|
15 November 2009 Match report for Wilmslow Town U13 Cougars 3 - 2 away defeat to WIlmslow Albion U13 (15/11/2009)
Another derby win for a team in Red, unfortunately for this author, for once he was cheering on the team in Blue.
To use an old cliché, this was certainly a game of two halves! with Albion just about edging it in the first half and then surviving a second half on-slaught, as Town battered away but to no avail.
Although despondent, the boys and manager can take some pride by their second half, battling performance and even if some “Fergie time”, had been added, they would still most probably not have found the net, to salvage a point that they thoroughly deserved.
It all started so well, with Town taking an early lead, through a speculative shot from Oli Mehta, that with assistance of a divot, fooled the Albion keeper. Maybe our luck was changing. Unfortunately and not the first time this season, the boys conceded an equaliser almost immediately.
With Barto (nee Van Der Sar) in net to add height and greater presence in goal, it was hoped that the recent long- range efforts, top corner shots that we have conceded would now be dealt with. How wrong we were, as the first of three long-range efforts, the first from wide on the left beat Barto’s despairing leaps.
As Town pressed forward, Albion’s defence held strong, helped by some poor passing and decision making by Town’s midfield, who ran with the ball when they should have passed and then passed when they should have run or got a shot off. On each occasion Albion broke with pace, but Jordi, Raife, Owain and G (who was outstanding in central defence) held strong, against some robust challenges.
A lack of talking at the back was the root cause for conceding the second goal. Right on half time, Fordy tracking back, did not get a call to tell him he had time to clear the ball, so conceded a corner, with no Albion player within 10 yards of him. From the resulting corner, a daft free kick was conceded, which resulted in an unstoppable shot, hitting the roof of the net.
In recent matches this might have resulted in heads dropping, but Town responded positively, at the start of the second half, Dan adding some physical presence up front, with Oli Mehta switching to the right flank, Deano now getting involved up front and Pete starting to come deeper to get involved. For the first time Albion’s defence was stretched and the equaliser quickly came, following a strong solo run by Dan, who calmly slotted home, 2 – 2 game on, or so we thought. Almost immediately Town gave away a soft free kick, about 30 yards out, which was blasted into the back of the net.
For the last 15 minutes it became like a scene from the Alamo as Town battered away, but to their credit Albion hung on, with their keeper pulling off some fine saves and the defence making a series of last ditch tackles and blocking goal bound shots with every part of their anatomy. A total of 11 corners were taken in the second half each delivered with great quality by Adam, all of them causing panic in the Albion defence. Owain saw his diving header cleared off the line, Pete had a shot blocked by one of his team mates, on another occasion Dan rose brilliantly only to head just wide.
From open play, Oli Mehta made a great run but his shot hit the post, Ol Ford went close following a great passing move and in the final dying seconds Pete went agonisingly close with a curling free kick that had the keeper beaten, but just failed to bend enough.
The boys were obviously disappointed, but they should take heart from their efforts, with a little bit more composure in front of goal, better decision-making and accuracy with their passing, they will surely be back to winning ways soon.
Footnote
With the late cry off of the appointed Ref. Simon Shaw stepped in and did an admirable job letting the game flow and playing the advantage for both sides. Rather than stopping play every twenty seconds, something his older & more professional colleagues should do learn from.
Player Profiles
Isaac Bass
Unused Sub
Jordan Garner
Worked tirelessly at the back and put in a number of telling challenges before illness took its toll and he had come off and was unable to take any further part in the game.
Raife Copp-Barton
A solid performance, winning most challenges and along with G bossed defence in the second half and never looked in trouble.
Ol Barton
Pulled off a number of fine saves, but was left totally helpless by 3 long-range shots that all found the top corner.
Benno
Came on mid-way through the first half and put in some fine challenges and added pace to the defence.
Ol Ford
Struggled to get into the game in the first half through lack of ball. Came back on as a second half sub on the left flank and almost scored a late equaliser, with a great run into the box, only to see his shot go the wrong side of the post.
Owain
Started at left back, before moving into more familiar surroundings in central midfield where he worked tirelessly alongside Bradley. Unfortunately not one of his best days for passing as too many of them failed to find a teammate.
Bradley
A great battling performance, made some telling tackles and forward runs into the opponents box. Needs to decide when to pass & when to run with the ball.
Deano
Struggled in the first half to get into the game and make any positive contribution. Came back fighting in the second half, with some great challenges and telling runs.
Pete
Without any quality ball to play with Peter struggled to shrug off the tight marking of his markers assigned to follow him, became increasingly frustrated and as a result lost his usual composure in front of goal. Almost rescued a point in the last minute with a fine free kick that curled just past the post.
Dan
Made an instant impact when coming on at the start of the second half, with a fine solo run and goal. His pace & power was a constant threat. Needs to work on when to shoot and when to pass.
Adam
Played well at right back and took some fantastic corners, that some how defied gravity in not ending in the back of the net.
Oli Mehta
Never stopped running and came close to scoring a second, but saw his shot rattle the post.
Milan
Made a positive start to the game, with some strong challenges, unfortunately as a result of one of these challenges took a bad knock on his ankle which prevented him taking any further part in the game.
Lawto
Not available due to injury Team
O Barton, I Bass, R Copp-Barton, J Garner, A Shaw, O Davies, O Ford, B Harris, B Jackson, D Musa, M Starkie, G Todd, P Boyle, O Mehta, D MillerMan of the Match : A Shaw, O Mehta Source: A Boyle << to news index
Wilmslow Town U13 Cougars : More Information
|
Site design by IMA Electronic Media 
