Orzeł Iwanowice 1-5 Dragoons: Return To Winning Ways

Rohit Chandran of Krakow Dragoons FC controlling the ball
1
Orzeł Iwanowice Orzeł Iwanowice
5
Dragoons Dragoons
Sun, 20 Oct 2024 11:00 Klasa A — Week 9
Stadion Orzeł Iwanowice

Recap

Return To Winning Ways

The Expats strolled into Iwanowice to face the bottom side Orzeł Iwanowice and came away with a 1-5 victory on Sunday.

After suffering a second defeat of the season last weekend against Sportowiec Modlniczka, Hugo Cruz made several changes to the lineup.

With Francesco Leuci picking up an injury, the left back dropped out the side for Piotr Hajnrych to enter. The defence otherwise remained unchanged.

Into the midfield, Emre Çolakoğlu came into the side for the injured Fernando Gámez. The Turkish man-mountain lined up alongside captain Enrico Forabosco and Corneille Malonga in the middle.

Following a leg break suffered last week, Barry Chowaniec will be out of action for some time. Jan Kołodziejski came into the team in the striker’s place, playing centrally on his first start.

Szymon Urzędowski returned to action to start on the right wing as Martin Voženílek dropped to the bench. Last weekend’s Man of the match Rohit Chandran completed the team starting on the left side of the attack.

Krakow Dragoons FC players posing for a pre-match photo
Starting XI — Simon Calabrese, Marcin Obyrtacz, Jan Kołodziejski, Kuba Drobny, Emre Çolakoğlu and Roman Bilovol (top); Rohit Chandran, Enrico Forabosco (C), Piotr Hajnrych, Szymon Urzędowski and Corneille Malonga (bottom).

Kick Off

The Dragoons started brightly and Enrico Forabosco found himself heavily involved in the early action. The midfield magician swung an early free-kick wide from a difficult position before having the game’s first shot on target. However, his second effort produced an easy save for Mateusz Palik in the Iwanowice goal.

Early Bird Gets the Worm…

With 8 minutes on the clock, the Dragoons made their early possession count to take the lead. Rohit Chandran took Marcin Obyrtacz’s goal kick out of the air with a sublime touch. The Indian whirlwind spun and laid an inch-perfect pass to find Piotr Hajnrych bursting down the left wing. Hajnrych’s first touch took the ball into the penalty area, as Janek Kołodziejski nipped in ahead of the full-back to take possession. The winger quickly touched the ball across goal, where Chandran continued his run and coolly tapped in from close range.

Chance For A Second!

It should have been two in the 10th minute as the Dragoons broke quickly on the counter. A poor corner from the hosts saw Hajnrych clear to Chandran on the edge of the box. The Dragoons’ playmaker sprinted on the offensive and laid a pass to find Kołodziejski. The attacker managed to get past the last defender and found himself through on goal, one-on-one with Palik. However, a weak effort saw the keeper telegraph the attempt and stop the Expats from doubling their lead.

Moments later, another incisive break saw Szymon Urzędowski latch onto Emre Çolakoğlu’s through pass. The utilityman pulled a pass back to Forabosco, who saw his strike blocked behind for a corner.

The hosts began to get forward as the game continued but failed to threaten the scoreline. Michał Broda saw an effort comfortably saved by Obyrtacz and Maxim Jecov sent a shot wide when well-placed inside the box.

Lead Doubled

After dominating possession but lacking bite, the Dragoons doubled their lead in the 42nd minute. Chandran floated a delightful pass over the defence to Kołodziejski, who wriggled past a defender and sent the ball into the danger zone. A poor attempted clearance saw it land kindly for Roman Bilovol, who took a touch with his chest and unleashed a thumping strike into the net. A 0-2 lead that finally gave the Expats some breathing space.

Halftime came shortly after with the Dragoons in firm control and ahead of the contest. It had not been a classic performance, but Cruz’s side had been fairly comfortable heading into the break.

Second-Half

The Dragoons made a couple of changes at half-time, to restore control of the midfield and take the game to Iwanowice. Rob Smits and Martin Voženílek entered to replace Szymon Urzędowski and Emre Çolakoğlu.

