Dragons tested at Phillip Island
The Drouin Dragons Gippsland teams travelled to a very cold and windy Phillip Island on Sunday to take on the league leaders. Under 6 The children were up for a tough match against Phillip Island.
The cold didn’t help but they came out all guns a blazing from the start.
William was determined to get the ball down Drouin’s end and was attacking from the first kick off, challenging every ball.
Max played another solid game in the midfield, running the ball up and opening himself up for the pass in when he could.
Cal and Rylie played a strong game in defence, stopping the goals and clearing out the side when Phillip Island was on the attack.
Noha played a great all-rounder game, assisting when he could on passing and interception.
It was s great contesting game from all of the little Dragons and it is rewarding watching the children grow in confidence and skills every week.
Best on ground: William; Encouragement award: Rylie Under 8 A wonderful game was witnessed with both teams playing extremely well.
The Dragon’s defence was outstanding, and everyone put in a mammoth effort!
James did an amazing job in the goalkeeper role this week.
Each week the under eights are getting better and better.
Three awards were handed out, awarded to: James Midgley, Jack Carbonneau and Lacey Bryant. Under 10 After a promising first half, the under 10s allowed Philip Island to dominate the second.
Drouin scored two great breakaway goals from Harvey and Darcy, however the opposition dominated the match, keeping the U10s pinned in their own half for most of the match.
Tom and Harvey did great work in the midfield and there was some great goalkeeping from Will and Ayden; along with a great defensive effort from Isobel and Erica.
Up front, Brennan, Jordan and Fareed kept the pressure on Philip Island.
All round, it was a fantastic effort from the Drouin team that deserved better results.
Coaches award: Harvey, who keeps on improving week after week; Encouragement award: Fareed, for some great midfield play. Under 12 Fulltime Score: Drouin 0 Phillip Island 4 Drouin headed down to Phillip island to play the top team and although a loss, it was a very good effort.
Credits to goal keepers Tristan and Liam, who were both outstanding for their abilities on the goal line.
There were some real positive plays during the game with some lovely through balls from Cooper and in particular Nathan.
Great chasing and tackling from Keenan, Rinnan , Daniel and Freya and a few chances at scoring slipped by.
Player awards: Best on ground: Liam; Coaches award: Freya. Under 14 Full-time score: Drouin 4 – Phillip Island 5 A big challenge was in front of Drouin, playing at the Island.
Drouin started really well and dominated possession but unfortunately Phillip Island scored at the seven-minute mark from a long throw in.
Despite trailing Drouin played very well in the midfield and created many scoring opportunities.
Several forward forays were unrewarded with Tyan and Jackson missing by a matter of centimetres having shot past the goalkeeper.
Half time saw Phillip Island leading one nil and a change of referees.
The second half really opened up and scoring became frequent. Free kicks made a big impact on the result with Joel scoring a beautiful goal from a free kick from outside the penalty box.
Phillip Island scored twice as a result of set plays from free kicks and were able to finish off a penalty shot.
The game ended with Drouin falling just short of a huge upset win.
It was a good display from Drouin who were extremely unlucky with the rub of the green and a good learning experience that the Dragons can match and beat the best teams in the competition if they just take our opportunities.
Second half goals from Jordan , Sam and Spencer were reward for some good play.
It was great to see Cain and Regan back in the side which helped the defence.
Jack played his best game yet and Samuel tested the opposition all day with his bursts from the midfield.
Good ball movement through the midfield by Joel, Charlie, Henry and Tyan saw Drouin dominate possession in the middle of the game, they just need to work on shots at goal.
Coaches award: Jack Furlong and Samuel Bradford. Senior Women Full-time Score: Drouin 1 – Phillip Island 5 Freezing conditions greeted the women, which made it hard to get going straight away.
Phillip Island came out hard as expected, made the plays and were quick to capitalise.
Drouin kept their heads up and it wasn’t long before Jess Nalty passed a beautiful cross to young Lilly Carrison to put the Dragons on the board.
Phillip island were starting to look a bit frazzled and were starting to make more mistakes, it was just unlucky that we couldn’t find the back of the net, while Phillip Island were lucky to score off Drouin mistakes.
The game was fast, hard and physical, and to Drouin’s credit they kept their heads up, and pushed harder.
The club thanked under 15 players Thalia, Hayley, Lilly and Imogen for stepping up for the match. All four played well.
Player awards: Best on ground: Chelsea Quaife; Coaches award: Imogen Cooper; Jess Nalty.
Goal scorer: Lilly Carrison.