Return match with Alderley brings out the best in the U11 Cougars - Cougars tenacity drives Squirrels nuts!

Nathan, Tom, Max, William, Will, Kieran, Jamie, Joe and Connor were the starting line up for this match, as the managers tried out a new substitute rotation system. The Cougars started well with the initial action in the Alderley end of the pitch, however it wasn’t long before the distribution of play became more even across both halves of the pitch. Tom and Connor demonstrated some great rearguard defending early on as the competitive nature of the match unfolded. The boys were not daunted by the fact that Alderley were top of the table and were relishing the challenge.  A break by Jamie, Kieran and Joe was countered by an Alderley attack, Max quickly cleared his lines, passing the ball out to Jamie who again made a break up the field. However the Alderley defence were more than equal to this challenge and within a few seconds were having a shot on goal, which luckily went wide. Nathan, (in his own inimitable style) pointed out to the defence that there was too much space for the Alderley attack and before long they were at it again, however this time Tom, hounding  the attacker up the field all the way to the box, managed to pressure him into an error and again the Alderley shot went wide. It was unfortunate that, after this promising start, while defending an Alderley corner, Jamie accidentally handled the ball and a penalty was awarded. The resulting shot left Nathan no chance, it was a well taken penalty, fired into the bottom left hand corner. It was 1-0 to Alderley.

Midway through this half, Connor, Joe and Max came off to be replaced by Atakan, Brendan and TJ as the new substitution regime came into effect. The boys settled quickly and before long the defending skills of Atakan, Brendan, Tom, William, TJ and Will were put to good use as Alderley stepped up the pressure. A free kick was awarded to Atakan, and then, as soon as the game resumed, Jamie was felled, resulting in a drop ball (despite the scepticism of some of the players to the merit of this decision).

Soon Tom was up and screaming down the right wing, but Alderley defended it well and countered yet again, this time with more success, as Nathan made another great save, but the ball rebounded off him and unfortunately, fell to an Alderley player , who capitalised on the Cougars’ hesitancy when tracking back and heads dropping  when a tackle fails to win the ball. It was 2-0, Nathan wasn’t pleased about this at all, and as usual, the boys knew all about it! The game started off again from the centre, and the ball was soon back in the Cougars half of the pitch, Atakan, William, Brendan and Will defending well, determined not to let their concentration slip again and allow Alderley another chance.  Nathan pulled off a number of saves in the remaining time of this half. Kieran went on one of his characteristic runs up field, weaving his way around the Alderley defence, but was forced off the end of the pitch. He then went on to win a free kick which went to TJ who let lose a shot that went wide. During one of the many goalmouth battles at the Alderley end, the shout of “someone get that little kid!” reduced the watching parents to helpless giggles as TJ bristled and got on with the job in hand....

The Cougars were fighting back hard, relentlessly pressing and closing down the Alderley players and then put together a tremendous string of passes – the ball went from Atakan to Brendan to Will to Will (via an Alderley player) to Brendan to Kieran to Will to Jamie to TJ to Kieran (via another Alderley player) then back to Will before the move ended with Alderley getting it away – but what a set of moves – great stuff – more please next time! The lads need to learn to remain calm in the box and finish the beautiful hard work of getting the ball to the box and creating opportunities.

TJ was in his element, putting the pressure on Alderley in midfield with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy.  A corner from Alderley was defended with a powerful header from Brendan, while William added his support to the defence from the midfield; Kieran, Tom and Jamie combined well allowing Jamie to have a shot on goal, which went just wide.  Nathan pulled off another series of saves, one in particular being a great stop, juggling the ball over the bar.  The half ended with the score at 2-0 to Alderley, but the boys had put up a great fight, playing some very attractive football whilst also giving Alderley less space to play than they are often allowed, and were in high spirits as they left the pitch for the half time team talk.

The second half started with another planned change of personnel with Joe, Kieran, Max, Jayden, TJ, Brendan, Atakan and Connor taking to the pitch, with Nathan in goal. And just as well, as Nathan had to pull off another save very soon after kick off.... Connor and Atakan were battling it out continually, keeping the left hand side of the Alderley attack at bay; while the midfield and attack countered with some great passing moves again. One of these counters resulted in the Cougar move of the match when Max cleared to TJ onto Jayden to Joe, then again, TJ to Jayden to Joe with some lovely touches as they sliced through the Alderley midfield and defence, but once again didn’t manage to finish the move off when the goal was in sight.  Nathan pulled off yet more saves including a great stop with his legs.  Jayden was well into the game playing with increasing freedom, when he got a high speed ball in the face that almost flattened him, but without blinking (so it seemed to the parents and manager) he carried on, piling on the pressure in midfield.  

