|
6 September 2009 Match report for Wilmslow Town U11 Cougars 2 - 1 away defeat to Altrincham FC Juniors U11 Lions (06/09/2009)
 Click image above for larger picture Sunday morning dawned for the Cougars first league game and they were well up for it - despite being in Division 1 instead of 3 - this didn't dent their enthusiasm! The usual pitch for Altrincham Juniors wasn't available for the match so the venue was switched to Stamford Park. The huge pitch was better suited to potato planting, it was so bumpy and uneven (not to mention sloping) which didn't help the Cougars passing game and silky skills...
The first half saw the team settling into their roles and getting used to the pitch (this was after all their first real competitive game as a team). Altrincham Juniors went on the attack and much of this half of the match was spent in the Cougars half of the pitch. Despite some determined moves by Altrincham, the Cougars held firm and the half ended with the score at 0-0. The first half included some great moves by Brendan and Jamie up the wings crossing into the box, linking up well with Kieran and TJ and also some excellent defending from Max, Jake, Tom, Will and William, but the star of the first half was Nathan, a new addition to the team. Time and again he made some crucial saves including a great double save (which was a contender for the Crunchie moment) and enabled the team to keep a clean sheet for the first half. A number of free kicks were given during the game to the Cougars reflecting (to an extent) the number of times the Cougars were injured or upended onto the pitch - unfortunately a feature of this game (no official referee was available for the match). The Cougars were not without their shots on goal however, as they fought back with true battling spirit and ended the first half with the score 0-0.
The second half saw other members of the team involved in the match as Connor, Atakan and Joe made appearances on the pitch. This half was much better, as the Cougars spent a lot more time in the Altrincham Juniors half of the pitch. Altrincham Juniors star striker made a lightening break a couple of times getting past the Cougars defence - and despite Nathan's best efforts - was able to put two goals into the back of the net. But the Cougars heads did not drop and they battled on with some great defending from the team. There was a fantastic defensive header from Max off the line, more great saves from Nathan and a clearance from Tom when it seemed like the ball could only be destined to go into the back of the net, which stopped the score from getting any higher. Connor, Brendan, Kieran and Jamie were causing the Juniors some big problems at their end of the pitch in their penalty area, and their frustration led to Jamie being flattened (to the shout of "I never touched him ref!"). The referee seemed unsure if a penalty should be given because the box was so big, but after being reassured that players brought down in the box qualified for a penalty, gave the Cougars a chance to pull back the score. Jamie had to recover from his ankle injury, but he stepped up and blasted it into the top corner of the net to make the score 2-1. The match continued at a frantic pace for a few more minutes as the Cougars went all out for another goal, but time was against them and the whistle blew with the final score unchanged.
This was a great opening match for the Cougars - so much so that the Junior's manager commented at the end that he thought they'd never score (probably due to Nathan's outstanding performance) and we'd nick it 1-0 as we were so good on the counter attack. The team did extremely well and continued to improve visibly as the match went on, which bodes well for future matches. Many thanks to family and friends for some fantastic support, even our newest signing Jayden - although not eligible to play - came to support the team.
Man of the Match: Nathan - for great goalkeeping
Crunchie Moment: Max - for the defensive header off the line
Last Rolo Moment: For Brendan and the Juniors No. 2 for equally over the top tight marking (as commented on by the ref...)
 Man of the Match: Nathan Forrest
Team : N Forrest, M Forde-Dunlop, W Nicol, B Behan, T Collicott, T Jefferis, W Kennedy, K Maguire, J Mason, J Nugent,
C Barton, A Cirmayir, J Potter
 Goals : J Nugent
Source: Helen Nugent << to news index
Wilmslow Town U11 Cougars : More Information
|
Site design by IMA Electronic Media 
