Recap
A Final Flourish
The final game of a long season saw the Dragoons travel to take on Czarni 03 Grzegorzowice on a blisteringly hot Saturday afternoon.
Hugo Cruz rotated his squad and made several changes to the team that thrashed Szreniawa Koszyce last week. Gabi Muñoz, Francesco Leuci, Omar Atzori, Flavio Nkola, Salah Missi, Yasin Civelek and Rohit Chandran all missed out due to representing their countries in the Katowice World Cup.
Changes to the backline saw Szymon Urzędowski start at left back in the place of the unavailable Leuci. Josh Dawson also came into the team with Simon Calabrese dropping to the bench. Meanwhile, Roman Bilovol and Kuba Drobny continued at right back and centre back respectively.
Enrico Forabosco and Rob Smits also continued, with Jan Krzyżanowski replacing Corneille Malonga in the middle of the park.
Whilst Barry Chowaniec started centrally in attack with Błażej Święcicki and Isreal Olusoji on the flanks. Olusoji started for the first time, whereas Święcicki and Smits both made their 50th appearance in a Dragoons jersey.
Kick Off
The Expats kicked the game off but struggled to move the ball on a small pitch with a bobbly surface. An early interception from the hosts saw the first chance arrive after 3 minutes. An aerial battle saw Josh Dawson come off second best and a header saw Przemysław Jakubek come forward. Jakubek managed to escape the attentions of the Dragoons defence to shoot, but could only drive straight at Obyrtacz to save.
Czarni had the better of the opening stages as the Dragoons struggled to get into their usual rhythm and in the 8th minute, the hosts created a second chance for themselves. Jakubek showed excellent movement to manoeuvre on to a pass in behind the Expats’ defence. With Marcin Obyrtacz advancing off his line, the Czarni attacker attempted to lob the ball over his head. However, Jakubek did not make the best connection with the shot and the ball landed safely into Obyrtacz’s grasp.
Dragoons Come Close
Two minutes later, the Dragoons fashioned their first two attempts of the game. A great cross into the box by Bilovol, bounced awkwardly on the turf and a defensive header came to Święcicki at the far post. The Polish winger slammed a volley towards goal and forced goalkeeper Sebastian Misiak to push wide.
Air Drobny
From the following corner, Forabosco saw his corner kick headed straight back to him. He put the ball back into the danger zone, with Rob Smits and a defender battling in the air. The aerial ball fell kindly for Kuba Drobny, who attempted an audacious bicycle kick that cannoned off the post and back into play.
As the minutes ticked by, the Dragoons started to get more of a foothold on the game. A cross in the 17th minute, saw Olusoji put the ball into a dangerous area. No one managed to get a touch as it bounced off of the surface and into the path of Forabosco. The midfield magician dropped a shoulder to get past an opponent, however, his attempted shot came off a defender. The rebound fell kindly for Chowaniec and the striker sent a volleyed effort over the target from 12 metres out.
Both sides went back and forth, with the defences coming out on top each time. The Dragoons struggled to break down a thick line of black shirts deep inside their own half.
Chance After Chance
In the 27th, the Dragoons managed to work Misiak in the Czarni goal a second time. On this occasion, Smits picked out Forabosco lurking 25 metres from goal. The midfielder worked the ball onto his left foot, however, he failed to get any power behind his shot and Misiak gathered at the second attempt.
Nine minutes later, the Expats created an excellent chance to take the lead. Szymon Urzędowski found himself advanced and an excellent ball from Forabosco found the full-back inside the Czarni box. Urzędowski calmly pulled a pass back across goal to the waiting Chowaniec in space by the penalty spot. However, the striker’s side-footed shot saw Misiak stick out a leg to save and Czarni reacted quick to clear the danger away.
The Dragoons players had their heads in their hands two minutes later. Smits linked well with Chowaniec to get into the penalty area and drove low from a tight angle. Misiak got a foot to the cross-shot and diverted it straight into the path of Chowaniec. The striker used his knee to try and control the ball, inadvertently finding Święcicki free inside the six-yard box. Święcicki looked certain to smash a volley into the net, but mistimed his attempt and guided the ball wide.
Dragoons Profligate In Front of Goal
Into the last five minutes, the Expats created chance after chance to take the lead. Krzyżanowski ran through on goal after a smart pass from Smits. However, Misiak closed down the angle well and found himself well placed to block the young midfielder’s poked attempt at goal.
Moments after, Krzyżanowski turned creator by picking out Chowaniec in space inside the Czarni box. The attacker drilled a low shot at goal but once again Misiak saved the hosts with a good save. Chowaniec attempted a follow up effort on the rebound, however, a defensive block saw the chance go begging.
Dragoons Denied!
Just one minute later, the Dragoons thought they had taken the lead, only to be denied by an offside flag. Urzędowski hung a deep cross to the far post with Smits completely free. The Dutchmeester headed the ball back across goal, with Święcicki rising unmarked to plant the ball into the net. However, the flag went up immediately to deny the Pole his first goal of the season and the Dragoons taking the lead.
