U11 Cougars in The Alamo part II - still caught in a Jetstream

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The boys had had their pre-match team talk in their home dressing room (see pictures) and were well up for the match, despite the previous week’s score line. As Tom, Bren, Max, TJ, Nathan, Atakan, Kieran, Jamie and Connor lined up, there was a lively start to the match – the Jets started as they meant to go on – on the attack. A good block and then a clearance by Brendan to TJ then to Atakan meant that the Cougars also showed how they intended to play – there would be no lying down this week either! The Jets kept up their attacks but there was a good break by the Cougars, Kieran made his way down the wing putting in a fabulous cross into the box, the Jets keeper however, saw the danger and came out quickly to catch the ball before the Cougars attackers could convert the opportunity into a goal. All too soon it was Nathan’s turn to make a catch – this one was tricky, as the ball was bouncing about in the air as if alive – but Nathan grabbed it and defused the threat. Jamie and Connor combined to make a break up field towards the Jets goal, again a real opportunity, Connor just denied by the two to one battle as he made his way towards goal. Jamie made another run up the wing and put in a fine cross to the box, but again the opportunity couldn’t be converted and the Jets were on the counter attack once more. 

The match continued with the action going from end to end as the sides were pretty evenly matched, but eventually the Jets sliced through the defence to score. After this the game began to be played more in the Cougars end of the pitch. Nathan was called upon to make a number of excellent saves as the Jets pounded the defence with attack after attack. Some great defensive work by Tom, Bren the Behemoth and Atakan, supported by TJ and the attacking members of the team meant that the perseverance of the boys paid off as a break down the wing meant Jamie could have a shot on goal – however the counter was never far behind and it was soon 2-0, then 3-0 then 4-0 to the Jets. This was made worse as two of the goals came straight from kick-offs where we were sloppy in our passing and gave ourselves no chance of building an attack, we just gave the ball away cheaply.  It was a shame that after such a promising start the team had conceded three goals in quick succession. Connor made way for Luis and Atakan for Will, who immediately made his presence felt giving the Jets a hard time in midfield. This next period saw the Cougars playing a lot better and although Nathan was called upon to make a number of excellent saves, the attack were also making their forays more effective. Kieran, Jamie and TJ were working well together to make some great combination moves down the wing and through the centre as there was a period of time where the game was all in the Jets end. Will was in the thick of the midfield battle for possession, even when he ended up sitting down somewhat unexpectedly, he was still striving to get the ball away! The Jets began to push back and the game moved once again. Tom made an excellent stop on the goal line, Brendan some great clearances, Will and TJ were going for the ball without hesitation and grit. In the end the Cougars conceded a corner and an unstoppable top corner shot from 25 yards was the end result, so it was 5-0 to the Jets. Not quite the score line the team and their supporters were hoping for at half time.....

However, the half wasn’t quite over and the Cougars were making it count – a great ball in from TJ to Kieran meant he had an excellent shot that just went wide. The follow-on Jets counter was stopped by Brendan once (leg block), twice (face block) – just as well there wasn’t another block required – what would Brendan have used next?! Kieran in a sublime move, tracked back, chasing down the ball, tackled the Jets player and set off up the field towards goal in a superb solo move, catching the Jets defence napping. His mazy run took on several players, including a lovely little forward ball for him to run on to past the last Jets defender. He took his time and stroked the ball into the back of the net – he made it look so easy – at last the Cougars had pulled a goal back!

The second half started with the same team except for William on for Max and Jake on for Luis. There was a real contender for the Rolo moment from TJ early on, as he tried to trap the ball mid air and ended up doing virtually mid air splits as a result! Soon after, Nathan could only watch and try to anticipate where the ball was going to go as it ricocheted off the side and cross bars before he managed to grab hold of it – quite a spectacular moment! But the ball hadn’t crossed the line so no goal, thank goodness!

