I must admit to thinking the season was over as we hadnt played for so long but this was our last game of the season and the last ever game for A Smith who has moved to Birmingham. He has already had trials at West Brom and if he carries on improving he could do a lot in this game. He will be missed by us next season. On a very small bouncy pitch with a high wind blowing and a light ball this was never going to be a game that was easy to play football. We started with D.King in goal, S.Fisher and M.Rixon at the back, A.Smith and A.Caitlin in midfield, and S.Biggs and T.Wheeler up front. The boys stuck to their jobs well and created a few chances with both T.Wheeler and S.Biggs going close. Some tenacious tackling in midfield and defence kept the opposition chances to a minimum before captain A.Smith finished nicely to go 1-0 up. S.Biggs swung a corner in with his left foot, S.Fisher flicked on to A.Smith who buried it. A few minutes later and A.Smiths pass found T.Wheeler on the edge of the area, T.Wheeler then played a beautifully weighted pass with the outside of his right foot to find A.Caitlin who hit a right foot shot sweetly to make it 2-0. Half time and Connor replaced S.Biggs up front, and A.Morrissey replaced A.Caitlin. T.Wheeler scored in the 2nd half to make it 3-0 and we left Sp*rs country with the opposition quite shocked that we had beaten them soundly on their own pitch. Nothing left to say other than thanks to all the boys and parents for their efforts all season, its been a very good season all told and but for a few last minute equalisers against us we could have won the league. Hope to see everyone at the awards night in June.

This re-arranged match was to be our last double header of the season. The starting line up was D.King in goal, A.Smith and B.Hackett in defence, A.Morrissey and J.Durant in midfield and T.Wheeler and S.Biggs in attack. We had a full strength side aith S.Fisher, S.D'Souza and M.Rixon on the bench.Some truly superb play from the Pumas saw them power past Finchley time after time and from the first minute the result never looked in doubt. Its a nice feeling to win and score 7 goals but the way we played football and some of the goals scored today was a joy to watch and the boys gave themselves the parents and coaches lots of reasons to feel proud. D.Kings goalkeeping and distribution reached very high standards and his communication is 2nd to none, M.Rixon is superb on the ball and makes sure our game doesn't disintegrate into panic with his cool head and distribution, S.D'Souza and B.Hackett were very powerful and effective at breaking down the Finchley attacks and finding a team mate with well executed passes, A.Smith was battling for every ball, used it intelligently and had a few shots today one of which was a 20 yard screamer, S.Fishers hold up play and simple lay offs were outstanding, A.Morrissey and J.Durant controlled the game from the midfield, S.Biggs and T.Wheeler worked well in attack and deserved their well taken goals. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable game, 7 in a row

Its hard to know why or how but the second game of two was completely different. A lot of credit has to go to Finchley who didn’t let their heads drop despite being well beaten in the first game. For a long time the pumas dominated but couldnt apply the finish and it looked like being one of those games where the ball wouldnt go in. D.King had to make a couple of fine saves to keep it at 0-0. When A.Morrissey scored a nice goal from a tight angle with minutes remaining the pressure was eased and we could than have had 3 or 4. A.Smith topped off another win with a low shot to make it 2-0. It was a hot day and the boys were noticeably tiring in this game in the heat despite having made plenty of substitutions and asking boys to play in positions that arent their usual ones. During the post match team talk we chatted about that being the type of game we would have drawn or lost earlier in the season and to their credit they kept going and got their rewards. Man of the match was J.Durant who topped off a fine display by going in defence for the last 10 mins.

More double header football and it was Northwood White who we were up against today, we had a full strength team to choose from so we had plenty of options on the sub front. The first match started with D.King between the sticks, M.Rixon and B.Hackett at the back, A.Smith and J.Durant in midfield and S.Biggs and A.Morrissey up front. The pumas took a little while to get going and it was clear early on where the opposition threat would come from. That said we had most of the play in the first half with A.Morrissey doing good work down the left hand side, and some lovely football played between J.Durant and S.Biggs. Having created a few half chances but not taken any we got caught out of position and were 1 down at half time. We made use of the other subs having replaced B.Hackett with S.D'souza following an injury in the first half, by putting S.Fisher up front alongside A.Morrissey and giving T.Wheeler a run in midfield. It wasnt long before S.Fisher had a good shot saved by the keeper which ricocheted back to A.Morrissey who hit a rocket of a shot first time into the top corner 1-1 and game on. The boys took the lead soon after that with route one goal finished nicely by the man of the match A.Morrissey straight from a long kick by D.King the keeper. Solid defending for the remainder of the first match and the confidence was taken forward to the second game with the 3 points safe.

A quick drink, chat and team changes and we were ready for the next game.Could we make it 6 wins in a row? could we score from a corner again? Could T.Wheeler score with his bottom? Could we win the league? Time would hold the answers. The first half was a good battle across the park with S.D'Souza and B.Hackett making lots of last ditch tackles to keep us level. T.Wheeler kept up his outstanding midfield battling display alongside J.Durant who played a lovely through ball to S.Fisher who finished with a very calm dink over the advancing goalkeeper to make it 1-0. The FA coaching manuals tell you only to listen to the coach and to keep the parents involvement down to just encouraging the players, luckily we take no notice of that as the pumas were awarded a free kick just inside their own half. S.Biggs got ready to take it with his coach saying "get in the box, leave it for S.Fisher". The advice was ignored and the free kick was placed expertly on the head of T.Wheeler 2-0. A lapse in concentration caused by no more than exuberance let Northwood back in to make the score 2-1 at the break. A.Smith, A.Morrissey and M.Rixon came back on replacing S.D'Souza, T.Wheeler and B.Hackett.we planned to make another 2 subs half way through the second half and the game was end to end and with half of the second half of the 2nd game left T.Wheeler and B.Hackett were brought on for S.Biggs and S.Fisher. My questions were answered Yes, Yes, Yes and only if three teams in our league were docked points for financial irregularities. We have been working on corners in training and they have paid off. We are getting a goal a game from this work and this weeks goal came courtesy of T.Wheelers backside from a well flighted A.Morrissey corner. It was a hot day and the boys energy levels were good as A.Smith passed the ball wide to A.Morrissey who took it on before slotting a beautiful pass between two defenders to let man of the match T.Wheeler complete his hat trick with a nicely finished move. Goals like this one are a joy to watch and are very simple to do and difficult to defend against, well done the pumas. 4-1

1st game won 3-0 and then we quickly turned round and started the 2nd game. S.Fisher was moved up front with S.Biggs and T.Wheeler swapped with S.D`Souza for the 2nd half playing in midfield.The game ran a similar pattern with 2 well taken goals from S.Fisher earning him the man of the match award and narrowly missing out on what would have been a nice hat trick. Their were a few nervous moments when 2-1 up but in truth the boys thoroughly deserved their 4th win in a row

Words cant always justify what goes on during football matches but it was very pleasing to get another two wins today, but not as pleasing as the effort and the quality of the football on view. It may sound like a funny thing to say but its not always easy to play against teams that havent had the best results previously. However the pumas carried on from their wins last week and had a battling first half where the opposition goalkeeper played like almost any opposition keeper does at the Emirates. He must have made 5 or 6 quality saves in the 1st half and managed to keep the scores level at half time. T.Wheeler in goal was rarely troubled but kept his concentration well to make a good save when called upon, S.Fisher and M.Rixon were in control at the back, J.Durant and A.Smith imperious in midfield and A.Morrissey and S.Biggs led the line superbly up front. S D'Souza and B.Hackett were brought on in the 2nd half and despite their keeper again making some fine saves we managed to get the goals we deserved. It was nice to see some high pressure defending from the boys pinning the opposition in their half for long periods. S.Biggs , A.Morrissey and B.Hackett getting on the scoresheet with credit going to all the team for creating the chances that allowed them to finish and T.Wheeler was given the other MotM award for his effort and attitude.

Now the dads among us will remember if you had a girlfriend you always had a shout with other girls and if you were going through a quiet stage you felt like you would never be lucky again, just like waiting an hour for a bus then deciding to walk when three 186`s drive past you in a minute. This was like our first league win, we have waited all season for a win , with only a couple of defeats deserved, we have ended up drawing 3 times to last second goals, hit the woodwork more times than Tommy Walsh but today was our day and we had 2 wins within 30 minutes. Our cup form was transferred to the league and the second half performance in the first game had knocked the stuffing out of London Colney. the Pumas team changed slightly T.Wheeler went in goal, D.King joined M.Rixon at the back , B.Hackett and A.Smith in midfield and S.Biggs and S.Fisher up front but the domination didnt. First to the ball in most challenges, the effort was superb and inside the first 10 minutes came for me what was so far the goal of the season. S.Fisher picked the ball up on the right wing and ran past a couple of defenders into a narrow angle before turning and putting a magical right foot SHOT into the top corner from about 20 yards away, 1-0. This truly was a special goal - one that even a goalkeeper of Almunias class (cough) wouldnt have been able to stop. A very proud parent on the sidelines remarked that he used to do that sort of thing on a Sunday morning, another pointed out that it used to be in his own net though. The boys rarely looked troubled and when J.Durant and A.Morrissey came back on for the 2nd half they topped off a superb team performance with a goal from J.Durant and a couple of audacious efforts from A.morrissey that nearly bettered S.Fishers 1st goal. S.Biggs got what he deserved today with a superb lobbed finish over the keeper to make it 3-0. All that work we did in the back garden with the lobs finally paid off!! Motm for this game was the captain A.Smith who has it all, he covers the entire pitch, is a solid tackler can pass with both feet, heads the ball talks to his team and has a powerful shot. All the best in your new school. In truth there was justification for everyone to get MoTm today. J.Durant, S.Biggs and M.Rixon were especially good and the one two played between B.Hackett and A.Morrissey down the left was simple effective football at its best. We`re gonna win the league!!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, A Long overdue, well deserved league win , which in a throwback to my youth reminded me of being with or without a girlfriend and waiting for a bus but all will be clear later. We had a double header today against London Colney to catch up on games. We stuck with our 2-2-2 formation. D.King in goal, S.Fisher and B.Hackett in defence, A.Smith and J.Durant in midfield and A.Morrissey and T.Wheeler up front. The pumas started well and had most of the possession without creating too many chances until the London Colney striker picked the ball up ran at our defence skipped round a couple of challenges and finished nicely 1-0 down at half time. opta would be called in again the familiar 1 shot 1 gaol scenario against us was happening again. One motivational team talk and a couple of substitutions later (S.Biggs came on for T.Wheeler and M.Rixon came on for B.Hackett) and from the first minute of the 2nd half to the end the pumas were outstanding. The passing, the communication especially on the corner kicks, the positional sense the workrate and the will to win were there for all to see. 15 minutes of total football. 2 goals apiece from J.Durant and A.Smith capped off a throughly deserved 4-1 win.MOTM was S.Biggs for a superb 2nd half performance that would only have been bettered by a goal

