Sunday 31 January 2010

U16 Match Results

Two sets of scores to add:

Sat 23rd January

Timperley U16 'A' 9 v Sheffield 7 (Cup game - team progress to semi-finals)
Mellor 15 v Timperley U16 'B' 1 (Plate game - end of the road for the team)

Sat 30th January

Cheadle 10 v Timperley U16 'A' 8
Timperley U16 'B' 5 v Ashton 2 ( a tremendous victory)

Match reports to follow

Saturday 30 January 2010

U12A 10 Cheadle 9

This was always going to be an interesting morning, with all our year 7 boys unavailable as they were playing for the U14B. This left what was essentially an U11 team playing against Cheadle, who, like us, have reached the semi finals of the Onondaga Cup.
We got ourselves into a 4 goal lead early in the second quarter playing some nice lacrosse, but then the wheels fell off in a big way (a general inability to retain possession through poor decision making, bad ground ball, inability to clear, poor passing, not concentrating – you name it and we did it) and Cheadle scored the next 5 goals without reply leaving us 4-5 down at half time. I don’t think any of this team has played in a game where they’ve been behind for a length of time but come back to win, and it was an interesting half time team talk by Nelly, trying to get the boys’ heads up again. Cheadle scored a sixth unanswered goal early in the third quarter and things looked over for us. However, two quick goals from Ed Loveland galvanised the team, and a goal in the last second of the third quarter by Dan Walker saw us level at 7-7. We then got our noses in front early in the fourth quarter and managed to remain there, mainly through the outstanding goalkeeping of Matthew Stewart who made numerous saves at close range.

Matches like this are good for the spectator, and also good for the boys. The ease with which we usually win matches is not really the norm for lacrosse. More often, games are tight and are won by one or two goals. We have learned a lot today, about the 4 B team players who came in and played well (Will Callaghan, on his A team debut, looked really comfortable) and also how the younger A team players reacted to the pressure of leading the team.

The two performances of the day were by Matthew Stewart in goal and Ed Loveland in attack – they continued how they have been playing all season and gave the team the belief they could actually win the game.

Goals
E Loveland 5(+1 assist), Hirst 2(+1), Crosby 1(+1), Hunn 1(+1), Walker 1, Callaghan (2 assists)

Saturday 23 January 2010

U12A 19 Heaton Mersey 3

This weekend saw the second round of the Onondaga Cup, against a Heaton Mersey team we had beaten easily at the start of the season. For the first time this season all 14 of the A team squad were available (the scent of cup glory must be in the air) and with Mersey only having 9 players, the result was never really in doubt.
It turned out to be a routine win where we never really sparkled, but played some solid lacrosse. The attack took the headlines today, scoring 12 goals between them as they all cashed in on the good work of the midfield, by more often than not, being in the right place at the right time. Ed Loveland in particular, gave his defender a morning to forget.

Scorers:
E Loveland 5 goals (2 assists), Hunn 4(1), O Loveland 3(1), Hirst 3(1), Crosby 1(1), Ball 1, Harris 1, Walker 1

The semi final draw has yet to be made, but the game is not until March 13th. However, we have a challenging schedule against Sheffield, Brooklands, Spencer (a touring team from London) and Cheadle in the next few weeks, plus the welcome distraction of the 6 a side and National 8 a side tournaments.
The success of any team is measured in terms of what cups are won – the win / loss record is secondary to the silverware we can gather by the end of the season. The next 6 weeks will go a long way to define how this U12 group of boys will be remembered – this is very much the business part of the season and we need to continue attending training and learning the game from Nelly and Rory.

Thanks to U19s Adam Legg and George Allen for refereeing the match – free from controversy, so well done!

U12B 5 Wacs 9

Written by David Shuttleworth
I thought we played quite well against Wacs but they just had the edge and particularly had a couple of decent midfielders. However, I thought the area where they were better was in their organisation and teamwork - basically because they were older and more experienced than us.