Jemima Williams and Katie Franks didn’t give up with their precision stick work and strength to stop them scoring a goal.
Our goalkeeper (Kat Speirs) deserves a mention – she takes control of her area and no one argues with her as that’s how much confidence we have in her.
Our MOM Bella Capps deserves a special mention as she was playing a different position this week and deserves her votes from us. She put herself in the right positions and ran into the correct areas very cooly and calmly. Bella made a big difference to our game, as we all did.
We won 4-0
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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Premier Division
Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s v Magpies 4s: 0-3
Player of the Match was split between Grace Brown and Hannah Edwards, with each taking a Dragon home. Votes were split between 7 players, highlighting how hard EVERYONE worked.
Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 2
Norwich Dragons Ladies 6s v Hornets 1s: 9-0
With it being Jemima Dorman-Carrott & Clara Dorman-Carrott’s last game for Dragons, we wanted to make it a good one.
It was a cold start to the morning and there was a worry that the match might be called off. But Hornets showed good spirit and headed over to the den anyway with only 10 players. Everyone was determined to make a go of it.
The rotating forwards of Jemima, Gemma Ballard, Jessica Vernon and Mia McGhee pushed forward hard and, within 5 minutes, we were awarded our first short corner, of many. A great strike from Amy Forse hit Gemma’s stick for the ball to then find Jemima’s and into the goal.
Short corners and goals then started to flow, with one from Gemma and a 2nd for Jemima.
Hornets kept trying to push through but, with our defence of Kate Atkins, Coco Brown, Jen Buskell and Amy staying strong and blocking Hornets hard hits, we soon had it back up trying for another goal. After a bit of foul play from Hornets, we were awarded a penalty flick. Amy stepped up to take it and made a perfect flick to the back of the goal (all that practise at training must’ve done some good!)
Our 4th goal come from Jen who, picking the ball up in defence, made a run for it. Without any hesitation she got to the top of the D and took a strike that found it’s way through the crowd and passed the goalie.
The second half was more of the same with Emily Roper in goal having a quiet time at the back. Hornets began to tire but they never gave up. Coco worked tirelessly at bottom of the diamond pushing the ball out to our midfield of Anita Mancini, Clara Dorman-Carrot and Maisie Dearmer, who all had great runs getting the ball up to the forwards. Another couple of short corners, with goals from Mia, a 2nd for Gemma and a 3rd for Jemima. Our final goal came from Anita, sealing another well-deserved win for the 6’s. In the last minute of the game, Hornets made a break for it but Emily saw to it that a goal wasn’t conceded and kept a clean-sheet.
A good game played by all, with some great teamwork and hockey!
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Empresa Norfolk Women’s League, Division 3
Norwich Dragons Ladies 7s v Watton 3s: 1-1
This was a tough match with both sides showing plenty of skill and after opening the scoring midway through the second half, Dragons just couldn’t close out the game and had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Dragons had possibly their strongest squad available, but after a couple of weeks without a match we tended to lose our shape and width in the final 23, and then fire impatiently in the D.
All credit to Watton for being consistently first to the ball and we should have remembered from our first match against them that their keeper is an excellent shot-stopper. There is no point in trying to batter the ball straight through her. Watton proved that their recent run of form is no fluke, and did a very good marking job on our forwards and mids. Alice Bishop in particular was tightly marked and did well when taking the ball out wide to create some space. Jane Wells was also given no chance to get in her hard crosses, but her shots on target indicate she is soon due for a hatful. Addi Kraemer’s rapier skills were blunted by the defenders, but thank goodness she had the machete in hand to whack home a pen corner follow up just when the Dragons needed it.
Stevie Spencer is developing into a real powerhouse at the top of the diamond, but the ball was not pulled back to the top of the D often enough. The 7s defence is still playing well and frequently it takes just three passes to get the ball to the edge of the attacking circle. Emma Dyer made loads of tackles and hit one glorious ball across the pitch from the left back position. Becky Gallagher put in a good shift at the bottom of the diamond and at right mid – where Lily Crew also showed her stick skills. Louise Brooksy Brooks is the calm playmaker at the bottom of the diamond and had another excellent game. Esme Mckinnon-Evans was available after a long absence and really bossed the right back position, plus bravely running 1 at pen corners. In a game where all the 7s were keen and determined, most of the players got a POM vote, but centre back Bridget Le Good just edged it with a good display of powerful hitting and even a couple of tackles. But sadly it took just one slip and no cover to let Watton through on goal and give Emma North no chance, after she had showed good positioning skills in the little that she had to do. Sometimes it is easier for the keeper to have to stop a few shots to get her eye in!
Amelia Keitley-Webb, Stevie and Claire Fairhurst (plus Alice when she moved across) showed so much ability on the left and in the attack that the 7s must hope they can practice and play together to build their understanding, because they are potentially unstoppable. Combine these skills with Jane’s hard crosses from the right and Addi’s clever slips and Dragons will have their cutting edge – in front of a very solid defence. They are determined to push on from this point, train hard and look forward to another enjoyable match next week. Go Super Sevens!
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Empress Norfolk Women’s League, Division 3
Norwich Dragons Ladies 8s v Carrow 2s: P-P
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Men’s East Hockey League, Division 2N
Norwich Dragons Men’s 1s v Magpies 3s: 1-1
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Men’s East Hockey League, Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 2s v Pelicans 2s: 6-4
A rusty men’s 2nds beat pelicans 2nds 6-4 (HT 3-3) at the den. The first half to and froed consisting of Dragons taking the lead but with the opposition promptly pegging them back, with goals by Cley Hamilton, Richard Gill and Alex Browne . A step over of strictly proportions by the home keeper at a short corner put pelicans in the driving seat for the first time, but dragons responded with three quick goals, which included another brace from Alex and a second for Cley, saving his embarrassment and getting him off the hook. MOM young debutee James Cross and DOD unanimously a not so young Giles Brooks.
