Recap
Resolute Dragoons Reign Victorious
A consecutive away B Klasa fixture saw the Dragoons in resolute form, as they reigned victorious against Victoria in the pouring rain.
The visiting Dragoons could have taken the lead as early as the first minute when the Victoria goalkeeper sliced his kick. The quick-witted Adrian Paliś reacted fastest, however, saw his shot blocked away for a corner kick.
Despite their bright start, the Dragoons could have found themselves a goal behind in the fifth minute. Victoria’s Krzysztof Wojciechowski found space to shoot, however, he could only drag his shot wide of Muñoz García’s post.
Dragoons Take The Lead
The Dragoons took the lead in the eleventh minute, slightly against the run of play. Michał Nowak let fly spectacularly from range, which ought to have brought out a routine save from the goalkeeper. However, fortunately for the Dragoons, the keeper inexplicably missed the ball completely and it zipped into the net.
The Dragoons lead was short-lived, when the home side restored parity in the 16th minute. Rafal Kwieciński found himself with time and space on the edge of the area. The Victoria man hit a delightful looping effort into the top corner of the goal, leaving Muñoz García stranded.
Just a minute later, Victoria had a chance to turn the game on its head and take the lead. However, Muñoz García judged the shot well and safely gathered the ball at the second attempt.
Into the 23rd minute, a mix-up between the home defence and their calamitous goalkeeper saw the Dragoons take the lead for a second time in the encounter.
Adrian Paliś chased down a long ball applied pressure on the Victoria backline. As the ball bounced awkwardly the defender looked to head the ball back to the goalkeeper. However, a miscommunication saw the goalkeeper rush out of his line and the ball gently sailed over his head. Paliś took full advantage of the error and darted onto the loose-ball and blasted home into an empty net. The goal took the striker’s tally for the season to 10 and he will not score many easier!
Penalty Kick!
Joy turned to despair only a few minutes later, however. Dragoons defender Simon Calabrese was adjudged to have fouled an opponent in the box and as a result, a penalty-kick was awarded by the referee. Wojciechowski stepped up to take the resulting penalty and sent Muñoz García the wrong way to level the score.
A topsy-turvy game saw both sides create further chances. The Dragoons thought they had retaken the lead in the 31st minute. Nowak burst through the Victoria defence and slammed a shot into the goal, past the stranded goalkeeper. Sadly for the full back, the assistant referee raised his flag and the goal ruled out for offside.
Third Time Lucky for The Dragoons!
It did not take much longer for the visiting Dragoons to re-take the lead in the 34th minute. Battaglion sent a beautiful cross from deep into the Victoria box and Flavio Nkola rose highest to plant an unstoppable header past the keeper to bring the scoreline to 3-2 for the visitors.
The away team looked to further extend their lead and went close through Nowak. The full back found himself in space and hit a rasping effort from range that whistled just over the crossbar.
As the half wore on, the Dragoons felt they had a strong claim for a penalty of their own. The dangerous Nkola ran through the Victoria box and went to ground under a challenge from a defender. However, on this occasion, the referee waved away the appeals and pointed for a goal kick.
Second Half
The home side came out all guns blazing straight away into the second half. A tame looking Victoria free kick was spilled by Muñoz García, straight into the path of an opponent with the goal beckoning.
Much to the surprise of everyone in the ground, the goalkeeper showed incredible reactions to make amends, springing to his left to pull off a remarkable block to deny the home side a certain equaliser.
Into the 58th minute, it was the Dragoons turn to be denied. Samyonov produced a lovely ball across the Victoria area and found Paliś waiting to tap home from six yards. However, the marksman was denied his second goal by the substitute goalkeeper, who stood tall to pull off an instinctive save.
Paliś was again at the heart of the action just a few minutes later. The Dragoons man showed excellent initiative to catch the Victoria defence napping, latching onto a quickly taken long-throw from Nowak. However, he was unable able to add to the score and saw the goalkeeper save his effort with his legs.
B Klasa Lewandowski!
Not to be denied, the Dragoons finally grabbed a fourth goal to give themselves breathing space in the 68th minute.
A free-kick was launched into the Victoria box and bounced off of the head of Paliś. Yuri Samyonov nipped in bravely to beat the goalkeeper to the ball to keep it in play and the waiting Paliś made no mistake in smashing the ball high into the net from close range.
Despite their dominance, the Dragoons had to be alert when Rohit Chandran was adjudged to have fouled his man. The following free-kick was struck well, but Muñoz García was equal to it and tipped the ball over the bar.
An excellent passage of football went unrewarded for the Dragoons in the 77th minute. The quick-footed Chandran found the diminutive Forabosco just inside the Victoria half. The midfielder showed expert guile to beat two opposing players with a subtle pass, straight into the path of Nkola. The pacy forward accelerated towards goal and hit a rasping effort that went just wide of the post.
As the game became more stretched more spaces began to appear. Substitute Josh Dawson took advantage of a gap in the field, bursting forward from right back and playing a sublime through pass for Paliś. The striker pulled the trigger but was denied his hat-trick chance, as the home keeper saved well with his legs.
From the resulting corner, Dragoons substitute Kuba Drobny rose highest and saw his powerful header just clear the crossbar.
A Massive Blow for Victoria?!?!?!
A lapse in concentration from the Dragoons allowed the number 69, Mateusz Lasoń an excellent chance late into the match. Despite being free in the box, Lasoń was denied the chance of any pleasure by prematurely rushing his shot, which flew wide of the target.
The Dragoons had a great chance of their own, to add a fifth with 83 minutes on the clock. Excellent hold-up play by Emre Bezirkan allowed Forabosco through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat. The fleet-footed magician weaved towards goal, opened his body and attempted a cute, side-footed effort past the onrushing goalkeeper. However, the shot proved too soft to beat the goalkeeper, who stuck out a leg to save well.
Finally, the referee blew his whistle to end the match. The fixture proved to be a tough test in difficult weather conditions, however the resolute Dragoons reigned victorious.
The Dragoons are unbeaten in three games and face a challenging fixture at home against runaway B Klasa leaders Wieczysta II next Sunday.
