Recap
First Half Woes
The Dragoons suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat on Saturday afternoon, as a spirited second-half fightback couldn’t undo a frustrating first-half performance against Płomień Jerzmanowice.
🐉 MATCHDAY XI 🐉
The Dragoons are away at Płomień Jerzmanowice as they look to keep the momentum rolling 💪
Here’s how Coach Hugo Cruz 🇵🇹 sets up the team today 👇
🧤 GK: 🇨🇱
🛡️ DEF: 🇦🇷 🏴 🇵🇱 🏴 🇵🇱
⚙️ MID: 🇫🇮🇮🇹 🇨🇩 🇮🇳
🔥 FWD: 🇮🇱 🇵🇱#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/8EmhAUpMSN— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) April 19, 2025
Head Coach Hugo Cruz switched to a back three for the game and made a couple of enforced changes. With Marcin Obyrtacz unavailable, Gabriel Muñoz returned to the starting lineup after a long injury layoff to take over in goal.
Michael Lamb and Kuba Drobny kept their places in defence, with Josh Dawson joining them in the backline. Roman Bilovol and Szymon Urzędowski shifted from full-back to wing-back roles to support the new shape.
Corneille Malonga replaced the absent Rob Smits in midfield, linking up with Enrico Forabosco and Rohit Chandran to form the central trio.
Jan Kołodziejski led the line once again, partnering with Yuri Samyonov to complete the attacking setup.
Kick Off
The game began at a slow tempo, with neither side creating any clear-cut chances in the opening 10 minutes.
Płomień came closest to breaking the deadlock on 16 minutes. A sharp pass from the back picked out the well-timed run of their striker, who burst through on goal. Fortunately, Gabi Muñoz reacted quickly, racing off his line and getting down well to deny the opener.
The Hosts Lead
However, the Dragoons failed to heed the warning. Just two minutes later, the hosts struck first. After the Expats gave the ball away in midfield, Płomień launched a swift counterattack. An attempt to spring the offside trap backfired, allowing Łukasz Kurek a clear run at goal. The forward made no mistake, placing his shot in off the post to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, the Dragoons started to get their foot on the ball a little bit more. However, a disjointed performance saw the Expats struggle in keeping the ball in the final third. A lack of movement, communication and an inability to keep the ball saw the side begin to get frustrated.
Despite the fragmented showing, the Expats did come close to an equaliser in the 37th minute. A free-kick from deep saw Enrico Forabosco sent a teasing ball into the box. Josh Dawson got his head to the ball first and sent an exquisite flicked effort towards goal that forced Dawid Zgoda to push the ball against his own bar.
Płomień Penalty
On the stroke of half-time, disaster struck for the Expats as the Dragoons conceded a penalty kick. Josh Dawson was adjudged to have brought down Kurek in a harsh looking decision. Szczepan Tucharz stepped up to take the spot-kick and sent Muñoz the wrong way as Płomień doubled their lead.
Into first half injury time, the woodwork denied the Dragoons for the second time. Enrico Forabosco sent a cross into the box with Kołodziejski getting his head to it. However, the forward could only watch as the ball bounced off the post as the Dragoons went into the break trailing 2-0.
In truth, the Dragoons had struggled to really get into the game. The attacking movement had been poor and transition from defence to attack had been almost non existent.
Second Half
Hugo Cruz, disappointed with the lack of attacking urgency made a double change at the back. Introducing Martin Voženílek on the right flank and Simon Calabrese in defence to replace Roman Bilovol and Kuba Drobny.
Voženílek’s introduction almost paid off immediately. The Czech winger was involved as the Expats won a corner, only a minute into the half. Josh Dawson once again got his head to the ball, however, on this occasion, the Englishman could only put his attempt wide.
The Expats continued to press forward, but all too often the final ball was lacking to deny any clear cut chances.
As a result, on the hour mark, Hugo Cruz decided on a double change on the hour mark. Emre Çolakoğlu and Vałdzis Fuhaš entered the pitch replacing Jan Kołodziejski and Corneille Malonga.
