Post by Big Fat Ron on Apr 27, 2009 15:20:37 GMT
Sunday 26th April 2009 Woking Cougars v Guildford Saints in the U11 Cup final. The day started brightly with hardly a cloud in the sky and the twin towers of Chertsey Town FC glistened in the spring sunshine. The kick off was delayed by half an hour which added to an already fever pitch sense of anticipation.
A full crowd was gathered in the main stand and a few choruses of "Cougars, Cougars" were being chanted from those supporters who were buoyed by the fact that their mates messers, Fosters, Stella and John Smith were in attendance.
Guildford Saints looked imposing as they started their pre match warm up. This was to be a tough match for the U11's who already lost 4-1 to their opponents who had gone all season undefeated and had only conceded 9 goals along the way.
Cougars on the other hand seemed fairly relaxed as they warmed up high fiving and chest bumping in a team bonding ritual that left managers Richard Edwardes and John Chapman looking bemused and Coach Mark Wheelhouse looking for his lost contact lens.
The team talk was all about having fun and "Playing with a chuckle in your boots" tactics were given out to the boys "Pass to a white shirt and don't conceed"
The captains shook hands and Cougars were to be playing with the slight breeze at their backs. The line up to begin with
Max Chew
Michael Griffin Matt Burt Alfie Wheelhouse (C) Rory Kelly
Shawn Barclay Davey Parmenter Harry Chew Sam Hermon
Bobby Edwardes Michael Chapman
Subs
Jack Taylor
Jack Mannion
The ref blew his whistle and battle commenced.
Cup finals are traditionally tense nervous affairs and this was no exception. The game started at a fast tempo with both sides attacking and counter attacking. Cougars started to get the upper hand with the midfield quartet working well to create space on the flanks. Michael Chapman was being man marked by 3 of their players and did well to get on the end of some passes and created panic in the Saints defence everytime he ran at them. Guildford possess some very quick forwards but the defence were playing well and maintained their shape and discipline with Matthew Burt having a fantastic game as sweeper on his birthday.
The ball was being knocked from end to end with both teams enjoying some moments of good passing play. A period of pressure from Cougars resulted in a number of corners being played which Guildford defended well until one clearance fell to Rory Kelly.
Rory, who is the U11's equivalent of John Arne Riise, controlled the ball looked up and unleashed a left footed thunderbolt that whistled into the net leaving the Saints keeper with no chance. Cue the wild goalscoring celebrations of everyone connected with Cougars.
There was still a long time to go and the boys were urged to keep calm and stay focused which was a bit rich coming from the over excited, panic stricken bench !!!
The rest of the half passed by in a bit of a blur with both sides creating chances the better of which fell to Cougars, those that Saints created were being dealt with the magnificent defence and the ever dependable custodian between the sticks Max Chew.
Half time and a chance to calm those nerves and refill the pint glasses in readiness for the emotional roller coaster that was to be the second half.
The lads were told to defend in numbers as the wind was against us and to hold the shape and keep hunting in packs. A change was made with Shawn Barclay who'd run his socks off coming off for Jack Mannion.
Davey and Harry were urged to keep the work rate up as the Saints midfield seemed to be growing stronger and stronger and we needed to match them in terms of effort.
So started the second half and nerves that were already frayed were now shredded with the supporters all developing a nervous habit of looking at their watches every few seconds.
With the wind at their backs Guildford Saints started to build up a head of steam with one attack being followed by another and then another. Again the defence held firm with Michael and Alfie throwing themselves into tackles and challenges knowing full well that the twin rocks of Rory and Matt were there to clear up anything that dared to get by.
The midfield were huffing and puffing with all their might and managed to give the defence some respite by playing keep ball down the flanks which gave Bobby and Michael the opportunity to get their foot on the ball. Sam Herman who had ran his heart out down the left side came off for a rest and Jack "The Terminator" Taylor came on.
Still the Saints kept on marching on with their assault upon the Cougars goal and everyone was thinking that it can only be a matter of time before the defence is breached but still they held firm with Max being the coolest goalkeeper you will ever see calmly catching and gathering everything and at one stage even dribbling the ball around their centre forward.
Suddenly defence was being turned into attack and with a sweeping passage of play the ball was being knocked around by the white shirted maestros. It caught Saints off balance and with their players scrambling to get back to defended the ball was played down the right wing and crossed into the box. A scramble of players tried to attack/clear the ball but it fell to JT who drilled the ball into the net. 2-0 and the crowd went into a wild frenzy of delight surely that was it the cup was ours there could only be a few minutes left surely. The question was asked of the linesman and yes our fears were confirmed there was still 20+ minutes to play !!!
This was a time of stout hearts, strong wills and even stronger bodies and it was a good job that the boys showed that they had all 3 by the bucketload as the 3 stooges in the tactical area had none of them !!
The rest of the match was one of gritty determination and sublime defending by all the boys culminating in a fantastic goal line clearance from Harry who celebrated it as if he'd scored the winning goal.
The clock slowly started to count down 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, injury time and then the ref's whistle finally put us out of our misery and into wonder land. Cougars Cup Winners !!!!
Hearty handshakes and back slapping was the order of the day with everyone being proud of what the team had achieved.
Guildford Saints went to get their medals with everyone applauding their efforts and then it was Cougars turn. All the players went up everyone of them a hero including Billy Crook and Leo Arnone both of whom unfortunately couldn't feature in the final.
