Recap
Late Agony in Radziszów
The Dragoons travelled to Radziszowianka Radziszów II this past Sunday morning in an entertaining spectacle. Following their emphatic first victory against Iskra Krzęcin last time out, the Expats hit the road for the third time in four matches.
⚽️ LINE-UP ⚽️
Here is how the Expats line up for today’s clash against Radziszowianka Radziszów II! 🐉
Let’s go, boys! 👊#COYD 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/RWqKLLJsUg
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) September 13, 2026
Head coach Gonçalo Ferreira was forced to reshuffle his pack for the game. Marcin Obyrtacz came into goal for his first start of the season, with Jake Hedrick missing out. Kuba Drobny returned to partner Joseph Vargas in central defence, whilst Kamil Kącki and Szymon Urzędowski occupied the full-back slots.
In midfield, Jeremi Wabiński earned a starting spot after his cameo last week, joining Enrico Forabosco and Fernando Gámez in a technical engine room. Central striker Adrian Paliś led the line, flanked by the dangerous Flavio Nkola and Mirko Barile.
Kick Off
The hosts kicked off with intent and looked to take the game to the Expats. In only the 3rd minute, the hosts looked to go into the lead with the first shot of the game. However, Obyrtacz comfortably gathered an early strike from distance.
Radziszowianka kept pushing and in the 9th minute, Bartosz Pąchalski cut inside to draw a save from Obyrtacz. The ball fell straight back to Pąchalski for the rebound, but he rushed the chance and sent an effort wide for an early let off for the Expats.
An Early Lead
The Dragoons were caught cold in the 12th minute when high pressing forced Enrico Forabosco to quickly get rid of the ball. The hosts took possession high in the Dragoons half and a thunderous shot from Jakub Serwiński rattled the crossbar. With the Dragoons defence standing still, Oliwier Kościelniak reacted quickest to the rebound and tapped home the opener.
Like the week previous, the goal seemed to awaken the Dragoons. In the 18th minute, the Expats looked to trouble the goal for the first time. However, Gámez failed to connect properly with his first-time effort, which bobbled just wide after good work from Nkola.
The Dragoons Battle
In the 27th minute, the Dragoons created a good chance to level the score. Forabosco sent a glorious pass to find Mirko Barile’s run off the wing. The Italian took the ball down with a great touch, held off a defender to get in on goal, but could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper.
Six minutes later, Kuba Drobny ventured into nosebleed territory, driving out of defence under zero pressure. Taking full advantage of the time and space, the centre-back unleashed a long-range strike that forced the opposition keeper to leap high and clutch the ball under his own bar.
As the half wore down, the Dragoons pressed aggressively for an equaliser. Joseph Vargas rose to meet a cross in the 41st minute, but his header lacked the venom to beat the keeper, who gathered comfortably.
Moments after, Jeremi Wabiński showed excellent hustling to win possession high. The mercurial midfielder attempted a shot at goal from the edge of the box, but could only send his effort over.
Szymon to the Rescue
Just before the break, the hosts almost doubled their lead after a corner. An effort came at the Expats goal but Szymon Urzędowski hooked the ball off the line as the team went into the break behind.
It was a deeply frustrating opening forty-five minutes for the Expats, who were rightfully punished for another painfully slow start. While the rest of the team gradually worked their way into the contest, Adrian Paliś spent the half locked in a tragic, one-man feud with the concept of ball control.
His boots appeared to be coated in Teflon and spring-loaded at the toes as every pass aimed at him ricocheted straight to the hosts. Recognising the sheer danger of passing to their own striker, the Dragoons simply stopped passing to him altogether, leaving the forward wandering up front like a lost tourist waiting for a bus that was never coming.
Second Half
Ferreira opted for a change at the interval, mercifully ending Paliś’s first-half ordeal by introducing Barry Chowaniec. In peak Sunday-league fashion, Chowaniec trotted onto the pitch wearing the exact same Teflon-coated boots Paliś had just unlaced, having unforgivably left his own footwear at home. Swapping studs between two strikers who currently couldn’t score in a brothel felt like a massive gamble, with the bench essentially betting on whether the boots themselves were cursed, or if Paliś simply had them on the wrong feet.
Just as they had in the first half, Radziszowianka came flying out of the blocks for the second 45. The hosts almost doubled their lead in the 55th minute, rattling the Dragoons’ crossbar for a second time. Having survived the scare, the Expats immediately turned to their bench, throwing on Jesús Andrade for Barile in a bid to rescue the game.
Just before the hour mark, Enrico Forabosco made way for Rob Smits. The Dutchmeester injected instant energy into the middle of the park, sparking the Expats into life.
Shortly after Smits entered the fray, Fernando Gámez suffered a kick to the head that the referee inexplicably ignored, leaving the Canarian King temporarily sidelined and forcing the Expats to operate down to ten men.
