Dragons Qualify For Champions Trophy
In the regional championships, which pitted the best teams from the Welsh, South West and Oxfordshire regions, with the top 2 teams qualifying for the national champions trophy that decides qualification for the National League, Cardiff Dragons left it to the last match to secure their qualification.
Dragons started off with a tight 3-3 draw against local rivals, Cardiff City, before kicking in to form with a comfortable win over South West champions, Exeter. Possibly getting a little complacent, Dragons then produced their worst performance of the day in losing to Horfield, the only points the Bristol team gained. This meant that Dragons final match, against Oxford Isis had to be won.
As the match started it seemed clear that Isis had 3 or 4 very strong players, but that overall Dragons had a better team and we were able to build a small lead. However, we were never able to move ahead enough to relax, and it was a huge relief when the final whistle went and we claimed a 6-4 victory.
Overall, in an impressive result for Welsh korfball, both Cardiff City and Dragons qualify to play on the weekend of May 9th-10th in Norwich in the Champions Trophy. The other participating teams will be Birmingham City and Manchester Warriors from the CEKL region, Nomads and Tornadoes from South East England and Croydon and Norwich Knights as the bottom 2 teams from the National League. While this is likely to be the highest calibre opposition that Dragons have faced in our short history, we’re confident we can put up a good show and maybe grab a couple of wins.
