Milton Keynes 7 – 3 Cardiff Dragons

Cardiff Dragons under 10’s travelled to top-of-the-league Milton Keynes on Saturday March 8th, with a team reduced by illness and holiday commitments to just 9 players, for a hard-fought match which was much closer than the final score suggests. With Milton Keynes playing up to their skilful best, the Dragons had a taste of what was to come when Harry Kearns of the Storm found the back of the Dragons net after just 41 seconds.

All three Dragons lines managed to keep the puck mainly in the Milton Keynes half for some 7 attacking minutes, and gained just reward for their excellent teamwork, and some outstanding passing from the first line, with a goal at 7 minutes 36 scored by Andrew Gray, assisted by Owen Bradshaw and Matthew Palmer.

Milton Keynes bounced straight back with a quick score just ten seconds later, and, in spite of penalties against Milton Keynes for tripping and too many players on the ice which left the Dragons with a brief 5 on 3 advantage, followed up with four more goals before the fifteenth minute. The score could easily have been higher, however, if Ellis Murphy and netminder Ciaran Matthews had not been on such fine form, making save after save to keep the Dragons’ heads held high.

A call to arms of ‘Come on boys, you’re Dragons now!’ seemed to inspire the Dragons third line, made up of loaned Milton Keynes players, who finally broke through the Milton Keynes defence with a clever score at 17.18 – thanks guys. With a further score from Milton Keynes in the 19th minute, the first period ended 6-2.

News of Wales’ fine rugby win in Ireland filtered through at half time, and a rejuvenated Dragons team saw first Jake Roberts, then Lewis Davies leading spirited attacks on the Milton Keynes net, and Ciaran making some inspired saves at the other end. The hard work paid off at 24.21 with another well-crafted goal from Andrew Gray, again assisted by Owen Bradshaw and Matthew Palmer who once again spotted the gaps and passed the puck with skill and style.

The trademark Milton Keynes quick rebound was foiled by an excellent tackle from Connor Harris at 25.20, and the Dragons went back on the attack with some excellent passing between Ellis Murphy, Owen Bradshaw and Andrew Gray, but this time the shot was off target.

The final five minutes of play saw wave after wave of attacks on the Dragons goal including a stylish one-on-one save by Ciaran, and several promising strikes by the Dragons forwards, but it was Milton Keynes who scored again at 39.02 to leave the final score at 7-3.

Well done to Dragons man of the match Ellis Murphy, and to Lewis Davies for the ‘spirit of the game’ award.

Leanne Roberts.