Norwich Dragons Ladies 1s Vs Bury St Edmunds 1s

Score: 3-6

Scorers: Kate Mckenna, Kiera Goymour & Alice Whitmore

MOM: Jemima Watson

Ladies 1s saw their first league game vs Bury 1s. Slow to start in the first half gave bury the 3-1 lead. Bury managed to score 3 more goals in the second half, with us scoring 2 more making the final score 6-3 to Bury. Lots still to learn but positives to take from the second half and take in to training on Tuesday! Goals from Kate Mckenna, Kiera Goymour and Alice Whitmore. POM Jemima Watson and DOD Mia Bartram and Holly Setchell.

Norwich Dragons Ladies 2s Vs Bury St Edmunds 2s  

Score: 0-1

MOM: Sophie Farrow

Ladies 2’s came away from Bury St Edmund 2’s with nothing, despite dominating possession. Even the umpires commented ‘how on earth did you lose that?!’.

The answer, we weren’t quite at it in the 1st half and allowed Bury into the game ( and to score as we rotated our defensive unit ). 2nd half we dominated, but we simply didn’t take our chances or make the right decisions particularly in the D. We can and will play better than this, but we stick together and go again Tuesday & next weekend!

Norwich Dragons Ladies 3s Vs Ipswich 2’s

Score: 0-2

MOM: Amy Beadman

Dragons 3’s played Ipswich 2’s on the same wet windy day as other other fellow teammates playing at home and suffered the same feeling of cold and wet hands!

The first league match together as a new team saw some great hockey and some not so good hockey, but one thing that was apparent was the effort and hard work every player out into the match! Ipswich managed 2 goals in the first half but come the second half they didn’t get any, unfortunately neither did we – the game ended with Ipswich winning 2-0. 

Norwich Dragons Ladies 4s Vs Carrow 1’s

Score: 4-0

Scorers: Amy Forse X2, Lisa Harwood & Alison Windsor-Waite

MOM: Flori Smith

Ladies 4’s played Carrow, first the good news: lovely hockey, a real team effort (though I thought Kristina Smyth was under used😉) won 4-0 goal scorers Amy Forse (2) Lisa Harwood and Alison W-W. Now the sad news: Catherine Matthews last game for a while, good luck and have a wonderful time at Uni!!! We’ll miss you!!

Norwich Dragons Ladies 5s Vs Dereham 3’s

Score: 2-2

Scorers: Jane Wells & Claire Stuart  

MOM: Freya Dolding

Dragons 5s played Dereham 3s in what we can only describe as ‘proper hockey weather’. To be honest we’d kind of had enough of the lovely sunshine and warm, dry conditions for our last 2 friendlies. Any way things were tough and both teams battled hard. Dereham were a young and nippy side with some skilled players; their persistence paying off with a well worked goal in the first half. The 5s continued to work hard playing some nice hockey and eventually getting a goal back with a short corner strike from me. We were then lucky to go another goal up somehow after a bit of a commotion in the Dereham D and Claire Merriam Stuart getting the last Dragon’s touch before it went into the goal off a Dereham foot. The game continued with end to end action and both keepers making some good saves. Gem Ballard and Freya both had goals disallowed (boooo). With only one sub, Dragons started to tire and then lost Louise Brooks to injury in the last few minutes. Dereham took advantage of this and equalised. The final result 2-2. Well done all. A difficult game in challenging conditions.

Norwich Dragons Ladies 6s Vs Beccles 1s

Score: 1-3

Scorers: Alicia Fairweather 

MOM: Mae Clark

On a wet and windy morning, the Ladies 6s came together to take on their first league match opponents Beccles 1s. Having kept on the warm coats until the very last possible moment, we did some last minute star jumps before taking on what can only be described as an air hockey team – genuinely impressive how little the ball stayed on the ground….

Anyway, moving on – following a decent start from the dragons side, Beccles somehow managed to score off some massive hits across the pitch. We quickly countered with a lovely short corner goal from Alicia. Unfortunately we were not able to build on this though and ended up conceding a further two goals in the half.

After another motivational half time Pat Chat we came out much more determined in the second half and had a number of excellent chances. However, it was not meant to be for us this game. We were just not quite as good as them at hacking away at the ball turns out…So final score was 3:1 to Beccles. Man of the Match was Mae Clark with an excellent second half at right mid, but I can say we all played our little hearts out, that is for sure! Onwards and upwards team – fun in the sun will be back again soon

Norwich Dragons Ladies 7s Vs Thetford

Score: 1-3

Scorers: Charlotte Knight

MOM: Charlotte Knight

Ladies 7s travelled to Thetford for a rather chilly early morning start. Despite starting the game a little shaky the team really started to work together and played some beautiful hockey. With the score 2-0 to Thetford at half time we really pushed on in the second half with Charlotte Knight slotting a beautiful ball in the goal. We continued to fight forward and were unlucky to not get a few more goals. Final score 3-1 to Thetford with Charlotte also winning MOM. Fantastic game especially with a largely new team and some of the girls making their debuts, well done everyone!