Today the pumas showed all those watching what they can do. Some expert , I mean experimental team selections by the coaches paid off today, but the credit for this performance goes to the boys as they had a spring in their step today, they played with a smile on their faces and some of the passing was a joy to watch. Our goalkeeper today was T." Schmeicel" Wheeler who really impressed in training and in the match today, for long periods he had nothing to do but made a couple of expert saves and came off is line well when called upon. regular goalkeeper D."Hansen" King played his first full game on pitch today and looked like a natural defender, alongside M."Baresi" Rixon they formed a solid base at the back and their distribution into midfield was excellent. We changed from our usual 2-3-1 formation to a 2-2-2 with A."Gerrard" Smith and J."Pires" Durant starting in midfield, they worked hard to cover all the ground and again their passing was excellent linking the team together, topped off with 2 fantastic goals by A.Smith. S"Van Basten" Biggs and A."Messi" Morrissey. We didnt have a shot to save in the first half and went in with a deserved 2-0 lead. At half time Van Basten and Pires were rested for S."Figo" Fisher and B"Ballack"Hackett and the boys carried on where they left off with a trainiing ground corner where Messi found Ballack who finished superbly with the top of his shin. 3-0 and it looked like being our day. Sun Postal got back in it with an unfortunate og from Messi, but we kept going forward and rather like Arsenal felt that we needed a 4 goal cushion to make sure of the win. We couldnt find the extra goal despite working some good opportunities and with 10 minutes left Van Basten and Pires replaced Gerrard and Messi. Sun Postal completed a Newcastle like comeback with the last kick of the game from a corner to make it 3-3. Although it can be disappointing to get results like this the boys can take a lot of pride from their game today. if opta stats were available we d be looking at 3 goals from 4 shots for the opposition. Well done boys That elusive league win is getting closer, all the boys deserved their Men of the match awards.

A mixed sporting weekend started with the local Luton fan wearing a Watford football kit and a very good training session on Saturday morning, interspersed with refs from Manchester trying to ruin Arsenals title charge, Liverpool coming to the rescue then what looked like being one of the worst ODI games for England becoming one of their best ever wins, still isnt over as Im writing this. Bang in the middle the Pumas cup dreams came to an end at home to a good Everett side. The team was D.King, S.D'Souza, M.Rixon, S.Biggs, A.Smith, A.Morrissey, T.Wheeler and J.Durant. The first half was fairly even , Everett breaking halfway through to score a nicely worked goal and go in 1-0 up at the break. JM`s legendary half time team talk should have got the boys firing.After going 2-0 down A.Smiths wonderstrike brought it back to 2-1 and we felt if we kept the pressure on from then we could have won the game. Collectively there was something missing today and we ended up going out with a bit of a whimper. the result was 4-1 and the boys can be proud of what we have done so far. We need to get ourselves up the league table and back to playing with a smile on our faces for the rest of the season. Man of the match was D.King for a string of fine saves and excellent communication all day. Up the Pumas -Come on the Wolves !!

County Cup quarter final today. Everyone was in buoyant mood hoping for a semi final place and getting a share of the Sky TV money so that the coaches could then meet Nicklas Bendtners agent at Scratchwood services and hand him a brown envelope full of free ski passes. Before that though we had a game of football to play. We elected to go with our usual 2-3-1 formation. A slow start where the pumas were guilty of watching the ball and waiting for something to happen, led to something happening and going a goal down. We got back in it quite soon after with a lovely worked goal. J.Durant recieved the ball , controlled turned nicely and put a perfectly weighted pass through for A.Morrissey to finish beautifully from a tight angle past the keeper. The first half was fairly even, it was clear early on that the opposition had a couple of powerful players and thats always quite tough for us to handle as we are quite a small team however we battled well in defence and had a few "Arselona like" (yes I mean Arselona) moves with some nice passing getting us quickly into good positions. Then with the last kick of the first half we were guilty of missing tackles as their striker was allowed to run down our right side unchallenged to make it 2-1 at the break. The boys were warned of defensive lapses in the 2nd half and as long as we kept them out of our game we could get back in the game. Unfortunately a couple more mistakes meant we were 3-1 down within minutes of the restart and 4-1 down with 5 minutes to go. The boys kept working all the way to the end but it wasnt our day today. D.King in goal S.Fisher, M.Rixon and S.D'Souza in defence, A.Smith, A.Morrissey , S.Biggs and T.Wheeler in midfield and J.Durant up front can all be very proud of themselves. Obviously there was disappointment at the end from being knocked out of the cup but that shows how much the boys want to win. To reach the last 8 of the county cup and not look out of place today is a fantastic achievement by the pumas - well done boys.

Today we were without S. D'Souza and S.Biggs but we had a team capable of beating one of the strongest in our division. We started like a train today and for the entire first half had whetstone pinned back. J.Durant and A.Smith must have had four good attempts on goal each which on another day would have found the net.S.Fisher who had an outstanding game today picked the ball up on the left wing beat one player and shot from outside the area to hit the post, the keeper managed to push a good long range effort over and A.Morrissey terrorised their defence with run after run down the wing. Solid in midfield were A.Smith and B.Hackett with M.Rixon and S.Fisher coping with anything that got though. On the only occasion I can remember Whetstone getting into our box a defensive lapse had left a striker on his own 5 yards out from goal. Somehow we ended up 1-0 down at half time but their was no time for despondency we were the better team by a long way and if we kept doing what we were doing the goals would come. B.Hackett was rested and T.Wheeler came on on the right side of midfield. Maybe playing against the wind or a bit of tiredness was the cause but our performance dropped slightly in the 2nd half allowing whetstone to grab a couple of breakaway goals to make it 3-0. Then the boys upped their game again S.Fisher with at least two superb sliding tackles and a peach of a cross that nobody got on the end of sparked a few more attacks and we peppered the whetstone goal for the last 10 minutes. A.Smith scoring with what can only be described as a tackle and fumble by their keeper but we deserved a bit of luck - we got into some good positions but couldn't get the crosses pulled back into the box well enough. If A.Smiths long range effort hadn't hid the underside of the bar it could have been a different story. The boys played well today and if we can have that level of performance all the way through until the end of the season we will start climbing the league. Man of the match today was S.Fisher who had his best game of the season and was unlucky not to have scored the goal of the season. Next week its the county cup quarter final so early to bed Saturday night everyone!!

Another home league game and except for the improving B.Hackett on egg cha… err rugby duty we were at full strength. We experimented a little with the formation today. S.Fisher moved into the centre of midfield and deputised well for A.Smith before moving back to his more familiar role of centre back alongside S.D`Souza. A.Smith replaced him in the centre and T.Wheeler replaced S.Biggs on the right side. For most of the first half against the wind and slight slope we spent most of the first half defending which we did to good effect restricting the opposition to a few half chances that D.King dealt with comfortably. We had a few chances of our own on the break but despite too much ball watching and not enough ball winning we felt that we could take the game to the opposition in the 2nd half. However it followed a similar pattern and though we put some nice passing movements together going forward through the midfield trio of A.Smith, T.Wheeler and A.Morrissey supporting J.Durant we just couldnt put the ball away. Alexandra Park East were a solid well organised team with a couple of skilful ball players in midfield and with 10 minutes left their striker found himself clean through with just the keeper to beat. He finished nicely to score what would prove to be the winner. A couple of nice shots from J.Durant and long range efforts from A.Smith and S.Biggs were the closest we came to an equaliser and we didnt look like conceding again with M.Rixon skippering the side today. Disappointing still to be without a win in the league but there were some positives. Man of the match was S. D'Souza for an outstanding game at the back. Shooting practice next week!!

This week we were up against Bushey and Oxhey at home and due to our cup exploits and the fact that we knew a bit about them meant we felt confident of a good result. We started well enough, D.King commanding between the posts, S. D'Souza and M.Rixon solid at the back with A.Morrissey and S.Fisher working the flanks and A.Smith supporting J.Durant upfront. After a few minutes the ball broke to A.morrissey who finished nicely with his left foot to take the lead, and it stayed that way until the break. S. Biggs and T.Wheeler came on for the second half and we continued to dominate the game throughout. Bushey equalised in the first minute of the 2nd half due to a defensive lapse and A.Morrissey then got us back in front with a nice low drive into the net . With 4 minutes to go some lacklustre defending let Bushey equalise and it was destined to stay that way. No individuals were to blame today but we felt the boys lacked a bit of spark and oomph today as a team and we remain winless in the league despite being beaten only once in 3 months.

More cup football again, this week was the last 16 of the challenge cup against Finchley Revolution from our division. It was due to be an away game but the opposition pitch was waterlogged so we had to reverse the fixture. They looked a well organised and quite a big team so Johns world famous pre match team talk got the boys focused from the first minute. It was clear they had two very skilful players in particular and all their attacking was going to be through their striker. Finchley had a couple of breakaways in the first half but it was the pumas that struck first with the best team goal we have ever scored. An "Arsenal like" passing move between J.Durant, A.Smith, B.Hackett and S.Biggs found T.Wheeler in the box to finish well. 1-0. We were getting caught out at the back and let their striker through one too many times as a shot that was well saved by D.King rebounded back to him to level the scores .1-1 at half time. We brought on S.Fisher and A.Morrissey, and pushed B.Hackett into midfield. The first 10 minutes of the second half was outstanding from the pumas. Finchley were steamrollered by wave after wave of attack. B.Hackett slotting a shot in from a tight angle to make it 2-1. Followed by a skilful and powerful run from skipper A.Smith, he found J.Durant who finished nicely from a perfect centre forward position. A.Morrissey then marauded down the left wing to lob the keeper well from outside the box. In this spell we could have had 3 or 4 more goals, solid at the back with D.King again influential between the sticks, S.Fisher and M.Rixon dealing with any threat calmly and firmly in defence allowing A.Smith , B.Hackett, J.Durant and A.Morrissey forward to keep Finchley penned back. Finchley got themselves a second 5 minutes from the end but fresh legs were brought on and S.Biggs found T.Wheeler in the box whose shot found the net for our 5th. Man of the match today was S.Biggs whose talking tackling wingplay and work rate were excellent - 2 assists to boot. Id like to mention today that we were very proud of all the boys and especially enjoyed our post match talk. A.Smith gets an extra special mention today - a true captains performance with an injured foot.

