Recap
A Fourth Win
In a one-sided affair, the Dragoons stormed to a commanding 6-0 win over Zieleńczanka II Zielonki this past weekend, their fourth of the season.
With the weather in Kraków being wet and the Zielonki pitch unplayable, the game was moved to the Expats ground at Gronostojowa and allocated a home match.
Hugo Cruz made four chances to the side after the 1-1 draw in their outing against Błękitni II Modlnica last weekend. Marcin Obyrtacz’s man-of-the-match heroics saw him maintain his place in goal.
In the defence, Brian Lemmen’s absence saw Kuba Drobny return to partner Simon Calabrese at centre-back as Roman Bilovol and Francesco Leuci continued at right and left back as usual.
Enrico Forabosco dropped out of the squad and Corneille Malonga returned to the team to start. The Congolese heel snapper partnered with Szymon Urzędowski and Emre Çolakoğlu in the middle of the park.
Barry Chowaniec replaced Vałdzis Fuhaš in central attack, and Błażej Święcicki started on the right with Fernando Gámez dropping to the bench. Rohit Chandran completed the lineup with the Indian whirlwind playing on the left side of the attack.
Kick Off
The Dragoons immediately took the game to Zieleńczanka. In the 4th minute, a free-kick into the visitors box saw a clearance fall to Błażej Święcicki 12 metres from goal. The Polish winger took a touch to set himself but failed to hit the target with his half-volley flying over the crossbar.
Deadlock Broken
Although the Expats struggled to find their mojo, they made the breakthrough in the 18th minute. Szymon Urzędowski latched onto Rohit Chandran’s pass and found Święcicki out wide. The winger whipped a speculative cross into the box that Krzysztof Morański made a hash of to hand the Expats the lead. The keeper tipped the ball against his post and it nestled into the net for 1-0 confirming the long-serving Święcicki’s 11th goal in a Dragoons shirt.
🎯 Accidental brilliance or pure genius?
Club hero, Błazej Święcicki opened the scoring this weekend with the 1st of 6 goals – was it a masterful cross or a lucky shot? 🤷♂️
Either way, the keeper couldn’t keep it out! 🙈
Watch the moment of pure skill (or good fortune)! 🎥🏆 pic.twitter.com/vOEmXj8OTU
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 8, 2024
Quickfire Second
Just three minutes later, the Expats doubled their advantage. A late tackle on Barry Chowaniec gave the Expats a free-kick by the corner of the penalty box. Roman Bilovol swung the ball into the box, with a clearance coming straight back to the Argentine. Bilovol took a touch to bypass an opponent and then drove a low shot across the goalkeeper, giving the Dragoons firm control of the game.
👑 BILOVOL BRILLIANCE – 🇦🇷🔥
Roman Bilovol 🇦🇷 unleashed a rasping low drive across the keeper to bag the Dragoons’ 🐉second goal! ⚽️💥
The goal capped an excellent all-round performance from our Argentine right-back, earning him Man of the Match💪 pic.twitter.com/kM6r3aDQWY
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 8, 2024
Zielonki had few answers and struggled to put together any meaningful attacks. Their best opportunity came in the 43rd minute when a free-kick drifted wide, but it posed little danger to Marcin Obyrtacz’s goal.
The Dragoons went into halftime with a 2-0 lead, comfortable but knowing they could still improve their possession play.
Second Half
The second half began with Zieleńczanka attempting to press higher up the pitch, but the Dragoons’ defence stood firm. The visitors failed to capitalise on their limited chances, while the Dragoons continued to threaten.
In the 55th minute, Fernando Gámez and Martin Voženílek entered the fray, providing fresh energy to the Dragoons’ attack.
Moments after, a corner into the box bounced to Kuba Drobny at the far post. The defender attempted a half-volley at goal but comedically blasted the ball into a different dimension.
PENALTY DRAGOONS
Soon after, in the 62nd minute, The Dragoons had a great opportunity to further add to their lead. Chowaniec latched onto Chandran’s through pass, rounded the keeper but struck the post with the goal gaping. The ball somehow landed back at the feet of the striker inside the box, however, a rash tackle from the keeper saw the referee blow his whistle and point to the spot. The visitors vehemently protested against the decision as it appeared that the ball hit Chowaniec’s arm. However, after consulting with the linesman the official stuck to his original judgement to award the kick.
Fernando Gámez took the ball to take the spot-kick, but his penalty was weak and Krzysztof Morański stuck out a leg to save, keeping the scoreline at 2-0.
A 3rd for the Expats
Despite the miss, the Dragoons didn’t have to wait long for another goal. In the 65th minute, a corner towards the front post from Bilovol caused chaos in the Zielonki box. The kick just evaded the head of Martin Voženílek, leading to Dominik Wicherek inadvertently turning the ball into his own net. The score now read 3-0 with the Expats firmly in command of the game.
Dragoons Strike Again
The home side’s pressure intensified, and in the 69th minute, the Dragoons added a fourth goal. Chandran cut inside off the right wing and found Voženílek on the opposing flank with a delightful low pass. The Czech crossed into the box, to find Szymon Urzędowski lurking at the near post. The utilityman struck the post with a close-range shot, however, the rebound bobbled off the grounded Jacek Bulak and into the net for another own goal, pushing the Dragoons further ahead at 4-0.
