Egerton Panthers 2-0 Tytherington B
Panthers get off to a flyer
The Panthers were up first as they began the battle for the Albert Steele trophy, against a team they beat in the last minute only two weeks ago in a hotly contested and controversial game. It was time to put all ideas of a “friendly” game to the back of their minds and concentrate on the job at hand, as a winning start is a must in these competitions.
From the moment the whistle blew, the Panthers flew out of the traps, throwing caution to the wind and going for the kill from the off. With wingers Luke and Leo stretching the play, the space created in midfield was used to good effect by Ed, linking with his midfield and attack without coming under too much pressure. The solid partnership of defenders Andy and Ben seemed to be coping with what little pressure Tytherington were throwing at them and with no nonsense commanding of his area by Mitch, the Panthers were in little danger of conceding, in fact most of the early play was in the Tytherington half.
The Panthers were growing in confidence and hadn’t it been for a nick off a defenders head from Ollie’s corner, Leo would have surely nodded home the opening goal. The away keeper was now under fire, saving rasping shots from Luke, Ollie and Leo in quick succession.
It seemed that the opening goal was on its way and it came courtesy of a well struck half volley from Ollie. A floated cross to the back post from Leo was driven home under the keeper by the number 21, cue the celebrations, of which all the players joined in. 1-0 HT.
Half time saw the introduction of Adam from the bench and the domination continued from the start. With Tytherington struggling to penetrate the Panthers defence, a quick change in tactics saw Andy replaced by striker Alex as they pushed for another goal. The goal came moments later when a positional change saw Leo switch to the right wing; he took on his marker and fired a low right footed shot across the area and into the bottom corner. 2-0
Moments later it could have been 3 when the Panthers were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area. Ollie stepped up and smashed it just inches from the top corner. Leo had a further chance to increase the score having skipped past a couple of defenders in the box; however his effort was struck into the keepers’ chest.
The Panthers were now in control; however a sudden lapse in concentration saw Tytherington awarded a penalty 3 minutes from time. Mitch made himself big in the goal and with a few jumps from side to side, managed to put the striker off, who’s attempt resembled John Terry’s in Moscow, slipping as he struck the ball which cannoned off the outside of the post for a goal kick.
This ended the game as a contest and when the referee blew the whistle, the Panthers left the pitch with the best possible start and the 3 points in the bag. FT 2-0
Egerton Pumas 3-2 Tytherington A
Pumas made to work for 3 points
Having witnessed the first game, the Pumas could see that Tytherington had pooled their strongest players into their “A” team and knew they were in for a battle, but with 3 points at stake they were up for the challenge.
Both teams sparred with each other during the first 5 minutes, neither willing to go for the knockout, but the game sparked into life when Tytherington opened the scoring. The striker found himself in too much space as the pumas defence backed off and fired home to make it 1-0.
The Pumas were now on the back foot and would need to up their game to stay in the match. They did this with ease as a swift move by Ben and Bradley saw the latter cross to the back post for it to be met on the slide by Stan to poke the ball into the roof of the net 1-1. Could the Pumas build on this?
It didn’t look like it as 5 minutes later, the Tytherington striker was once again given too much time in the box to fire low past Matt into the bottom corner 2-1 HT.
If the cliché “football is a game of two halves” was too be used today, this was the game it was to be associated with. The Pumas came out in the second half with an urgency that showed they wanted to win this game. Matt was pulling off great saves to keep the score at 2-1 and the defence was beginning to find its feet as the pressure began to sway towards Tytherington. The pressure paid off when Bradleys cross/shot flew into the top corner from the edge of the box to level the scores 2-2.
A swift attack by Tytherington saw them hit the post at the other end, their manager falling to his knees, praying for a bit more luck.....prayers like these don’t get answered on Mereheath lane!