Norwich Dragons Ladies 8s Vs Carrow 2’s

Score: 1-2

Scorers: Sadie Jacobs    

Ladies 8’s took on Carrow 2’s, at home! And what an exciting match!

It is fair to say Carrow were taken by surprise by the ‘new look’ Awesome 8’s! When I say ‘new look’, we are the same players, but WE are players who have worked hard at training, learned from mistakes, and improved our techniques, but above all, we have practiced, practiced practiced!

Coach Sarah was on the side-lines and lived through every hit, thwack ,and tackle. Sarah has been brilliant in helping us all, and has very much identified us, as not just a team, but individuals as well, allowing her to impart some great ideas and knowledge to improve us all personally as players and to communicate with team mates and to know our own strengths and that of others  and use it to our advantage.

Nola Mitchel was in goal, and was totally awesome, making some fabulous saves and saving our bacon more than once! Mehnaz Shammy was deservedly awarded POM, and she more than earned that accolade. She was  bold and fearless with her tackles and speedy as ever on the wing. We don’t call her ‘legs’ for nothing!

Jo Lees played in defence and made some great block tackles in the D giving Nola a welcome breathing space! Jess Lockwood, also in defence, appeared from nowhere at one point in the second half, but thank goodness she did, as she blocked a direct hit on goal getting between a Carrow Forward and Nola, as the rest of us raced back to assist.

Nic Harrison was in Mid-field and ran around in her usual enviable exuberance, never walking away from a tackle or a ball! Imogen Burke was brilliant on the wing and made some amazing (and no doubt annoying for Carrow), chases down the wing. She sped down the line, stick down and chased an opposition until they were forced to hit the ball out.

Bridget Le Good was ‘on fire’ making some great tackles whilst playing at bottom of the diamond! Free hits were met with her signature ‘Klonk’  which sent the ball flying down to the other half. Jo Lees stepped in for Bridget when she went up front and she too played some great balls. Emma Young played right back, and although I say it myself, made a fabulous block tackle in the D early on in the match, and I was not giving up until I had cleared the ball away. If ever there was ‘Grrr’ I had it, in spades at that point!

The second half whistle blew and it was 0-0.

The rain and the wind were relentless sweeping across the red pitch as we started the second half. Mehnaz’s father roared encouragement to us all from the side-lines, which was just what we needed to get us through. Unfortunately Carrow went 2-0 up, but the Awesome 8’s never wavered!

Johanne Steward and Louise Crouch-Reed were ready and waiting as forwards to receive the ball and Louise made some brave tackles on the halfway line which were fantastic.

Karen Davidson was chasing down any ball that came near her and was never going to let it go without a fight, much to the irritated Carrow players!

The last few minutes took the ball into Dragons D and it was Sadie Jacobs who must have had the ‘grr’ by that point as her and other Dragon players tried to score. Sadie never gave up and just as Sarah has told us in training, she kept going! And thank goodness she did as we finally heard the resounding klonk of the ball on the back of the goal, which echoed through the rain and wind. Unfortunately time had run out for us to equalise and the whistle blew and Carrow had won 2-1.

Well played Awesome 8’s. Also a thank you to Bridget who has been kindly putting us through additional fitness training with her ever patient and amazing Personal Trainer. It has helped us hugely with our fitness and our team camaraderie.

Norwich Dragons 1’s vs Ipswich 2’s

Score: 2-1

Scorers: Jonty Gosling & Sean Orton

MOM: Peter Hughes

Norfolk’s infamous tropical rainy season has descended, and an incredibly moist and bracing game befell the Den at midday! The first half witnessed both teams growing into a game where the elements certainly made themselves known. Your mighty Dragons took command of the play for much of the first half, restricting those newly promoted from deepest, darkest Suffolk to counter attacks and ambitious airborne assaults.

A [relatively] well worked short corner routine saw their keeper save twice from Jack Hallworth, before Jonty popped up – right place, right time – to place the ball in without hesitation! Special mention here for Bucky for forensically identifying the right short-corner play for this goal.

Across the first half and second, our until recently side-lined goalkeeper and El Capitan pulled off some absolutely stunning saves…arguably eclipsing even his finest performances from his MVP season last year! At moments in the second half after Ipswich pulled a goal back, Captain Pete commanded the D and refused to be beaten. Who needs a pre-season?

As the clock ticked down, and the scores were level in an end-to-end contest that was proving to be a real grind in the weather, we found a winner! Through swift build-up play switching to the left, Alex Brooks entered the D with poise, getting his head up and finding me on the baseline. A first-time finish from the angle, the ball struck the inside of the post before going in…no matter how much the defender on the line shuffled his flailing gluteus to keep the ball out!

Ipswich pushed hard with vigour for an equaliser…in vain. We’re back! A winning start! Everyone put in a proper shift and should be proud. A sign of champions is winning when you’re not at your tip top best…let this bode well

Norwich Dragons 2s vs East Coast 1

Score: 3-2

Scorers: Jon Miles x2 & Henry Thomas   

MOM: Phil Good

Well then, we definitely played Lowestoft didn’t we. A very strange and aggressive game ended up overshadowing what was a good performance that saw us being 3-0 up at halftime. Unfortunately their game plan wore us down and we conceded 2 goals when we could have done with slowing the game down and sticking to what we do well. That being said I am very proud of everyone for keeping their heads and getting the result in what was a frustrating game. Good start… onto next week!

