First trip to Lang Lang for Dragons
A beautiful crisp autumn day greeted Drouin Dragons players on Mother’s Day for their first venture at Lang Lang’s new home ground.
Lang Lang officially opened their ground with a beautiful speech by Drouin Dragons former player Kaye McCraw, outlining all the hard work they put in to get their own two pitches. Under 6 The children were all very excited to be back after their break last week.
The children did very well and proved to be very strong.
Noah and William did very well facing up to the tackles, Max was a great runner up the mid field while Baxter, Milla and Cal did most the goal scoring.
Each week this little group is growing in confidence and getting stronger and stronger.
The club congratulated Milla on her first goal of the season. Player awards: Coaches awards: Milla Opsenica and Noah Buckley-Cookl Best on ground: Baxter Tyler. Under 8 The under eight Dragons put in a wonderful display of sportsmanship and teamwork against Lang Lang.
The defence was outstanding and what stood out was the passing of the ball from team mate to team mate.
The Dragons also saw some quick break away and some great ball skills.
Lacey was goal keeper for the day and did a great job. Player awards: Encouragement award: Harlan Thomson; Best on ground: James Midgley. Under 10 Another immense effort by the under 10s produced hat tricks from Darcy and Brennan.
The whole team produced another great performance, solid tackling, great passing and teamwork and showed how far they have come in just a few weeks.
The under 10s need to learn to play the first half the way they play the second.
The best on ground award went to Hugo, for his great tackling and for bringing Drouin's back line deep into the oppositions half - great work.
The coaches award went to Brennan for his great breaks from his own half and a hat trick of goals. Under 12 Fulltime Score – Drouin 8 Lang Lang 4 The game started with intensity with Drouin coming out, having the majority of the play and kicking two quick goals.
Like last week, the defence held up strongly with the midfielders using the ball well and keeping pressure up forward.
Both Lang Lang and Drouin played well with Drouin coming out on top on the day.
Overall it was an exciting game to watch with 12 goals scored in a game that went for 60 minutes. Best players: Best on ground: Lachlan Encouragement award: Isaac Arima.
Goal kickers: Lachlan Silver 3, Charles Blackburn 1, Nathan Beer 1, Isaac Arima 2, Tristan Silver 1 Under 14 Full-time score: Drouin 4 – Lang Lang 6 On the smallest pitch the team have ever played, on the team struggled to adjust. The midfield was effectively bypassed as kick ins could easily clear the half way line.
Drouin started with an experiment with Sam Bradford in defence much to his surprise.
Later when switched forward he scored, so Silver; that ends that experiment.
It was a high scoring game with the ball bouncing from end to end.
Ace was brilliant in goals with a barrage of shots saved and was the best player for the day.
Defence, despite the scoreline, actually held up pretty well considering the speed at which the ball was entering.
Matilda played her best ever game repelling many forays from Lang Lang.
Both sides scored early but the game took a turn when Lang Lang swapped goalkeepers and went from a smaller keeper to a much more imposing keeper who really controlled their area well.
A special mention to Jackson who put his body on the line in one attack and was nearly knocked back to Drouin.
Shaken, he managed to recover and play on in the second half.
Unfortunately at half time Henry was unable to continue due to illness and this upset team balance.
Drouin were well in the game until Lang Lang scored three late goals to get the points on the day.
Tom was once again good in defence, as was Keiran in the midfield.
Drouin learned a lot of lessons in this game and hopefully in future will adjust better when challenged by varying playing conditions.
Goal scorers for the day were Joel Van Raalte, Jordan Dorling, Sam Bradford and Jackson Spencer.
Coaches award: Ace Leeman; Encouragement awards: Thomas Agudo, Matilda Collier and Jackson Spencer. Senior Women Full-time Score: Drouin 4 – Lang Lang 1 The women were quick to settle, and find their way. Drouin had most of the play. It looked like Drouin had been playing together for years, the talking was up the passes were on point and most of all it was fun.
With plenty of shots on goal, it wasn’t until the 20th minute that Jess Brown did a stunner of a throw in which landed at Liz Beard’s feet that found the back of the net.
With the women high and pushing hard. Lang Lang was under pressure, which resulted in a hand ball.
Up stood Casey Lewis who with a cool head, kicked the ball straight into the back of the net. Drouin went into the half time break 2-0. The women re-grouped and were still firing. Six minutes in Jess Nalty found the back of the net, with some great team work to get it down there. The Dragons were still on key. With Jess Brown, taking a cracker of a corner kick that connected with Kate Boyer’s head at the 10th minute had the Dragons up 4-0.
The girls were starting to tire and that gave Lang Lang the chance to sneak a goal in at the 15 minute.
Jenni Quaife owned the goals. Some fantastic saves and a bruise to prove her hard work paid off.
Drouin were able to hold Lang Lang out for the rest of the game, but the girls were starting to slow down.
Never less, they still kept fighting. never gave up and gave it all they had.
Bec Brown held the back line up once again with Bec Bickerdike and Zali Fitzgerald proving they have settled and is comfortable with each other and the tasks ahead. Player awards: Bec Brown; Chelsea Quiafe; Jenni Quaife. Goal scorers: Liz-1, Casey -1, Jess Nalty – 1, Kate - 1.