😅 Double trouble for Zielonki!
Two unfortunate own goals in quick succession gave the Expats goals three and four! 🙌
Though we begrudgingly let Szymon Urzędowski 🇵🇱 claim the fourth… 🤷♂️⚽️
When the luck’s on your side, you take it!
🎥 Watch the madness in action! pic.twitter.com/m4GiHSEh0c
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 8, 2024
A tactical switch saw Janek Kołodziejski enter the game in the 70th minute to replace Corneille Malonga and the Pole quickly made his mark. A lung-busting run saw Rohit Chandran dribble the ball from inside the Expat’s half into the final third of the pitch. The Indian whirlwind, laid a pass out wide to put Kołodziejski in possession on the left side of the box. A teasing low cross evaded the forward runs of Chandran and Fuhaš but fell kindly into the path of Gámez. The Spanish sensation looked favourite to score with a side-footed effort, however, an outstretched leg from Morański denied the Canarian King a second time.
Fuhaš Adds the Fifth
In the 85th minute, the Dragoons converted their fifth goal with Kołodziejski heavily involved. The Polish debutant cleverly used Chandran’s run as a decoy to cut inside off the left wing. Kołodziejski showed expert vision to look up and deliver a perfectly weighted through ball to release fellow substitute Vałdzis Fuhaš on goal. The attacker took a touch to get away from a covering defender and finished calmly past the beleaguered Morański to make it five.
An Immediate 6th
Less than a minute later, Fuhaš added his second goal of the game to complete the scoring. The Expats regained possession inside their half and moved the ball quickly to advance up the pitch. Some excellent passing football saw Kołodziejski with the ball in a central position and a neat pass found Voženílek on the right wing. The Czech put an inviting cross into the box with Urzędowski’s heavy touch landing kindly for Fuhaš to rifle home his 12th goal in 30 appearances.
🔥FUHAŠ ON FIRE!🔥
Straight off the bench and onto the scoresheet – twice! ⚽️⚽️
In quick succession, Vałdzis Fuhaš delivered goals five and six with deadly finishing to wrap up the victory for the team! 💪 pic.twitter.com/RXdOzjmHEk
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 8, 2024
The Expats almost grabbed a seventh with three minutes of the game still to play. Voženílek sent a mouthwatering low cross towards Fuhaš, that just eluded the attacker. However, the ball landed straight to Kołodziejski, who saw a debut goal chance denied by a last-ditch block from a defender.
Shortly after, the referee blew his whistle to end the game and give the Dragoons an emphatic 6-0 victory. Despite the win, the Dragoons remain in 6th but continue to keep in touch with the pace-setters in the league.
To Sum Up
While the team didn’t always control possession as well as they might have liked, they never looked troubled by the visitors. Some excellent attacking football in the second half resulted in the Expats getting the rub of the green to win the game. With another clean sheet and a dominant scoreline, the Dragoons continue their march toward a successful season.
The Dragoons will be pleased with the result and will look to build on this performance, tightening their possession while maintaining their attacking efficiency.
Coach’s Corner
Hugo Cruz summarised the match upon it’s completion:
“It was quite an open start to the game. The opposition had a quite progressive game idea and tried to move the ball and use the technical ability of some of the young players. But we started comfortably in defence and very rarely let the opposition create danger.
However, we were not consistent on playing with the ball and committed to many passing mistakes that stopped us from getting as close as we wanted to their goal. I felt our two goals gave the team some tranquillity.
In the second half, we started better on the ball and straight from the beginning, this was reflected in creating better attacking situations and controlling possession. We started much better and more in line with how I wanted us to be set up in the first half. After the 3rd goal the game was far more open and the substitutes responded perfectly to that extra space. We were pragmatic, created a lot of chances and scored goals to take the game away from the opponents which pleased me.”.
Hugo’s Summary
Hugo concluded, “In the end, I am really proud of the boys for the competitive spirit shown. This is the most important thing in football and we will need that going forward, especially as not every game will go as we want it. Everyone was engaged and gave their best for the team and that is all I can ask for.
We were no-nonsense and this is good, but I still think we have room for improvement. Everyone is working hard and I am happy we can count on everyone on the squad. Football is a squad game and it gives me a nice headache, knowing I can rely on them on certain situations. Especially after last week, when the team suffered a lot of absences in training due to sickness and small injuries. I expect us to be able to improve the dynamics and become even better. There is a lot of hard work required but if we keep the attitude shown in this game, I am sure we will be heading in the right direction and where we want to be. Personally, I cannot wait for the next match!”.
Next Up
Next is a fourth consecutive home league match against the league leaders Sportowiec Modlniczka. Formed in 1952, Sportowiec spent the past decade at Klasa A level and finished in 3rd position in “Grupa II” last season.
They dropped their first points of the season this past weekend, coming from behind to grab a late level to draw against Iskra Radwanowice. Before the weekend, Sportowiec had boasted five consecutive victories and go into next weekend’s game having scored 23 times and conceded 6. They currently have the joint top meanest defence meaning the Dragoons need to be at their best to win. A victory will leave the Dragoons six points behind the leaders, with a game in hand.
The Dragoons are proud to announce that Four Music Club will be joining us at the game as Matchday Sponsors, adding even more excitement to the occasion!
