Dragons soar over Tonbridge

In the new season's opening triangular tournament on Sunday the Blackheath Dragons traveled to Tonbridge to face their more illustrious counterparts Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.
With four debutants in their starting seven and no substitutes, the Dragons took their field against the hosts first-string more in hope than expectation. How wrong the judgment would prove to be.
Nicole Riley was the first to give a hint of what was to come. She opened up the defence and was denied an early opener. At the other end Tilly Stafford stubbed out the Tunbridge Wells' forward line. Lyra Couper, one of the debutants, ably assisted Tilly in defence and put in tackle after tackle as the hosts pushed forward. But on the break Blackheath always looked a threat and a long shot from Nicole gave the Dragons the lead. A late equaliser denied the visitors an opening win.
Next up was the pre-tournament favourites Sevenoaks. The Dragons made a mockery of that tag. Nicole opened the scoring for the visitors, before another debutant Nelia Lubarr scored from distance. It was all one-way traffic with Alice Colaiacomo and Lois Fischer controlling the midfield. Then a great tackle from Lyra helped release Nicole and the nifty forward added her second of the match, and the Dragons had a 3-0 lead.
Sevenoaks finally rallied and pulled one back, Lyra came close to restoring the Dragons three-goal advantage but a Sevenoaks foot blocked her effort on the line. With time almost over, Sevenoaks added a second, but the Dragons held on to win 3-2.
The fixtures came thick and fast, and with no break, the Dragons took to the field for their third match in a row against Tunbridge Wells' second string. Jessica Glazebrook and Tilly remained strong in defence, but around them legs were tiring and the hosts took a one-nil lead. But from this young side still had some spirit in them and with time ticking away they rallied superbly. Lyra again put in a strong tackle and worked it to Tilly. After her great run she found Nicole who netted from close range. Then with time almost up, Nelia won the ball and fed Nicole who slotted in on the final whistle to give the Dragons their second win.
Any result in the final match against Sevenoaks would have secured out-right victory in the tournament for the Dragons, but with no substitutes the energy levels finally ran out and despite the great efforts of Jessica in defence it was not to be. The Dragons lost 2-0 and had to make do with a share of top spot with Tunbridge Wells.
For a side with so many debutants and no substitutes against two of the strongest sides in Kent, the overall performances bodes very well for the future of this young and inexperienced side.