The quarter finals of the county cup beckoned for the pumas - we had a full strength team available and everyone was keen today meeting at 8am for a mcdonalds breakfast before the long journey up the A1 to Royston. We were expecting a tough game as this is the team that put the Lions out earlier in the season. When we arrived it was obvious the wind would play a part today and the boys were individually and as a team prepared for the conditions. From the start it was backs to the wall as we were kicking against the wind and up a slight hill in the first half. Keeper D.King was suffering from an injured foot and bravely played through the pain as it was his kicking foot. He was instrumental in keeping the game at 0-0 at half time. Battling first half performances from defenders S.Fisher and M.Rixon assisted by A.Smith in the centre and S.Biggs,T.Wheeler and A.Morrissey in wide midfield positions kept the opposition chances down to a few. In the half time team talk we were very positive that we could take advantage of the conditions encouraging shots from outside the box given the chance. The wind stopped for the first 5 minutes in the 2nd half and a good shot by one of the Royston midfielders hit the top of the net to put us a goal behind. The pumas showed how much they are improving as a team and showed the team spirit and courage and confidence that is building by ignoring that to take the game by the scruff of the neck. B.Hackett was superb both in defence and attack and scored our equaliser a few minutes later with a powerful shot from inside the box- game on. We looked comfortable at the back with S.D'Souza upsetting their rhythm and both A.Morrissey and J.Durant creating shooting opportunities for themselves that the keeper was equal to until the last minute. S.Biggs took a corner from the right- it went near post and A.Smith controlled it beautifully, turned and smacked a lovely shot in from a tight angle to take the lead. Concentration was the key now and a couple of goalmouth scrambles aside we held on to a win that the pumas can take a lot of heart from. quarter finals here we come which will be at home to either Rickmansworth youth or Barkhamsted Raiders on the 20th Feb.

First game back after our long winter break and despite the lengthy warm up to allow the pitch to thaw it showed as the pumas were a little slow to start. This was a good opportunity to get our first league win. There were some good moments going forward in the first half and a few opportunities created by hard work from striker J.Durant and midfielders T.Wheeler, S.Biggs, S.Fisher and A.Smith. B.Hackett and M.Rixon did well in defence but as a defensive unit we had to be watchful of letting the game get too stretched and got caught on the counter attack. The 2nd half changes brough in S D`Souza to hold the defence allowing the team to probe forward in search of a goal. We struggled a bit going forward getting a bit crowded out by the 5 man defence until the goal came through some good work on the right hand side and a hard, low cross shot from A.Smith richocheted in off a Sun Postal defender. We continued to press and with a minute left J.Durant was a whisker away from making it 2 with a great run and shot that smashed off the crossbar. Directly from this we were left exposed defensively with their powerful midfielder beating S.D`Souza to the tackle and slotting the ball past D.King who had a very good game in goal. 1-1.Not a bad result but slightly disappointing as I felt we were the better team. Next week is the county cup and we need everyone to be on their game to progress further.

County Cup 3rd round this week at home to Stevenage Borough Black Sox. The pumas were very strong today in all areas. D King had one of his best games in goal today, his bravery and communication along with an outstanding 2nd half save were very encouraging, S Fisher, M Rixon and S D,Souza defended excellently and are starting to look a real solid defensive unit, A Smith , S Biggs, A Morrissey and T Wheeler worked tirlelessly in midfield breaking down the majority of Stevenages attacks and linking well with strikers J Durant and S Fisher to create opportunities. Our passing game was on the money today and thats how we got the first goal S Biggs to J Durant, J Durant to A Smith, A Smith to T Wheeler who kept his excellent scoring record going with a nice finish from the edge of the area, we rarely looked troubled in the first half and could have gone in 2 or 3-0 up. The 2nd half started much the same with M Rixon and S D'Souza snuffing out any danger from the opposition centre forward and some good passing moves created more chances . A Morrissey let fly with a left foot rocket from the edge of the area to put us 2-0 up. Stevenage pulled a goal back with 5 minutes left making for an edgy last few minutes but in truth we were the better team and deserved the win. Last 16 of the county cup next.

