Ashes to Ashton as U10 Cougars Crash and Burn
Town 2 – 8 Ashton on the Mersey
The first home fixture of the season, and could the U10s turn around their fortunes after the
defeat at Sale ? Whilst hopes in the crowd weren’t high as Ashton came into the match
unbeaten and with some impressive results behind them, it was all to play for.
The U10s opened brightly with some strong
tackling and a shot from Jordan blocked by the
formidable Ashton defence to force an early
Town corner. Could we rip up the form book
and force a surprise early goal ?
Perhaps Town were so surprised by the early
success that concentration eluded them as
Ashton tore up the field from the corner and
with the centre forward straight through on
goal scored a too-easy first. And just when it
seemed that things couldn’t get worse, Town
lost the ball from the kick off and an Ashton
second came immediately afterwards.
Town looked shocked, but kept battling; one of
Jack marauding up the right wing
Jacks’s mazy runs drew a foul from Ashton
and Matthew was just wide from the free kick.
Henners made a great save and things were looking far more under control, but then from a
tight angle came a third from Ashton. Would Town fold or fight ?
The boys showed their pride in the
team with a spirited period of play.
Matthew won a free kick and Jack
tested the Ashton keeper from the
dead ball. Wilmslow’s passing
suddenly looked fluent and Matthew’s
ball into space gave Jack a shot on
goal knocked behind for a Town
corner. James’s precise restart
caused chaos in the Ashton defence
and Wilmslow had a well deserved
goal back.
The crowd began to believe in
miracles and Jack was terrorising the
Ashton defence on the right wing.
James and Jordan linked up and a cross seemed destined to bring a further repost, but
Matthew’s boot was agonisingly short, bringing memories of Gazza in the semi-final of Euro
’96 for the older generation on the touchline.
James through on goal again
Just as it seemed that Town had ridden
the storm and could look forward to a
rest and regroup in the break a cruel
blow at the end of the first period as the
Ashton no. 9, clear on goal rounded
Henners. The result was no longer in
doubt, but the Cougars played on for
pride.
Federico came on for Matthew in the
second period and was looking lively.
Greg was starting to boss the defence
Federico fighting all the way in defence
and made some crunching tackles. With spirit like this perhaps we could still hope ? Alas not
and despite a valiant last ditch effort to clear on the line from the indefatigable George,
Ashton made it five.
Town were still looking great in phases
with Jack, Jordan and James linking
well and looking cultured and
dangerous. The boys held on until the
end of the period, no capitulation and
still battling against the odds.
Man of the match Greg with another
crunching tackle
An Ashton corner came early in the
final period and a desperately unlucky
Greg made a fine defensive header
only for the ball to fall direct to an
orange shirt and bounce straight past
a blameless Henners. Federico
showed the way for the boys with a
fine display of never say die defensive
hard work on the right wing. Could his
spirit bring the team their just
desserts? A great ball to James
brought a fine shot and a deserved
consolation second goal.
A further two Ashton goals rubbed salt in Town’s wounds, either side of even an excellent
long range screamer from a free kick by Jack rattling the bar and confirming that Lady Luck
was not to be found at Lacey Green by Town today
A hard lesson in concentration, winning the loose ball and finding space for Town, but some
really good play and two goals to give us confidence for our next fixture.
Managers Comments: ‘The Hairdryer Treatment!’
Welcome to the world of ‘Division 1’ U10s Junior Football.
Despite the score line which on the face of it looks like a complete disaster, our
performance today had many positives!
Backs against the wall right from the off; we conceded 3 goals in the space of a few
minutes; lack of concentration and too much respect for the opposition gifted Ashton
with a goal frenzy!!
2nd period was the most encouraging, which saw us challenge and play as a team
more.
Today was all about ‘Standing up and being counted’.
Positives:
Greg – some great tackling, and battled for the team – MOTM Well done
Jack – covered lots of ground, good team play and great passing – well played
George – nice passing, lovely tackles – keep it going
James – 2 great goals, better challenges, great character to get back into the game –
well done lets have some more goals
Whilst the Hairdryer stays in the bag, next weeks game against Urmston Meadowside
gives us a great chance to get some points on the board.
COME ON BOYS – WELL DONE