The second half continued with the teams taking turns to attack and the Cougars had a while before the next goal went in. Kieran had another shot on goal which just trickled past the post, Jamie came off for Max but before long the inevitable goal came, and despite fresh legs in the form of Joe and Jayden, the score rose to 7-1 as well as some additional saves in between from Nathan.  This reporter doesn’t want to dwell on the rest of the second half as the score climbed to 11-1 by the end of the game. I would rather focus on the good performances of the team, who are still improving week on week as they find their best positions and learn (admittedly the hard way in division 1) to play together as a team.

Kieran ran himself ragged all match chasing the ball down and taking every opportunity he could, he showed great skill and composure taking his goal, embarrassing the Jets defence as he tore them apart. Tom had had a great game at the back, chasing down the ball, making last gasp stops on the line (as ever!) but was unable to carry on to the end of the match due to an arm injury. Atakan came on as right back, a role he hasn’t played much before and took on his role with gusto, battling all the way up the field to the corner, chasing the ball down to the bitter end. Jayden again showed that he was up for a midfield battle and was no pushover (literally speaking!). Luis was also in good form making some great clearances and some intelligent passing moves in midfield as was William who made some crucial defensive clearances and helped to keep the ball moving, distributing it well for the attackers.  Jamie demonstrated good wing play, with great crosses and shots on target, it was just a shame they weren’t converted into goals.

Brendan was immense at the back, making it clear that this is the role for him, as he made crucial stop after stop with fearless tackling to boot. Again, he was in great form, and despite being out of contention for the Man of the Match vote (having won it last week), there were a few people who still tried to vote for him! TJ was the super terrier, the defensive midfield maestro, keeping the Jets busy as he hassled and harried.  

Will was back to the Will we saw in the past and wanted to see again – superb distribution, great tackling and determined chasing – welcome back Will! It was a close vote this week and Will was only just pipped to the Man of the Match award this week by one vote by Nathan, and well what can I say about him? He was in superb form once again with the resilience to take on the Alamo last week and then take it on all over again this week with guts and determination galore. A deserved Man of the Match (again!).

Thanks to Andy for again volunteering to be behind the goal to retrieve any wayward balls, not the best job in the world in the rain! Simon Shaw was as excellent as ever as the referee, our thanks to him too.

We have now reached the halfway point in the season. (9 games played out of 18) I am proud of the way the boys have conducted themselves in very challenging circumstances and believe we have built tremendous team spirit. However Stuart and I now have a very good idea of our best team, who can play in which positions, and our strengths and weaknesses. We have had one win which unfortunately has been wiped from league records as the team we played decided to give up after losing to us. This has never been considered by any of us, a real sign of our strength and resilience and the tremendous character of the boys.

However with our greater understanding comes a change in the way we will be playing. Squad members will be given development goals and for those who find themselves as substitutes for games their challenge will be to impress the management team in training or when they come on as replacements to impress the management team sufficiently for us to consider changing our mind about our best line-up. We will be rotating subs less through different positions and subs will be played, when players need a rest, through injury or to make tactical changes. This may mean that the lads are not guaranteed to play each week but as always we will still endeavour to include everyone in the games as much as possible. However our goal for the second part of the season is to win enough games not to finish bottom and to concede considerably less goals. This probably means we need to win more than 3 games. To do this will require a more settled team with everyone really getting to grips with their new positions. I will arrange friendlies to enable the other squad members to show what they can do for longer periods of games.  So if you are one of those players who do not regularly make the starting line up, your challenge is to make sure we see you at your best at all times and change our minds for us. This means demonstrating a great attitude at training, clear determination, a willingness to play your heart out for the team , a commitment to continually developing your skill levels, listening carefully to instructions and being a great example of the three qualities of a Cougar.

GBK Man of the Match: Nathan for braving the Alamo with professionalism and skill, excellent positioning, fearless diving at the feet of oncoming attackers, tremendous agility and relishing his captain’s role in demonstrating never giving up and making sure his team mates didn’t (keep up the earache Nathan!)

Crunchie Moment:  Tom for those important goal line stops

Rolo Moment:  Will for his sit down tackling!

 

PS Apologies to TJ for the assist that was wrongly given to someone else – all corrected now TJ!