Player of the Month: May
With a month of five matches, once again we bring you five players to nominate as the May Player of The Month.
Recap
May started with a trip to Prague in the Dragoons’ remaining fixture in the Fenix Trophy. Despite a brave performance, the Dragoons fell to a crushing 6-1 defeat. Enrico Forabosco scored a second half free-kick for the Expats only goal of the game. The fixture saw Ashvin Asani’s long reign as Head Coach end, due to personal circumstances. We hope to see Ash back at the start of the 23/24 season!
A handful of days later, the Dragoons returned to league action, travelling to Krzęcin. A hard fought encounter with some baffling officiating saw the Expats come from behind twice. Goals from Josh Dawson and a last minute equaliser by Rohit Chandran rescued a worthy point away from home.
Next up on a balmy Tuesday night, saw the Dragoons face Tramwaj. Another tough game saw injuries plague the Expats. The Dragoons took the lead through Alessio Sassini, however, the visitors hit back immediately with a leveller. The visitors dominated the match for long spells with Marcin Obyrtacz making a string of saves to earn the Expats a creditable draw.
Wandalised
A fourth game in 10 days took its toll as Wanda thrashed the Expats 7-3. The Dragoons went into the lead, as Jamie Beattie’s persistent closing down saw the opponents gift the ball to Alessio Sassini. The Italian assassin took a touch and made no mistake with the finish. Wanda scored 3 goals before half time to go into the break 3-1 ahead. An appalling second period saw the visitors notch a further four times against a demoralised Expats. The Dragoons rallied in the last 5 minutes with Emre Bezirkan poking a Beattie header into the net. Miraculously, a converted penalty from club legend Dani Silva further reduced the score in the dying embers of the game.
In the final fixture of the month, the Dragoons triumphed 3-1 against Strzelcy. Yuri Samyonov scored his first goal of the season to put the Expats ahead. A moment of brilliance from Enrico Forabosco, saw the Italian score an acrobatic scissors kick to put his side two ahead. Strzelcy came out fighting in the second half and halved the lead in the last 10 minutes of the game. The goal seemed to invigorate the Dragoons however, as a strong finish saw Sassini score his 18th goal of the season.
Nominees
Here are the five nominees for you to chose from this month:
Rohit Chandran 🇮🇳
Our Indian whirlwind has had an excellent season scoring five times and contributing 6 assists in 23 appearances. He played 3 times in May, but had to sit out the last two games through injury. Rohit scored once and assisted Josh Dawson in the draw against Iskra Krzęcin. He picked up his man of the match award in the defeat to Prague Raptors. The mercurial attacker put in a spirted performance against the Czech side and received the award from the Raptors coach Kim Grant.
Mark Szczesnowicz 🇦🇺
What’s this, nominated two months in a row? Our Aussie skipper has snuck into contention for the player of the month after his display against Iskra Krzęcin. The antipodean midfielder constantly barked encouragement at his team mates, helping the side come back twice to draw – a real captain’s performance. Despite several ailments, Sparky managed to make four appearances out of five during the month. Mark has made 18 appearances for the Dragoons this season, without scoring or assisting so far. He does have 3 yellow cards to his name, but the less said about the win ratio the better…
Marcin Obyrtacz 🇵🇱
The Dragoons Polish stopper is in the mix for the May player of the month for a quite breathtaking performance against Tramwaj. The Expats goalie made a number of saves to ensure his side came out of the game with a point. Marcin made 3 appearances during May and could easily have earnt another man of the match performance in the 7-3 defeat against Wanda. It could have looked like a cricket score if not for Obyrtacz who made many key saves. Marcin has played 18 times for the club so far in his maiden season at the club.
Jamie Beattie 🏴
Jamie only recently returned to action after missing the first half of the season through injury. The versatile Englishman has added an extra dimension to the attack with his energetic and all action displays. Jamie made 2 starts and 2 further appearances from off the bench during the month. He grabbed an assist in the 7-3 defeat to Wanda and kept running from the first minute to last to earn himself the man of the match award. The popular forward has made 7 appearances in total for the side thus far this term.
Rob Smits 🇳🇱
The Dragoons Dutchmeester has been a key figure for his team this season. The midfield metronome always seems to be in space to receive the ball and his quick tempo passing gets the side ticking. Rob made three appearances in May and grabbed an assist in the win over Strelczy. A typically hard-working performance in the same game earned Rob his nomination for player of the month. Smits has played 18 games for the side this season scoring once and assisting on 3 occasions.
Please use the box below to vote. Poll closes on Monday, June 5 at 16:00.
