U13 Cougars in seventh heaven again - Twice behind the Cougars rally to score 7 again

6 November 2011

After a great win at Ashton on Mersey where the Cougars demonstrated the team still has plenty of attacking options they lined up at home against Sale Leopards who were just below them in the league. This week they had a full squad of 14 to select from and started with Patrick in goal, in front of him were Jamie,Jonathan, Derek and Jayden in defence, ahead of them a midfield four of Joe and Callum on the flanks with Will.N and Atakan central and upfront were last weeks goal scorers Jake and Will K. , waiting eagerly on the sidelines were Ilan Joey and James.

The Cougars elected to play with the slope in the first half and the sun in the sale goalkeepers eyes.

1st Half

The Cougars started brightly looking to carry on where they left off the previous week and getting the ball behind the opposition defence for the speedy front players to run onto. This tactic nearly worked and Will K running through saw the keeper deflect his shot onto the post and away to safety. The Cougars had most of the early exchanges and forced 3 corners which were well delivered by Joe but nobody could get the decisive finishing touch.

Sale began to creep back into the game and Derek and Jamie both made vital challenges before the visitors were awarded a penalty when Joe was harshly adjudged to have handled in the area. Patrick stood tall  though and made a good save from the resulting spot kick. at the other end Jake broke free but shot just wide.

Sale then took the lead after the Cougars had failed to clear their lines. trying to hit back the Cougars twice went close with efforts from the two Will's , they then deservedly drew level after a good move down the right lead to Will.K laying the ball back to the edge of the area for Will.N who found the top left corner of the net with a great shot to make it 1-1.

Sale immediately hit back and restored their lead following a break down the right. Jake and Joe then swapped positions on the right and Jake set Joe free with a superb through ball , running in on goal Joe did not have any support but did not need any as his firm strike was too much for the sale keeper and the scores were level again.

Now full of confidence the Cougars started to dominate and Atakan's great cross was put into his own net by a Sale defender to give the Cougars the lead for the first time.

It was quickly 4-2 when Jonathan lofted a ball over the top of the defence. Will K who was leading the line well was onto it in an instant and fired home from 12 yards to give the Cougars a two goal half time advantage.

2nd Half

The second half saw the introduction of James and Joey on the wings and Ilan at the heart of defence with Derek moving to full back, Callum who had looked dangerous down the left in the first half came off with a slight knock and did not play any further part in the match. The Cougars now tried to get the ball wide as often as possible and James was enjoying some success down the left. The Cougars went further ahead though after good work down the right by Joey , he played Joe in and he found the bottom corner to make it 5-2 to the Cougars.

Sale were looking dangerous though and Patrick had to be smartly off of his line on several occasions to deal with the through ball, he did this superbly often creating an attack with his long clearances. The Cougars then made it 6-2 and Joe completed his hat trick after a good through ball by Atakan. , it was soon 7-2 after Will K held the ball up well again and played in Joey who fired home from 8 yards for his first goal for the Cougars.

Sale continued to battle but Jayden helping out in midfield now got in some vital tackles and Ilan some great clearances as the Cougars looked the most likely to score again, they would have done so but for Joe's good finish from another good through ball by Jake being adjudged offside.

Summary

After a bit of a shaky start the Cougars rallied and ran out fairly comfortable winners against a determined Sale side. The shape passing and movement were much better today and the tactic of getting the ball forward quickly for the front players to chase seems to be reaping rewards.  The boys finishing also seems to have improved and a lot of the goals were well taken. still lots to work on in training though as there are tougher tests ahead, but the Cougars are now well positioned again for a promotion push.

Jake was awarded the Bronze man of the match for a good allround performance and though he did not get on the score sheet he was behind a lot of the Cougars best moves. Patrick won the Silver award for yet another commanding performance in goal , he made a number of important saves at crucial points and was always quick off of his line to avert danger. Gold award went to Joe who scored his first hat trick for the Cougars taking all his goals well in addition to that he put in some great corners and  tracked back well today as well in support of the defence.

 Managers Comments

Fantastic today!! I feel today was the best we've played this season.  Some immense performances throughout the team.  All the players now seem to be keeping to their allocated position's much better than we did in the early games.

We have loads of pace in the team and this is proven by the amount of goals we are now scoring from through-balls.

the game was a pleasure to watch today and more importantly, the boys seem to be enjoying themselves.

We still need to work on one or two things - the midfield tracking back to help the defense -  although this was more evident today.  Some players also need to work on releasing the ball earlier and more quickly.

Coming up we have 2 potentially winnable games against Benchill Celtic however, beware, Benchill may be near to the bottom of the table but, judging by last weekends result, they have bags of fight - AFC Partington 10 Benchill Celtic 8!!

Well done boys! 

Source: bill kennedy

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