With the wettest winter on record Buntingford Cougars weekend schedule saw just two matches take place at the weekend.
Cougars Under 10’s and Ashwell Academicals were a great advertisement for grass roots youth football as both teams put on class act on the 3G artificial surface at Baldock’s Arena.
The first match saw Cougars Blues play Ashwell’s Bushells in an even affair where both teams tried patiently to create chances.
After ten minutes Cougars broke the deadlock with a well worked goal that involved Charlie Fountain and Nathan Anderson and some clever footwork from George Godfrey who finished off the move with a strike low into the net.
The encounter then ebbed and flowed and as Ashwell started to create chances the defensive pairing of Brogan Fakhfakh and Jake Vottariello and Cougars guardian Sam Daly had to be in top form and they did not disappoint.
Just before half time Cougars then doubled the lead with a firm strike from Nathan Anderson to make it two at the interval. The early stages of the second half saw Ashwell gain the upper hand and after a free kick was awarded wide on the left the Academicals scored with a fine strike inside the far post.
The exciting match continued and it could have gone either way until the last kick of the match that saw George Godfrey dribble in from the right and score from a tight angle. The 3-1 scoreline at the final whistle was possibly a little flattering for Cougars but well earned. Man of the match for Cougars Blues was Charlie Fountain.
Cougars Whites then had a good match against Ashwell Strikes which again started quite evenly with some good football on display. In this match Ashwell were first to open the scoring after six minutes and then doubled the lead before Cougars Kameron Weston scored his fifth goal of the season when he received the ball in a central position and shrugged off two defenders to place the ball coolly past the Ashwell keeper. Ashwell went on to find the net again in the second half in what was a good local match enjoyed by players and spectators alike.
Richard Thorpe’s Cougars Under 12’s Blues also managed to overcome the elements to record a 3-1 home victory over Langford Youth which moves them from 5th to 3rd in the league and just one point below the top two teams.