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Men’s East Hockey League, Division 3NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 3s v City 3s: 0-4
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Men’s East Hockey League Division 4NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 4s v City 5s: 1-2
Mens 4s travelled the short journey up to Taverham Hall, to face Norwich City 5’s. With a sprinkling of youth blended with experience, and also a full squad of 14, morale was high in the dragons camp. With stand in captain Paul Keating on the right side today, what could possibly go wrong.
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Men’s East Hockey League, Division 5NE
Norwich Dragons Men’s 5s v Exiles 1s: 2-3
A well organised team performance kept the game close until the final few minutes before Dragons failed to clear the ball allowing Exiles to win a short corner which they ultimately converted into a penalty flick to win the game.
Dragons goals came from Owain Hall & a well taken drag flick by McCartney Aldous. MOM Owain Hall
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Men’s East Hockey League, Division 6NE(N)
Norwich Dragons Men’s 6s v Norfolk Nomads: 1-2
This was one of the best performances by the Dragons 6th team all season, even if we still didn’t manage a win…or draw. Mike Banham shared his long experience with some suggestions on substitutions and keeping the spine of the team on the field for the first half while rotating the subs around them. This gave the team a consistent shape and meant that we were able to compete with the team sitting second in the Division.
Nomads scored first with a roll in of the ball over the line after a very good first save by Freddie Rouques. He was very unlucky that the ball didn’t clear as far as it should have and sat up for the Nomads striker to put it in the net. The second Nomads goal came shortly after from a penalty corner, a well struck ball sliding in through an almost non-existent gap between a defenders stick and the near post. Not to be outdone, Dragons pulled back to 1-2 with a clean and powerful strike by Josh Bingham. A lovely goal.
The second half was all Norwich Dragons with numerous shots on goal cleared by a very experienced and skilled Nomads defense. What it showed though, was an ability for Dragons to dictate the play, retain the ball for more of the time and put pressure on a defense that, if less skilled, would have let in goals. Everyone, once more, put in 100% effort and a cohesive team performance. If we can repeat this level of commitment in the run in to the end of the season, the teams we will be playing from the bottom half of the league, won’t be able to resist and we should finally pick up some wins.
For great effort and application playing in the striker position, the man of the match was voted to Bobby Sheppard.
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Norwich Dragons Hockey Club
Dragons Dev Boys A v City: 5-7
An entertaining game with lots of goals.
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Norwich Dragons Hockey Club
Dragons Dev Boys B v Magpies: 1-9
This proved to be a tough game for the boys against a competent Magpies team.
The first quarter was closely fought with Magpies opening the scoring after a period of intense pressure. The Dragons equalised after a fine sequence of passing involving Theo Korn and Tommy Champers and culminating in a well executed goal from Kit Scott.
The second quarter started well for the Dragons with some good interplay between Bertie Pinching, Theo and Will Sexton. However the Magpies counter-attacked and ended up scoring a soft goal.
A further goal from Magpies followed shortly afterwards with an unchallenged shot on goal.
The Dragons did not give up and pushed forward with some good passing and use of the width of the pitch. However the Magpies back line was strong and we found it difficult to break it down. As the quarter progressed the Magpies pressed time and again with several short corners. Despite a couple of good saves from Alex Wolfe, Magpies scored again going into half time 4-1 ahead.
The third quarter started badly with an early goal from Magpies. The Dragons looked rather demoralised by this stage and on several occasions we either were caught in possession trying to dribble out of defence when a simple pass would have been a better option or our passing was not good enough and we gave the ball away too easily. Magpies on the other hand were passing the ball around very well and were pushing forward with numbers.
Kit was unlucky however not to score again after a good break involving Bertie, our Number 11 and Number 8 (sorry guys not knowing your names).
Magpies scored three goals in quick succession, before the Dragons had one last surge up the field just before the break with Archie, Theo and Kit passing the ball well to each other. The 8-1 scoreline at the end of the quarter was harsh on the Dragons team who had deserved more to this point.
The final quarter saw the Magpies putting in attack after attack. Our boys however did not crumble and despite letting in one final goal, the defence in the quarter was a lot more robust, Alex making some good saves and Alex Marjoram and Max Linford putting in some good tackles.
In summary, we never gave up but were beaten by the better team on the day. Magpies passed the ball around well, had good movement of players off the ball and maintained their shape as a team. Our passing could have been better, and our defence at times looked a bit frail when under pressure. We needed to try to be a bit firmer in the challenges and not to panic when we had the ball. We sometimes gave the ball away too easily.
Well done to everyone and better luck next time.
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Norwich Dragons Hockey Club
Dragons Dev Girls v Yarmouth: 1-1
On Saturday 27th January Dev girls played against Yarmouth and drew 1-1, our Man of the Match was Piper Hansall. Within the first quarter Piper scored a brilliant goal, which deflected off the other team’s stick straight into the net. In the third quarter Yarmouth got a penalty shot and passed it straight along the floor into the left hand corner. Despite all of our best efforts Dev girls didn’t manage to get another goal and before long the game finished at 1 all. Even though it ended with a draw it was a good, entertaining game and hopefully the Dev team will continue to win and draw in our following matches in the future.
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