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15 May 2010 Saturday morning and Linotype Cheadle Heath Nomads' U12's 11-aside tournament saw the return of the Cougars, strengthened by a few familiar faces from the title contending Jaguars. The squad for the day boasted 14 players from both the U11 Cougars and Jaguars: TJ, Neil, Will, Bren, Max, Colly, Ata, Connor, Jamie, Tom, Luis, Jake, William and Sam.
Armed with a new gazebo, the team arrived at a pristine and very impressive Cheadle Heath facility, which boasted two excellent pitches and an equally high quality 3G astroturf pitch topped off with very well decorated and equipped club house. It became immediately obvious this was a very well organised tournament, as a rather tardy manager having got himself, the lads in his car and the following convoy lost, finally walked through the gates, to be greeted by the efficient help of the team's tournament statistician Bill, with a well presented manager's pack.
It was easy to see with a quick glance around the gazebos and a look at the fixtures that the teams present were quality teams. On show were the champions and runners up of the Stockport Metro League Division 1, Bramhall North 75 A and Cheadle and Gatley A, as well as the U11 Jaguars’ nemesis, title winners Stockport Vikings, and the fiery Spurley Hey fresh from their third place in the second flight of the Metro League. The other teams included a very strong Bramhall second string, the dangerous Reddish Vulcans and Hazel Grove United plus two unknown quantities in Heyside Juniors and Rainhill United.
The draw meant that to qualify the Cougars would have to come first or second in a table made up of Bramhall A, Heyside, Rainhill and of course the Vikings. With gazebo quickly erected by the experienced Cougar parents and our stuff safely inside, following the usual Brazilian warm up led by Stuart and some passing practice, the Cougars were ready.
The first match got underway on time as Bramhall made their intentions clear brushing aside Rainhill 3-0. Second up the Cougars with William in goal, Luis, Neil and Max led by Tom, sporting the captain's armband, in defence, TJ and Colly in central midfield, Jake and Jamie on the wings, and Will playing in the hole behind Sam as striker. The boys got off to an excellent start in this fast and furious 12 minute game that, despite chances at both ends ,remained a very balanced match ending 0-0. Strong performances by all, as the Cougars looked a much stronger side than the one that had struggled so manfully last season, with great Cougar debuts for Sam, Tom and Neil. Colly looked very dangerous in his new role in the midfield, while the defence looked more solid than ever.
15 minutes break and the team were up again against Bramhall. This time Jake took the gloves, Tom continued to lead a backline of Ata, Neil and William; Colly, taking the armband, was paired with TJ in central midfield for a second time, with Connor and Max pushed further forward on the wings, Bren filled the hole this time with Sam once again leading the line. After a nervy start by both teams, they settled into a very competitive, attractive game of football with good passing, skill and excellent defensive work on both sides, ensuring both teams only looked dangerous rather than either team getting an advantage. And so the score remained 0-0 when the twelve minutes had whizzed by once again.
Another 15 minutes break and the team were up and ready to go again, this time against Rainhill. After the previous two good performances, the team were confident of winning this game to give the themselves a good chance of qualifying for the semis. The team lined up with Max between the sticks, Colly reverting to his regular role of last season, leading the defence with Bren, William and Neil, who had now taken on the captain's mantle. Tom had pushed forward into centre mid accompanied by Will with Connor and Luis providing pace on the wings and Jamie sitting behind Sam up front. After a good start the team's confidence took a knock, as holding onto the ball too long in midfield and getting dispossessed, led to pressure on the defence whose pass back to Max bobbled, causing him to slice his first time clearance into the path of a marauding Rainhill number 9, who slotted home to take the lead. However undaunted the rest of the team immediately showed that spirit that characterised the Cougars and Jaguars last season. They pressed forward constantly, with Sam and Jamie linking up well supported by Tom running at a shocked Rainhill defence at pace. The growing understanding of Sam and Jamie paid dividends as Sam slotted an inch perfect pass to Jamie who skipped past a Rainhill defender to curl the ball into the top corner with his trusty left foot. Despite continued pressure, assisted by the pace of Luis and Connor on the wings, the score remained 1-1. Leaving the Cougars with the inevitable, the script was written by the Gods of Football.
The Cougars now had to avenge the Jaguars losing out to the Vikings in the league, by beating them and knocking them out of the competition, as Bramhall were already well on their way to winning the group.
The Jags amongst the team made it clear to the others what was at stake and the boys spent the 15 minute break firing themselves up for the approaching battle. Bren took the gloves, Tom reverted to leading the defence with Neil, Ata and William, Colly and TJ once again together in central mid, Jake and Luis giving the width and Jamie and Sam, now acting as skipper, continuing their partnership up front. The Cougars were out of the blocks quickest, pressing the Vikings back into their box, as they tried to break down the Vikings' defence. Once again the Vikings' defence was impressive with great clearances and customary bravery of Dylan, the goalie, who flew out of his box to make last ditch clearances as the pace of Tom, Sam, Jake, Jamie and Luis, supported by the TJ's guile, threatened to breach the Vikings' defences. The Vikings' danger on the counter was snuffed out by the strength and pace of Tom and Neil as they continually got the ball away with ease. William too remained calm in his challenges and also showed his growing aerial prowess heading clear, with Ata and Bren holding firm too. Eventually the pressure told as TJ, slid the ball through to Colly, who with lightening pace jinked around a couple of defenders, dragged the ball back to fool another, then calmly side-footed the ball passed Dylan into the net. The watching crowd and management team erupted as the Cougars took the lead with Colly's sublime goal. Despite continued pressure from the Cougars, and one counter-attack that threatened the Cougar defence momentarily, the game ended 1-0.
The Cougars were elated, feeling they had avenged the Jaguars' disappointment, outplaying their nemesis just as the Jaguars had, but this time with a rightful win! Even the manager made a fool of himself doing a forward roll, well executed but perhaps a little inappropriate for a 46 year old.
However the celebrations were short lived as Bill, with his control on the stats informed us, that the Vikings could still qualify if they beat the group leaders,who had already qualified, 2-0. The boys were soon gripped in supporting the Bramhall team. Heart rate went sky high as the Vikings took an early lead but were soon pegged back by Bramhall. Bramhall's quality eventually told, as they then took the lead and ended up winning 2-1, much to the pleasure of the watching Cougars' players, parents and management.
A break of over an hour ensued as the Cougars came down off their adrenalin filled high and awaited a semi final clash against Spurley Hey, who had won the other group. Bramhall B had also qualified to be paired in the first semi against Bramhall A. The first semi went to extra time as Bramhall showed what strength they have in depth as the A and B teams battled it out through extra time with Bramhall A eventually nicking it 1-0, towards the end of extra time.
For the semi, Jake took the gloves, Tom led a defence comprising Luis, Neil and Max, Colly and Will paired up in midfield, Connor, sporting the armband, and Jamie provided the width, with TJ playing in the hole behind Sam who was carrying an injured knee. Unfortunately the long gap seemed to have drained the adrenalin from the Cougars, who looked lack-lustre compared to the group stage, allowing Spurley Hey to take advantage and go one up with an unfortunate headed deflection from a corner. Half time arrived and despite freshening things up with William taking the gloves, Bren replacing Will and Ata replacing Max, the Cougars remained sluggish letting Spurley Hey in for a second. At this point it was noticeable that one of the leaders' in the team head went down having a negative effect on the team, as they tried to fight their way back into the match. Pulling themselves up by the bootstraps they eventually did fight back, winning a corner. From the corner the referee spotted a Cougar being impeded from jumping to head the ball and awarded a penalty.
What ensued in terms of the haranguing of the referee by the Spurley Hey manager, which had been going on continually for the whole game, resulted in a firm rebuke from the excellent referee (the standard of refereeing had been excellent throughout the tournament). This kind of behaviour is a disgrace in junior football and does need to be eradicated, as it is completely inappropriate and a shocking example to our children. The Respect campaign does not seem to have reached far enough yet!
After a long break, Jamie stepped up to take the penalty, the direction of which was anticipated by the Spurley goalie, preventing the Cougars from getting a goal back. It all proved to be academic as the whistle blew soon after to signal the Cougars' exit from the competition. Unfortunately the boys went out to a team that, had they not had such a long break and played the way they had previously in the tournament, they could well have beaten.
As far as Spurley Hey go, despite continued harassment of the ref in the final, quality finally told and Bramhall rightly won 1-0.
The boys can be very proud of their performance during the tournament. All the boys played very well. Tom, Neil and Sam, all showed what valuable additions they are to the Cougars with Tom running Colly very close to Man of the Tournament, as voted by parents and players.
Thanks to all the parents who helped with lifts, refreshments, looking after the lads, getting the Gazebo up and down safely, and carting the mountain of stuff back to my car.
Sadly missing today were Kieran through a bad bout of illness (thankfully fully recovered now) and Nathan and Charlie through other important commitments. Good luck to Nathan in his exploits with the Stockport Metro Inter-league team in Cambrai and our thoughts to Charlie, Gill, Bruce and Harry at this difficult time.
Man of the Tournament: Tom Collicott for an exceptional performance in midfield and classy goal in the victory over the Vikings. Source: John << to news index
Wilmslow Town U11 Cougars : More Information
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