Dragoons Equalise
However, Smits’ introduction proved to be the ultimate catalyst for the Dragoons getting level. Driving straight into the heart of the action, the midfielder helped the ten-man Dragoons drag themselves level in the 65th minute. Flavio Nkola set the move in motion by snapping into a tackle on the halfway line to win possession. The ball fell kindly to Smits, who quickly picked out Chowaniec. Finding his route to goal blocked, Chowaniec cleverly turned back and fed Nkola, who instantly carved open the host’s backline with a sharp return pass. Beating his defender for raw pace, Chowaniec whipped a low cross into the box where Andrade arrived right on cue, sweeping the ball home to open his Dragoons account and make it 1-1.
DIVINE INTERVENTION! ✨
Jesus Andrade 🇨🇴 steps up when we needed a saviour, tapping in his first goal for the club to level the scores at 1-1 and bring us back into the game ⚽️
Amen to that 🙏#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/CR9yaEa8cg
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) September 14, 2026
A minute after equalising, the Expats should have taken the lead. A defender intercepted Andrade’s clipped pass towards Chowaniec, but relentless pressing from the Polish forward forced a turnover, leaving him clear on goal with only the keeper to beat.
Sadly, the Dragoons striking curse struck again as he slid his shot inches wide of the far post. Wearing Paliś’s boots had done nothing to break the spell, proving it wasn’t the footwear at fault, but rather a pair of strikers locked in a joint pact never to hit the target. Borrowing the boots simply confirmed that regardless of whose studs are on the grass, both of them are currently an absolute hazard to anyone standing behind the goal.
Expats Lead!
The turnaround was complete in the 75th minute following a moment of direct, clinical football. A defender headed Drobny’s speculative long ball skyward, but Gámez reacted quickest to the second ball, chesting it down to Smits. The Dutchmeester immediately spied Nkola’s run, dinking a pass into his path. Racing beyond the last defender, the Angolan read the flight to perfection and hooked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to net his second of the season and put the Dragoons 2-1 ahead.
CHIPS ON THE MENU🍟
A delicate pass over the top from Rob Smits 🇳🇱 met a perfectly timed run by Flavio Nkola 🇦🇴, who lifted the ball effortlessly over the onrushing keeper to make it 2-1 to the Expats! 🎯#COYD💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/wbdIx2fjpy
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) September 14, 2026
Radziszowianka pressed and Vargas entered the referee’s book in the 81st minute, stopping a quick free-kick on the edge of the box. From the resulting set-piece, the Colombian headed the ball over his own crossbar, preventing the hosts an equaliser.
A Frantic Ending
In the 87th minute, Da Silva won possession in midfield. Instead of putting Chowaniec in on goal unleashed an absolute missile that whistled just wide of the post.
As the clock ticked down, Drobny threw his body on the line to block a shot after the flag stayed down and an opponent burst into the box.
With the Dragoons desperate for the final whistle, Radziszowianka kept pouring forward, forcing Obyrtacz to tip a dangerous strike over his own crossbar.
Heartbreak at the Death
Deep into the eighth minute of four allotted minutes of injury time, disaster struck in cruel, predictable fashion. Radziszowianka swung a late corner into the box, where an unmarked opponent darted toward the near post to flick a header straight into the top corner.
The referee blew the whistle immediately from the restart, capping off a soul-crushing ending that saw the Expats drop two points and head home with just one.
Summary
On the balance of play, a draw was probably a fair result considering the hosts rattled the woodwork twice and dominated the early stages of both halves, but conceding with the literal last touch of the game felt like an absolute gut-punch.
Still, there were plenty of individual positives to take home. Fernando Gámez delivered a Man of the Match performance that was equal parts silk and steel, while Jeremi Wabiński put in a promising display on his first start of the season. Meanwhile, Smits’ game-changing cameo has given Gonçalo Ferreira a genuine selection headache in midfield.
As for the front line, the forward crisis is reaching comedic proportions. Paliś unlaces his boots, Chowaniec slaps them on, and somehow both still look like they’re trying to trap a bowling ball wearing concrete blocks. If you put a barn door five yards out and took the keeper away, you’d still back the barn door to keep a clean sheet right now.
Ultimately, the Dragoons are tantalisingly close to clicking. But if they want to win the league, they need to stop hitting the snooze button at kick-off and start playing for the full 90 minutes instead of just 60.
🎖 MOTM 🎖
Fernando Gámez 🇪🇸🇮🇨 showed his class once again! 🐉
The Canarian King put in a true warrior’s performance in midfield. Despite a nasty head gash, he patched himself up, returned to the pitch, and helped set up our 2nd goal! 🩸💪
¡Qué grande, Fer! 👑#COYD 💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/S5u7YZWd6l
— Krakow Dragoons FC (@DragoonsFc) September 14, 2026
Next Up: Tramwaj II
The late heartbreak leaves the Expats sitting 10th in the table on 4 points, with no time to dwell as they prepare to host 5th-placed Tramwaj II next. The visitors arrive on 7 points having enjoyed a lively start to the campaign, hitting the ground running with opening-day victory over Dąbski before backing it up with a second win against Skawinska Skawina. Their momentum hit a bump with a first defeat of the season to Nadwiślan, followed by a draw against Iskra Krzęcin this past week.
Last season, Tramwaj cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Kampus UJ last season, but the Dragoons got their revenge in unforgettable fashion by snatching a thrilling 4-3 triumph in the reverse away fixture.