Short on players, not on spirit U12 Cougars just fall short - 9 man Cougars just fail to hold on for a point

20 March 2011

After a resounding win over St Johns the Cougars made the trip to Partington in good spirits. In the home fixture the Cougars won a bruising encounter by the odd goal in 5 and knew they were going to be in for another tough test against a very physical Partington side. 

The Cougars only started with 9 as Reece and Callum were sick and Luis was still in Handforth waiting for a lift that did not materialise, Ray Graham  kindly volunteered to return to Handforth to fetch Luis and the Cougars had to play the first half with only 9 players. 

The Cougars therefore employed a 3-4-1 formation pending the arrival of the 10th man.

1st Half

Partington immediatly poured forward but the back three of the two Will's and Jonathan were keeping a good line and were well protected by Jayden and Joe in front of them getting stuck into tackles. Connor and Jake wide also tracked back and Emmanuel a lone figure up front was chasing down the Partington back line. Patrick in goal was soon tested and was handling well and good kicking relieved the pressure on the Cougars defense.

Partington were getting frustrated and fell behind when Emmanuel went on one of his long mazy runs and slipped the ball past the Partington keeper to open the scoring.

Encouraged by this the Cougars started to play some good football , the midfield were superb and fought for every loose ball against much stronger opponents. They looked to be holding Partington at bay , they equalized though when a long ball through bounced in front of Patrick and trickled into the net. 

Partington were now encamped in the Cougars half but the determined Cougars went ahead again with a great counter attack. Patrick saved well from distance and launched a kick beyond half way. Emmanuel controlled well and played in connor on the right. Connor took the ball onto the edge of the area and chipped the keeper superbly to make the score 2-1 to the Cougars

Partington hit back just before half time when an attacker was allowed to run unchallenged to the edge of the area and his low shot found the corner of the net to level the scores.

2nd Half

Luis now arrived to boost the Cougars numbers to 10. The Cougars still keeping a good shape were now a little more ambitious going forward. Emmanuel had a good run and shot and Joe having his best game of the season came close to getting his first goal but shot just over from 12 yards. 

The defense were playing well as a unit and restricted Partington to shooting from distance from whiuch Patrick made several comfortable saves. The game was now getting a bit niggly and there were some bad tackles and off the ball challenges as Partington became more frustrated. 

It looked as though the Cougars were going to hold on for a well deserved point however a break down the right led to the 5th goal with an attacker poking the cross home from close range. 

This was cruel on the Cougars who had battled throughout. 

The game came to a close with Jaydan seemingly taking on the whole of the Partington midfield single handed. 

Final score 2-3

Goals Emmanuel ,Connor

Assists - Emmanuel

Summary

A great display from the Cougars who despite battling away with reduced numbers nearly gained something from a bruising encounter. although promotion is now probably out of the question the boys can push on and secure a very creditable third place if they continue to play in this fashion. 

Managers thoughts

Man of the Match - Some great performances today but awarded to Jayden for a determined performance in front of the defense. Special note of thanks to his father for making another journey down the M60 to boost the numbers.

Source:

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