Double Ward Score for Sam
Peter Briffett’s Cougars Under16’s Whites delighted The Bury crowd by signing off their season in fine form with a six-nil victory over Barmond United. Cougars goal fest saw Charlie Murray net a hat-trick to compliment a brace from Sam Ward and a goal from Daniel Prior.
Cougars Under15’s played their last home fixture of the season at the Bury against an Enfield side that in a fixture that resulted in a 1-1 drew earlier in the season. It was a crucial match in Chris Adams’ quest to win the Mid Herts Premier League title and to add to the occasion there were cousins on opposing sides with Buntingford’s Sid Arnold facing his cousin from Enfield and his uncle in the dug-out.
Cougars started fast with Archie Rhodes getting in behind the Enfield back line with a couple of early chances that went just wide. On twelve minutes Rhodes won a corner, Owen Groves played a low delivery to the edge of the box which Min Lankester read perfectly and with a first time strike found the roof of the net to open the scoring for the home side. In the next ten minutes Buntingford pressured Enfield with Luke Garratt coming close and Josh Bradfield becoming a constant threat. The only real effort from the visitors was a shot that was well held low to his left by Jay Caine between the Cougars sticks.
In the second half Cougars emerged a much more positive side and really took the game to Enfield, creating some good openings. Liam Smith had a shot blocked on the line and Matt Adams saw a shot turned round the post whilst Matt Inman was at his creative best out right and was starting to dictate the game. Midway in the second half a five minute spell saw Cougars kill the game off as Rhodes found the bottom corner and then doubled his tally to put the hosts three up.
In the Sky Sports studio after the game Gaffer Chris Adams said “Today we weren’t at our best but we restricted Enfield to few chances and created plenty of our own. Our victory guarantees us a top two finish and it’s still all to play for the top spot. Special mention today to a player who showed desire, determination and a high work rate, he was a positive influence on the team and when we started to match what he was doing the game was ours and that is Matt Inman. The perfect way to tell the manager you should have started me!!”
Cougars Under10’s entertained Stevenage Cobras on an uneven pitch that resulted in a scrappy game of football compared to previous matches. The first half ended goalless despite Buntingford having several decent attempts on target from Ben Maley, Stan Gurney and Oliver Baker which commanded all demanded a good save from the Cobras keeper. In the 2nd half Stan Gurney and Ben Maley regained some extra control in midfield alongside Oliver Baker and this allowed the hosts to put pressure on the Cobras. Ben Maley opened the scoring and then for the second goal ran three quarters of the pitch to deliver a nice pass to the running Ethan Vater to slot home before the prolific Maley scored the third with a strong finish with some good running to get in to position in front of goal. Cougars did a good job of keeping the Cobras from scoring with man of the match George Brownless in goal making some good saves and having an assured performance. Reliable and strong tackling from Sam Maley and Sam Myles in defense kept the Cobras at bay many times whilst the forward line of Freddie Bentley, Dexter Cumberland and Ethan Vater applied pressure to their defense wherever possible. Cougars reporter on the sidelines Josh Maley told Match of The Day’s Alan Shearer “It wasn’t the prettiest of games but it was a solid performance and keeps Cougars on a winning run.”
Buntingford Cougars Under11’s teams all played well but were unable to gain a point as Cougars Whites Man of the Match Luke Goodchild could not stop Bassingbourn from securing three points, the consolation for Cougars courtesy of the prolific Casey Heenan with his nineteenth goals of the season. Boss Dean Howard remained positive singing the praises of Tom Carter and the team for what he described as a great performance. Ian Jenkins U11s Stripes went down three one at home to Bishop Stortford. George Hegarty was awarded Man of the Match for his outstanding defensive performance and Yann Boulter added to his seasons tally.