Saturday, 16 February 2008

Cumnor U7s v Summertown Stars (friendly) Sat 16th Feb


Cumnor Firepower Gives Summertown the Winter Blues

A beautiful, bitterly cold morning greeted Cumnor's first trip to Cutteslowe Park. With key players Adam, Ben Mc and Binky absent, Cumnor had to be at their organized best to get past a forceful Summertown.

In the first match, Cumnor began with Ollie in goal, Rory in defence, Will, Ben, James E and Adam W in midfield and sharpshooter Fyn up front. From the kick-off it was obvious that both teams were evenly matched. The game started at a frantic pace with the frost covered pitch causing problems for both sets of players. Summertown launched the first real attack of the game with Ollie saving well from flying winger, Max. As in previous weeks, Cumnor held their shape and tried to stick to the passing game that has served us well. James E was lively early on, calmly directing play from central midfield. Rory once more was rock solid at the back and his no nonsense attitude rubbed off on his teammates. Will showed terrific tenacity in midfield, stealing the ball away from a Summertown player before threading a lovely pass through to Fyn. With just the goalie to beat, Fyn made no mistake. 1-0.

Unlike previous matches, the first goal didn't open the floodgates for Cumnor with Summertown more than matching the Blues in the possession stakes. Yet Cumnor were the more threatening, with Ben and Will linking well to set up Fyn who forced a good save from the keeper.

In the second-half, tinkermen Tim and Dave put Will at the back (for a breather), pushed Rory into midfield (who'd been lobbying hard to break out of defence) and swapped Ben for Ollie in goal. James broke up another Summertown attack and sent Ollie off down the park with another great pass. Summertown pushed on in search of the equaliser and would have got it but for some match defining heroics from Ben in goal. Inspired by Ben's save, Cumnor pressed on and got the ever dangerous Fyn into a goalscoring position. Naturally, he scored. 2-0.

At the re-start, a battling Adam W made way for the all-action Henry who flew straight into the fight making a series of solid blocks. But still Summertown attacked and would have scored but for James' superb goal-line clearance. With the ball pinging up and down the pitch (and the boys becoming increasingly breathless), Will teed up Rory who just went wide with his effort. Both Will and Fyn went close before Will skipped through a gap and scored a lovely goal with his trusty left foot. 3-0.

With Cumnor in control the chances continued to come. Fyn played Rory in and our star defender turned goal poacher supreme scored. 4-0. Nice strike rate, Rory. Fyn almost got another hat-trick after a blistering run and cross from the left wing by Will.

With the game drawing to a close, James threaded a neat ball into Will who beat one man and then managed to keep his composure and hit the ball over the goalie as he fell. 5-0.

A comprehensive win in the first game put added pressure on Cumnor for the second match with Summertown determined to get their revenge. With Rory in goal, Henry & Joe in defence, James, Laurie and Ben in midfield and skipper Toby up front.

Toby set a captain's example and almost got Cumnor off to a flying start with a smart effort on goal. Both teams sought the early advantage and it took a piece of quick thinking by Rory to clear his box quickly and launch the attack which eventually set Ben up to score the first goal with a powerful shot. 1-0.

Cumnor strived to dominate the game, pouncing on the midfield scraps and turning defence into attack. Joe was alert to any threat at the back and Henry continued to make his trademark thrusting runs. The ball broke free at the edge of the Summertown box and a ferocious shot pole-axed Toby. With ref Tim about to blow so Toby could get attention, he noticed his son Ben latch onto the rebound and crash the ball home. The whistle never came. Good advantage there ref... and a great assist, Toby! 2-0.

Summertown upped the pace at this point and went close before some clever thinking by Henry saw him intercept an attack, look up and then play the pass of the day to Toby who ran on and on to score a superb goal. 3-0.

From the re-start, Summertown threw everything forward put Cumnor under tremendous pressure. A combination of Rory and his defenders kept out three goalbound chances before eventually, the ball crept in over the line. 3-1.

In the second-half, Will went in goal and Ollie came on for Ben. Despite having the two goal advantage, Cumnor started slowly and were soon under the kosh. A good Summertown move saw their dangerous striker through on goal. Unfortunately, Dave (standing behind the goal)distracted his son and Will was beaten low to his left. Sorry, son! 3-2.

With the midfield battle intensifying, Laurie and Henry came into their own. James S - growing in confidence with every touch - made some excellent tackles and his balance and flicks bamboozled the Summertown players. Good midfield work saw Toby break free and score his second with a screaming shot. 4-2.

Cumnor were almost home and dry and an arcing run by Laurie gave Ollie a chance from wide right in the box. With little time to settle himself, Ollie hit a good shot which unfortunately found the side-netting. In the last few minutes, Adam W replaced a shattered Henry who had literally run himself into the ground. Adam made a good tackle which set Laurie up on another of his bullocking runs. With options running out he just managed to squeeze the ball through to Ollie who scored with a fine shot. 5-2. Final whistle.

Another excellent squad performance by Cumnor. We saw everything today: great finishing, strong tackles, brave saves, wonderful passing. The scorelines might imply easy wins for both teams but they weren't. We were in a real match against Summertown and the players will have learnt a lot about their character, resolve and coolness under pressure. We just need to talk to each other on the pitch now...

Player of the Week: for a complete all-action performance (passing, tackling, running and goalscoring) Will.




Next week: no training (half-term)

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