COUGARS CLAW THEIR WAY TO VICTORY OVER PANTHERS

Cougars Under 10’s continued their unbeaten start to the season with a narrow victory over Melbourn Panthers at the Bury. The boys started brightly and dominated the first half without converting a whole host of chances. Rylee Kitteringham was closest to opening the scoring with only brave defending, brilliant goalkeeping and a slice of bad luck stopping the net from bulging. Opta stats at one stage had Cougars with 80% possession. Chances came a plenty with Oscar Kay shaving the post with a long range attempt before seeing a left footed drive palmed around the post, whilst Ben Lewis also went close with a fizzing effort. The best free flowing move of the half started from the back where Adam Sleath combined with Myles Woolford who cleverly fed Kitteringham only to see his shot narrowly miss. Melbourn were still dangerous on the counter and only thanks to a leaping save from Lui LoConte enabled Cougars to go in all square at the break.

The second half started in much the same vain with Kay seeing a number of efforts blocked, going just wide or bouncing off the cross bar, while William Brown also went close after a mazy run. Cougars couldn’t relax at the back and required some crunching tackles from Sleath, great covering by T J Curtis and Lewis, and a couple of brilliant saves by LoConte to keep the Panthers at bay. Finally the deadlock was broken when the seemingly impregnable Melbourn defence was breached after a Kitteringham shot pinballed around the box before Kay slammed home. The final ten minutes were a nervy affair as Cougars couldn’t retain possession and started to operate on the counter. When they did break there was a brilliant slaloming run, like Franz Klammer in his prime, from Kitteringham who was somehow denied by the Melbourn keeper. The final efforts came from Brown and a thunderbolt from Woolford. The crowd and players left the Bury scratching their heads as to how they hadn’t seen more than one goal, however the good news was Cougars have now gone 90 minutes without conceding. Next up is a tough away trip at Baldock where Cougars will need to be at their very best to keep their run going.

Share the Post: