Dominant Dragons end the Season in Style

After the last 2 results the boys wanted to finish the season off strong and secure their place in the top 3 spots for this season.

After some pitches being deemed unplayable we managed to secure ICC 3G to get the game on and boy were we glad to do that!

The boys didn't need psyching up as they did this themselves as they wanted to go out and show why we are one of the best teams in Crawley.

A strong line up from the start today with some great options from the bench too. Oliver, Cam, Toby and Dean were our back line. Lewis, Jack, Stephen and Stanley P came into the Midfield with Stan getting his first start since he joined us in Feb. The front 3 consisted of Kieron, Sam and Big D.

Right from the off both teams started fast and wanted to get the upper hand straight off. It started fast pace and some of the passing on show from both teams was fantastic. Before long TD worked the ball out wide to Stephen on the left who cut in and played a pass into the feet of Kieron who was hacked down from behind about 25 yards out on the left hand side.

Both Lewis and Stephen stood over the ball but you knew that this was Lewis's chance and boy did he take it. A few steps back and a short run up and Lewis has hit an absolute ROCKET over the wall and into the top left corner out of the reach of the keeper! 1-0 and the start that we wanted and deserved.

From here the game started to get a bit cagey, we wanted to open it up and play but Oakwood were very compact and defended well with Pace. Stan and Cam were doing well on the right, Lewis and Jack winning a lot in the middle and Toby and Dean working hard to stop any attack coming through the middle. Oliver was fantastic in the first half with nearly every Oakwood corner landing right on his head. Dean and Sam pulled out some fantastic clearances from these as well due to the deliveries of these set pieces.

The boys have learned and showed over the past few weeks that they can hold and defend well while soaking up the pressure before hitting the teams with a sucker punch. This sucker punch came shortly after the 30th Minute when from a Oakwood corner, the ball was cleared out towards the half way line and Kieron brilliantly brought the ball down and held of 2 players before whipping a fantastic pass through to Sam. Sam had run from the edge of our own box to get to the ball and he continued this lung busting run and beat both Oakwood defenders for pace before rounding the Keeper and walking the ball into an empty net! 2-0 and nothing less than what we deserved.

HT - Oakwood -0 - TD - 2

As we got towards Half time, Mase had come on for Stephen on the left and we stayed unchanged at the half. Stan P and Mase swapped wings at half time with Mase coming over to the right and Stan to the left to change the attack.

Now here is when we were lucky to see one of the goals of the entire season. Less than a minute after kick off, Dorian picked up the ball near the edge of his own area and much like a Prime Thierry Henry drove at speed at the Oakwood team. The footwork was incredible, beating 7 or 8 players along the way, holding off every tackle and challenge. The rest of the forward line made some fantastic runs to give him space before Big D got near the edge of the area and ended up doing a ball roll past the defender and finishing past the keeper. Unlike Henry against his beloved Liverpool, Dorian didn't finish it with a Knee Slide ;) 3-0 and this was the start we needed.

This got the boys tails up and they went for it even more after this goal! Within 5 minutes the boys had won the ball on the left hand side and played some great build up play before Lewis picked out the run of Stan P who held off his man before knocking the ball into space and delivering a peach of a ball with his left foot into the path of Dorian who finished brilliantly into the roof of the net with a half volley.4-0

From here there were some changes with Ethan coming on for Cam, Stan P for Stan S and shortly after due to injury, Stephen back on for Jack. This meant we had to shuffle a bit with Sam Dropping into CM, Stephen going up top and Dorian dropping to Left Mid with Stan S back up top too.

All game the Oakwood attack was most dangerous on set pieces and their goal came from another well delivered corner that dropped and was poked in at the near post. 4-1

The next goal came from some great play at the back with Toby winning the ball and playing it into Sam, who took the ball on the half turn, beat his man, looked up and played a fantastic through ball into the path of Stephen. Stephen calmly took the ball in his stride, holding off the defender and finishing calmly over the top of the onrushing keeper. 5-1

Fred's came on for Dorian so Stephen moved out to the left and Fred's up top. The boys did not let up and from here they won the ball back from kick off and went straight back on the attack. Sam played the ball out to Stephen who knocked it into the path of Kieron who finished brilliantly in the box just past the keeper. 6-1

Kieron's second and the final goal of the game came again from some brilliant work down the right with Ethan turning on the style, dribbling past 3 players before laying the ball into the path of Zack. Zack collected the ball and drove past his man before laying a great ball through into the path of Stan Smith. Stan took a touch before looking up and putting in a peach of a cross into the path of Kieron who finished again on the half volley into the bottom corner. 7-1

Full Time
Oakwood- 1 - TD - 7

A Fantastic Showing from the boys to finish the season and cement 3rd spot in what has been a tough season with learning curves along the way. The boys have been incredible this year, once again showing they never give up. Jumping 2 divisions and competing at such a high level against established teams in this division with multiple games of 5+ goals.

A MASSIVE thank you to all of the parents and supporters who have been there for every game this season, Cheering the boys on, picking them up when they are down and supporting us Coaches. We appreciate the time and effort you put in every week to make sure these boys can play football and you have helped create a team that we love. Up the Dragons!

MOTM- Dorian A- An absolutely fantastic showing from Dorian today to drive the team forward and a goal that not many adults could pull off! Well deserved.