Final game of the season for the U11 Cougars - but frozen out by Broadheath!

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Kieran, Connor, Jamie, Jake, Brendan, Tom, TJ, Max and Nathan lined up to face Broadheath who were riding high in the league in second place and brimming with confidence. And so it proved, the first attack coming from Broadheath which gave Nathan his first save of the day. It didn’t tax him too much, but it did signal Broadheath’s intent not to give the Cougars an easy game....

The ball was soon heading back to Nathan and as the Cougars tried to clear it out of the box with flailing limbs and swipes, only Jake at this point had the presence of mind to coolly clear it out of the box properly. It quickly became apparent that Broadheath were still fast when they got a break and shouldn’t be allowed to counter.

The boys began to settle in and started to string some good passes together. A move involving TJ passing to Kieran, to Jamie, then to Max then to Kieran again showed that the boys were gaining more in confidence after a somewhat tentative start. Maybe it was the gap since their last match or the realisation that this was the last game of the season, either way it was a quiet start for the Cougars and they needed to step up their game if they were going to avoid losing 6-0 to Broadheath again.

Signs of improvement continued as Connor and Kieran made a break towards the Broadheath goal, making good progress before the Broadheath defence pulled it back. A free kick taken by Max flew over the top of the Broadheath defence for Connor to run on to, but he unfortunately he couldn’t control it and capitalise on the opportunity. A wide shot on goal from Broadheath was followed by another break from Kieran and Connor, but Broadheath sprang the offside trap and caught Connor out. TJ supplied another ball over the top for Connor, but again it wasn’t possible to convert this into a goal scoring opportunity as the Broadheath defence were quickly all over it. Despite some great defensive headers, (including a double one from Jake and TJ) Broadheath took advantage of some defensive frailties to score making it 1-0, Nathan having no chance of stopping the shot. A goal kick from Nathan ended up back with him very quickly again, again (and again a third time), but eventually the Cougars managed to keep the ball up in the Broadheath box and Connor gave their goalie something to do, quickly saving his shot.

Tom was called upon to make yet another clearance from the Broadheath box, as the ball bounced about all over the box once again, accompanied by a series of ‘Oohs!’ and ‘Aahs!’ from the watching parents. At this stage there were a couple of substitutions, William for Connor and Atakan on for Jake. Nathan had to make a couple of saves at this point as Broadheath had a number of attempts on goal and a couple of corners, featuring headers from Jamie, TJ and Brendan as the Cougars defended their goal valiantly. Will came on for TJ as the Broadheath attack pounded the Cougars box, Tom and Atakan making more clearances, Nathan making a couple more saves, one an excellent fingertip save to get the ball away. The Broadheath goalie had to make a save straight after from a Cougars high shot, then Nathan caught a high cross safely in his arms, leaping high as he saved it. Jamie, Will and Kieran put together a great move in front of the Broadheath goal which was one of several goal scoring opportunities the Cougars were unable to convert.

The action then centred around midfield with plenty of determined scrapping going on. At one stage, William found himself as the lone blue shirt in the Broadheath end of the pitch, chasing down from one player to the next after the goalie threw the ball out to his team mates, pressurising the Broadheath team and preventing them from playing the ball cleanly downfield. William was also involved in the next Cougars’ attack, pushing the ball through midfield, and then passing it out wide to Brendan on the wing, who won a corner for the Cougars. There was a resounding ‘crunch’ as Brendan flew into a tackle, and then there was another ‘crunch’ as Tom followed up with another tackle. These two certainly know how to ensure an opponent knows that when they are tackled, they stay tackled! Will pushed the ball up the field to Jamie and William to launch yet another Cougars attack, but once again they couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity to score. It was the same story once again as William and Brendan connected to make a break up the wing.

Despite all this activity on the part of the Cougars, the goal didn’t come - or rather it did - at the other end of the pitch, as Broadheath made it 2-0 just before the whistle blew for half time.

Joe, Kieran, William, Will, Atakan, Jamie, Tom, Brendan and Nathan lined up for the second half of the match and it wasn’t long before Will had a powerful shot on goal from outside the box, but it went wide. The beginning of the half was characterised by some determined battling by the team. Jamie was pressing their winger at one end of the pitch; then moments later Joe and Kieran were tussling in the corner with the Broadheath defence at the other. As the ball came free, Jamie had a shot on goal which ‘flew’ over the crossbar (he later claimed the new match ball ‘flew’ a little too well, nothing to do with technique at all then!).

