U11 Pumas Match Reports
Mercian Festival Junior Football League, Division 1 (Saturday 10th September)
Westbury Celtic U11 Youth ... 2 V Droitwich Spa U11 Pumas ... 5
Football is the real winner...
Droitwich Spa U11 Pumas started their 2011-12 Mercian League campaign with a tough fixture away to local rivals Westbury Celtic Youth. It’s fair to say that the Pumas have rarely enjoyed good results against this opposition in previous seasons but they nevertheless approached the game with a positive attitude.
The Pumas arrived at the ground and were greeted by some of the parents from Westbury who explained that their manager had been unavoidably detained in another part of the country and was therefore unable to make the game. It also meant that the home team were unable to field the required number of players. In addition, when Westbury came to set up the goals, they discovered that one was of standard height but the other was a foot taller! Hmm, a bit of a conundrum as the Pumas had a squad of 10 very keen players, all of whom were chomping at the bit...
The choices were apparently clear: postpone the game or play 6 V 7. The Pumas coaching staff suggested a third option – the game could be played as 6 V 6 in accordance with a recently released ‘Best Practice’ guideline. The referee and parents from Westbury were happy to proceed with the game under these conditions. After parents and supporters from both teams had pulled together in order to prepare the pitch, the game could finally start.
The Pumas started well and played fast, flowing football which appeared to take Westbury by surprise. After several attacks had been thwarted by the Westbury defence, Cory Webley slotted the ball into the back of the net after 5 minutes. The away team took the initiative and played some attractive football before Joseph Ilsley fired home for the Puma’s second goal. Although they were 2 goals down and under a lot of pressure, Westbury always looked dangerous on the counter-attack and Simon Brownlee was forced into a number of fine saves to keep his team in the game.
Westbury tested the away team’s defence and the Pumas had to keep their discipline in order to protect their lead. Just before the break, Joe Goss headed the ball into the Westbury net, following a good free kick delivery from Eliiott Frapwell’s “sweet left foot”.
After the break, Westbury looked like a different team as they pressed forward with speed, aggression and real purpose. They were rewarded 5 minutes into the second half with a goal to make it 1-3. The Pumas lost their shape and struggled to contain the home team who grabbed another goal with 10 minutes of the game remaining. After some tough-talking from the Pumas coaching staff and, with Westbury tiring a little, the away side pulled themselves together and regained the initiative. The Spa defence once more asserted themselves and frustrated the Westbury forwards with a display of real grit and determination. Cameron Blount, Natalya Pulver and Callum Ford were marshalled well by captain, Oliver Sankey.
The Pumas won a corner and the ball broke to their captain who launched a formidable drive from some distance but his effort was well saved by the Westbury ‘keeper. This seemed to give the away side renewed confidence and following a clearance from the Westbury goalkeeper, Joseph Ilsley collected the ball on the half-way line and demonstrated a number of skilful manoeuvres, before drilling the ball into the net for a truly memorable goal. This seemed to finally end the Westbury resistance and Spa then played free-flowing football and the scoring was completed by James Webster when he slotted the ball home from an acute angle.
This was a hard-fought example of what junior football is all about: both teams gave 100% and wanted to win but they wouldn’t have been given this chance had it not been for the adults that were in charge using their discretion and letting it remain an even contest. Everyone involved in this opening encounter should be proud of their attitude in remembering that it’s only ever about the kids being allowed to enjoy a game of football...
