Sunday 10 April 2011

U12A 20-5 Stockport [ONONDAGA CUP WINNERS]


Here they are, the all conquering U12 of 2010/11, who have finished the season with a 100% record and four trophies, confirming itself as one of the best junior teams to have played lacrosse for a long time.

[back row] Callum Townsley, Harun Wasim, Joe Hunn, Sam Hirst, Ben Williamson, Oliver Crosby, Adam Kinghorn, Pat Sugden; [front row] Matthew Stewart, Will Callaghan, Ed Loveland, Tom Cox, Dan Walker, Lewis McCauley.

The air of expectation has been hanging over this squad for the last 12 months, as it was very obvious to the managers and coaches that we had the potential to win everything this season (and anything less would in actual fact be quite disappointing).

Going into the final we'd already won three trophies and I was extremely confident that Timperley would win the fourth - what was important to me was how we played. If the game got ugly, we would dig in and play a tough, tight game to get the win; however I was really keen that we played a top quality game of lacrosse which showed the couple of hundred spectators what this team is all about. The word is out about how good this team is, so it was nice to deliver as we played an incredibly good passing game to take Stockport down by 20 goals to 5, and in the process, win the Onondaga Cup for the second year running.

So, to the game:
No slow start today; instead we were flawless for about ten minutes and built up a five goal lead, which effectively killed the final as a competitive match. We then had a flat five minutes where Stockport scored, and we were a little bit careless in what we were doing. This gave Nelly the chance to give his last “encouraging” pep talk of the season, to which the kids really responded, and we upped our game and came out firing for the rest of the match, where we really put our opponents in their place. The quarter time scores were 5-1, 11-2, 15-3, 20-5.

Every player got good game time today and everyone did their bit towards the victory. However I’d like to pick two players out; Tom Cox got on the end of a lot of good moves and did his job clinically well – this was a really nice way for him to end his 4 years on the U12A team. The second player is Sam Hirst who took the first and last faces of the day, and a whole lot in between - his tireless attitude kept him coming back for more (and winning).

The goals / (assists) were as follows:
Cox 9(1), Hunn 5(1), Loveland 2(2), Callaghan 2(2), Crosby 1(3), Kinghorn 1(1), Walker (1), Townsley (1)


Now, as I blogged 12 months ago, let's have one more look at that trophy.......

U16s Flags Final - Sunday April 10th 2011

Ah well - it just wasn't to be, After leading 3-1 Timperley had a tough 3rd quarter with Sheffield going into the lead and despite valiant efforts from all of the team, Sheffield won the match 5-4 in a thrilling final.

Tim Nicol was on top form scoring the opening goal with the shot of the season and then later getting the important no.4. Toby and Myles scoring goals 2 & 3.

The whole team put in all the effort we could have asked for and the boys did us proud.

It has been a pleasure to manage such a good bunch of lads and James & I couldn't have wished for a stronger performance today, the only shame being - not that we lost but that what was a good team all season that showed it was an excellent team today - will now no longer play as one with the seniors moving up next season.

Anyway - thanks to all the families for their great support throughout the season and I look forward to seeing you at the awards evening next Sunday (17th).