Cougars find voice...

Matthew Wyatt U15 League Cup Semi-Final

Gotherington (0) V (0) LRFC Cougars 

LRFC Cougars win 4-5 on Penalties.

The pitch was sticky, the middle like a bog where you might find a neanderthal man buried and preserved. To find him you'd need to be looking down and this match involved far too much looking up. The ball spending a lot of time whizzing through the air, generally towards our goal. 

Gotherington have always been a difficult team for us to play against. Last season we were 2-0 up and ended up conspiring to draw 2-2 and this has been a familiar tale over the last few seasons. That their pitch is on the small side of regulation, and apparently was put in place in 1965, does not help us either. This game followed a familiar pattern Gotherington playing a very effective, direct, approach against our passing game. It made for an interesting contest. 

We enjoyed the lion share of possession but at 0-0 Gotherington remained a threat on the break. Despite this chances for both sides were few and far between. In the second half particularly we really dominated but failed to make a clear chance. Jorge going close with a looping header was the best we had. 

Without dwelling on the game too much there was a significant positive which was that the team is finally finding its voice. George along with Sam was marshaling the back line, Freddie talking and calling in midfield and up front Jorge was leading the line by example. This is what we want, what we have been trying to get the team doing for a very long time. The pass of the game came from such communication.....with play building down our right, Taylor burst forward down the left in acres of space. He shouted for the ball, Dan G looked and switched play putting the ball right into his path, the pass of the match. Taylor did well to get his shot away and the keeper well saved. 

At full time it was 0-0. Penalties.

The five caballeros were Jorge, Jacob, George, Max and Freddie. Will in goal. They all scored, excellent penalties. Jorge took the first settled our nerves. The first Gotherington player missed his penalty, the ball hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing out. It would have been an excellent strike and after that the Gotherington penalties were all excellent. Will did get his hand to one but the power took it beyond him. We had the final penalty to win the tie. 

We needed someone cool, with presence, a leader of men, a player with cool sophistication and effortless charm, a player that the global audience watching live could get behind. A player that could inspire a generation, bring small children and women to tears, a player who could tame a tiger. A player who could star in an Athena print holding a baby. We didn't have one of those so Freddie took it. 

Like Max before him, Freddie put his penalty into the bottom right corner the ball flying straight into the side netting. Perfect!

Each week it gets harder to pick an MotM such is the quality and commitment that we are playing with. Today Ryan was MotM for a performance of committed energy. He does so much destructive work in central midfield and on a heavy pitch like today that is far from easy. Over the last week or two he has also added creativity from midfield and was threading balls through from deep. We are seeing what a player he is.  

Next up in the Matthew Wyatt U15 League Cup will be Charlton Rovers Blues, in the semi-final, who beat Bishops Cleeve United 4-1 today. We played them in October winning 3-1. The other semi-final will be between Painswick and the winner of Lydney and Charlton Rovers Reds.

We get to do the same again next week as we face Gotherington at home in the league. Lets learn from this match and make it count next.