Post by WPHFC on Apr 23, 2009 11:38:10 GMT
19/04/2009
Under 9 SPL Div 3
Cougars Youth 2 Hart Hurricanes 0
The boys faced Hurricanes for the third time this season after the league upheld a complaint about the previous game and ordered it to be replayed (we won 2-1 that day).
Lorenzo was keen to build on our impressive last 15 minutes on Thursday. We were able to welcome Charlie & Archie back to the squad. Luke missed out due to illness.
The game kicked off in bright sunshine. Right from the start it was clear that as long as we played our football we should pick up the win. Chris was putting in an impressive display down the left easily beating his marker time after time and putting in some good crosses that just wouldn’t fall to a Cougars player. As the half wore on we needed to turn our dominance into a goal. Paolo shot wide, a quickly taken corner gave Jack the chance to shoot narrowly wide from distance. We finally made the breakthrough when Benito reacted first to a loose ball and scored. We tried to add a second before the break and almost did so with some tremendous link up play between Jack & Chris. Chris hit a fierce shot that was well saved by the Hart keeper. Archie looked certain to tap in the rebound but was denied by a brave goal line clearance by a Hart defender. Half time we led 1-0 and were very much in control of the game.
Lorenzo confident of everyone’s ability decided to swap players about in the second half and allowed Callum & Charlie a rare foray into midfield. The second halves was very much like the first with Cougars dominating possession but were unable to capitalise on it. Time after time we played some nice football to the edge of the Hart area but were unable to score. Both Paolo & Jack went close with efforts but either shot wide or were denied by some good work by the Hart keeper. At the other end the defence had little problem with the Hart forwards. The only time Ben looked under pressure was from back passes. One of which saw him do a Johan Cruyff like shimmy that left a Hart forward embarrassingly trying to tackle air. We added an inevitable second with a fantastic strike from Benito from a free kick. He curled his shot over the wall into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. The game finished 2-0 to Cougars. A score that definitely flattered the opposition who were in truth totally outplayed. The only negative thing was that we could only score 2 goals.
Man of the match went to Chris whose first half performance was as good as he has played in a Cougars shirt. Callum was awarded best effort for a hard working display in midfield & defence.
The boys at the moment lie 5th in the league but a win next week will secure at least 4th place. I think that this is an excellent achievement by the boys following their promotion last season.
Our last game of the season next week see’s us travel to face Hart Harriers. Lorenzo will have to make sure that the boys are not too complacent over this one. Some of them have already decided that we will win easy and were discussing how many we will score.
Squad
Ben, Charlie, Benito (2), Callum, Paolo, Chris, Archie & Paolo
Under 9 SPL Div 3
Cougars Youth 2 Hart Hurricanes 0
The boys faced Hurricanes for the third time this season after the league upheld a complaint about the previous game and ordered it to be replayed (we won 2-1 that day).
Lorenzo was keen to build on our impressive last 15 minutes on Thursday. We were able to welcome Charlie & Archie back to the squad. Luke missed out due to illness.
The game kicked off in bright sunshine. Right from the start it was clear that as long as we played our football we should pick up the win. Chris was putting in an impressive display down the left easily beating his marker time after time and putting in some good crosses that just wouldn’t fall to a Cougars player. As the half wore on we needed to turn our dominance into a goal. Paolo shot wide, a quickly taken corner gave Jack the chance to shoot narrowly wide from distance. We finally made the breakthrough when Benito reacted first to a loose ball and scored. We tried to add a second before the break and almost did so with some tremendous link up play between Jack & Chris. Chris hit a fierce shot that was well saved by the Hart keeper. Archie looked certain to tap in the rebound but was denied by a brave goal line clearance by a Hart defender. Half time we led 1-0 and were very much in control of the game.
Lorenzo confident of everyone’s ability decided to swap players about in the second half and allowed Callum & Charlie a rare foray into midfield. The second halves was very much like the first with Cougars dominating possession but were unable to capitalise on it. Time after time we played some nice football to the edge of the Hart area but were unable to score. Both Paolo & Jack went close with efforts but either shot wide or were denied by some good work by the Hart keeper. At the other end the defence had little problem with the Hart forwards. The only time Ben looked under pressure was from back passes. One of which saw him do a Johan Cruyff like shimmy that left a Hart forward embarrassingly trying to tackle air. We added an inevitable second with a fantastic strike from Benito from a free kick. He curled his shot over the wall into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. The game finished 2-0 to Cougars. A score that definitely flattered the opposition who were in truth totally outplayed. The only negative thing was that we could only score 2 goals.
Man of the match went to Chris whose first half performance was as good as he has played in a Cougars shirt. Callum was awarded best effort for a hard working display in midfield & defence.
The boys at the moment lie 5th in the league but a win next week will secure at least 4th place. I think that this is an excellent achievement by the boys following their promotion last season.
Our last game of the season next week see’s us travel to face Hart Harriers. Lorenzo will have to make sure that the boys are not too complacent over this one. Some of them have already decided that we will win easy and were discussing how many we will score.
Squad
Ben, Charlie, Benito (2), Callum, Paolo, Chris, Archie & Paolo