Recap
Annihilation
The Dragoons travelled to England this past weekend to take on FC United of Manchester for their latest outing in the Fenix Trophy.
A hardy bunch of 15 made the trip, with a small group taking in League 2 football to watch Stockport County win 1-0 against Newport the previous day.
With several travelling players picking up knocks in the week, Hugo Cruz had his work cut out picking his team.
Lorenzo Bartolomei made his debut in the Expat’s last competitive fixture last November, a 2-0 win against Czarni 03 Grzegorzowice. With neither Marcin Obyrtacz nor Gabi Munoz able to travel, the Dragoons goalkeeper coach would find himself making his Fenix Trophy debut against FC United.
Cruz opted to go with a back five for the game, with Jakub Drobny, Simon Calabrese, and Brian Lemmen starting as a back three. Josh Dawson and Francesco Leuci completed the defensive unit, lining up at right wing-back and left-wing back respectively.
Mark Szczesnowicz returned from the wilderness to captain the side and partnered Enrico Forabosco in the centre of the park. Yuri Samyonov, Błażej Święcicki, and Rob Smits completed the line-up starting in the attacking positions.
Kick Off
The hosts dominated the early stages of the game and took only 8 minutes to score the opening goal. A defence-splitting pass found Charlie Munro in behind the Dragoon’s backline and in the box. The midfielder struck well across Bartolomei from a tight angle and saw his effort nestle in the corner of the net for the first of many!
United kept up the pressure on the Dragoons defence and it was not long before a second goal arrived after 13 minutes. The Expats failed to deal with the high press and gave the ball away on the edge of their box. Aaron Bennett made the Dragoons pay, turning past Drobny before curling the ball past Bartolomei from the edge of the box. A good finish, but Expats were the makers of their downfall in the build up!
Raining Goals
With only a quarter of an hour played, the hosts netted a 3rd goal. Charlie Ennis swung a free-kick into the box that just missed the diving head of a team-mate. Curtis Jones reacted quickest however, escaping the attentions of his marker to sweep the ball home from close range.
The rampant home side notched a fourth just three minutes later. The Dragoons failed to clear a cross into the box from Declan McLoughlin, with the ball falling to Munro. The United midfielder took a touch, before driving low past the outstretched arm of Bartolomei to further increase their lead to 4-0.
Moments later, the Dragoon’s goal came under siege once more as the woodwork came to the rescue from Woodcock’s header. Bartolomei getting down well to deny Munro a hat-trick from the rebound and a third attempt from McLoughlin saw the ball blocked over the bar as the Expats survived.
United add a Fifth
The bewildered Expats sat deep in their half as United continued their onslaught for the majority of the half. The visitors managed to keep the home side at bay until the 40th minute, when United added a fifth goal. On this occasion, the Dragoons found themselves stretched as a pass found Bennett in acres of space on the left. The attacker easily stepped inside the stranded Drobny and had time to pick his spot to comfortably grab his second of the game.
Half-time soon followed with Dragoons struggling to deal with their illustrious hosts. The home side had started fast and had blown away the visitors in the first 20 minutes to effectively put an end to the Dragoons’ resistance.
Second Half
Hugo Cruz made two changes at the break as captain Mark Szczesnowicz and Błażej Święcicki made way. Martin Voženílek came into the game along with debutant Jan Krzyzanowski, a moment that saw the 17-year-old become the youngest-ever player for the club.
The second period started with the Dragoons showing a little more positivity on the ball.
Despite a better start, sloppy defending cost the side dearly as United added a 6th goal on 55 minutes. The Expats failed to get the ball clear out of their own box and Joe Ferguson took full advantage. The full-back drilled a shot from the edge of the area, which wrong-footed Bartolomei at his near post to score.
Ruthless!
On 62 minutes, United turned on the style to score a 7th goal direct from a free-kick. Substitute Bob Jammeh showed electrifying pace to cut in off the wing, before being crudely fouled by Lemmen. McLoughlin stepped up to take the resulting set-piece and left Bartolomei waving at the ball as it went into the net.
Five minutes later, the Dragoons conceded the eighth goal of the game. The relentless home side continued to attack with gay abandon. A cross from Lewis Gilboy ran across the face of the Dragoons’ goal and found Bennett unmarked to tap in his hat-trick goal.
A ninth goal came in the 70th minute as the hosts showed no mercy to the Dragoons. Gilboy received a pass and hit a stinging at goal, which cannoned back into play off the underside of the crossbar. Bennett nipped in ahead of Dawson to tuck the rebound into the net to score his fourth goal of the game.
We had a shot…
The Dragoons continued to work hard and began to knock the ball around nicely. The visitors managed to find possession in the final third and Jan Krzyzanowski found himself advanced. The teenager continued forward and attempted a shot that unfortunately just whistled over. A promising sign of life from the Expats!
As the game progressed into its final stages, the Dragoons tried to throw caution to the wind to get a goal back. Unfortunately, this led to United grabbing their 10th goal with a devastating counter-attack. Woodcock received a pass just inside his own half and threaded a perfect through-pass for Jammeh to run onto. The United man ran through on goal and delicately lifted the ball over the stranded Bartolomei to make it 10-0.
A Final Flurry
A late collapse saw the visibly shattered Dragoons concede another four goals in five minutes. Tired defending saw Keelan Swales latch onto a through pass and apply a deft finish past Bartolomei inside the box.
The 12th came a minute later, as Bennett latched onto a pass and unselfishly pulled the ball across goal for Gilboy to score.
Bennett added his fifth of the game in the 88th minute as United continued their ruthlessness in front of goal. Ennis thrashed a searching ball across goal to find Bennett unmarked at the back post for an easy finish. The goal saw the Dragoons break the unwanted record of the highest-ever defeat in Fenix Trophy history…
United still had not finished as it got even worse for the Dragoons. Still, the home side came forward and a cross into the area saw a defensive header fall to Munro on the edge of the box. The midfielder had time and space to control the ball and lashed a vicious shot past Bartolomei to score his hat-trick goal.
The referee put the Dragoons out of their misery moments later by blowing the final whistle with the scoreline 14-0. In reality, it could have been more if it wasn’t for Lorenzo Bartolomei and some last gasp defending!
Summary
It was always going to be a tough day at the office with the Dragoons lacking the match fitness and sharpness due to the winter break. The depleted Expats that travelled to Manchester battled manfully, but had no answers to their semi-professional opponents’ attacking play.
The game was played in tremendous spirit, with United pretty much assuring themselves top spot in the group and a further trip to Italy in the finals.
We wish United well for the rest of the tournament and look forward to the restart of our season on 30th March. The Dragoons take on Sparta Skrzeszowice at Prądniczanka in our first game back. Hopefully, the Expats can start brightly and look to march up the table.
📸|Match Album @FCUnitedMcr v @DragoonsFc
Photos From Todays @FenixTrophy Game https://t.co/ERw1hESUMc
— Lewis Mckenna Photography📸 (@lewmck17) March 10, 2024
