Recap
Poor Performance Punished
The Dragoons’ sixth game of the season brought their first home defeat and it was every bit as painful as the score suggests.
Following a 2-0 away victory against Pogoń II Kraków, Coach Ferreira was forced into changes for this game with injuries and availability affecting the selection.
Gabi Muñoz returned to the team to replace Marcin Obyrtacz between the posts. Meanwhile, in defence, Michael Syska-Lamb made his first league start of the season alongside Roman Bilovol, with Simon Calabrese unavailable. Gracjan Bałuch filled in for Francesco Leuci at right back, whilst Szymon Urzędowski continued at left-back and captained the side for the first time.
In midfield, Jan Krzyżanowski and Corneille Malonga stayed put, while Stiven Campo started for the first time this campaign, with Fernando Gámez only fit enough for the bench.
Up front, Obed Sánchez played through the pain barrier to continue in central attack. Jan Kołodziejski switched to the left flank, and Martin Voženílek replaced Serhii Yelysieiev on the right, the Ukrainian still suffering from the hamstring issue suffered against Fairant.
⚽️ LINE-UP ⚽️
Here’s how the Dragoons 🐉 start today against Radziszowianka Radziszów II 👇#COYD 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/hkU9iNNgox
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) September 27, 2025
Kick Off
A much changed Dragoons side started the game like a team of strangers as Radziszowianka started brightly and forced Muñoz into an early flying save.
Shocking Start
With only seven minutes on the clock, the visitors went into a deserved lead. The Dragoons lost possession and Radziszowianka broke quickly. A through pass caught the defence all over the place and Jakub Serwiński ran through on goal and finished under Muñoz. The Expats had barely woken up!
On 12 minutes, Voženílek had a low shot that bounced awkwardly in front of the keeper, but Sánchez arrived too late to turn in the rebound. Naturally, that small glimmer was followed by a lot more misery.
Second to the Visitors
The Dragoons just could not put any purposeful attacking moves together and Radziszowianka took advantage to score a second on 27 minutes. An attempt at goal from Campo saw a defender leather the ball clear to the left flank. Another simple through pass cut apart the stranded Dragoons defence a second time and Tomasz Mirek hurdled a sliding tackle from Syska-Lamb. The forward had just Muñoz to beat and slid his shot under the Chilean stopper to put the visitors 0-2 into the lead.
On the half hour mark, the Expats had their best chance created out of nowhere. Good pressing from Sánchez forced a defender into an error, allowing the Colombian a free run on goal. However, Sánchez attempted an ill-judged chip that floated tamely into the keeper’s arms as a good chance passed.
Straight down the other end, excellent football from the visitors caught the Dragoons defence out again. Mirek exposed a terrible defensive line and again ran free. On this occasion, Muñoz came out on top with a low save to divert the incoming shot wide.
Penalty Radziszowianka!
On 34 minutes, things somehow got even worse for the Dragoons. Malonga clipped an opponent inside the box, and Jacek Paciorek coolly made it 0–3. “Embarrassing” felt generous on the Expats’ performance so far. Coach Ferreira instantly turned executioner, and Michael Syska-Lamb was the first to the gallows, replaced by Brian Lemmen. The Scotsman the scapegoat in a defence lacking any sort of cohesion.
The Dragoons limped into half-time, after a quite appalling “performance”. The Expats could barely string a pass together, the midfield had been non-existent and a non-communicative back line exposed time and time again. The Expats lacked leadership and needed a miracle to get anything out of the game.
Second Half
Clearly disgusted by the first half, Coach Ferreira swung the axe at the break. Four men lost their heads: Krzyżanowski, Sánchez, Campo and Bałuch all marched off. In their place came Omar Atzori, Vałdzis Fuhaš, and the half-fit pairing of Fernando Gámez and Serhii Yelysieiev, as the Expats searched for some inspiration to put some respect on the score.
The changes seemed to give the Dragoons more leadership on the pitch and the hosts started the half brightly. A 52nd minute free-kick saw Atzori head over as the Expats showed some fight.
Six minutes later, the Dragoons came closer. Yelysieiev cut in off the flank and drove across the penalty areas and found Malonga free in the box. The pass was just behind the Congolese midfielder, and he could only swivel and drag his attempt wide of the goal.
Disaster Again
But on 65 minutes, despite a positive start to the half, calamity struck once more from the Dragoons’ own corner. The visitors cleared the ball up field and Malonga dallied as the last man under pressure and lost the ball. Malonga protested to the referee for a foul, as Muñoz advanced midway through his own half hesitated to clear the ball. His eventual attempt at clearing cannoned into an attacker and the rebound landed perfectly for Oliwier Kościelniak, who had the easy task of passing into an unguarded net for 0-4.
The Dragoons huffed and puffed with Fernando Gámez leading the charge. The Canarian King looked to get the Expats back into the game but could not find a way to the net.
Consolation
Finally, on 79 minutes, The Dragoons managed to get a goal back. A quick free-kick saw Gámez run towards goal, passing out wide to Bilovol, who sent a cross into the box. The ball landed at the far post, with Kołodziejski driving a low shot at goal only for the keeper to make a stop with an outstretched leg. Atzori headed the rebound towards Fuhaš, who saw a diving header bring out a second save from point blank range. However, Atzori made sure as the ball fell back at his feet, with the Italian drilling home via the post for 1-4.
Penalty Dragoons!
Five minutes later, Kołodziejski looked to get onto the end of a long-pass with a defender adjudged to have used his arm to put the ball out of play. The referee agreed and immediately pointed to the spot giving the Dragoons the chance to halve the deficit. However, Gámez went high and his effort smacked the bar and flew over the bar. A penalty that perfectly summed up the Expats’ afternoon.
As the game closed out, the game brought more yellow cards than goalmouth action. Urzędowski, Gámez and Bilovol all booked and Malonga attempted ambitious drives into orbit. Bernabé Ureba Garcia made his debut with seconds to spare, with the game already done and dusted.
The final whistle ended a bruising 4–1 defeat, the Dragoons’ first home loss of the season. The only consolation? Performances this bad don’t come around often…hopefully!
🇵🇱🎖 MAN OF THE MATCH 🎖🇵🇱
Not a day to remember, but Janek Kołodziejski 🇵🇱 never stopped running.
He battled from right wing to right back, helped win a penalty, and kept fighting until the end.
Well done, Janek! 💪👏👊#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/TzzIsOzAow
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 1, 2025
Next Up
The Dragoons slipped to 7th after their first home defeat, sitting six points behind league leaders Płomień Kostrze, but with a game in hand.
Next, it’s a tough away test against 5th-placed Trzebol Wielkie Drogie. Just a point ahead of the Expats, Trzebol’s record reads: 3 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats. They’ve scored 22 goals which is four more than the Dragoons but have also conceded 14 (three more than the Expats).
If the Expats are to bounce back, they’ll need a much sharper performance to take something from this next clash.
