Recap
Winning Run Continues
The Dragoons’ penultimate game of the season saw Szreniawa Koszyce travel to Prądniczanka this past weekend.
Hugo Cruz made two changes to the side that secured a third consecutive win against Płomień Kościelec a week previous.
Rob Smits returned to action to line up in midfield replacing Jan Krzyżanowski. Meanwhile, Yuri Samyonov suffered a knock in the week and Barry Chowaniec took his place as central attacker.
Kick Off
The Dragoons started the game quickly and looked to apply pressure on the Szreniawa goal immediately. The hosts struggled to hold the Expats back, and Roman Bilovol sent an early effort over the bar.
Into the 5th minute, the visitors managed their first attempt of the game. Bartłomiej Gajówka received a pass, cut off from the wing and sent a vicious low shot that drifted wide of the goal.
Two minutes later, the Expats won a corner and Enrico Forabosco floated the ball into the box. A defensive header landed to Simon Calabrese, who controlled with his head and laced a goal attempt. However, a defender in the six-yard box hammered the ball away as the visitors cleared the danger.
Dragoons Lead
After dominating the early stages, the Dragoons grabbed a deserved opening goal in the 11th minute. Good defensive positioning saw Martin Voženílek easily cut out a poor attempted pass and cleared the ball upfield towards Chowaniec. A defender got there first, heading out to the wing and Voženílek raced to take possession of the loose ball. The Czech Cruyff turned an opponent and laid a pass to Rob Smits, who delightfully dinked the ball into the path of Barry Chowaniec. The striker took full advantage of a poor defensive line, timing his run to go through on goal. Mateusz Groniecki in the visiting goal stayed rooted to his line as Chowaniec calmly slotted the ball past the custodian for 1-0.
Four minutes later, the Dragoons came close to a second goal. Chowaniec looked to win a corner down by the goal-line but lost possession. The striker pressured an opponent to miscue an attempted clearance into his own box, which landed at the feet of Nkola. The Angolan blasted at goal from just inside the penalty box but could only sting the hands of Groniecki, who palmed the attempt away.
Unfortunately, it would be the last action for Chowaniec, who left the field to be replaced by Vałdzis Fuhaš.
Dragoons Keep Up The Pressure
Szreniawa struggled to get into the game and resorted to long balls that the Dragoons’ defence easily cut out. In the 24th minute, one such long ball attempt saw Calabrese head the ball to Forabosco. The midfield magician laid a pass into Nkola, who expertly spun an opponent and drilled an effort at goal. On this occasion, the shot dropped wide of the goal as the Expats pressed for a second goal.
A minute later, Fuhaš found himself involved for the first time. The attacker received a flick-on from Voženílek and opted to take a long-range shot. However, Fuhaš’s attempt lacked power and rolled straight through to Groniecki to collect.
Straight down the other end, Szreniawa went onto the offensive. The visitors managed to get deep into the Expats’ half with Gajówka showing nifty footwork to bypass Bilovol. The winger ran through the Dragoons’ box and looked to lift the ball towards the far post towards a teammate but did not connect with the ball properly and diverted his cross over Obyrtacz’s bar.
Fuhaš Doubles The Lead
Just after the half-hour mark, the Dragoons added a vital second goal. Simon Calabrese snuffed a long ball forward out and passed back to Obyrtacz. The Dragoons keeper laid the ball to Francesco Leuci, who showed excellent footwork to get past two opponents and progress up the pitch. The full-back found Rob Smits just inside the Expats’ half, who had time to turn and press forward. The Dutchmeester got his head up, spotted Fuhaš onside in acres of space between an awful Szreniawa defensive line and slotted in the perfect through-pass. On this occasion, Groniecki flew off his line, however, Fuhaš easily rounded the stranded keeper and passed the ball into an empty goal for 2-0.
The goal knocked the stuffing out of Szreniawa as the Dragoons piled forward straight after the goal. Excellent pressure saw a turnover in possession on the edge of the Szreniawa box. Flavio Nkola looked to go alone but the attacker’s deflected shot rolled straight to Groniecki.
Smits Adds The Third
On 38 minutes, the Dragoons extended their lead to score a third goal. Szreniawa became their own worst enemies as a poor touch put the Expats back in possession. Nkola took hold of the ball and looked to play a quick give-and-go with Smits. A covering defender looked to shield the ball, however, excellent pressing from the Angolan won it back inside the opposition box. Nkola shunted a pass back the unmarked Smits, who stroked a close-range shot into the corner of the net for 3-0.
Nkola With A Screamer
The dust had hardly settled on the third goal as the Dragoons scored again to make it 4-0. A loose pass from the kick-off saw Rob Smits head towards the goal before passing back to Nkola. The Angolan cut inside and accelerated past two opponents before rifling a firm shot from range. The ball flew past the outstretched hand of Groniecki and nestled into the net for Nkola’s sixth goal of the season.
Five For The Dragoons
Four became five in the 43rd minute, as Fuhaš added his second goal. Szreniawa could not escape their half as excellent pressing gave the visitors no relief. Malonga won the ball back for the Expats and good first time passing from Forabosco and Fuhaš saw Voženílek in possession. The Czech picked out the run of Fuhaš beyond the defence and the attacker made no mistake with his finish. On this occasion, the forward struck firmly across the keeper and into the net for 5-0. An exquisite finish for the attacker’s seventh goal of the season, making him the second top scorer behind Enrico Forabosco.