Set Pieces looked the only way the Dragoons would get anything out of the game and a free-kick caused chaos in the box on 67 minutes. Forabosco’s whipped kick took a horrible divot off the turf and forced Zgoda to tip the ball over the bar.
Dawson Pulls One Back
From the following corner, the Italian played the ball short for a one-two with Rohit Chandran and sent a cross towards the back post. Josh Dawson escaped the attention of a covering defender and nonchalantly nodded the ball into the net to give the Expats a lifeline.
💥 Dawson Powers Home!
⚽ Josh Dawson 🏴 rose highest to power home a header and reduce the deficit to 2-1 on Saturday!
A big moment in the second half as the Dragoons fought to get back into the game🐉#COYD 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/EJGrDMRx7s
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) April 23, 2025
On 72 minutes the Dragoons came close to an equaliser. Forabosco sent another set-piece into the box, which landed at the feet of Yuri Samyonov. The Israeli turned and hit a shot across goal that unfortunately just went past the post.
Hugo Cruz threw his final roll of the dice after the chance as Samyonov and Urzędowski made way. Błażej Święcicki made his long awaited return to action alongside recent signing Alejandro Pascual.
Płomień Extend Their Lead
Further disaster struck for the Dragoons as Płomień restored their two goal cushion on 74 minutes. A long ball went down the right wing and found Oliwier Kiełkowicz in space. The substitute cut inside and hit a low shot that just crept past the outstretched hand of Muñoz to put the hosts 3-1 ahead.
Dragoons Back In The Game
The Expats hit back almost immediately with a 78th minute strike. Once again it came from a free-kick with Forabosco involved. The midfield magician curled the ball into the area with the Dragoons not able to direct the ball towards goal. However, it fell kindly to Voženílek who sent a laser-guided effort into the net to give the Dragoons a fighting chance.
🎯 Voženílek on Target!
Martin Voženílek 🇨🇿 finishes with pinpoint precision after reacting quickest to Forabosco’s clever free-kick.
A cool strike to drag the Dragoons back into the game at 3-2 in Saturday’s losing effort! 🐉⚽#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/7ZDBmur2MZ
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) April 23, 2025
Crossbar Struck Again!
Just a minute after scoring, the Expats saw the bar deny them an equaliser. Forabosco sent a cross into the box that found the head of makeshift centre forward Josh Dawson. Unfortunately, the Englishman saw his attempt bounce off the bar and over the target.
With five minutes to play, another set-piece saw the Dragoons come close again. This time, Fuhaš connected well with the ball and sent his header just over the bar from close range.
Both teams went down to ten men in the latter stages of the game with Święcicki receiving a straight red for dissent.
The referee signalled only six minutes of injury to play despite the physio spending more time on the pitch than Święcicki. Unfortunately, the Dragoons could not conjure up any further opportunities and disappointingly fell to a 3-2 defeat.
Whilst the second half had been better, the Dragoons struggled to create anything other than from set-pieces. All too often, the Expats rushed into poor decisions and struggled to find attacking cohesion.
🏅 MAN OF THE MATCH 🏅
Martin Voženílek 🇨🇿 made his mark coming off the bench at half time, giving the Dragoons a spark down the right with his pace 💨
His 2nd half performance was rewarded with a goal to bring us back into the game
Congrats Martin 👊👏🤝 pic.twitter.com/R0Qbf2W2Bg
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) April 23, 2025
Next Up
The Expats take to the road once again next week to play fourth placed LKS Błękitni II Modlnica. In a fairly even content, the Dragoons managed to earn a creditable 1-1 draw in the previous meeting between the sides earlier this season. Simon Calabrese scored an equaliser with Marcin Obyrtacz making a number of saves to preserve a point for his side.
Błękitni are seven points ahead of the Expats winning 11 drawing 4 and losing 3 times so far this season.
