This afternoon, in a fantastic 6 a side tournament, the U12A retained the Tuscarora Cup that they won 12 months ago. In the final they were up against the U12B, which just goes to show the strength that the club has at this level, and is a credit to all those involved in the junior and pop programmes.
The round robin nature of the competition gives it an element of luck, and the U12A were handed three easy matches and only one against a club who we would consider serious opposition. To my mind, 4 wins would be needed to guarantee a semifinal spot.
First up were Heaton Mersey Guild who were quickly seen off 11-1, which was a nice starter. The second game was against Poynton A which was, on paper, the tough game as Poynton have some good players. However, we played some very good lacrosse to win 7-1 and almost certainly eliminate them from the competition. We then beat Boardman 9-1 and finally Poynton B 6-0, with a somewhat scrappy performance.
After four games, we had qualified for the semis, along with the two other unbeaten teams, Rochdale and Timperley B. The last semi final spot went to Mellor, who had lost one but got through on goal difference. So, there was no Poynton, Stockport or Cheadle, who were all among my pre tournament threats. Looking good then.
The draw for the semi final pitted Timperley A against Mellor and Timperley B against Rochdale, which left the chance of an all Timperley final.......it couldn't happen could it?
.....but it did - the A team beat Mellor 4-0 and the B team overcame Rochdale 3-2 with a really gutsy performance.
So the final was to be an all Timperley affair, and to be honest, it was closer than I imagined it would be. The A team looked nervous and started off playing that way, whilst the B team really believed they could win as they knew the opposition inside out.
Half time was 0-0, then Joe Hunn put the B team ahead early in the second period. The two long sticks of Harun and Dan Walker then popped up with nice goals for the A team, before Ben Williamson equalised for the B on a man up for 2-2 with about two minutes to play. This was going to the wire.
In the end though, the experience of the A team won the day as Ed Loveland got on the end of some good passing to score his 18th and 19th goals of the day to put his team 4-2 up. The A team then put in a minute of really tough riding and defending to protect the lead that they had fought so hard to get. The final whistle followed, and the two teams and their coaches came together as one to congratulate and commiserate each other at the end of a really special day for the club. Patrick McGowan (B team) was thoroughly deserving to win the MVP award in the final.
The victorious A team were:
Goal: Matthew Stewart, Defenders: Harun Wasim, Dan Walker, Midfield: Oliver Crosby (capt), Adam Kinghorn, Will Callaghan, Sam Hirst, Attack: Ed Loveland.
Well done boys - this was a tremendous victory in which the team playing the best lacrosse in the tournament won the day. Every player (apart from Matt!) scored today, and the incredibly unselfish play of everyone led to some great "team goals" getting us to the victory that Nelly, Chris and I wanted us to achieve.
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