By Logan Marsh

The Douglas United Dragons have comfortably beaten Leichardt 2-0 on Sunday evening to keep their faintest of hopes of playing finals football alive.

Two first half goals capped a dominant performance and while there was not the same level of performance and dominance in the second half, the result was never really in doubt. 

The Dragons went into the match without any proper warm up with some players only arriving at the ground minutes before kick off as well as being forced to borrow used pairs of white socks because of a clash in colours.

They were able to shrug off these setbacks to dominate form the first whistle.

A switch in formation from that which had been used for much of the season worked wonders with the Dragons controlling possession and passing it around nicely despite a terrible playing surface.

The Dragons had a couple of early half chances to score before Sam Buckler, playing in midfield, went on a surging run through the middle of the park His pass found Matty Smith who crossed for Sam Neale to head home and give the Dragons a deserved lead. 

That lead was doubled soon after as Smith again turned provider, chasing a seemingly lost cause and crossing for Ian Marsh to head into an empty net and continue his excellent goal scoring run against Leichardt.

The second half saw the Dragons run out of steam a little bit although they still had a number of chances to put the game to bed.

Martyn Friars had a header well saved and Tony Chivers went for placement instead of power when he was released down the left.

The Dragons had a couple of defensive lapses with Leichardt hitting the post twice and Chivers clearing off the line to ensure deputising Custodian Ben Syrett kept a clean sheet.

The Paddy’s Bar man of the Match went to Sam Buckler for an outstanding display in a somewhat unfamiliar position. Other top performers included Matty Smith who laid on both the goals, Tom Daly who was very tidy and the back three of Gary Cunningham, Gavin Jenkin and Logan Marsh.

Next up for the Dragons is a trip to Gordonvale to take on bottom of the table Southside in what will be an excellent opportunity to improve the goal difference, provided that the attitude going into the match is correct.

In order to make the playoffs the Dragons need to win their remaining games and hope that Edge Hill lose theirs while ensuring that the Dragons goal difference ends up better than Edge Hill’s.