Buntingford Cougars U10’s Whites 2 Shefford Saints U10’s 2
Buntingford’s Under 10’s put in a stunning performance at home to Shefford on Saturday. The conditions were difficult for both teams as a rain sodden pitch made the going heavy however the players to their credit made every effort to play a flowing game.
The early encounters saw the visitors gain the upper hand as their fast strikers and tricky midfielders made Cougars work very hard to gain possession and indeed Max Young in the Cougars goal was called on several times in the first ten minutes but dealt with the danger with safe hands.
The host’s guardian though could do little with the opening goal which came from a powerful low drive into the corner from just outside the area.
After the interval Cougars stepped up a gear as Ciaran Jenkins started to find his passes well and got Tom Carter and Josh Ridings into the game. It was Carter who came close to scoring on two occasions as he made penetrating runs into the Saints’ area only to fire just wide.
It was not long though that Cougars were duly rewarded when Evan Howard was involved in a move that eventually found Carter with the ball inside the area, as the midfield dynamo shot the Sainst keeper saved and it rebounded to Josh Lucas who was on hand from close range to equalise.
The away side responded positively as the match became end to end and a few minutes later the visitors were ahead again as they doubled their tally to make it two one with a well worked move that eluded Young between the sticks.
Again the travellers’ goal did not see Cougars drop their heads and they went about the job of getting back into the game with aplomb. Another good passing move that started from Jenkins found Carter in the centre of the pitch and as Kameron Weston found space Carter made a great pass. Weston drove into space on the right side and fired in a low cross to Harry Western, the diminutive Western made no mistake as he placed his shot past the Shefford guardian for Cougar’s second equaliser of the encounter.
The latter stages of the match could have seen either side score a winner were it not for some determined defending and firm committed tackles as well as some quality saves from Cougars replacement keeper Sam Daly in the dying minutes.
After the match Cougars Coach Dean Howard said “The boys were magnificent today. They worked so hard on a tough surface and deserved to get something from the game and with a good Shefford side I think a draw was a fair result.”
