Recap
Run Of Defeats Ended
The Dragoons finally ended their difficult run of results with a hard-fought 1–0 win away to Podgórze on Saturday.
Head Coach Gonçalo Ferreira welcomed a couple of key players back from injury after last weekend’s narrow 2–1 defeat to Skawinka Skawina.
⚽️ LINE-UP ⚽️
Here are the troops sent into battle by Head Coach Gonçalo Ferreira 🇵🇹 as the Dragoons look to break their losing run away to Podgórze Kraków! 💪🐉
🧤 🇵🇱
🛡️ 🇦🇷 🇵🇱 🇨🇴 🇵🇱
⚙️ 🇮🇹 🇮🇹/🇫🇮 🇮🇹
⚔️ 🇨🇿 🌏 🇦🇴#COYD 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/68Z51JUUzb— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 26, 2025
Marcin Obyrtacz retained his place in goal, while Roman Bilovol and Szymon Urzędowski started at full-back. Kuba Drobny partnered Obed Sánchez in central defence, with Simon Calabrese missing out. The Colombian had been playing as a centre forward in recent weeks, but returned to the back line for this fixture.
In midfield, Omar Atzori and Enrico Forabosco kept their spots, while Danilo Birbiglia returned from a long injury layoff to replace the unavailable Corneille Malonga. An all Italian affair in the centre of the park!
Up front, Martin Voženílek and Vałdzis Fuhaš started once again, while illness ruled out Barry Chowaniec, allowing Flavio Nkola to make his comeback to the team on the left wing.
First Half
Podgórze started brightly and immediately put the Dragoons on the back foot. A long throw spun off the turf to an opponent on the edge of the box, who swivelled and shot at goal. Thankfully, the ball cannoned off the outside post and out of play to prevent the hosts taking the lead in under 60 seconds!
The Dragoons were slow to settle and struggled to find any sort of passing rhythm. Podgórze almost capitalised on poor defending in the 7 minutes, as Sánchez found himself caught in possession near the goal line. Fortunately, Kuba Drobny was on hand to deny a tap in, but his clearance failed to get down the field and the hosts came straight back. A shot inside the area came at goal and Marcin Obyrtacz had to show a strong wrist to keep the game level.
Gradually, the Expats began to grow in confidence and started to find spaces. Flavio Nkola had a couple of sighters, dragging one shot wide before sending another volley high over the bar. At the other end, Podgórze looked dangerous with long balls utilising their pace in attack but failed to test Obyrtacz with the Expats defending well.
The Dragoons frontline press began to cause the hosts some problems and the midfield began to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Forabosco, Atzori and Birbiglia begin to win second balls in the middle of the park and the Expats started to control the game.
Flag Denies the Expats
In the 32nd minute, the Dragoons thought they had taken the lead, only for the flag to rule out the goal for offside. Atzori saw his pass deflect to Urzędowski out wide, and his cross was converted by Vałdzis Fuhaš. However, the flag went up immediately as Urzędowski touched the ball, although the full-back believed he was onside the moment the ball was kicked.
The Expats started to put together sone nice moves and Nkola’s cross found Voženílek who found Forabosco on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, a heavy first touch stopped the midfield magician getting a clean strike on goal, with ex Dragoon Paulo Fernandes easily gathering his attempt.
Breakthrough!
Finally, the breakthrough came in the 43rd minute as the Dragoons went ahead. Birbiglia broke up the play in midfield and poked it forward to Nkola. The Angolan sprayed a pass wide to Voženílek, who ran at goal before pulling it back to Bilovol underlapping from right-back. The Argentine went on a mazy run through the box, but could only toe-poke the ball at Fernandes. However, the keeper could only parry the ball back into the area, and Nkola reacted quickest to smash home from close range. The returning winger marked his comeback with a crucial goal to give the Dragoons a vital 1-0 lead.
The Dragoons almost doubled their lead before the break, as Forabosco’s free kick found Sánchez unmarked. But the Colombian could not direct his header on target and the ball sailed over.
