The weekend fixtures saw the little Dragons scheduled to play Shire Oak Avengers and Hawkins Sports. The former team being the former team of our Phoebe, Jim and Ben who have since flourished since being under the stewardship of Gaffer Nicholls. Understandably the trio were a tad nervous prior to facing Shire Oak, nearly as nervous as Chris was prior to unveiling his new boy band hair cut. Chris had asked his local salon for a one direction style but ended up with a wrong direction. Cutting hair around a pudding basin went out of fashion in the 80’s and so did the shell suits that you insist on wearing. The kids had nothing to fear other than Chris’s hair as they all turned up, chomping at the bit. The rousing pre-match speech based the game plan around having fun and playing for each other! and boy did they do that! From the off the kids were challenging hard and working as a team. Ash ‘The Flash’ broke the deadlock which relieved the tension thus allowing the kids to shine even more. Ben ‘The Beast’ was taking charge in the defensive midfield role and was playing precision passes through to Ash and Jim who were relishing the task of attacking the Avengers defence. Some great vision from the Beast created a ball for Dynamo to latch onto and just fire wide of the mark. The attacks were relentless and the Dragons were flooding forward to support them. Another attack on the goal caused the keeper to spill a heavy shot only for the Rocket to rifle into the roof of the net. He celebrated with a cheeky little dance which was well received by the hysterical parents. Play restarts and the Rocket plays a scrumptious through ball to Ash who devours it and tucks it away for our 3rd. Half time comes and the gaffer is jubilant with the great football being played. He rings the changes with Dodger, 007, Wireless and Aniallator all coming into the fray. Immediate impact made as Matty and Dodger combine well and the resulting shots whistles just wide. Dodger lays siege again and rounds the keeper instead of opting to strike at goal was he going to rue this miss!!! Not a chance as moments later he receives the ball and opts to lob the ball over the keeper for an exquisite finish. the crowd go apoplectic. Dodger was clearly on a mission and bags a brace from a driven effort into the corner of the net. The defence were supporting the efforts by shutting the door on all sorties made by the Avengers and releasing precision passes for the forwards to feed. Reily ‘The Rock’ made a solid save to ensure a clean sheet was maintained. Whistle sounds and job done!
Best thing about this performance was the joy in the kids faces and all celebrating the goals scored, shows true unity and great spirit!
Buoyed by this fantastic start the kids regroup and listen intently to the game plan. Hawkins Sports were a well organised outfit and were going to be a sterner test. The game starts and the possession ebbed and flowed between the 2 teams. Dynamo steps it up a gear when he provides a gem of a through ball that is nearly capitalised on by Freya ‘The Slayer’. The industry and tenacity shown by both Phoebe and Freya amazes me, no fear football with a cool calm head – excellent stuff. The defensive stalwart Niall was providing the rigidity to the backline and his perfectly timed tackles were straight out of the coaching manual. Wireless was between the sticks and made a few notable saves prior to being unable to stop a shot for Hawkins to take the lead. Halftime comes and the gaffer makes the necessary changes to the personnel. The Dragons heads don’t drop instead they embark on their own assault. Phoebe our own Captain Marvel squeezes a precision pass through to Dynamo Jim who despatches with consummate ease – game on!! The Hawkins were rattled and were seeking the lead and got it after a shot deflected of a dragon and wrong footed Matty. The Dragons were not going to roll over and have their bellies tickled. Ash quickens the tempo and calmly deposits home the equaliser, the fans go nuts on the side lines which spurs the Dragons on even more! A free kick is awarded in what we commonly refer to as ‘Phoebe territory’ and she narrowly misses the target bringing oooohs and arrrrghhs from the Dragonettes. Time was ticking by and the game looked like resulting in a draw, which we would have taken! Jim had other ideas as he embarked on a solo sortie which he unleashed a bomb of a shot which the keeper parried, only for the Rocket to rifle the ball into the back of the net. Pandemonium ensued the kids were celebrating with gusto, the coaching staff were going nuts and the parents equally had lost it. This was quite literally the last kick of the game and the Hawkins team looked beside themselves, oh well!!
The quality of the football has truly made a lot of peoples weekends! To witness the kids flourish and gel as a team is an absolute dream come true!
Player of match number #1 was awarded to Bill aka ‘Dodger’ for a thrilling performance topped off with a couple of well taken beauties!
Player of match number #2 was awarded to Ash aka ‘The Flash’ as he managed to make the biggest difference on the pitch when introduced as a substitute.
Saying that the decision was a tough job as all the kids could have equally have won it.
Well done kids, proud of everyone of you!!!
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