Recap
Last Minute Pain
The Dragoons took to their travels for the first time in the league to take on Zwierzyniecki KS. An unseasonably cold September afternoon, saw the Expats go in search of their first points of the season.
Prior to the game, the Expats belatedly received the trophy for their glorious success in winning the B Klasa league last season.
Rob Smits, Robert Ambrosie and Josh Dawson returned to the side after missing last week. Flavio Nkola came into the side ahead of Rohit Chandran, and Jordi Badolato came into the starting line up for his first appearance in the famous blue jersey.
A Rapid Opening!
An electric start from the Expats saw the first goal arrive with just two minutes on the clock. Barry Chowaniec showed exceptional pace to attack down the right and enter the Zwierzyniecki box. The forward pulled the ball back to find Emre Bezirkan in front of goal. The Turk saw his shot saved by Karol Teterycz, however Flavio Nkola reacted quickest to tap home the rebound.
The Dragoons continued to press and a corner from Forabosco, just evaded the head of Bezirkan.
Double Trouble
In the 12th minute, the ruthless Expats doubled the lead with a second goal. Josh Dawson showed magnificent composure to win the ball and travel out the back. The Englishman threaded a lovely pass down the Expats right flank for Chowaniec to run onto. The Polish attacker crossed into the box and Szymon Młodnicki stuck out a leg and diverted the ball past his own keeper and into the net.
Four minutes later, the hosts should have clawed a goal back. A long-ball forward saw Szymon Młodnicki dart past Dawson and enter the Expats box. With Muñoz to beat, the midfielder unselfishly looked to pass across goal, however no team-mate appeared to take advantage.
Dawson came to the Expats rescue two minutes later. The big defender marshalled Młodnicki well and stuck out a leg to deflect the ball for a corner. The corner zipped across the face of goal and Ambrosie had to clear at the far post.
Star-Gazing
A lightning counter lead by Chowaniec saw a defender try and chop the Pole down. Not to be denied, he carried on his run into the box and saw a shot saved by Teterycz. Forabosco laced a rebound straight into a defender and a third attempt saw Bezirkan shoot. The Turk leaned back too far and smacked the ball so far into oblivion even the James Webb Space Telescope would fail to find it.
Muñoz created havoc for his own side as he raced after the ball and failed to get possession, palming it towards the corner flag. The Expats managed to the danger out for a corner and countered once again only for an excellent defensive block to deny Chowaniec a free run at goal.
Josh Dawson scored seven goals from defence last season. The defender came close to grabbing his first of this campaign reacting quickest to a cleared corner. He sent a stabbed effort back towards goal, but saw a defender block away the shot.
The Lead is Reduced
Zwierzyniecki reduced the deficit with 28 minutes of the match played. Smits’s pass put Forabosco under pressure and the midfield magician lost possession. A swift counter attack saw Krzysztof Stach race onto a through-pass and calmy roll the ball past Muñoz and into the net.
The Expats continued to press forward and a series of set-pieces resulted in the ball falling to Ambrosie. The Romanian hit a firmly struck shot that missed the post by inches.
A long-ball forward caused issues for the Expat backline. Dawson managed to get a touch before Lemmen showed good pace to divert the ball wide. The Dutch colossus showed good positioning to head clear the resulting corner too.
The Chilean Wanderer
Muñoz went walkies for a second time in the 35th minute. The Chilean stopper flew off his line chasing after the ball in the corner of the box, however Młodnicki appeared to lose composure and blasted the ball high and wide.
Rob Smits showed a glimpse of his quality moments later. The Dutchmeester played a delightful through-pass for Bezirkan who plodded forward. Home keeper Teterycz read the danger well, however, running off his line to get to the ball first.
Not The Windscreen…
In a back-and-forth contest, both sides looked to counter each other. No real chances fell to either team as the half petered out to a close. The hosts Paweł Koczwara had everyone in attendance worried in the 43rd minute. The Zwierzyniecki man sent an effort flying high over the perimeter fence and somehow managed to miss a host of cars parked at the stadium.
Second Half
An early chance fell the way of the home side early in the second half following Forabosco’s handball. Zwierzyniecki sent a cross into the box, but Dawson headed the danger out of harm’s way.
