Write-up by Josh

There are always some certainties in life. Death, taxes and games against Bristol City being tight and hard-fought. Dragons remain undefeated as a team, but that (brief) record was severely threatened by a Bristol City team that look stronger than last year and capable of making a real challenge to bring the EKL crown back to England. The game hung on a knife edge throughout, but after the early exchanges Dragons were always able to keep at least a goal ahead.

The pattern of play was dictated by the titanic struggles for the post. Neither Chris nor Remco were able to recreate their free-scoring exploits from the last match, but by denying Bristol City much in the way of collects, they disrupted the Bristolians usual way of playing. But Dragons also struggled to retain many of their shots and the game thus became rather scrappy. Dragons possibly had a slight edge in the girls, all of whom managed to get on the scoresheet, but were pushed to the limit by the Bristol boys. Rob in particular deserves great credit for keeping Kevin relatively quiet. At the other end, Chris was sometimes deceived by his vastly experienced opponent, but managed to keep him quiet for most of the game, while in attack he regularly kept both defenders around the post to allow Josh several efforts from distance.

The game really reached a peak of tension after Bristol City reduced the gap to 8-7 with about 10 minutes left. Both sides saw opportunities miss, Rob being very unlucky with a couple of shots that seemed to certain to drop from the other end of the pitch, but finally Remco landed a textbook, veering away from the basket, long shot and Dragons had an unassailable lead.

Congratulations to all the Dragons players, but particularly Pam and Kat whose progress is illustrated by the change in result from the last time they played a league game away at Bristol City, and thanks to our opponents for maintaining a sporting attitude despite the result going against them.

Thanks also to Matt from Bristol Uni for keeping calm and in control of what must have been a tough game to ref.

Cardiff Dragons	9	7	Bristol City
Remco	2
Josh	2
Sian	1
Donna	1
Chris	1
Kat	1
Pam	1

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