Back to the league this week for the pumas with an away game against whetstone wanderers panthers. An encouraging start from the boys with some good passing and moving opening up the panthers defence well a couple of times in the first few minutes. Our failure to tackle and clear our lines early on led to going 1-0 down against the run of play. Goalkeeper D.King had an outstanding first half bravely diving at the feet of the whetstone forwards on a couple of occasions and ending up in the wars. After about 10 minutes S "Delap" Biggs took a throw in from the right wing that ended up being helped into his own goal by a whetstone defender under pressure from striker J Durant. Time for substitutions and T Wheeler showed his determination for the club fighting through a cold to hold the centre of midfield for as long as he could. S Fisher was tried up front for the first time this season with B Hackett coming on for T Wheeler. A Smith and M Rixon marshalled the back superbly. 1-1 at half time and the game was there for the taking.S Biggs and A Morrissey switched flanks and battled well but found it difficult to support the strikers on a large pitch and we always seemed to be just a little too stretched in the 2nd half to get our game going. The whetstone second goal came through a long ball but we still had time to equalise. A few bad challenges gave us free kicks in good positions but we failed to get on the end of the crosses. B Hackett, T Wheeler and A Smith all playing on through the pain of injury/illness to try and come up with an equaliser. Couldnt fault the effort from the boys today and although its a disappointing result and a draw would have been fairer there are things we can work on to counteract the teams that adopt a more physical approach to the game than we do. Man of the match today went to M Rixon for another superb display of defensive play

A Proper cup tie today played against a team from the rural friendly league. We had a full squad available today and all the boys responded to the pre match team talk about starting strong and finishing strong and we were on our game from the first whistle today. S Biggs coming close with a couple of long range efforts and S D,Souza defending very well when the ball came his way which was quite often on a small pitch against a team that relied mainly on trying to put us under pressure quickly by using a long goal kick and the long pass. We kept to our tried and tested 2-3-1 formation.Two well organised teams battled out normal time with a few chances each , both defences and keepers played well to keep the scores level. M Rixon was superb at the back today and it is very pleasing to see such a cool head on a young player. J Durant again leading the line superbly as T Wheeler , A Morrissey and S Biggs with some great wing play supported him in attack. S Fisher and A Smith marshalled the back well today, A Smith in particular at the heart of most of our defending either in midfield or at the back. B Hackett was good today in midfield and as we moved into the first half of extra time it was great vision from him that found T Wheeler in space on the edge of the box. The packed sideline erupted when the "toe punt of the season" rocketed in off the post 1-0 to the pumas.T Wheeler has been getting better each week and is in fine goalscoring form at the moment. Now it was all about concentration which the boys kept to their immense credit for 50 minutes of play. The boys are gelling into a very good unit and it was another pleasing performance today. Man of the match went to J Durant for another excellent display of centre forward play.

Very proud of the way the boys played today up until the last few minutes, we started really well, completely dominating the play and bushey couldn’t cope with the pumas passing game but somehow we found ourselves 1-0 down due to poor defending from a corner. Full credit to the boys for not changing the way they played and a short while later A.Morrissey picked the ball up on the left side and let loose with one of his trademark shots that looked on its way in, T.Wheeler pounced bravely to make sure it was a goal with a nice header. The Pumas got what they deserved from a corner of their own from A Smith beautifully picking out T Wheeler for his 2nd headed goal of the game. 2-1 at half time. The boys continued in the second half to play their football on the attack and defend resolutely and J .Durant got his just rewards not long after the kick off with some great control turning past a couple of defenders and placing his shot neatly into the corner to go 3-1 up. From here the pumas were coasting and could have been 4 or 5 up. Then it started to go downhill as we lost our shape and began missing tackles and we put ourselves in for a very tricky last 5 minutes when Bushey scored to make it 3-2. Just as It started to look like we had managed to weather the storm with seconds on the clock and the ball having looked like it had gone out for a corner Bushey equalised. This has to be one of the most demoralising things to happen to the boys so I think they will have learnt a lot of valuable lessons today, at the time its difficult to take positives out of the game, however there were plenty today and if we can play like that every week we will have a very good season with more pleasure than disappointment.

The pumas took a while to get going today and were half asleep defensively going 2-0 down in the first ten minutes by not clearing the ball from a couple of crosses. Some great work on the right wing by A Smith set up T Wheeler for a nice finish to go in 2-1 down at the break . The last 5 or 6 minutes of the first half were encouraging as T Wheeler did well to get past their full back on 3 or 4 occasions and with a bit more luck in front of goal we would have been at least level. The second half started much brighter and some great work from S Biggs on the left wing set up S Fisher for another nice finish to make it 2-2. From this moment on the pumas never looked back, to a boy they were showing great passion and will to win the game, Alexandra Park hardly had another shot on target, J Durant led the line up front in superb style with some trademark powerful running excellent hold up play and distribution coupled with some great tackling when needed. If the opposition got into centre midfield A Smith battled brilliantly and rarely lost a tackle, A Morrissey, S Biggs and T Wheeler were getting stuck in on the wings and on the occasions when the ball got through S Fisher and "hammerhead" M Rixon was there to clear the danger. D King had a safe pair of hands again today. He was rarely troubled after the first 15 minutes but he has been a real bonus to the pumas this year, his communication and leadership skills have improved our defending immensely. Going forward the pumas looked good today, getting in behind their defence time after time and with a bit more luck would have won the game in normal time. First half of extra time came and the inevitable " who's taking a penalty conversation" came. The boys kept their concentration and kept improving as the game went on A Morrissey hitting the bar from outside the box, the opposition keeper making a few decent saves before half time in extra time came - still 2-2. Penalties were looming before the pumas found an extra gear from somewhere when you would expect them to tire on a muddy pitch in the rain in the heart of Sp*rs country. Quick thinking from T Wheeler and M Rixon as they took a short corner and worked it to A Morrissey who beat the keeper well from 10 yards. More of the same followed and a superb volley on the turn from J Durant won the game for the pumas. Two very proud coaches and a lot of proud parents left the ground smiling despite the conditions and location. A well deserved win and we couldn't separate them to give a man of the match so they shared it today, great effort, some lovely football but the most pleasing thing about this was the passion the boys showed, they are starting to believe in themselves more and it was their will to win that got them through today.

