Well beaten but many positives for U13 Cougars - new look Cougars show fighting spirit

5 September 2011

The U13 Cougars under new management and with several new faces took on Roundthorn Rangers at home on Sunday. They knew this was going to be a difficult assignment from the start as the Opposition were 2 divisions above them last season, and had recently put 14 goals past another strong team in division 4.

Making their debuts were Joey, Derek and James and returning after a long injury layoff was Atakan. the starting line up was Patrick in goal a back 4 of Will, Atakan, Jonathan and Derek a midfield of Callum wide left with Jake wide right and James Joey and Jayden in the middle leaving Joe up front alone.

1st Half

Despite competing hard it was soon clear that Roundthorn were a good side and despite some good defending and some fine stops from Patrick goals went in at regular intervals. Roundthorn seem to have mastered the skill of shooting high into the goal giving the keeper little or no chance. They also had some very skillful forwards and big defenders who snuffed out any counter attacks from the Cougars.

On a rare break Joe managed to get into the Roundthorn box where he was pushed over for a clear penalty. Unfortunately Joe's effort was well saved and the half ended with the score 6-0

2nd Half

The Cougars made a number of positional changes for the second half , Will and Callum swopped positions on the left and Jonathan and Atakan moved into midfield. The Cougars immediatly looked better and Joey nearly pulled a goal back after a good cross from Will. flooding the midfield the Cougars started to gain more possession and Will pulled a goal back with a shot from the edge of the area that the goalie got a hand too but could not keep out. Roundthorn scored a couple more good goals and Patrick made some very good stops. The Cougars then made the score 8-3 with two goals in as many minutes , firstly from a long Patrick kick Will beat the advancing keeper to the ball heading it past him, the after a good run and cross down the left by Will Joe fired home.

The boys now encouraged battled away but Roundthorn scored another 4 goals before Joe again managed to get hauled down in the area for another penalty for the Cougars. Will stepped up finishing well thus completing a perfect hat trick. There was just time for Roundthorn to add another goal before the final whistle blew.

Summary

A sound defeat, but a good chance to experiment with positions which showed how versatile the boys are. All the debutants played well  and looked comfortable on the ball,Atakan looked very solid after a long lay off and as usual Jake and Jayden got through a lot of work. Callum and Will look very good on the left and Will looks a threat up front. Joe is also showing a  handy knack for falling over in the area which could be useful for the coming season. Captain Jonathan led by example and as usual Patrick was magnificent in goal. Special well done should also go to U10 Panther Martin Kennedy who came along as sub and played 20 mins at right back making several good blocks and clearences.

All in all the team should not be too despondant as they are unlikely to encounter such strong opposition in division 4 this season.

Source: bill kennedy

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