Norwich Dragons 3s vs UEA 2s

Score: 2-5

Scorers: Charlie Creasy & Robin Clarke

Norwich Dragons 4s vs UEA 3s

Score: 1-2

Scorers: John Ives

MOM: Ed Cross

Norwich Dragons 4s lost to UEA 2-1 although to be honest, I have no idea how!!

We dominated the match missing chance after chance and rarely letting UEA into our half – i missed a hattrick of chances and if I get that many opportunities then you know we must be dominating!

UEA scored a couple of sucker punches towards the end and, although John Ives scored from a well worked short to set up a grandstand finish, we were unable to equalise.

MOTM to Ed Cross who looked a class above most on the pitch.

Norwich Dragons 5s vs Harleston Magpies 5s

Score: 4-4

Scorers: Will Sexton x2, Casper Lind & Josh Cormack

MOM: Will Sexton

Dragons produced a gripping 4-4 draw against Harleston Magpies 5s, in their first league fixture. Norwich Dragons 5th XI entered the season following an undefeated run of four pre-season friendlies, with four clean sheets and nine goals to show for it. However the visiting Magpies team would put this to the test by taking an early 2-0 lead.

Dragons came back hard with centre forward talisman Will Sexton finding the net soon after Magpie’s second insertion. Winger Casper Lind rounded off the first half by slotting one in the onion bag to bring it all square, with midfield stalwart Ali Codling on the assist.

The second half began in Magpie’s favour, exploiting a tired Dragons squad to bring the score to 4-2.

However Dragons responded strongly by catching the opposition on the break, with an emphatic strike from Josh Cormack to make it 4-3.

With only 5 minutes to go new signing Seb Atkinson provided the assist for Sexton to bag his second from close range and levelling the score. Dragons 5s retain their undefeated run going into their visit to Pelicans next week.

 Norwich Dragons 6s vs Magpies 6s

Score: 1-3

Scorers: Jos Briggs

MOM: Jos Briggs

Good start in the league turned on the attack having a clear chance to tie up the game 2-2 at one end, only for Magpies to immediately take the final 2 goal gap at the other end. First half was end to end & a goal down. After HT the boys put the pressure on & Jos levelled the score. Magpies decisive goal saw the whole defence have 5 attempts to clear the D as their first option. Good debuts by Elliot & Fin from Devs, & Lewis returning to hockey after 5 years. Again last year’s youngsters Daniel, Harry & Adam showed how much they have matured & they now take responsibility on the field. That leaves the Oldies who are showing the solidity to make this into a team with potential. My MOM is goal scorer Jos Briggs, who in his 2nd M6 game is showing  how key a player he will be in this set up.

Norwich Dragons 7s vs UEA 4s

Score: 6-0

MOM: Pete Thomas

The first league game for the 7’s was at home to UEA 4’s.  A competitive and good natured match saw the 7’s leading 3 : 0 at half time with goals from Pete Thomas and Andrew Cross (x2). The second half started well with another goal this time from Peter Sales followed by a converted short corner by Pete Thomas. The scoring was capped off by a further goal again secured by Pete T. Special mentions for Jack Sales who played well and worked hard in his Dragons debut and Will Bloom who worked tirelessly in mid field. However, MOM this week has to be Pete Thomas for his contribution to the game and for calculating that the total ages of the goal scorers was over 300.

Norwich Dragons Boys Development vs Norwich City Boys Development

Score: 1-7

Scorers: Theo Demetriou

MOM: Theo Demetriou

This match was a friendly and the first match of the season for Norwich Dragons after only one training session. We lost 7-1 but there were some really good passages of play from Norwich Dragons throughout the match. They also scored 5 of the 7 with short corners because they had an insanely good hitter. The first quarter was probably the worst quarter for dragons of the four as we weren’t ready for how good they were! They had a constant press as well.

In the first 2 mins we conceded in open play from a successful counter attack. City then missed a short corner in the 10th minute, hit a shot over the bar in the 12th but scored from a short corner in the 14th. Two further goals from city in the 2nd quarter which left the Dragons morale depleted.

After an inspiring team talk we came back on the pitch with our heads up. However in  the first 5 mins of the 3rd quarter we conceded a short corner which they converted, but we came back fighting and on a successful counter attack we won a short corner. We had practised short corners on Thursday so knew what we were doing and Theo Demetriou scored. Then with 30 seconds to go in the last quarter a further short corner was converted by City which left the score at 6-1. At the break we knew we couldn’t win but we kept our pride and didn’t let them score although we let them take about four short corners. With about 10 seconds left we conceded the final short corner which they also converted which finished the match at 7-1. 

Message from the Chairman Phil Y-S: Well done boys though, good to hear you are out there trying and thanks to the team organisers coaches and admin.