The Douglas United Dragons have all but sown up the Division One title for 2015 after defeating second placed Atherton on Friday night 3-2 at Cassowary Park.

It would now take a meltdown of cataclysmic proportions for the Dragons to not go on to book their place in the Crad Evans Trophy match as winners of the division with their lead over Atherton now stretched out to 14 points.

The match was always going to be a tight affair with the two previous meetings being decided by the odd goal, both times with the Dragons having gone a goal down. Friday night was no difference as some sloppy marking from a free kick allowed an Atherton player to pick his spot and smash the ball home from outside the area.

It could have been a whole lot worse for the Dragons when another of their players was allowed a free header which keeper Gary Fitzgerald gratefully clutched as it was hit straight at him.

The response from the Dragons was a bit of a slow burner as they looked to work their way into the game. There was not a lot of joy to be had through the middle with an even battle taking place but the Dragons soon realised that there was plenty of joy to be had exploiting the Atherton flanks.

Andy Warburton and Stan Jakovljecvic were able to go past their players almost at will while Sam Neale was finding plenty of time and space when drifting into wider areas from his central starting position. 

Jakovljevic found the way for the Dragons to draw level when he was bundled over in the area as he latched onto Logan Marsh’s well-placed pass. With regular penalty taker Matty Smith still on the bench having raced up from a wedding rehersal in Cairns, it was left to coach Tither to coolly slot home the penalty to restore parity. The scores remained locked until half time although Andy Warburton should have put the home side in front when he contrived to miss from a yard out.

The second half saw the Dragons step up their efforts again as they looked to continue to build the pressure that they were applying towards the end of the first half. Plenty of possession and the odd half chance were all that they had to show for their dominance until Matty Smith was yet again bundled over in the area to earn the Dragons their fifth penalty in three games against Atherton. With Smith winded from the challenge, Tither again stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and give the Dragons the lead.

New signing Simon Fawcett was then introduced and immediately found success down the left flank. His impressive debut performance was rewarded with a well-taken goal that turned out to be winner. As the Dragons continued to dominate, Warburton and Tither had chances to kill the game off but both were unable to find the back of the net with the latter spurning his hat-trick chance with a snap shot that flew wide when it seemed easier to score. The misses almost proved costly as Atherton pulled a goal back after some less than impressive marking on the edge of the penalty area but the Dragons were able to see out the last few minutes without further scares.

The Paddy’s Bar Man of the Match went to Sam Neale who was a constant thorn in the opposition’s side. Next up for the Dragons is a trip to Edge Hill to take on the Tigers. Hopefully the boys will be able to put in a better performance than in their two previous encounters.