However, despite the change, the hosts started well and created the first shooting chance of the second period. A long pass over the Expats’ defence saw Michał Broda take a touch and sprint towards the box. The forward shot early and thankfully ballooned the ball high over Obyrtacz’s bar.

Iwanowice Come Close

The hosts continued their bright start and thought they’d reduced the deficit with 48 minutes played. Another long ball caught the Dragoons’ defensive line low and Broda took the ball down and laid it to Nazar Mykhailynyn free in the right side of the box. Mykhailynyn sent a low ball across the goal, requiring Obyrtacz to make a stop with his leg.

However, the danger remained as Broda reacted quickest to the rebound and sent a diving header goalwards. The attempt forced Obyrtacz to scramble across his six-yard box to get a hand to touch it away, with Forabosco hooking the ball from off the line as the Dragoons survived a big scare!

Two minutes later, the Dragoons capitalised on a loose header and Martin Voženílek drove down the right wing. The Czech attacker expertly beat a defender to enter the box and laid a pass across the goal towards Kołodziejski. The ball just evaded the forward and a slip from a defender as he went to clear saw it bobble towards goal but Palik showed sharp reactions to stop it from crossing the line.

Chance For A Third

On the hour mark, Palik expertly denied the Dragoons as they came close to adding a third. Chandran received a pass from Smits and drove from off the wing to pick out Kołodziejski on the edge of the box. The Polish attacker spun and instantly released a return pass to put the Indian Whirlwind through on goal. Chandran opted to try and round Palik, however, the custodian bravely dived at his feet and clutched the ball to deny the opportunity. He probably should have shot first-time!

Moments after, Hugo Cruz made a double change with Yuri Samyonov and Błażej Święcicki entering for Kołodziejski and Forabosco.

Warning Signs!

The hosts came even closer to scoring immediately after the substitution. A long ball forward saw Drobny caught under the ball allowing Broda to take advantage. Obyrtacz reacted to the danger by racing out of his box to close the gap, however, the striker got his foot to the ball ahead of the Polish stopper and looped an attempt over his head towards the goal. Fortunately for the Dragoons, the effort bounced off the turf and dropped just wide of the mark.

Not Yielded… 1-2

Unsurprisingly, Iwanowice struck first blood in the second half, with a scrappy goal from a free-kick in the 67th minute. A long ball from just inside the Expats’ half flew deep inside the penalty box. Obyrtacz called for the ball but Dawid Płatek got there first as the keepers’ attempted punch was less Tyson Fury, and more kitten batting at a ball of yarn. Centre-back Łukasz Kruczek took full advantage of the situation, throwing himself into the ball inside the six-yard box to score and give the hosts a glimmer of hope.

Immediate Response

The goal seemed to awaken the beast as the Dragoons fired straight back. Now sitting in midfield, Chandran carried the ball upfield with a trademark mazy run. The Indian continued his run forward, receiving Voženílek’s pass and finding Samyonov inside the box.

The Israeli displayed a hefty touch and went down under a challenge on the goalline, with the referee unmoved. Samyonov recovered quickly, crawling to slide into the ball to pick out Voženílek on the right side of the box. The Czech took a touch to beat a defender and found Święcicki lurking at the back post for an easy finish! A swift reply from the Dragoons, who restored their two-goal cushion to bring the score to 1-3.

Sixth for Smits

The Expats furthered their lead in the 76th minute in style. Święcicki closed down a defender, and the ball fell kindly to Samyonov. The Israeli looked up and sent an exquisite lofted ball into space for Voženílek to accelerate onto. The Czech looked up and laid a pass into Smits unmarked by the penalty spot. The Dutchmeester caught the ball sweetly and leathered a first-time shot that proved too strong for Palik to keep out for 1-4. The goal confirmed the midfield metronome’s sixth goal of the season making him the current top scorer this campaign.

After the goal, the Dragoons made a triple change with the game seemingly won. Danilo Birbiglia entered for his debut along with Barys Sidareika and Gracjan Bałuch to replace Corneille Malonga, Piotr Hajnrych and Rohit Chandran.

