Cougars Win after Slow Start

The Cougars made the trip to Dawlish last weekend where they faced Teign. The game started with Kingsbridge and Salcombe having to quickly adjust to a fast bouncy pitch which Teign used to their advantage at times. This made play frustrating and scrappy but good communication found a great pass wide from Violet Moore to team mate Julie Lee who took the ball into the D and shot a rocket from an acute angle to beat the home keeper.

Teign weren’t put off by the early goal and started to attack more through the middle and with a couple of their younger forwards testing the Kingsbridge and Salcombe defence, they were able to get past centre defender Claire Guard and goalkeeper Sarah Budgen who was unlucky not to keep the ball out of the goal.

Kingsbridge and Salcombe regained their composure whilst absorbing pressure from the home side but great perseverance just before the half time whistle saw a strike from Moore which Alex Mackenzie deflected past the stranded keeper, making it 1-2 to the travelling side.

Coach Chris Guard pointed out that they weren’t keeping it simple enough and needed to work harder to get back and defend when Teign went on the break.

The start of the second half saw the Cougars press the ball more and attack with force. Heather Mockridge and Moore were giving the home side all kinds of trouble which Kingsbridge and Salcombe were soon rewarded for, as their efforts led to a goal mouth scramble which Harriett Haddy managed to get the last touch to make it 1-3.

With time still remaining the Cougars had to be vigilant, Anna McCabe and Freya Murgatroyd put in a good spell in defence and helped to get the ball wide and away from danger. Solid work rate from the midfielders Cara Yeoman and Charley Adams helped to continue the attack and Kingsbridge and Salcombe gained several short corner through out the match which they were unlucky to just miss the target but with the game running down a great short corner finally paid off. With a strong push out from Lauren Darbyshire to Guard at the top of D who slipped it right to Nicky Sheppard who struck at goal for Darbyshire to tap in on the far post giving them a comfortable 1-4 lead. But the Cougars weren’t quiet done, after a frustrating time a very well deserved last goal went to Moore who took the ball into the D after a cheeky reverse pass from Mockridge on the right and fired home a goal that she meant, the keeper had no chance to react as it flew into the back of the goal. A much better second half performance saw the Cougars with a win they deserved. Player of the match became a 3 way tie going to Violet Moore, Julie Lee and Charley Adams which showed how well the team performed.

This Saturday the 2nd team are home for a change playing against Sidmouth and Ottery 4s push back 11am at KCC, all support very welcome!

Report by Claire Guard