Atakan made a crucial clearance, and promptly found himself flat on the floor for his trouble, a passing move involving passes from Joe to Kieran to Jamie to Joe enabled Kieran to have a shot on goal, but again the ball flew high into the air and over the top of the goal. Will was there to make another critical clearance as Broadheath attacked, Nathan didn’t quite get the ball covered as it bounced around and it ended up with Tom falling on top of the ball next to Nathan as he desperately tried to clear it.

Yet another shot went over the cross bar from Jamie (this was the umpteenth time a shot by the boys had gone sky high... hmmm .... maybe there was something in what Jamie said about the ball after all...nah same problem with technique again!).

During the next period of the game, TJ came on for Will and Jayden came on for Joe. Kieran had a go at getting past the Broadheath goalie, bamboozling him into an error through his pressurising followed up with a superb shot, equally superbly saved by Brendan (!).

For a while it was end to end stuff as the teams battled it out for supremacy, the Cougars holding their own, until Broadheath managed to increase the score to 3-0, as Atakan tried to clear the ball but ended up putting it in the back of his own net. Nathan wasn’t best pleased with the team and I leave the rest to your imagination (or memory for those of you there....!)

The Cougars rallied, and Kieran had a shot saved by the keeper, but increasing Broadheath pressure told and soon it was 4-0 to Broadheath. Connor came back on for Jamie and Jake on for Kieran and immediately Broadheath won a corner that resulted in a superb reflex save from Nathan.

A push from Broadheath on Tom that sent him sprawling was followed by an ‘Ooh’ from the parents, only for a Broadheath player to say to the watching parents “it’s called strength..” which was followed by Tom being floored a few times more – clearly the Broadheath players recognised the threat he posed to their attacks. In a final attempt to prevent any further goals Jamie came on for William and Will for Brendan.

Yet another crucial clearance from Will in the Cougars’ box as he headed out another Broadheath shot meant that the ball got to Kieran and on to Connor who had a shot at the other end of the pitch, but once again it went wide. The next piece of action was in the Cougars’ box as the ball pinged about the box, some of the parents began accompanying the moves with a ‘Whay!’ as the Cougars did their best to clear the ball over and over again – but all their efforts were in vain as Broadheath managed to finally score and make it 5-0 at full time.

This was a match of contrasts – a tentative start, a battling middle and a lack of defensive excellence in the last part of the match. As it was the last game of the season it was important for everyone to have a part in the game so perhaps the number of substitutions in the second half contributed to the defensive errors in that part of the match. Either way it was an improvement on the last game, both teams have improved since that match.

Thanks to the Broadheath manager Andy Boardman and the Broadheath supporting parents for their kind words about the great spirit and dedication of the team and supporters, it is much appreciated. A misunderstanding over cheering for the opposition goal has since been cleared up by the Cougars, so all in all, with the possibility of a point through default (yes – an official point on the website!) it was a relatively satisfying end of season for the boys.

Finally, thanks to Joe Swindells who did an excellent job on his refereeing debut.

Yes, this has been a baptism of fire for the newly formed Cougars; however their spirit has shone through. With a good summer of tournaments, friendlies and continued training and strengthening of the squad through the trials, we should see a much strengthened team ready and raring to meet next season’s challenges. As manager I wish to thank each player for the effort and commitment they have put into being real team players and continually working on becoming the best player they can be!

GBK Man of the Match: Nathan. In the words of one of his team mates, ‘he had a lot to put up with this match’. With all the chopping and changing and substitutions the defending wasn’t as good as usual and Nathan was called upon to keep the Cougars out of the mire (I can think of other words to use here) a number of times. However, he was let down by some scrappy team defending. Despite this, Nathan maintained his usual high standards and kept the score line from becoming a repeat (or worse) of the earlier game against Broadheath.  

Crunchie/Rolo Moments:  Jake for a great defensive header early in the game, Will, TJ and William for more of the same, using their heads to great effect.