Post Denies a Sixth
With a minute left of the half, the Dragoons came close to adding a scintillating sixth. Bilovol sent a pass down the line to Voženílek, who showed trickery to get past an opponent. The Czech sent a teasing cross into the box, which went through to the unmarked Nkola on the left side. The Angolan side-stepped an opponent and unleashed a shot that gave Groniecki no chance. However, the ball struck the post and came flying back into play.
The referee blew his whistle moments later to end a dominating half for the Dragoons. The Expats had shown a killer instinct to punish every error made by the visitors.
Second Half
Hugo Cruz made one change at the break, introducing Salah Missi in the place of Francesco Leuci.
Szreniawa started the second half purposely, however, the Dragoons had the first shot of the half on 47 minutes. Like in the first half Roman Bilovol found himself advanced. Nice link-up play with Voženílek saw the Argentine shoot from inside the Szreniawa box, but Bilovol could only slap a shot straight at Groniecki to save.
The Expats looked dangerous every time they came forward. Five minutes later, Bilovol stepped out from right-back again and found Fuhaš free outside the box. The forward had time and space to shoot, however, his rasping effort zipped wide of the goal.
Four minutes later, a foul on Vozenilek gave Enrico Forabosco a chance to get the ball into the penalty box. The midfielder fizzed the ball into the danger zone with Flavio Nkola getting to the ball first. The attacker hooked a volley towards goal, but could only lift a difficult chance over the bar.
A period of pressure saw the visitors come close to grabbing a goal back. A corner into the box saw the Dragoons struggle to clear and Fuhaš did well to block an incoming shot. However, the forward gave away a free-kick moments later to give Szreniawa a good crossing opportunity.
Szreniawa Strike The Bar
From the following set-piece, a clipped pass to the front post saw Kamil Wiącek produce an outrageous backheel flick, which hit the bar. The Dragoons failed to clear the rebound, however, a foul by Wiącek on Bilovol ended the attack.
Down the other end, the Dragoons came forward as Missi’s attempted shot deflected out to Smits who prodded the ball to Nkola. The Angolan set up Forabosco for a shot, but the Italian dragged his attempted effort way wide of the goal.
It proved to be the midfielder magician’s last act of the game as he departed the field and Omar Atzori took his place. Rohit Chandran joined the Italian on the pitch, replacing the maverick Angolan, Flavio Nkola on the left wing.
Within a minute of the change, the Dragoons won a free-kick on the edge of the box. Martin Voženílek continued to cause havoc out wide drifting inside and found himself upended. The tackle appeared to have been inside the box, however, the referee deemed the challenge outside the area.
Smits Doubles His Tally
Regardless, the resulting set-piece saw the Dragoons notch their sixth goal on the hour mark. In Forabosco’s absence, Rob Smits stepped up to the kick. The midfield metronome blasted the ball over the wall and into the corner of the goal past the despairing dive of Groniecki for his fifth goal contribution of the game.
Five minutes later, Roman Bilovol, played a one-two with Atzori and rampaged into the box. Desperate to score, the right-back went alone in the area and pulled the trigger from a tight angle. Unfortunately, the Argentine failed to beat Groniecki with his incoming shot, blasting straight at the keeper.
Martin Voženílek found himself bizarrely booked on 66 minutes after the Czech was flattened for the umpteenth time in the game. Hugo Cruz decided to go to his bench shortly after, replacing the winger and Corneille Malonga for Szymon Urzędowski and Jan Krzyżanowski.
The Dragoons took their foot off the gas with the game in the bag. Both sides attempted shots from range with the best chance falling to Rob Smits. Rohit Chandran travelled down the left and cut back a pass to the Dutchman on the edge of the box. Smits shot for his hat-trick goal but sent his attempt wide of the mark.
Seven Up
On 81 minutes, the Dragoons grabbed their seventh goal to confirm a convincing victory. A corner kick from Atzori found the run of Josh Dawson inside the six-yard box. The substitute sent a bullet header that Groniecki somehow kept out, however, Jan Krzyżanowski reacted quickest to the rebound, smashing a shot that hit the crossbar, bouncing once and hitting the roof of the net.
Moments after, Krzyżanowski went for a second goal. Imperious defending from Dawson saw the Englishman break up an attack, drive forward into midfield and find Krzyżanowski out wide. The youngster took on a shot from range but hit his effort straight at Groniecki to comfortably save.
Clean Sheet Preserved
A late flurry from the visitors saw them go forward in numbers in their search for a consolation goal. Norbert Wątek received a pass, side-stepping a challenge and hit a low shot just inside the box. However, Marcin Obyrtacz read the danger well to spring off his line to close the gap and saved well with his legs.
Two further late chances came in the dying moments for the visitors as the Expats continued with 10 men following Rob Smits’s precautionary departure due to injury. Drobny did well to block the first, and a second attempt flew wide of the post as the Expats clung to their second clean sheet in consecutive games.
Shortly before the final whistle, the visitors ended the game with 10 men as Norbert Wątek received a straight red card for dissent. Not long after, the final whistle confirmed a comfortable win that saw the Dragoons’ winning run continue and the side advance to 6th place.
Next Up
Despite being a home game for the Dragoons, the side has agreed to travel to take on Czarni 03 Grzegorzowice.
Czarni are in 10th position and have experienced an indifferent season winning eight, drawing twice and losing fourteen times. They have the slightly unwanted record of the second-worst goal difference in the league with 87 conceded.
The two sides met previously on the final game before the winter break back in November. The Expats had the better of the game but missed a host of chances including a penalty in the first half. Salah Missi received a second yellow card early in the second half, however, two goals from Vałdzis Fuhaš secured a 2-0 victory.