Our first league game in the blue division and hopes were high that we could have a go at winning it. Afternoon kick offs and home matches don’t appear to be the pumas strong points today as we never really got our game going. Our opposition were well drilled today and seemed to be half a yard quicker all over the pitch. It was 15 minutes before the first goal and it came from a corner which the pumas failed to clear, the ball span off a defenders boot went through another of our players legs and then under the keepers hands. The pumas played better in the second half but after some good passing they couldnt add the finish needed. London maccabi got their second goal with around 10 minutes left and the game followed the same pattern until the end. Positives from today were some brave goalkeeping today from skipper D King, along with very accomplished defending from A Smith and man of the match S Fisher. A solid performance from M Rixon in centre midfield , some very good moments going forward from A Morrissey, S Biggs, T Wheeler and J Durant , but we know we`ll have to be at our best every week to challenge for the league.

First county cup match today against a solid team from Broxbourne called world soccer solutions. It started off with us quickly going a goal down due to some sloppy defending and the size of the ball being changed from a size 3 to a size 4 on request of the opposition coach. It didnt take long to get going though as J Durant picked up the ball outside the box, and took it past 3 defenders before letting fly with a brilliantly placed shot into the top corner of their goal from outside the area. 1-1 and aside from a couple of lapses at the back the pumas took control with T wheeler powering through on the right hand side with a great run and good finish to make it 2-1. A well worked move saw T Wheeler tap home for a second to go 3-1 up. The county cup games are 25mins each way and with 3 subs we took our opportunities to swap a few things around. Our defending wasnt at its best today and a game we were well in control of soon became close letting in another sloppy goal to go in 3-2 up at half time. We played really well going forward in the 2nd half but couldnt get the goal that would have won the game. Aside from a couple of long range shots and a miss in the last minute from the opposition striker the pumas held on to go through to the next round. It was a pleasing game to win as we had gone behind early and battled hard in midfield, B.Hackett in the centre, A.Morrissey before going off with an ankle injury, T.Wheeler on the right and in the centre, S.Biggs on the left and the right all gave gutsy performances in midfield. M.Rixon, A.Smith, S.Fisher and S.D,Souza solid in defence , J.Durant was superb up front today and S.Fisher and A.Morrissey deputised well for him when he came off in the 2nd half. D King made a couple of good saves when called upon. Man of the match went to T Wheeler for hard work in midfield, good awareness, some good defensive help and 2 goals. We plan to work on improving our communication and working harder without the ball but theres lots of reasons to see we have a promising side especially going forward, and thanks to Stuart for reffing a challenging game today.

Our first ever cup match today saw us drawn against another Cassiobury under 9 team, the Lions. A goalless but entertaining first half saw some solid defending and goalkeeping from the Lions coupled with some poor finishing from the Pumas. The Pumas were helped by tough tackling in defence from M Rixon, B Hackett and S Fisher and some good saves of our own from D King as the Lions were dangerous coming forward. Half time team talk for the Pumas opened the way for discussions about who was and wasnt taking a penalty if it was still level after extra time. This was ended by pointing out that the best thing we could do was to try and win the game in the 2nd half. More pressure from the pumas by our strikers A Morrissey and J Durant assisted by T Wheeler, S Biggs A Smith and B Hackett in midfield paid off when B Hacketts shot was deflected past the keeper into the Lions goal. Finally the pressure of not having to take a penalty was lifted from the Pumas shoulders as T Wheeler ran the length of the Lions half and slotted the ball in from an acute angle. 2-0 bring on the tigers!! Man of the match today went to S Biggs

Big game today for the pumas, only a win good enough to finish in 2nd place in group E with T Wheeler skippering the side. From the start the opposition looked a more powerful side and most of the match was played in midfield and our half. We struggled a bit to get our passing game going and found it tough to break through their defence. On the few occasions we did their goalkeeper was equal to the task. We had a setback after 10 minutes with A.Morrissey having to be substituted through illness. New boys M Rixon and B Hackett had very solid performances at the back. S Fisher started in central midfield but quickly had to be moved to the right side when substitutions were made. A couple of good saves from D.King kept it 0-0 at the break. Our 2nd half performance was gutsy if sloppy at times in defence and we were guilty of holding onto the ball a little too long in attack before we conceded a goal from a shot that gave our keeper D.King no chance of saving with 10 minutes left. S Biggs played solidly on the right and left midfield, S D`souza was his usual fearless self in defence.J Durant worked hard but in his lone striker role but found opportunities hard to come by.Motm today was A.Smith for another very solid all round performance Can't fault the effort today from the boys and in the end there were positives to take out of the game as well as lessons to be learnt. Also I reckon its time to petition Parmiters for a smaller pitch because we have a poor record at home and I don't think the size of the pitch suits our style of play, perhaps I`ll take some white paint to home games to mark our preferred pitch size!! Seriously though we look forward to a cup match next week against one of the other u9s Cassiobury teams - the Lions, I shall ask Mark if we can be the away team !!

