Bratniak 1-3 Dragoons: Dragoons Dig Deep
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Bratniak Bratniak
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Dragoons Dragoons
Sun, 27 Sep 2026 20:00 Klasa A — Week 6
Gronostajowa 12

Recap

Dragoons Dig Deep

The Dragoons did not have far to travel this week as they share the exact same pitch as Bratniak. However, kicking off at an eye-watering 20:00 on a Sunday evening felt like a cruel test of human endurance. Especially for Captain Enrico Forabosco, who was already well past his bedtime before the whistle even blew.

Following a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Tramwaj II last weekend, Head Coach Gonçalo Ferreira made three changes to his starting lineup.

Between the sticks, Jake Hedrick started out of necessity despite feeling the effects of an Achilles injury sustained whilst playing basketball! Szymon Urzędowski continued at left-back and following his early bath last week, Kamil Kącki dropped out of the squad. Jan Krzyżanowski returned from the States to fill in at right-back, while Kuba Drobny and Joseph Vargas continued their blossoming partnership at centre-back.

In midfield, Mateo López returned to the side to anchor the engine room. The Colombian partnered Captain Enrico Forabosco and Rob Smits in the middle of the park.

Mirko Barile and Flavio Nkola maintained their starting places on the right and left flank, while Jeremi Wabiński moved into a central attacking role, with Barry Chowaniec unavailable.

Kick Off

The hosts kicked off and the Dragoons started at their usual glacial pace once again. Some terrifying errors playing out from the back almost gave those in attendance, including the coaches a heart-attack.

In just the 6th minute, sloppy passing from Urzędowski in an advanced position allowed Bratniak to break rapidly into the vacant space behind him. Thankfully, an opponent somehow missed right in front of goal, though the assistant referee’s raised flag saved both the forward and the Expats’ blushes regardless.

Couldn’t Pass Wind

Four minutes later, careless passing from out of the back almost cost Ferreira’s men dearly once again. Bratniak actually found the net through Kordian Żak, but the officials intervened once again as the ball had struck the forward’s hand before his finish.

The defensive comedy continued moments later from the resulting free-kick. Kuba Drobny inexplicably passed to a phantom teammate, gifting Bratniak a corner. Criminal marking allowed Jan Zawiliński to sprint forward unmolested, collect the short pass, but his scuffed shot spun past a forest of bodies, forcing Hedrick to hold at the second attempt.

With twelve minutes on the clock, the Expats finally remembered how to pass, stringing together a slick move upfield to earn a corner. Flavio Nkola managed to prod a toe at the cross, but the host defence blocked and cleared to snuff out the danger.

The game quickly degenerated into a classic ping-pong contest, with neither side capable of making the ball stick. In the 20th minute, a hopeful punt upfield from Hedrick dropped aimlessly toward a Bratniak defender. However, relentless pressing from Jeremi Wabiński panicked the host defender into a botched pass. Sensing blood, Wabiński intercepted and charged forward before the Bratniak man clumsily clipped his foot, gifting the visitors a free-kick in prime shooting territory.

A Gift From the Gods

Midfield magician Enrico Forabosco stood over the set-piece as usual. The Expats captain went straight for goal, producing a strike that lacked pure power but carried enough wicked spin to confound Mikołaj Kolasa. The Bratniak keeper produced a butter-fingered moment, as the ball squirmed directly under his body into the net to give the Dragoons the lead with their first shot on target. It was a absolute nightmare for the goalkeeper, but a third free-kick goal of the season for the evergreen Italian.

Having taken an unlikely lead, the Dragoons set about slowing the tempo to control possession. The visitors embarked on a masterclass of sideways passing across their own penalty box. Bratniak responded by pushing high up the pitch, routinely smothering the Expats’ attempts to play through the press. Whenever the visitors did manage to creep forward, Bratniak attempted to hit them on the break, though their final ball lacked precision.

Dragoons Double The Lead

The hosts decided to copy the Dragoons’ early circus-act passing in the 28th minute, with predictably catastrophic results. Forabosco effortlessly poached a suicidal misplaced pass on the edge of the box, feeding Wabiński in behind the defence. The makeshift striker made no mistake, smashing a first-time strike across the keeper into the net for his first Dragoons goal. 2-0 and the Dragoons had barely gotten out of gear!

One minute later, the Dragoons put on another slapstick defensive routine for the spectators. Misjudging a basic long punt, Drobny completely fluffed his attempted clearance. He followed this up by bursting into an extraordinary Irish jig inside the eighteen-yard box, missing the ball a second time before landing heavily on his backside. The hosts were gifted a golden opportunity to pull one back, but a weak shot allowed Hedrick to gather easily.

On the half-hour mark, Drobny read the game considerably better than his previous tap-dancing effort. The defender executed a perfectly timed slide tackle to win possession and spark a counter-attack. Wabiński slid a pass into the path of Mirko Barile, who showed power to muscle his way into the box. However, taking one touch too many allowed a recovering defender to arrive and boot the ball away before the Italian could pull the trigger.

A Dragoons Third

In a frantic contest, Bratniak applied mounting pressure but repeatedly failed to deliver a decisive final pass in the Dragoons’ half. They paid the ultimate price in the 38th minute as the Expats added a third goal against the run of play. Barile collected a loose ball deep in his own half and powered forward with intent. The winger picked out Smits, who cleverly slipped Nkola into acres of space on the left of the box. The Angolan attacker showed patience as he bore down on goal, calmly drilling a shot across the keeper into the corner to make it 3-0.

Further Chances

The third goal completely knocked the stuffing out of the hosts, and the Dragoons smelled blood as they surged forward to extend their lead. Wabiński unleashed a long-range attempt that whistled inches over the crossbar. Moments later, Nkola capitalised on more poor defending from Bratniak, but could only send a low effort wide.

Right before the whistle, Nkola put on a exhibition of pure class. He deadened Urzędowski’s frantic hoof upfield with an outrageous touch, glided past a defender, and unlocked the entire Bratniak defence with a threaded pass. Barile darted onto the ball looking destined to score, but the host goalkeeper sprinted off his line to block the strike and prevent a fourth goal.

A 3-0 lead sounded emphatic, but Gonçalo Ferreira was fuming in the changing room. The Dragoons never really controlled the half, struggling to maintain possession or build rhythm. Against better opposition, they would have been trailing. Instead, sheer good fortune and a couple of moments of sheer quality had papered over the cracks. Bratniak essentially fielded ten men, with 80-year-old Andrzej Piwowarczyk wandering the flank. His presence delivered a rare miracle, Enrico Forabosco was officially dethroned as the oldest relic on the field.

Second Half

Ferreira asked for calm from his team and to keep things tight, but Szymon Urzędowski clearly had other ideas. His mind was still sitting in the changing room when he was adjudged to have pulled back a Bratniak player. Clearly, after 45 minutes of dealing with Bratniak’s 80-year-old winger, having to mark someone with actual working limbs proved far too overwhelming. The referee deemed him the last man forty metres out, ending Szymon’s evening early.

From the resulting free-kick, the Dragoons failed to clear their lines cleanly. Bratniak recycled possession and unleashed a drive from the edge of the box, but Hedrick reacted sharply, diving to tip the effort around the post for a corner.

Bratniak Pull One Back

In the fiftieth minute, Bratniak received a stroke of luck of their own to pull a goal back. A cross-field pass saw an opponent manage to get by Krzyżanowski and burst into the box. The resulting pass across goal struck Drobny and fell directly to Artur Kononenko, who slotted home from eight metres out.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the ten-man Dragoons looked to add a fourth two minutes later. Nkola rose highest at a corner but could not direct his header at goal. Wabiński got to the ball first, hitting an effort on the volley that forced Kolasa into a flying save via a deflection.

The Expats Hold On

In the 54th minute, Bratniak came perilously close to level adding a second. Barile’s mad rush forward saw him lose possession allowing the hosts to mount a rapid counter-attack. An exquisite pass behind the backline picked out the sharp run of Tomasz Rajczyk. Despite a heavy first touch, Rajczyk turned brilliantly to craft space inside the box past Vargas, but Hedrick produced a sublime one-handed save to stop the incoming shot and rescue his side.

Bratniak continued pushing forward, and a silly foul by Krzyżanowski in the 56th minute gifted the hosts a free-kick 20 metres out. Enrico Forabosco valiantly came to the rescue, taking the full force of the shot squarely to the face. If the veteran had any wrinkles beforehand, they were instantly ironed out as he hit the deck like a falling ancient oak tree, earning the Dragoons a temporary breather.

The match turned into one-way traffic as Bratniak laid siege to the Dragoons’ half. The visitors showed their survival skills as well as the occasional moment of chaos. With Bratniak forward in numbers, the Dragoons looked to counter but moves repeatedly collapsed due to poor decision-making.

Set Piece Battle

The Dragoons made rare forays forward and twice created chances to extend their lead. In the sixty-first minute, Kuba Drobny rose highest to meet a Forabosco free-kick, but headed wide from a difficult position. Joseph Vargas really should have put the game to bed twenty minutes from time. Forabosco’s corner bounced off a defender to Vargas in space by the penalty spot. However, the Colombian swung his left boot at the ball and sent his effort agonisingly wide.

Yuri Samyonov made his long-awaited return, replacing the heroic Enrico Forabosco in the 73rd minute. Funny enough, his eager trot toward the bench was easily the fastest he had moved all game!

