Player of the Month: April

The Dragoons league season restarted in April following a painfully long winter break. The Expats played 5 matches throughout the month, meaning you have five nominees to choose from!

Recap

Just days after a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against Afc DWS in the Fenix Trophy in March, the Dragoons travelled to Dąbski Kraków to restart their league campaign. Despite taking the lead through an own goal and going into the break ahead, the Dragoons would falter in the second half. Three quick fire strikes saw the Expats go 3-1 behind. With the hosts reduced to 10 men, Josh Dawson came off the bench to pull one back for the Dragoons. However, a late penalty for Dąbski confirmed a 4-2 defeat in early April.

A week later the Dragoons fell to defeat for a second time in a row against Zwierzyniecki. Once again, the Dragoons went into the lead through Barry Chowaniec. The advantage did not last long however, as Zwierzyniecki outscored the Dragoons to lead 3-1 at half time. A second half horror show soon saw the Expats 5-1 behind and toiling. Alessandro Puerini pulled a goal back after good work from Bartek Chowaniec and a late Martin Voženílek consolation strike saw the game end 5-3.

A Return to Winning Ways

Mid-April saw the Dragoons face off against old foe and bottom side Rybitwy. The Dragoons had not had much luck in Rybitwy in past seasons and got off to a terrible start. Rybitwy scored early and defended their goal manfully as the Dragoons struggled. The home side added a second goal against the run of play, however, Puerini reduced the deficit to 2-1 shortly before the break. A much better second half saw the Dragoons dominate the ball and win the game. A header from Emre Çolakoğlu and a late strike from Rohit Chandran saw the Dragoons finally taste victory.

Next up saw struggling WLKS Krakus Swoszowice visit the Expats. A confident start saw Chandran put the Dragoons ahead. Swoszowice got themselves back level before a Puerini penalty restored the Dragoons lead. Into the second half, the Dragoons quickly took control of the game. A second goal from Puerini and a right footed finish from Forabosco increased the score to 4-1. The visitors managed to grab a late consolation to halve the score line but the Dragoons came away victorious once again.

The final game of April saw the Expats find their scoring boots once again. Despite being the away side, the Expats found themselves in familiar surroundings as the hosts Bratniak share the same pitch at Prądniczanka. Bratniak punished a Dragoons defensive mistake early on in the encounter to lead the game. Undeterred, two goals in quick succession from Puerini and Voženílek saw the Dragoons lead at the break. Puerini pounced twice more in the second half to grab a perfect hat-trick and to seal another vital league win for the Dragoons.

Nominations

Here are the five nominees for you to chose from this month:

Mark Szczesnowicz 🇦🇺

Club captain Mark Szczesnowicz won the man of the match award in the 4-2 defeat at Dąbski. As ever, the Dragoons club captain put in a committed performance and kept barking encouragement to the team till the end. The tough tackling Aussie only managed two appearances during April, before suffering a knee injury. The popular skipper continued to support the side in his unique style from the sidelines during the remaining matches in April.

Bartek Chowaniec 🇵🇱

Barry is another player that suffered from injury in the month of April. The Polish winger started twice and came off the bench against Dąbski. The attacker’s lethal pace and direct running saw him earn Man of the Match against Zwierzyniecki. Chowaniec grabbed a goal and an assist in the game and made 3 appearances in total during April. Barry has assisted 4 goals and scored 7 in 19 appearances this season so far.

Enrico Forabosco 🇮🇹

The omnipresent midfield magician appeared in all five of the Dragoons matches in April. He picked up the Man of the Match award in the glorious 3-2 comeback victory against Rybitwy. The Italian took the captain’s armband in Szczesnowicz’s place and lead by example with his performance. The Dragoons creative force managed 3 assists and one goal during the month. Forabosco tops the club’s assist leader board with 11 and is second top goalscorer with 10 goals to his name so far this season.

Martin Voženílek 🇨🇿

Martin returned to the side with a bang in April. After missing most of the campaign due to work commitments our Czech mate made four appearances in the month (2 starts, 2 from the bench). The speedster has caused no end of trouble to opposing full backs with his direct running and natural acceleration. Czech Barry, as he became lovingly nicknamed in our recent Prague trip, won his Man of the Match award against Swoszowice. Martin scored two times and also assisted twice in total during the month. He has made quite a difference in the Expats attack with a total of 4 goals and 2 assists in just 6 appearances this season.

Alessandro Puerini 🇮🇹

The Italian assassin has made such an impression on the side since his signing in October. The striker has been an ever present in the Dragoons attack and battles manfully for the cause each week. Puerini contributed an impressive 7 goals in 5 starts during April. He rightfully won the Man of the Match award against Bratniak after clinching a perfect hat-trick. The Dragoons hitman works extremely hard off the ball and leads the scoring charts with 15 goals and 1 assist in just 14 games.

Please use the box below to vote. Poll closes on Monday, May 8 at 16:00.