Dragons 2nds vs Cardiff Uni 1sts (friendly)
4-3 Magnus Dons (1), Amy Shillabeer (1), Gwen Jones (1), Aidan Dickson (Guest) (1), Alex Thomas, Donna Waitt, Amy Willis, Dave Thomas, James Frost, Mo (Guest)
With the first team away in Milton Keynes, the seconds took on their local Uni rivals at Talybont on Sunday evening, giving both sides a valuable run out during a period of inactivity for the league. The Dragons welcomed another debutant, Alex, to the ranks, and her 40 minute appearance was full of promise.
The game itself was a defensive affair, with both sides able to nullify the opposition’s main scoring threats, and often the best passing moves tended to weave patterns rather than create chances. Eventually two goals went in for the Uni after 2 series of excellent rebounding, and the ends switched. With two new sets of attacks the pace of the game picked up a bit, with Magnus and Jack getting stuck in at the post.
The Uni scored a third, but then Magnus got us back into it with a textbook free pass just before the half.
Both teams reorganised a bit at half time, with Uni coach Terry giving his full squad a run out, and Taff coming on for Magnus. It didn’t make a lot of difference though, as defences continued to dominate. It was left to Amy S to finally break the deadlock with a nice finish and cut the lead to one, and this was followed a few minutes later as Aidan’s rattled in a long shot tied the game at three.
The swap of ends sent Taff, Gwen and Amy W into attack, and looking to snatch a winner. Finally the game opened out a bit, and the Dragons were able to create a few chances, Gwen finishing the game strongly but unable to find a winning shot. At the back, James, Aidan, Donna and Amy S had the Uni attack well and truly wrapped up, and with Amy W grabbing more than her share of attacking rebounds, the Dragons had the lion’s share of possession as the game wound down. No one knew how little time was left as Gwen stepped up to take a penalty after being fouled on her way to yet another running in shot, but she made no mistake from the line, and moments later the final whistle went, a 4-3 win for the Dragons.
Many thanks to Aidan and Mo for stepping in to complete our line up with so many of our boys in Milton Keynes. To any Uni players reading this - we’re happy to make games like this a regular fixture as we could all do with the practise!