Gorleston 3, Norwich Dragons 6AFTER last week's match cancellation against Sudbury II which saw Gorleston slip further down the Division Three North-East of the NE14 East Men's League table, there was to be no let up in the standard of opposition as leaders Norwich Dragons came to Cliff Park seeking to extend their unbeaten run.

Gorleston 3, Norwich Dragons 6

AFTER last week's match cancellation against Sudbury II which saw Gorleston slip further down the Division Three North-East of the NE14 East Men's League table, there was to be no let up in the standard of opposition as leaders Norwich Dragons came to Cliff Park seeking to extend their unbeaten run.

Gorleston were without Adam Stone and Richard Pallant but welcomed new member Herman Cheung who has moved to the area from Coventry. Herman took up Stone's position in the right midfield and made some telling interceptions and passes.

After the two-week break Gorleston scored two goals in the first quarter. After nine minutes Simon Long at the far post swept home a James Clarkson cross. Six minutes later Martyn Vaudin neatly converted a short corner rebound from a Jamie Higginbotham strike.

But the Dragons had already shown their teeth with several neat moves and they suddenly moved into top gear with a five-goal burst in 15 minutes. Former Gorleston player Damien Bunting poached two goals as the home defence had no answer to the visitors' short corner and free hit routines around the circle.

Gorleston never gave up and in the second half gave as good as they got.

With man-of-the-match Andrew Lilly Monty Raymond and Jamie Higginbotham strengthening their control midfield, and skipper Kevin MacDonald and Peter Jones making some tough challenges, it needed a well-worked move from Dragons to increase their tally.

James Clarkson added respectability by knocking home another short corner rebound.

With only three points so far this season, Gorleston are now second bottom in what is undoubtedly a stronger league than last campaign. But their work-rate and performances overall have been good, and hopefully the visit to Pelicans II will start to see them move back up the table.

Push-back is at 3pm and transport leaves the Albion at 12.30.