by Logan Marsh

A brace from debutant Ciaran Lemon and a bullet header from Matty Smith gave the Verri Industries Douglas United Dragons a 3-2 victory over Stratford at Cassowary Park on Saturday night.

The result sees the Dragons move into third place on the competition ladder and while there were outstanding performances all over the pitch, it was Northern Irishman Lemon who stole the headlines with a commanding display in the middle of the park.

A much improved performance was needed from the Dragons after an awful showing against Southside the previous week and the signs were good from the outset with the Dragons controlling possession and passing the ball well through the back four and into midfield.

Unfortunately striker Jason Fox, who was making his first team debut, was caught in two nasty challenges early on and was forced off with a suspected fracture in his ankle, to be replaced by Eugene Brown.

This change along with a change in formation allowed the Dragons to better deal with the extra man in midfield that Stratford had been using to reasonable effect. In fact Brown, playing alongside his cousin Lemon, had quite probably his best game in a Douglas shirt. He anchored the midfield effectively, breaking up a number of opposition attacks and using the ball efficiently when in possession.

The first clear cut chance came when ex-Stratford player Matty Smith swung in a beautiful cross from the left hand side which was met powerfully by striker Simone Gentile only for the ball to cannon off the underside of the bar and back into play amid cries that the ball had crossed the line.

It was one of a small amount of good scoring opportunities in the first half with Dragons custodian Gary Fitzgerald being reduced largely to the role of sweeper. However the Dragons did take the lead late in the first half when the ball fell to Lemon in the box and the midfielder made no mistake, curling the ball past the Stratford keeper with his left peg.

The second half was always going to see Stratford come out and have a real go at the Dragons however there was a measure of composure about the home side that had been missing in previous weeks.

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The Dragons held possession for larger periods of time with the opposition chasing shadows at times during the match. Stratford had rarely caused the Dragons defence problems but as the game wore on they began forcing a number of corners and from these they were looking particularly threatening.

When one such corner was not cleared effectively the rebound fell to a Stratford player and he smashed the ball home through a tangle of legs to tie the scores up at one all.

The problem in the second half for the Dragons had been that they were unable to make the ball stick up top. Plenty of possession was had in the defence and midfield but as the ball went forward, striker Gentile was regularly caught offside which meant the ball kept coming back at the Dragons.

Just when it seemed that Stratford were getting on top however a delightful ball in from right back Valentine Akem again fell to Lemon in the box and after a bit of a scramble he poked home from six yards to restore the Dragons lead.

And they were not finished there. Akem capped a fantastic performance by delivering another sensational cross for Matty Smith to meet at the far post with an absolutely unstoppable header to send the Dragons and their supporters into raptures.

There was still time for Stratford to mount a comeback and from another corner the ball again was not cleared properly, falling to Stratford’s best player to lash an unstoppable volley into the far corner of the net.

It meant a nervy few minutes for the Dragons but cool heads prevailed and a magnificent 3-2 result was secured.

After the game captain Nick Tither said he was always confident that the right result would be achieved.

“It was one of those games where I always thought we were going to get the win. We just seemed to have a little bit more about us.”

Coach Logan Marsh was obviously delighted with the result that sees the Dragons move into the playoff spots for the first time this year.

“Tonight was a great performance by the lads. I thought the first half was the best 45 minutes I’ve seen from a Dragons side in a good while. I said to the lads at half time that if we lifted ourselves another 10% then they wouldn’t be able to live with us and apart from two set pieces they rarely did, it was a very pleasing display.”

There were many outstanding candidates for the Paddy’s Bar Man of the Match. Eugene Brown was outstanding in the holding midfield role allowing the others around him the freedom to play, Matty Smith and Joe Fox worked tirelessly down the flanks, the back four all played well and there was an outstanding two goal debut for Ciaran Lemon but in the end the man of the match award went to right back Valentine Akem who defended superbly, used the ball intelligently and set up two goals with pin point crosses.

Next up for the Verri Industries Dragons is a trip to Leichardt on Sunday afternoon. It will be another tough examination for the Dragons playoff credentials as the Leichardt side were widely fancied at the beginning of the year.

A win down there will continue to send a message to the rest of the league that the Dragons are not here to make up the numbers and will cement their place in the top four. 

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