03 May 2008 - HNFC 9th Cougars 4 vs Tamahere Hammers 0
Player of the Day : Jake Graves
The first game of the season for a restructured Cougars team started quite gingerly against Tamahere Hammers. As the teams found their feet in the slippery conditions, combinations of passes started to stick and this allowed both team’s forwards to get within striking range of each others goals. Jarrod Briggs came off his line to make several incredibly brave saves at the feet of the opposition forwards. Sean Hickey and Sam Brinkworth worked hard in defense to sure up the back and shut the Hammers strikers attack down each time they looked like threatening the goal mouth. The midfield combination needed to gain some dominance and field position over the Hammers. Sarah Krystman put in an amazing effort and with huge determination, first with Connor Ferguson and then Jake Graves, to take control of the game and started feeding some nice passes to Keaton August and Troy Brook up front. Keaton put several crosses in to Troy who was shut down by a strong defense and determined keeper. Nicholas Fitzgerald joined the attack and immediately made an accurate pass to Troy who then passed to a fired up Jake approaching the goal box. Jake took the pass and with a powerful left boot hammered home the first goal of the game. An up lifted Cougars team now took control of the game by retaining possession with some mature football, the confidence allowing the team to show their skills, and after beating two defenders the goalie had no chance of stopping a second goal by Jake. The Cougars went into the half time break with a comfortable 2-0 lead. The Cougars started the second half with some brilliant passing by Troy and Keaton back to Jake who feed the ball to Sarah in space on the right wing. Sarah showed her skills and speed by beating several of the Hammers players and then made a lovely cross which just failed to connect with Troy, Keaton and Jake who were now hungry to attack the Hammers goal. The Hammers Goalie denying several strong and accurate shots from the attacking Cougars justly deserved to be awarded the Ebbett Holden Opposition Player of the Day. Josh Tanner put a great effort in at right back and communicated well with Sean to keep the Hammers well away from the Cougars goal. His piercing attacking runs up the right wing to feed Sarah and Connor which set up another great goal by Jake. Shortly after, Troy took a bouncing through-ball under control and with hammers defenders attacking from either side got a shot away to make it 4-0 to the Cougars. After a great start to the season Jake’s dynamic play and hunger to finish off the hard work put in by the Cougars team, earned him the Ebbett Holden Player of the Day. Troy who supported his teammates both on the field and with vocal support for his team while on the bench earned the Westpac Agribusiness Sportsman of the Day award. Fantastic first game guys - go the Cougars!Posted by Pam Bouma into 9th Grade
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