Then the moment came Alfie receiving the cup and holding it aloft for the Cougar faithful to roar their approval.
A full crowd was gathered in the main stand and a few choruses of "Cougars, Cougars" were being chanted from those supporters who were buoyed by the fact that their mates messers, Fosters, Stella and John Smith were in attendance.
Guildford Saints looked imposing as they started their pre match warm up. This was to be a tough match for the U11's who already lost 4-1 to their opponents who had gone all season undefeated and had only conceded 9 goals along the way.
Cougars on the other hand seemed fairly relaxed as they warmed up high fiving and chest bumping in a team bonding ritual that left managers Richard Edwardes and John Chapman looking bemused and Coach Mark Wheelhouse looking for his lost contact lens.
The team talk was all about having fun and "Playing with a chuckle in your boots" tactics were given out to the boys "Pass to a white shirt and don't conceed"
The captains shook hands and Cougars were to be playing with the slight breeze at their backs. The line up to begin with
Max Chew
Michael Griffin Matt Burt Alfie Wheelhouse (C) Rory Kelly
Shawn Barclay Davey Parmenter Harry Chew Sam Hermon
Bobby Edwardes Michael Chapman
Subs
Jack Taylor
Jack Mannion
The ref blew his whistle and battle commenced.
Cup finals are traditionally tense nervous affairs and this was no exception. The game started at a fast tempo with both sides attacking and counter attacking. Cougars started to get the upper hand with the midfield quartet working well to create space on the flanks. Michael Chapman was being man marked by 3 of their players and did well to get on the end of some passes and created panic in the Saints defence everytime he ran at them. Guildford possess some very quick forwards but the defence were playing well and maintained their shape and discipline with Matthew Burt having a fantastic game as sweeper on his birthday.
The ball was being knocked from end to end with both teams enjoying some moments of good passing play. A period of pressure from Cougars resulted in a number of corners being played which Guildford defended well until one clearance fell to Rory Kelly.
Rory, who is the U11's equivalent of John Arne Riise, controlled the ball looked up and unleashed a left footed thunderbolt that whistled into the net leaving the Saints keeper with no chance. Cue the wild goalscoring celebrations of everyone connected with Cougars.
There was still a long time to go and the boys were urged to keep calm and stay focused which was a bit rich coming from the over excited, panic stricken bench !!!
The rest of the half passed by in a bit of a blur with both sides creating chances the better of which fell to Cougars, those that Saints created were being dealt with the magnificent defence and the ever dependable custodian between the sticks Max Chew.
Half time and a chance to calm those nerves and refill the pint glasses in readiness for the emotional roller coaster that was to be the second half.
The lads were told to defend in numbers as the wind was against us and to hold the shape and keep hunting in packs. A change was made with Shawn Barclay who'd run his socks off coming off for Jack Mannion.
Davey and Harry were urged to keep the work rate up as the Saints midfield seemed to be growing stronger and stronger and we needed to match them in terms of effort.
So started the second half and nerves that were already frayed were now shredded with the supporters all developing a nervous habit of looking at their watches every few seconds.
With the wind at their backs Guildford Saints started to build up a head of steam with one attack being followed by another and then another. Again the defence held firm with Michael and Alfie throwing themselves into tackles and challenges knowing full well that the twin rocks of Rory and Matt were there to clear up anything that dared to get by.
The midfield were huffing and puffing with all their might and managed to give the defence some respite by playing keep ball down the flanks which gave Bobby and Michael the opportunity to get their foot on the ball. Sam Herman who had ran his heart out down the left side came off for a rest and Jack "The Terminator" Taylor came on.
Still the Saints kept on marching on with their assault upon the Cougars goal and everyone was thinking that it can only be a matter of time before the defence is breached but still they held firm with Max being the coolest goalkeeper you will ever see calmly catching and gathering everything and at one stage even dribbling the ball around their centre forward.
Suddenly defence was being turned into attack and with a sweeping passage of play the ball was being knocked around by the white shirted maestros. It caught Saints off balance and with their players scrambling to get back to defended the ball was played down the right wing and crossed into the box. A scramble of players tried to attack/clear the ball but it fell to JT who drilled the ball into the net. 2-0 and the crowd went into a wild frenzy of delight surely that was it the cup was ours there could only be a few minutes left surely. The question was asked of the linesman and yes our fears were confirmed there was still 20+ minutes to play !!!
This was a time of stout hearts, strong wills and even stronger bodies and it was a good job that the boys showed that they had all 3 by the bucketload as the 3 stooges in the tactical area had none of them !!
The rest of the match was one of gritty determination and sublime defending by all the boys culminating in a fantastic goal line clearance from Harry who celebrated it as if he'd scored the winning goal.
The clock slowly started to count down 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, injury time and then the ref's whistle finally put us out of our misery and into wonder land. Cougars Cup Winners !!!!
Hearty handshakes and back slapping was the order of the day with everyone being proud of what the team had achieved.
Guildford Saints went to get their medals with everyone applauding their efforts and then it was Cougars turn. All the players went up everyone of them a hero including Billy Crook and Leo Arnone both of whom unfortunately couldn't feature in the final.
Then the moment came Alfie receiving the cup and holding it aloft for the Cougar faithful to roar their approval.