Drouin Dragons take on spiritied Leongatha
Drouin Dragons played their first away game for over a month in Leongatha which gave the new pitches a welcome break.
After constant rain the day before, the weather held off for most of Sunday to see Drouin win the under 12s, under 14s, under 16s, reserves and senior games over a spirited Leongatha. Under 7s The under 7s again were split in to two games due to the amount of players on both sides.
It is such a joy to watch these young boys go from strength to strength each week, and they never get disheartened when playing a more experienced side.
In game one, the boys tried hard, with a number of goals scored on both sides.
James, Remy and Max are all very quick players and their speed is a real asset to the team.
Game two saw the defence again outstanding.
Cal, Will, Harlan and Logan each played a vital role in the game with all of them getting in good kicks when it counted.
Best on ground: Game 1: James, for both his excellent defence and attacking skills; Game 2: Logan, for excellent attacking skills and never giving up. Under 9s There were two games for the under 9s at Leongatha as both teams had plenty of players
Game 1 - Leongatha dominated throughout despite determined play from Drouin.
Best on Ground: Josh Coaches Award: Stella
Game 2 - A closer game featuring a long range goal from Harvey
Best on Ground: Harvey; Coaches Award: Henry. Under 11s Fulltime Score: Drouin 1 - Leongatha 1
A hard fought game with both teams unwilling to give an inch.
From a slow start, where Drouin conceded an early goal, the Dragons started to fight back strongly and make some good attacking runs in the midfield which was eventually rewarded with a goal from Fletcher.
The defence stood up well to the attacks from Leongatha with Freya, Holly and Rinnan supporting Harry in goals.
The second half was tough going, as Drouin had to play with tired legs against a fresh second under 11 team from Leongatha.
Some neat touches from Hunter and Harry in defence, coupled with the ever hardworking Charlie and energetic Daniel, served up some great goal scoring opportunities which Drouin were unfortunately unable to convert into points.
At the other end, Mordy in goals pulled off some miracle saves to ensure Drouin shared the spoils at the end of the game. Under 12s Fulltime Score: Drouin 2 - Leongatha 1
Drouin received a good test of the fitness playing on the largest pitch for the year thus far.
The wide spaces allowed the team to switch the ball and some good passing through midfield as the games progressed.
Tyan, Jordan and Cain showed good ball control when switching.
Ali was on fire with two exceptional goals, one in each half as a result of some very good ball control and was a good reward for effort.
It was good to have Thomas back in control in defence.
Along with Jack, Jackson, Ella and Kiaran in the second half they repelled many attacks with improved pressure on the opposition advances.
Mordecai once again filled in and experienced a spell at both ends of the field which he lapped up with his usual enthusiasm.
Samuel ran himself ragged and was unlucky not to score on some huge runs forward.
It was Linkin’s best game to date with good defensive efforts in the midfield.
Another solid game from Ace with just the one goal conceded when defence was caught out in the first half.
Ethan once again provided great run down the entire length of the pitch and Jordan was stiff not to have assisted a goal in the first half from his well taken corner.
Overall a very pleasing result which could easily have had a bigger margin with a little bit of luck.
Coaches Award: Ali Rahmani; Goal Scorer: Ali Rahmani 2 Under 14s Fulltime Score: Drouin 4 – Leongatha 2
Like last week there was more improvement in Drouin’s play.
Overall it was a good team effort with every single player contributing a lot to the final outcome.
If Drouin can get rid of the flat and listless stretches of play and string together more of the attacking confident play they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Lachlan Beer had a good day out scoring all goals for the team.
Flynn Cordell and Lachlan Brown shared the keeping duties and are to be commended on a great job in an unfamiliar roll.
Leongatha have improved a lot over the last year and can hold their heads high with a couple of nice goals and some strong defence.
Best on ground: Lachlan Beer; Coaches award: Tom Planck; Most disciplined player: Dale Caldwell Under 16s Full-time Score: Drouin Dragons 8 Leongatha Knights 1
The game kicked off in inclement conditions after the Drouin captain won the toss.
Drouin took a while to build the momentum up but worked well together to assert their domination over the half.
The first goal came after 12 minutes of play with three more goals ending up in the back of the net after just 26 minutes.
Leongatha toiled away at the other end making flurries up the middle of the pitch to end up with a hard earned goal after 30 minutes.
The half ended 4-1 in Drouin's favour.
The second half started at a much faster pace with the opening goal being scored after just 1.5 minutes of play.
Drouin tirelessly kept up the pressure scoring a further three unanswered goals to end the match 8-1 to Drouin.
Leongatha fought hard throughout the match and the score line did not reflect just how competitive both teams were throughout the game.
Best on ground: Zac Laughlin; Coaches award: Paratene Cooper
Goal scorers: Steve Bearchell 1, Gustavo Galdamez 2, Jessica Nalty 1, Zac Laughlin 2, d'Artagnan Belcher 1, Daniel Patchett 1 Reserves Full-time Score: Drouin Dragons 4 Leongatha Knights 2
The match was played in mild overcast conditions on a pitch that had seen a lot of action in the preceding two games.
It was a torrid affair with both sides spoiling the other's flow of the game at every opportunity.
Leongatha opened the scoring after four minutes of play with a quick attacking burst through the centre of the field leaving the Drouin defence bemused.
As has been demonstrated in previous games, the resilience of the Drouin reserves shone through with counter attack after counter attack eventually paying off with a penalty being awarded for contact in the goal box.
This was executed proficiently by captain Arjay Trillanes to level the score at 1-1.
With a minute remaining in the first half, Drouin pressed home an exciting move through to the forwards that was finished off in fine style by the striker Tim Laidlaw.
The second half again saw Leongatha open the scoring after just two minutes of play giving Drouin some cause for concern.
However, the team dug deep and slowly brought the match around to their style of play settling themselves into some good passing combinations and solid defensive plays, and by the close of the half were ahead 4-2 which is how the game finished.
Best on ground: Riley Kittelty; Coaches award: Tim Laidlaw; Goal scorers: Arjay Trillanes 2, Tim Laidlaw 1, Riley Kittelty 1 Women Drouin started out strong against Leongatha, in what was the rematch of last year’s grand final.
The ball was kept in their attacking half for majority of the first half.
Strong defence from Bec Finger, Bec Bickerdike, Kerry Brown and Caera Drury who played hard all half, put the pressure on the Leongatha attack and keep their shots at goal to a minimum.
The girls tired though, and Leongatha capitalised to score late in the half.
The girls were tired at half time, with 11 straight playing, the bench was empty.
Jess Nalty had the legs to keep running all day and continued to feed the ball to the forwards.
Tyanna Burns-Um played a steller game on the wing and had several shots at goal, unfortunately none were converted into goals.
A corner from Jess Nalty put the dragons on the board, with a Leongatha player pressured into sending it to the back of the net for an own goal.
Jenni Quaife had cool hands in goals, making a spectacular save in the final minutes of the game to keep the Knights to two goals for the day.
Final score 2-1 in a great team effort.
Awards: Coaches award: Tyanna BurnsUm; Best on ground: Jess Nalty.