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Dereham Men's first team were today crowned champions of the inaugural Norwich Dragons indoor tournament.
Dereham took a squad of 8 - Mark Timm (c), Tom Vaughan, Michael Timm, Mark Hunter, Ed Turner, Rob Turner, Will Edwards and Andy Lawrence. Their record of 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss was enough to ensure they finished top of the pile, and got to experience the taste of success for the first time this season!.
The tournament took place at Town Close Prep School, and Dereham took a squad of 8 along. 4 teams entered, and there was a "round robin" format where each team played each other twice.
With spirits high from a narrow defeat the previous day, everyone was once again looking forward to taking their kit out of their bags to help run of the hangovers from Saturday night. The team made their intentions clear from the start, with a 4 - 0 victory. Mark Hunter seemed to find his niche, attacking from deep, and was able to notch up a hat trick. Pouncing on every opportunity as if it was a fat chick!!
The second game however, brought Dereham back down to earth with a bump, as they went down 3-0 early on. The Dereham resilience shone through, and Michael Timm and Andy Lawrence were able to pull back a couple of goals. It was right on the final whistle that Lawrence added a second, and earnt Dereham a valuable point.
The third game was a veritable goal fest, and both Hunter and Timm were able to add more goals to their tally. Timm completed his hat trick with a low flick from an acute angle. It was a shot no doubt his girlfriend will be hearing about for a long time.
By the time the fourth game came around, the legs were starting to get heavy, and it showed. Dereham however were able to grind out a 3-1 victory with Will Edwards and Mark Timm getting themselves on the scoresheet.
It was the 5th game of the day which gave Dereham the chance to claim the title, and they did so in style, with a 5-1 victory, with goals from Rob Turner, Andy Lawrence, Mark Hunter and Michael Timm with a further brace.
With the tournament safe, Andy Lawrence stepped up to make his debut in goal. Picture to follow...... Needless to say, he will probably never want to repeat it, as he took a little time to adjust to the pace of the indoor game. The opponents had 4 shots, and went 4-0 up! He did redeem himself later in the game, pulling off a couple of good saves. With Andy in goal, Tom Vaughan took to the court, and played in his old position of centre forward.I think it s fair to say, there was not too much movement outside of the opposition's half! Mark Hunter was able to pull one goal back through a short corner, Ed Turner added a second from another corner showing Shagger exactly how to do it by roofing his unstoppable flick. The opposition added another 2 goals, and all that was left was for Tom Vaughan to finish at the far post ensuring that as champions, every member for the squad had scored during the day.
The heat of the indoor game took lots out of the team, and the joints were certainly starting to show signs of fatigue. The squad headed back up the A47 with a sense of satisfaction following a good afternoon - a feeling that has been too rare of late. There will be plenty of stiff joints in the morning, and fitness training on Tuesday will be interesting. I for one, will be looking for jobs to do behind the bar!!!! |