The game took on an end-to-end feel as both sides pressed forward with no end product. The best chance for either side fell to the Dragoons with five minutes left to play. Birbiglia won the ball inside the Expats’ half, putting Samyonov in possession on the halfway line. The Israeli slid in Sidareika on the right, who immediately put a through ball in behind the defence for Święcicki to run onto. However, quick reactions from Palik saw the keeper fly off his line to just get to the ball first.

A Fifth To Finish

As the clock ticked into injury time the Dragoons struck again to score a fifth goal to wrap up the game. Yuri Samyonov pressed well and forced a defender into a mistake to win the ball by the touchline. The Israeli breezed past two tired challenge attempts to find himself one-on-one with the keeper at a tight angle. Unperturbed, Samyonov showed calmness personified in picking his spot and clinically finishing past Palik to notch his fifth goal of the season.

Straight after the goal, the referee ended an entertaining spectacle with the Dragoons triumphing. The victory sees the Expats move up to sixth and just four points off of 2nd position in the table.

Summary

Five goals, three points, and a performance where the Dragoons’ quality got them over the line. It was not quite the walk in the park some might have expected, but the boys got the job done!

Tougher days await the Expats, who will need to be better both on and off the ball in the future.

Coach’s Corner

Hugo Cruz summarized the match, “We started as planned playing confidently on a surprisingly half decent pitch. We managed to reach their goal easily as a consequence but we grew a little overconfident and started to be more reactive than proactive. When we play on a small and bobbly pitch, we too often start to lose challenges, passes and begin to get frustrated. We managed to control the game defensively but struggled with our build up during the rest of the first half.

In the second half the opposition came out fast to try and get a goal back. This saw the pitch open up a bit more for us and we utilised the space that gave us but at the same time it meant that the team was less compact. We got into dangerous positions to further the lead but couldn’t find the third goal. Typically, as we failed to score, the home side grabbed a goal to get back into the game and it could have been a difficult situation for us.”.

Game Changing Moment

The head coach added, “I was really pleased with our reaction to immediately grab that vital third goal, which should have been done before that. This killed the momentum of the home team and swung the match back in our favour. We created good chances after this and scored twice more to make the game safe.

When you looked at the game on paper, it looked an easy one with the opponents not picking up any points this season. However, in truth, no game is easy and it can always become tough and complicated when on a bobbly grass pitch. You need to concentrate more on the first touch and be ready for every eventuality. But I was pleased that the boys were far superior technically and received a nice reminder that, despite being technically better you need a competitive spirit to keep going when the going gets tough. This spirit is the most important factor and the lads showed we can fight when needed.

I felt it was an ideal game to prepare already for the next match against the top scorer of the league, that we know will be tough.”.

Next Up

The Expats return to Ul. Gronostajowa next weekend as they face a tough task against Orzeł Bębło.

Currently in 3rd place, Bębło are on a six-match unbeaten run having won six, drawn once and lost once. They are the top scorers in the league with 36 goals and have conceded 11 times this season.

It will be the first time the two clubs have met and we look forward to welcoming as many fans to cheer us on.

Posted on Text: Dave Burch Visual Editing: Daniel Silva
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Lineup
99Marcin Obyrtacz (pol)
5Simon Calabrese (ita)
8Enrico Forabosco (fin/ita) 9
11Rohit Chandran (ind) 23 8'
13Kuba Drobny (pol)
14Roman Bilovol (arg) 42'
19Piotr Hajnrych (pol) 31
35Emre Çolakoğlu (tur) 25
36Corneille Malonga (cod) 16
44Jan Kołodziejski (pol) 94
97Szymon Urzędowski (pol) 30
9Yuri Samyonov (isr) 8 90'
16Gracjan Bałuch (pol) 36
23Danilo Birbiglia (ita) 11
25Rob Smits (ned) 35 76'
30Martin Voženílek (cze) 97
31Boris Sidareika (blr) 19
94Błażej Święcicki (pol) 44 69'

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