With 51 minutes played, Bezirkan showed good ball control and found Chowaniec. The Pole turned a defender and showed good vision to spot Smits on the edge of the box. The midfield metronome sent a firmly struck effort at goal, which produced a good save from Teterycz low to his right.
Moments after, another long-pass caught out the Expats backline. Home goal-scorer Brodnicki could not take advantage this time though, blasting an attempt over the bar.
Straight down the other end, the Dragoons went on the offensive. Nkola sprayed a lovely pass out wide to find Chowaniec. A return pass found Nkola on the edge of the area and his effort at goal deflected off a defender for a corner.
Forabosco’s corner flew across goal and the ball found its way out wide to Ambrosie. The full-back lashed a shot towards goal, but failed to find the target.
Pure Quality
A moment of pure class saw the Expats notch a third strike of the game in the 58th minute. Forabosco produced a fine through-pass to find the excellently timed run of Chowaniec. The Dragoons new forward expertly finished past Teterycz for his third goal of the season to bring the score to 3-1.
Zwierzyniecki looked to get back into the game and only good defending from Lemmen forced the home side wide. The hosts managed to work the ball back to Ismailla M’bodj who saw his effort fly narrowly over the bar from 25 metres.
The pressure continued as the home side continuously came forward. A poor Dragoons pass almost gifted a scoring chance, but no Zwierzyniecki man attacked a pass across the face of goal.
Moments after, two host players attacked an aerial pass into the box. Fortunately for the Expats the two Zwierzyniecki players got in each other’s way and the ball went wide.
Rohit Chandran came onto the field to replace Flavio Nkola as the Dragoons began to struggle to keep the ball. With legs tiring all over the park, Bezirkan and Badolato also left the field. Alexey Zelenkin went into the attack and Piotr Hajnrych went to left-back.
A great pass from Dawson set Chowaniec on a footrace towards goal. Teterycz flew off his line to dive bravely at the feet of the attacker, but could not hold onto the ball. Chowaniec went wide and a foul on edge of the area stopped the Pole in his tracks.
Counter-Attack Punishment
The following free-kick came to nothing and Zwierzyniecki went straight on the attack. With the Expats traipsing back, Michał Brodnicki had the freedom of the penalty box. A ball into the Zwierzyniecki man, saw the attacker smash home high into the net to reduce the score to 3-2.
A smart counter saw the Dragoons denied a goal by the offside flag, before Zelenkin saw a powerful drive blocked for a corner.
With less than ten minutes to play, the Expats made a triple change. Forabosco, Chowaniec and Lemmen all made their way to the bench with Çolakoğlu, Looker and Urzędowski entering the fray.
In the 87th minute, the Dragoons came close to scoring, however Zwierzyniecki came even closer. Rohit Chandran received a pass from Zelenkin and curled just over.
Straight down the other end another long pass forward saw an overload on the Dragoons left flank. Zwierzyniecki seemed imperious as they continued to attack. A cross into the box saw Marcin Rutkowski denied a certain equaliser by an excellent reaction save from Muñoz.
With the game in injury time, rather than go to the corner Chandran tried to find Urzędowski. A poor pass from the mercurial winger saw Teterycz advanced off his line to cut out the ball. A punt down the pitch saw the Dragoons see the danger go out of play or so all in attendance thought…
Ooops… We Did It Again
With the game in the fourth minute of injury time, Muñoz blasted a goal-kick straight out of play with six Dragoons players advanced.
A quickly taken throw, saw an extremely deep cross by Teterycz sent towards the Dragoons goal. The ball sailed over the head of Looker, where three Zwierzyniecki players waited unmarked. A cross went across goal and Marcin Tombiński tapped home an unlikely equaliser.
It proved to be the last touch of the game and the Dragoons failed to hold onto a winning position for the third time in three games.
Poor decision-making and a lack of game-management saw the Expats punished once again. The Dragoons could well be sitting pretty with four points, but instead find themselves in 11th place with one.
Next weekend sees old foe Rybitwy travel to Prądniczanka for the Expats third game of the season. The Terns are currently bottom of the table after losing the opening game 2-0 to Iskra Krzęcin and suffered a 4-0 hammering at home to Wanda Kraków this passing weekend.
The Expats played Rybitwy twice last season, drawing 0-0 late in the season and memorably winning 3-2 at home. The victory ultimately secured the Expats the B Klasa title over a side who pushed the Dragoons all the way!
