Cardiff Uni 2 Away, 2nds
7-4 James Frost (2), Josh Cockburn (2), Dave Schofield (1), Rachel Knight (1), Steve Vaughan (1), Chrissy Rowlatt, Emily Tuttiett, Julie Saunders, Liz Pearson, Magnus Dons, Pete Obee.
The first game of the new season, and the first ever game in the new Welsh league, with 4 Dragons players making their debut. Dragons got off to a slow start as the University side made plenty of interceptions, and denied them any easy chances. Some long shots didn’t miss by much, particularly from Julie who was agonisingly close to getting her first league goals for us. At the other end the Dragons defence was strong, but inevitably chances were created and but for a couple of missed penalties the students could have been well clear by half-time.
As it was, they led 2-0. Dragons started the second half much better, with Dave scoring an instant runner, before James made it 2-2. Cardiff Uni responded with a shot from nearly half-way, before Josh’s penalty brought it level again. This led to a long period of defensive dominance at both ends, with very few chances being created, before James finally broke the deadlock from the sideline. Uni weren’t finished though and they scored their 3rd goal through their girls. This time, though, the Dragons response was immediate, with Steve scoring after one pass from the restart and the lead wasn’t to be relinquished with Josh and Rachel using their experience to score running-in shots.
The final score was 7-4 to Dragons, who improved as the game went on as players got to know their new team-mates. But full credit should go to a very inexperienced student side who pushed all the way, and were unlucky not to make more of their first half-dominance. The next game for Dragons 2 is against the Uni first team and they’ll have to up their game still more to win that.