U11 Cougars - Farncombe Youth
The FC played out one of those ties that has been a firm fixture from all those years ago when I played as a kid - away at Farncombe. A classic tie.
A superb pitch, built for good football... although the goal design left is scratching out heads (more on this later). Perfect weather (finally, no monsoon or unseasonably high heat) and a great warm up, the boys were in great shape. Unfortunately Louis was not available today as he was ill - get well soon Big Man 🙏 We went into the game with just seven.
After conceding early in the first two fixtures we encouraged the boys to ramp up the intensity today. And they certainly did that! Jermaine played the game in a much deeper role to try and get him on the ball, with Harry in front to break things up. The first quarter was backs-to-the-wall at times but the counterattack was absolutely fantastic. Ari and Theo worked tirelessly on the wings to support TC, who came SO close to giving us the lead but couldn't quite convert. Jojo was rock solid sweeping up at the back, mopping up any danger.
Farncombe managed to score in the second quarter to take the lead, the ball rebounding of a stupidly placed support bar just inside the post! Not going to lie - we weren't 100% sure it had gone in! But unfortunately it was a legitimate goal and the opposition had the lead.
Going into the second half the game became more stretched. Farncombe had some opportunities to further the lead but were struggling to break down the defensive unit. TC and J at the back mopped up incessantly, looking to spring Ari and Tom P on the wings. Jojo chased everything down up top. Theo - in an unfamiliar role to him - was a magician in the middle, linking everything together and intercepting passes all over the place. But unfortunately the lack of subs started to take over and tired legs meant Farncombe could nick two more to go into the last quarter 3-0 up.
Ari took the gloves for the final quarter and made a couple of flying saves. Jojo put himself on the line to stop a shot at point blank range and had to come off for a minute to recover. In this minute the boys on the pitch adjusted their positions between them - a sign of incredible maturity - and held firm till Jojo was ready to get back on.
Tom P capitalised on some smart work from Harry and TC and pulled a goal back to reduce the defecit - a much deserved goal for the boys, and they were back with a spring in their step.
Jermaine took advantage of the game stretching and showed what we all know he can do, pulling the strings from deep. We had a couple of half chances to score and were in the ascendancy but a breakaway goal for Farncombe restored their three goal advantage close to the end and deflated the boys. Final score 4-1.
I cannot put into words (although I will try! 🤣) how incredibly proud we are of them all. The maturity, intelligence and desire to keep playing and playing well.. from start to finish with no subs, is truly amazing. To play entertaining football and express themselves when you're also having to defend as much as we had to is really tough. They never stopped trying, never stopped working, but most importantly never dropped their heads. An unbelievable group of lads that are there for each other and give it their best to play good football as a team. What more can we ask of them? They were amazing.
The performance was the most important thing - they smashed this. The results will come, and when they do, it will be so so worth it.