Alderley attacked once again shooting wide  – and again the pressure applied by the Cougars defence meant that they didn’t have the time to make precision shots  –  so even close range shots were fired wide.  Kieran and Connor pushed into the Alderley half with another attack but just couldn’t manage to score. Nathan pulled off yet another superb save –  despite the ball bobbling slightly –  he adjusted his position in a flash and made sure it didn’t go in, followed closely by another  (pushed over the top of the goal), then another shot from Alderley that he caught comfortably in his arms, Nathan was clearly in great form!

It was all change again as TJ, Connor and Joe made way for Will, Jamie and Tom. Kieran made another break up the wing with a great piece of individual skill, culminating in a superb cross into the box, which sadly once again wasn’t converted into a goal. At the other end, Atakan was there yet again for a last gasp clearance in front of goal. The resulting corner to Alderley was cleared but only to one of their players who running in at pace let rip from 20 yards and the ball flew into the top right hand corner of Nathan’s goal. What a hit! The score now stood at 3-0 to Alderley.  Max had tried valiantly sprinting out to close the scorer down but didn’t quite get there in time. Again, there was little Nathan could do about this goal, it came in like a rocket. However he gave the defence (and anyone else in the Cougars) the benefit of his advice on how that could have been avoided. Go Nathan! 

Connor came on for Brendan at this point, as the teams took turns to attack and play swept from end to end. Max, Jamie and Kieran combined well in a good attacking move crossing the ball from left to right of the box where Connor was placed well to shoot, but unfortunately didn’t unleash the power with which he had dispatched his goal the previous day from the same position,  and it was saved comfortably by the Alderley goalie. Kieran and Jamie both put the Alderley defence under pressure with their attacking runs but couldn’t get that elusive goal. The rest of the team were not idle during this period either as Jayden, Will and William were immense in midfield, blocking Alderley and keeping the ball away from their attack. Max was determined in defence, with some great clearances throughout the game and making some crucial blocks, as did Tom and Atakan. After another near miss by Alderley on the Cougars goal, Nathan clearly felt that the team hadn’t remembered that it’s not rocket science and that they needed to clear the ball and get it away or they’d be giving away more goals. The last part of the match saw some great tackling from Jayden and the last of the Cougars attacks as Connor put in a cross, but once again just too near  the Alderley goalie. And so it ended 3-0 to the Squirrels.

This was a hugely enjoyable game of football, both to watch and to take part in. Overall it was a great team performance, but with so many individual performances of high quality it was difficult for some of the boys to decide who to vote for Man of the Match, votes being more evenly distributed than usual.  Tom was a very close runner-up having put on yet another superb defensive display while also creating trouble with his pace going forward. This was also the first time the new system of substitutions had been used. In the past, making so many changes had been very disruptive to the flow of the game, however now it is clearer to all which are the best positions for the players and how the Cougar system of play works, it is much easier for the boys to slot into the game without too much difficulty.  Once again Allan praised our team for our passionate, energetic performance, our never say die attitude and when in possession our willingness to play football the way it should be played. We pressed the Squirrels relentlessly, won possession often, and frequently when we got the ball passed and moved the ball with skilful touch and speed. However we must learn to move the ball even quicker, understand when to run and dribble with the ball and when to pass, and finally when we get near to the goal, relax and shoot with precision or pass to a teammate in a better position.

Thanks to Andy for his tireless linesman skills, good offside calls despite some barracking, and all friends and family who came to support the boys. Thanks also to Allan and his team for such a great game played in the true spirit of junior football – we had a great time! And finally thanks to the referee whose name escapes us for an excellently refereed game, standing in for the league ref who deemed a journey from Cheadle to the beautiful Mottram Hall Hotel a step too far!

GBK Man of the Match:  TJ for great all round performance in midfield, limitless drive and energy causing no end of problems for the Alderley players.  So surprising was this to him that he spat his Lucozade Sport out when told he had been voted MOTM for the second time this season.

Crunchie Moment:  TJ, Joe and Jayden for that lovely passing move with all those little touches of skill. Max we owe you one for the clearance that started it all off!

Rolo Moment:  Kieran for that superb cross into the box and importantly, resisting the temptation to have a go himself, when a teammate was in a better position. More of this please Kieran!