Second Half
Podgórze pressed forward immediately after the restart, breaking through the defence, but firing a promising opportunity for an equaliser wide.
The Dragoons started to find their way into the half and missed two early chances to double their lead. Sánchez sent a headed effort over the crossbar and Nkola’s effort on the edge of the box saw Fernandes get down to save.
Podgórze Pressure
At the other end, Podgórze came close in a matter of minutes. The first chance saw the Expats defence cut open, but an opponent could only spoon a glorious chance over. Four minutes after, Drobny came to the Dragoons rescue with a goal-line clearance. A neat pass saw a striker get the wrong side of the Dragoons defender, poking the ball past Obyrtacz and flying over the custodian. It looked like the ball would trickle into the net, only for Drobny to get back in the nick of time to boot the ball away. The hosts screamed blue murder for a penalty, but thankfully for the Dragoons the referee remained unmoved by the claims.
Unfortunately, Drobny pulled his calf in clearing the ball and had to be replaced along with Nkola, who had run himself into the ground in his first start of the season. Gracjan Bałuch and Jan Kołodziejski replaced the duo with Roman Bilovol moving across to centre back.
Dragoons Chances!
In the 66th minute, the Dragoons had a glorious chance to double their lead. Great battling by Atzori turned over possession on the half way line and Fuhaš played a glorious pass to put Voženílek through down the right. The Czech turned on the afterburners down the wing and played a low pass across the edge of the box to pick out the run of Fuhaš. The forward worked the ball onto his left foot, with only Fernandes to beat, but could only hit the ball high for the Portuguese stopper to comfortably pluck the ball out of the air.
Three minutes later, the Dragoons came close again. Kołodziejski showed excellent pace and power to get into the box and pulled a pass back towards Voženílek. It looked like the Czech would open his account for the season, only for a defender get to the ball first and sent it narrowly over his own bar.
As the game became stretched, Coach Ferreira turned to his bench with Stiven Campo and Manuel Rangel entering for Voženílek and Forabosco.
The home side began to up the ante as the Expats began to sit deeper in their own half. But despite Podgórze seeing more of the ball, the Expats continued to look dangerous on the break. Rangel showed excellent footwork out on the left wing and sent a cross-shot across the face of the goal that floated wide of the target.
End to End
Podgórze continued to press forward, with the Expats looking leggy on a difficult pitch, conceding a number of free-kicks. However, the Dragoons defended manfully, heading and clearing the ball away only for it to keep coming back.
As the minutes ticked down, the hosts committed more players forward in search of an equaliser, leaving them exposed at the back. Kołodziejski raced onto a pass down the right and accelerated towards goal with Fuhaš for company on his left. The forward elected to go for goal to finish the game but could only drive straight at Fernandes to save.
Despite late pressure, the Dragoons held firm and protected Obyrtacz’s goal well. In the 90th minute, Podgórze were reduced to ten men after a cynical foul on Kołodziejski as he burst through on goal. Rangel stepped up to take the resulting free-kick, but his attempt lacked any serious power and Fernandes clutched the ball under his cross bar to save.
After eight minutes of injury time, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game, with the Dragoons finally getting three points after four defeats in a row.
🇮🇹🏅 MAN OF THE MATCH 🏅🇮🇹
A monster in midfield 💪 Omar was everywhere, breaking up play, winning second balls & driving the team on.
Also shoutouts to Drobny’s 🇵🇱 goal-line heroics & Fuhaš🌍leading the line superbly 👏
Bravo Omar!👊
#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/nlUTDHPGml
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) October 27, 2025
Full Time
The Expats showed real grit and determination to grind out a much-needed and morale lifting victory. It wasn’t pretty, but it was exactly what the Dragoons needed, effort, spirit, and a clean sheet to boot.
Next Match
The Dragoons return to action on Tuesday as they face off against Tramwaj II in a re-arranged fixture. Hopefully, third time lucky!
