Dragons host semi finals

Drouin Dragons Soccer Club travelled to Inverloch on Sunday to play against another top four side in the Gippsland Soccer league competition.

The GSL semi final location has been confirmed, with Drouin fortunate to be hosting it on September 11.

The Baw Baw Shire Council is currently top dressing the four pitches in preparation for 28 teams to play with an expected crowd of 1500 people to attend.

Under 7s

A cold morning saw Drouin take on Inverloch at their home ground.

Once again the kids split into two games.

There was some excellent play from the littlest Dragons, they called for the ball and spread out across the field instead of huddling together, which was great to see.

Practicing passing at training has paid off as there was some excellent teamwork as the ball went from player to player. Defence was again a strong point for the under sevens and they definitely put pressure on the opposition. Best on ground match 1: Max Best on ground match 2: Logan

Under 9s

Away at Inverloch saw the under nines play against a better-drilled team.

In spite of great goalkeeping from Will (first half) and Oliver (second half), Drouin were on the receiving end of great attacking from Inverloch, but never gave up and the team put up a solid performance. Determined midfield work from Harvey and Tom couldn’t produce any success up front.

Player awards: Best on ground: Oliver, who showed some real improvement in this game; Coaches award: The whole team, for never giving up.

Under 11s

Score: Drouin 2 Inverloch 3 Drouin got off to a very slow start in the first 15 minutes and it showed on the score being 2-0 down.

By half time it was three zip to Inverloch and it was not looking good.

After half time Drouin started to play very competitively and really took control of the game. From disappointing to fantastic would best describe Drouin’s game.

They were unlucky not to equalise late in the game, however that loss was as satisfying as a win to see the whole team lift in the second half.

Full credit to Drouin for not dropping their heads and coming back the way they did. A lot of positives can be taken out of that effort and it was wonderful to see a great fighting comeback by Drouin.

Player awards: Best on ground: Charlie; Coaches award: Daniel

Under 15s

The Dragon girls cemented their place in the finals with a 7-1 win over Inverloch Stars.

Sacha Geerlings and Thalia Mitchell set the girls up early with some great passes up forward, netting Sacha two goals in the first half and Thalia with one.

The defence were tested in the first half, with Zali, Sophie and Erin presenting a united front, barely letting any balls through.

Erin demonstrated excellent skills and read the play exceptionally well, moving into the midfield and sending balls through to the forwards.

Hayley was sent all over the pitch, proving to be a versatile player. She was on the wing, moved up forward to support the midfield before settling into the back line in the second half.

Olivia had a few runs down the wing but was unable to score her own goal. She assisted with two goals in the second half though, passing to Sylvia Cooper who scored two for the day.

Thalia and Sacha added one more each to give the girls seven overall.

Imogen was tested early in goals, but proved to be a strong goalie yet again, diving on balls and providing a commanding presence in goals, commanding enough to possibly fill in next year for the women’s team as a goalie.

Best on ground: Thalia Mitchell; Coaches award: Erin Park

Under 16s

The Drouin Dragons under 16s dominated the opposition for the entire match with a very strong performance being put on display by a talented young Steve Bearchell, who scored a bag of six goals.

Lasaro Tuimateo, who had just finished playing for the under 14s, put in a tireless effort also and was rewarded for his hard toil in the midfield with a nicely struck goal.

d’Artagnan Belcher played a solid defensive game and scored a nice header from a corner to finish off the set play.

Player awards: Best on ground: Steve Bearchell; Coaches award: Lasaro Tuimateo; Goal scorers: Steve Bearchell 6, Lasaro Tuimateo 1, d’Artagnan Belcher 1.

Senior Reserves

The Drouin Dragons Senior Reserves team played a solid match down in Inverloch with the strikers stepping up to the plate scoring six goals between them.

They maintained possession for most of the first half and dominated well in the midfield play. The defence again was solid only erring once with an inadvertent handball inside the 18 yard box giving Inverloch a penalty which they converted well.

The first half then ended 4-1 to Drouin.

The second half was much the same with Inverloch conceding a further three goals to see the match end 7-1 to Drouin.

Player awards: Best on ground: Bailey Kittelty; Coaches award: Ben Smith.

Women

Inverloch got off to a quick start, testing the defence early on.

The girls fought hard in defence, with two well kicked goals scored against them.

Jenni was strong in goals, not allowing Inverloch to score again.

Biscuit and Kerry were having fun up front, although on the small pitch, through balls ended up in the hands of the keeper.

Erin and Zali ran hard on the wing, playing their second game for the day, both doing a superb job against experienced older players.

Steph was tested early on, playing on the wing, before moving to her favoured spot up front.

Jess Nalty and Jess Brown were best on ground. Both played well, keeping the talk up, making sure the girls were moving and passing and encouraging a positive attitude.

Final score: Drouin 1 - Inverloch 3

Seniors

The senior Drouin side started strongly but was forced to absorb a pretty persistent attack laid down by the Inverloch Stars in the first 15 minutes before Steve Smythe scored a well-struck free kick from 35 metres out.

The Dragons took another 10 minutes to really start to dominate play before an Inverloch Star player was sent off for misconduct. The Dragons then closed out the half with another nicely executed goal by Chris Davies.

The second half started off scrappy with both sides jostling to maintain possession in the midfield. Drouin again broke the binding to score another two goals by Chris Davies and Frank Pitisano to extend their lead to four goals.

Drouin's resolve remained firm and they held off Inverloch to win by 4-0.

Another player that deserves mention is DDSC president Dan Brown, who played another standout game as the last line in defence stopping three goals that kept Inverloch goal less.

Player awards: Best on ground: Dan Brown; Coaches award: Lee Yuill; Nick Woodson; and Steve Smythe.