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13 September 2009  Post match - you wouldn't believe they had been defeated 6-1 - true spirit of the Cougars on show!Click image above for larger picture It was a glorious morning as the team arrived for their first home game at their new home, Pownall Hall School, and were greeted by the sight of a pristine pitch which had more than a passing resemblance to a bowling green. The full squad played with the exception of Jayden and TJ
The Cougars kicked off and the game began in earnest. With such a superb pitch, it was ideal for a fast-paced passing game and the watching parents were not disappointed. A little too fast paced in fact, as Sports went ahead 1-0 early on in the first half, then to 2-0 all too quickly. The Cougars took a while to settle into the match, and the first half of the first half didn't go their way, so Nathan, Max, Tom, Luis and Will had to work hard to keep Sports at bay. The second half of the first half however, saw the Cougars reassert themselves, with a fight back after the second Sports goal. Nathan made some excellent saves, Max headed another Sports shot off the line, while Brendan, Kieran and Connor went on the attack with a great passing move. This was followed soon after by another great combination attack by Max, Jamie and Connor. Sports did their best to deter the Cougars but some good defending from Jake and Atakan helped keep them at bay. A shot by Brendan was saved by the goalie, Connor had a couple of shots, but it seemed Cougar's first goal would never come. Finally a shot by Brendan was deflected off a Sports player to give Jamie the opportunity to blast in a long range shot to put the Cougars back in the game. Some more excellent moves and counter attacks by both Sports and Cougars meant it was an exciting end to the first half with the score at 2-1 to Sports.
Nathan was kept busy as the second half began and Sports attacked relentlessly - the team tried to repel the tide as the score rose from 2-1 to 6-1 in a relatively short space of time. Within this time, although Sports were dominant, there were some attacks by the Cougars, one from Atakan and Connor, some from Kieran and another involving William, Jamie and Max. Just before the final goal, Joe experienced the first of his 'flying lessons', provided courtesy of Sports, which resulted in a free kick. Not long after, Ryan (Sports) was also yelling at his team mates to not get offside during a throw-in. As his mother helpfully pointed out, you can't be offside for a throw in to which Kieran commented, "See, your Mum knows more about football than you do!". This moment of light relief was followed by more attacks by both Cougars and Sports but the score remained unchanged despite a shot from Connor ending up in the back of the net - sadly offside - so it didn't count. The last part of the game featured Tom being brought down in the penalty area as he made a break up the field and was on the point of putting a shot in on goal, so the referee pointed to the spot. Tom stepped up but sadly his shot was saved by the Sports goalie
Overall this was a promising match for the Cougars. Although the score line was not kind to them, it was reminiscent of the first time the Jaguars played Wilmslow Sports when they started up two years ago. The score then were 8-1 and 10-1 to the Pumas, so the Cougars have certainly not disgraced themselves as the Pumas have had two more years playing together than them. There were some visible improvements in team performances, particularly in the second half of both halves - the team just need to be able to start the match in this way and to sustain this level of performance throughout the match - which will come with more experience and practice..
As no referee had been allocated, our thanks to Mark Nicol who very kindly stepped into the breach and did a first class job in refereeing the match.
Man of the Match: Tom and Max tied for the award for their defensive play
Crunchie moment: Nathan for a great double save towards the end of the match
Last Rolo moment: Joe for his involuntary aerobatic display
The full squad played with the exception of Jayden (ineligible) and TJ (illness) Source: Helen Nugent << to news index
Wilmslow Town U11 Cougars : More Information
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