We experimented with the formation a little bit today. Without D King - our regular goalkeeper, S. D'Souza deputised and we started with M Rixon and S Fisher in defence pushing A Smith into central midfield. A Morrissey started as centre forward with skipper S Biggs left midfield and T Wheeler right midfield. A typically slow start to the game wasnt helped as the Pumas were obviously distracted today by what can be described as exuberant coaching and naive refereeing to say the least from the opposition. From the sidelines I couldn’t hear myself coaching the boys so they must have found it difficult to concentrate. However our first goal today was another great example of teamwork, S Biggs found with a nice pass from midfield then threading a lovely weighted pass through to A Morrissey who tucked it away calmly with his right foot. This is very pleasing for a coach who bangs on at the team to practice shooting with their weaker foot! A Morrissey took his second goal very well with a great shot into the top corner after a long run and both coaches telling him to pass - what do we know !! 2-0 at half time. 2nd half again saw the boys a bit out of sorts until a good tackle run and pass from J Durant setup A Morrissey for another great finish and a well deserved hat trick. A lucky goal from the opposition came as a generously given free kick was crossed into the box and rebounded from T Wheelers knee into his own net. Man of the match today went to one of our new boys B.Hackett who was very commanding at the back , his distribution excellent and had a great shot that forced a good save from the opposition keeper.Overall its a win but the Pumas will need to improve greatly next week for our last seeding game against Bushey Rangers - this is effectively a 2nd place playoff.

Todays game was played on a very tight but flat pitch which the pumas used to their advantage .The team took a few minutes to get going today but once they did their performance was superb. With the ball we played some lovely passing football to create chance after chance, and without the ball we kept our shape well and tackled hard when it was needed. New boy M Rixon slotted in well to central midfield and topped off a good first half with the first goal closely followed by a nice finish from A Morrissey. A well deserved 2-0 lead at half time. The pumas went up another gear in the 2nd half, S Biggs getting a 3rd after a powerful and skilful run and shot from J Durant was parried to him by their keeper. We conceded a goal that was a very nice chipped finish that D King could do nothing about in goal before scoring 4 very well worked goals , 2 from J Durant, a stupendous finish from A morrissey and one from A Smith. The last kick of the game gave the home side a second and consolation goal but it didnt dampen the pumas celebrations. Both coaches agreed this was the best performance we have seen from the pumas and was a game that we would have struggled physically with last season and showed how well the boys have improved. D King in goal made a couple of decent saves today which shows how good his concentration is because he didnt have much to do for long periods. Captain S Fisher, M Rixon , S D'souza and A Smith were immense in defence today as M Rixon and A Smith were when asked to do a job in the centre of midfield for us. S Biggs has improved on his tacking and has put in 3 solid performances on the left or right side of midfield so far this season. J Durant has been excellent up front for us and we were all glad when he got the rewards his efforts deserved today with a couple of well taken goals. Man of the match today goes to A Morrissey for fearless tackling, superb wing play, passing, crossing and topping it off with 2 goals. Well done to all the boys- keep up the early nights on a Saturday !!!

Report- Pre match the pumas were in buoyant mood after our winning start to the season, the warm up consisted of 50% football and 50% discussion on who had the nicest new boots!! Once the game started an indifferent first half from the pumas against a team with a couple of very good individuals and saw us trail 1-0 at half time. With the ball the team played some nice passing football and created a few chances for themselves but got caught on the counter attack by a couple of very quick players for Everett. They were a little guilty of ball watching and missing tackles they would normally make. At half time new boys M Rixon and B Hackett were given their first taste of Cassiobury Rangers action and both had very accomplished debuts from midfield. The 2nd half saw the pumas take control of the game and some outstanding saves from D King kept us in the game when the inevitable counter attacks game as we created chance after chance looking for the equaliser. A Smith bombed forward from defence and hit a shot from outside the area that the keeper managed to touch onto the post , a long kick forward from Everett and within seconds of being close to 1-1 we were 2-0 down. The boys kept plugging away and did well to not let their heads drop and get blown away as the score quickly became 3-0. Good work from S Biggs and J Durant set up M Rixon who finished very nicely to give the Pumas hope for the remainder of the game but it came too late to be able to mount a comeback. Overall a very pleasing performance by the team and it showed we will have an enjoyable season.

The boys started passing well but were obviously a bit rusty and although we took the lead through A. Morrissey after some good work from J. Durant, we conceded a goal on the break soon afterwards. Once the boys got organised T. Wheeler started to hold the centre of midfield together, with S. Biggs and A. Morrissey working tirelessly on the flanks supporting J. Durant who was excellent in his lone striker role and helping A. Smith and S. Fisher who were very solid defending the counter attacks, our new goalkeeper D. King made a couple of good saves when he was called upon and organised the defence well at set pieces. 1-1 at half time but it wasn't until the last 10 minutes when our pressure finally paid off. A superb run and 20 yard strike from A. Smith was sandwiched between two good finishes from S. Fisher and S. Biggs before A. Morrissey finished the scoring with his second of the day. Man of the match and special thanks go to S. D'souza who helped us to have a fair and decent game by playing the first half for the opposition as they were a player short until half time and coupled with a very good 2nd half defensive display for us earned himself the man of the match award