With the clock ticking down, Egerton broke quickly and created a 2 on 1 situation; Bradley’s first touch was a little heavy so he needed to stretch, injuring himself in the process, to poke the ball past the defender and into the path of the lightening quick Jack, who calmly slotted the ball under the on rushing keeper to raise the roof and make it 3-2!!! With only a few moments left the Pumas composed themselves until the whistle to follow the Panthers in taking all 3 points. The Pumas now have a couple of weeks to build on this result and work on getting back to their best as on another day they would have made light work of Tytherington. FT 3-2
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Egerton Vs Davenham 5/2/2011
Davenham 2-0 Egerton Panthers
Missed Chances Prove Costly
With most all other games in Mid Cheshire called off due to the torrential rain, it came as a surprise that the game dubbed by the gaffer as “our local derby” went ahead. With the ground as heavy as it was, with puddles large enough to lose Archie in, the Panthers knew from the first whistle it was going to be hard going. With pride at stake both teams flew at each other in the opening stages with crunching tackles flying in from Ed Franklin. With the pitch beginning to cut up from the start, Panthers wingers Luke and Leo were finding it hard to use their pace and trickery down the wings so most of the play was conducted in the centre of the pitch.
For long periods of the first half, the pace of the game was slow, the mud now having a large part to play. The Panthers were forced into shooting from distance and their best effort of the first half was struck by Leo, although it missed the target by a good few yards which summed up a tough first half during which neither team really threatened the goal. HT 0-0
A shake up at half time seemed to lift the Panthers and a swift move down the right by Alex released Ollie, who looked up and spotted Adam steaming into the box, Ollie smashed the ball across the 6 yard line into the path of Adam to set up what looked like a certain goal, but the ball skipped off the muddy surface, connected with his shin pad and with the keeper already beaten, the ball flew the wrong side of the upright. In top of the table clashes like these, chances don’t come too often. However this was not the case when only minutes later Adam flashed the ball across the box towards the on rushing Alex only for him to misjudge the bounce and fire his shot wide. Would the missed chances prove costly? Yes!
Five minutes from time, Davenham swung a corner in for it to be met on the half volley and fired past Mitch, who could do nothing about it, to put Davenham ahead. 1-0. A roll of the dice was then made, Andy was replaced by Ollie and the ever dependable Ben was left on his own in defence as the Panthers pushed for an equaliser. A chance fell to Leo on the edge of the area moments later, only for his effort to be smashed straight at the keeper. The resulting goal kick lead to a 2 on 1 situation and a clever ball fed the Davenham striker to score their second 2-0. FT
As the team talk stated at the end of the game, on another day our earlier chances would have hit the back of the net and the game would have been completely different. With the conditions as bad as they were, the Panthers should not look back in anger, but look forward to the Albert Steele.
Davenham 1-3 Egerton Pumas
Heated game ends in Pumas victory
Looking at the pitch before the start of this game, you’d have thought this game would be scrappy, hard work and controversial?? The Pumas started brightly, slogging their way through the mud. Jacko was all energy and Ben was his usual strong self in midfield. The Pumas seemed to have Davenham on the back foot and capitalised on this when a chance fell to Stan, who as calm as you like, slotted the ball home to give the away team a much deserved 1-0 lead. Bradley was trying his hardest to glide down the wing, using every trick in his book, and a pin point cross for Stan almost made it two nil, but the fox in the box couldn’t get a big enough touch.
The game was beginning to get scrappy with the ground becoming more and more like a mud bath, however the Pumas maintained their high level of play and deservedly went into the half time break 1-0.
The second half started with a bang. With only 30 seconds on the clock, a flowing move feature Jack and Bradley saw the latter feed Ben a pass that would see him 1 on 1 with the keeper, Ben picked his spot and smashed the ball into the bottom corner 2-0. Both teams began to cancel each other out and it seemed that Davenham were going to be unable to beat outstanding stand in Goalie Archie until a half chance fell to the Davenham striker to chip over our on rushing keeper to make it 2-1. Davenham now had their tails up and pushed for an equaliser, especially as Jack had to leave the field injured leaving Egerton with only 6 players. However then came the flash point. A through ball saw Stan sprint into the box, only for his to be tripped in the box.....PENALTY!! Not according to the Davenham parents who disagreed and began hurling abuse at the referee, although the culprits managed to stay camouflaged!! Bradley stepped up to take the spot kick but slid his effort wide, massive cheers came from the home team, devastation fell on Bradley. Would the captain let this affect him, at first we thought yes, but when the ball was cleared by Tom from the Egerton defence moments later, Bradley somehow managed to half volley a back heel through to Stan in the box who, without hesitation, slotted the ball past the keeper. 3-1, great celebrations and the smile was back on the captains face. Fantastic, gritty performance by the Pumas today who were up for the battle and came out on top FT 3-1.