As the clock ticked down, the ten-man Expats put on an absolute masterclass in defensive discipline. Holding their shape with surprising professionalism, the Dragoons kept Bratniak strictly at arm’s length. Drobny recklessly threw his body into every block, while López strolled through, reading the game expertly. Dropping into midfield, Wabiński refused to tire, nicking tackles and looking to spearhead breakaways.

Finding himself in an advanced position, substitute Gracjan Bałuch looked to make the game safe in the 79th minute. His wicked cross-shot had the Bratniak custodian scrambling frantically across his goal, but the ball flew wide of the goal.

Ten Men Each

In the 84th minute, the trigger-happy referee eagerly brandished his red card for a second time. Bratniak’s Kacper Chmiel received his marching orders for a second bookable offence, restoring numerical equality for the closing stages.

Bratniak Continue to Push

Despite the card, Bratniak continued to push forward, launching desperate balls into the box. Geordie Zambon showed heroics by diving into a last-ditch tackle to block a goal-bound shot and preserve the lead on another day it may have been a spot-kick… From the resulting corner, a moment of pure theatre happened as Hedrick pulled off a ridiculous save to deny a certain goal. The ball ping-ponged and eventually fell to an opponent inside the six-yard box, but the Big Yank stuck out a strong hand to send the ball flying away from goal.

The final whistle blew shortly after, sealing victory for the Dragoons. The three points see the Expats jump into 9th place, moving above Bratniak in the process.

Summary

Despite a 3-0 lead at the interval, the first-half display was far from seamless. The Dragoons left gaping holes all over the pitch and struggled to string passes together for long periods. Fortunately, Bratniak suffered from identical issues and proved far more generous with their mistakes. Thankfully, the Expats punished Bratniak, where a bit of good luck saved the Expats.

On a lighter note, Bratniak’s Andrzej Piwowarczyk provided a rare spectacle simply by taking the pitch at eighty years old. While his movement was strictly limited to a casual stroll on the wing, seeing an octogenarian amble around for 45 minutes puts any talk of Enrico Forabosco hanging up his boots firmly into perspective. To be fair to the skipper, he is just about faster than Michelangelo’s David. Nevertheless, watching both of them amble around the pitch sparked debates over who would win a 10-metre sprint! Yet, speed bursts aside, Forabosco’s dictatorial passing and dead-ball genius remains completely irreplaceable. His influence and experience helps hold the team together, giving us real hope he might just continue playing well beyond this season… If Andrzej can be playing at 80, Forabosco clearly has at least another decade left in the tank!

Following Szymon Urzędowski’s early second-half red card, several individuals stepped up magnificently. Moving to left-back, Mateo López displayed imperious game understanding to plug the gap with pure class. The hyperactive Jeremi Wabiński proved a continuous pest, running himself into the ground until he had nothing left to give. At the back, Kuba Drobny fearlessly put his body on the line alongside a cool-headed Joseph Vargas, while Jake Hedrick produced two outstanding saves despite his damaged Achilles.

Game Management

However, the team’s game management still needs work. Instead of holding possession, slowing the tempo, and quietly killing the clock, the ten men obsessively hunted ambitious Hollywood passes. This poor decision-making repeatedly handed the ball back to Bratniak, inviting unnecessary pressure when simple game control was required.

While individual heroics ultimately protected the result and secured a crucial three points, learning to manage matches far more intelligently will be vital as the season progresses.

Next Up: Trzebol

Next week, top-of-the-table Trzebol visit the Expats. Last season, Trzebol thumped the Expats 4-1 away, but at home the Dragoons came away with a credible draw and arguably proved more than a match for a side that ran eventual champions Płomień Kostrze all the way. Trzebol sit on 15 points in 6 games, winning them all except a 1-0 home reverse against Skawinka Skawina.

Posted on By Dave Burch
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Lineup
93Jake Hedrick (usa)
26Jan Krzyżanowski (pol) 22
13Kuba Drobny (pol)
78Joseph Vargas (col)
2Szymon Urzędowski (pol) 50'
4Mateo Lopez (col) 27
8Enrico Forabosco (fin/ita) 9 21'
9'
25Rob Smits (ned) 88
55Mirko Barile (ita) 28
10Flavio Nkola (ang) 7 40'
11Jeremi Wabiński (pol) 23 28'
62'
7Adrian Paliś (pol) 10
9Yuri Samyonov (isr) 8
22Gracjan Bałuch (pol) 26
23Maickel Vargas (col) 11 90'
27Giacomo Simonetti (ita) 4
28Giordano Zambon (ita) 55
83Lorenzo Bartolomei (ita)
88Robin Da Silva (fra) 25 66'

Staff

Hugo Cruz
Director of Football
Former Head Coach
Former Assistant Coach

Gonçalo Ferreira
Head Coach

Lorenzo Bartolomei
Assistant Coach
Former Goalkeeper Coach

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