With less than a minute left of the half the play, the Dragoons came a whisker away from scoring the opening goal. Bilovol charged down the right flank, cut inside and laid a pass off to Forabosco. The Italian laid the ball into Krzyżanowski who let fly from range and just missed the target by a matter of inches.
Half Time
Shortly after, the referee blew the whistle to end the half. The Expats had started slowly, but had definitely finished the stronger between the two sides. Had the Expats been more clinical with their final touch in the final third they would have been out of sight!
An Early Goal
The Dragoons started the half the better side and continued where they left off in first half. With only four minutes played, they made their dominance count to score the first goal of the game. Rob Smits collected a throw, cutting back and sending a cross into the box. A poor defensive header went backwards and landed directly at the feet of the grateful Święcicki, who tapped the ball into the net from close range to mark a memorable 50th appearance for the club hero with his 10th goal in a Dragoons shirt.
Dragoons At The Double
In the very next attack the Dragoons scored a second goal. On this occasion, Forabosco whipped a corner into the box that found the head of Drobny. The defender glanced a headed effort towards goal, with the ball taking a touch off a defender and going into the net for 2-0. The goal marked a third goal of the season for Drobny in his 28th appearance.
Six minutes later, the Dragoons passed up the opportunity to notch a third goal. Smits put a pass across the face of goal straight to substitute Yuri Samyonov. The Israeli failed to direct the ball with any power and Chowaniec knocked it back into the path of Krzyżanowski. The midfielder attempted a shot through a crowd of bodies and a defender got in the way to boot the effort clear.
Obyrtacz Saves
Czarni came close to pulling a goal back with 57 minutes played. A corner kick saw an opponent get above the Dragoons defence and head towards goal from close range. However, Obyrtacz found himself well placed to make an outstanding point blank save to preserve the Expats’ two goal lead.
From the following corner, the hosts worked the ball short and another effort came at the Dragoons goal. Once again, Obyrtacz remained alert, getting down quickly to smother the ball into his grasp.
Down the other end, Krzyżanowski stood up to an opponent well to win the ball back on the touchline, deep in the Czarni half. The youngster crossed into the box with the ball bobbling into the path of Chowaniec. The striker swivelled to shoot first-time, but could only hit his effort straight at Misiak to save.
Chances Galore
The same pair connected again minutes later, with Chowaniec racing into the box unopposed. The forward passed across goal for Smits to surely score, however, the Dutchmeester failed to make a connection with the bobbling ball. Another big chance missed by the Expats!
As the half progressed, the Expats remained on top and continued to come forward. Both Forabosco and Dawson saw attempts fail to threaten the goal as the Dragoons went in search of a third goal.
Just after the hour mark, nice football saw Chowaniec across the box to find Edo Battaglion in space. The Italian lashed a shot at goal, however, a last gasp sliding block denied the Dragoons substitute.
End to End
On 73 minutes, the Expats missed yet another chance. Forabosco slipped Chowaniec in behind the Czarni defence to go one-on-one with Misiak. The striker rolled the ball past the keeper, but failed to find the target as the Dragoons passed up another attempt for a third goal.
Moments after, Drobny missed a long pass and Damien Korfel raced through on goal. Dawson did well to accelerate to close the attacker down, with Korfel taking a shot on early that Obyrtacz comfortably saved.
An end-to-end couple of minutes saw the Dragoons miss yet another glorious chance to score. This time, Chowaniec raced down the left side of the box and put the ball into the area. It travelled all the way through to Samyonov for an easy finish, however, the Israeli waved his foot at the ball and sent it wide. It was harder to miss!
Take A Bow, Son
With ten minutes left to play, the Dragoons scored an excellent third goal to secure the win. Malonga won the ball in midfield and Jacek Fąfara started the Expats attack from defence, passing to Battaglion. The full-back gave the ball to Forabosco, who had time and space to pick out Krzyżanowski’s forward run just outside the penalty box. The youngster took a touch to set himself and sent a beautiful curling shot into the top corner to give the keeper absolutely no chance. A great hit for Krzyżanowski’s 3rd goal on his 14th appearance.
The Dragoons continued to create chances for more goals as they relentlessly poured forward. Piotr Hajnrych showed good feet to get by the defence but struck straight at Misiak before a terrible mishap gave Boris Sidareika a great chance. The substitute raced onto a poor pass and found himself with just Misiak to beat. However, the keeper came off his line quickly to close the gap and did well to deny a maiden goal for Sidareika.
Into the last minute, a free-kick gave the Expats another shooting opportunity. Hajnrych stood up to the kick and sent a curling effort at goal. However, Misiak once again proved equal to the effort and threw himself to his left to make the save.
The End
Moments later, the final whistle blew to bring an end to the Dragoons’ season. The team ended a topsy-turvy campaign five games unbeaten, with three clean sheets in a row. The victory ensured the Expats finished this season in sixth place, on 39 points and with the fifth best goal difference in the league.
We thank every one of our fans and sponsors for keeping with us through the difficult times and we can only hope for much better next season.