Missed Chances Prove Costly
With most all other games in Mid Cheshire called off due to the torrential rain, it came as a surprise that the game dubbed by the gaffer as “our local derby” went ahead. With the ground as heavy as it was, with puddles large enough to lose Archie in, the Panthers knew from the first whistle it was going to be hard going. With pride at stake both teams flew at each other in the opening stages with crunching tackles flying in from Ed Franklin. With the pitch beginning to cut up from the start, Panthers wingers Luke and Leo were finding it hard to use their pace and trickery down the wings so most of the play was conducted in the centre of the pitch.
For long periods of the first half, the pace of the game was slow, the mud now having a large part to play. The Panthers were forced into shooting from distance and their best effort of the first half was struck by Leo, although it missed the target by a good few yards which summed up a tough first half during which neither team really threatened the goal. HT 0-0
A shake up at half time seemed to lift the Panthers and a swift move down the right by Alex released Ollie, who looked up and spotted Adam steaming into the box, Ollie smashed the ball across the 6 yard line into the path of Adam to set up what looked like a certain goal, but the ball skipped off the muddy surface, connected with his shin pad and with the keeper already beaten, the ball flew the wrong side of the upright. In top of the table clashes like these, chances don’t come too often. However this was not the case when only minutes later Adam flashed the ball across the box towards the on rushing Alex only for him to misjudge the bounce and fire his shot wide. Would the missed chances prove costly? Yes!
Five minutes from time, Davenham swung a corner in for it to be met on the half volley and fired past Mitch, who could do nothing about it, to put Davenham ahead. 1-0. A roll of the dice was then made, Andy was replaced by Ollie and the ever dependable Ben was left on his own in defence as the Panthers pushed for an equaliser. A chance fell to Leo on the edge of the area moments later, only for his effort to be smashed straight at the keeper. The resulting goal kick lead to a 2 on 1 situation and a clever ball fed the Davenham striker to score their second 2-0. FT
As the team talk stated at the end of the game, on another day our earlier chances would have hit the back of the net and the game would have been completely different. With the conditions as bad as they were, the Panthers should not look back in anger, but look forward to the Albert Steele.
Davenham 1-3 Egerton Pumas
Heated game ends in Pumas victory
Looking at the pitch before the start of this game, you’d have thought this game would be scrappy, hard work and controversial?? The Pumas started brightly, slogging their way through the mud. Jacko was all energy and Ben was his usual strong self in midfield. The Pumas seemed to have Davenham on the back foot and capitalised on this when a chance fell to Stan, who as calm as you like, slotted the ball home to give the away team a much deserved 1-0 lead. Bradley was trying his hardest to glide down the wing, using every trick in his book, and a pin point cross for Stan almost made it two nil, but the fox in the box couldn’t get a big enough touch.
The game was beginning to get scrappy with the ground becoming more and more like a mud bath, however the Pumas maintained their high level of play and deservedly went into the half time break 1-0.
The second half started with a bang. With only 30 seconds on the clock, a flowing move feature Jack and Bradley saw the latter feed Ben a pass that would see him 1 on 1 with the keeper, Ben picked his spot and smashed the ball into the bottom corner 2-0. Both teams began to cancel each other out and it seemed that Davenham were going to be unable to beat outstanding stand in Goalie Archie until a half chance fell to the Davenham striker to chip over our on rushing keeper to make it 2-1. Davenham now had their tails up and pushed for an equaliser, especially as Jack had to leave the field injured leaving Egerton with only 6 players. However then came the flash point. A through ball saw Stan sprint into the box, only for his to be tripped in the box.....PENALTY!! Not according to the Davenham parents who disagreed and began hurling abuse at the referee, although the culprits managed to stay camouflaged!! Bradley stepped up to take the spot kick but slid his effort wide, massive cheers came from the home team, devastation fell on Bradley. Would the captain let this affect him, at first we thought yes, but when the ball was cleared by Tom from the Egerton defence moments later, Bradley somehow managed to half volley a back heel through to Stan in the box who, without hesitation, slotted the ball past the keeper. 3-1, great celebrations and the smile was back on the captains face. Fantastic, gritty performance by the Pumas today who were up for the battle and came out on top FT 3-1.
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