Junior summer tournaments 2011

Over the course of the summer we have entered our juniors boys into tournaments at all age groups, with some really good results:

U10 – won the Legacy tournament
U11 – runners up in the 8 a side
U12 – won the Legacy tournament
U14 – runners up in the 6 a side, and runners up in the Legacy tournament
U16 – runners up in the Legacy tournament

JUNE
The U11 played in the 8 a side tournament at Brooklands. This was the first time I had seen this group of boys play and did not really know what to expect. However, the team played well and responded to Jay’s coaching, and they deservedly reached the final of the tournament. This was against the pre-tournament favourites Stockport, who went on to win the game. This was the first time that this group of boys had played together and it was a very promising start. It shows that we will be competitive next season at U12, and with some coaching of a number of simple principles and ideas, this team will improve very quickly.

The U14 entered their 6 a side tournament at Cheadle Hulme and after a heavy first game loss to Poynton, it could have all gone very wrong. However, there is a gritty core to this team and the boys managed to get themselves to joint fourth place after the round robin stage. This lead to a golden goal play off against Mellor, which Timperley won after less than a minute of play……..into the semis them. These games are drawn out of a hat and it paired us with Cheadle Hulme which was the easier draw and we won by a couple of clear goals. On the other pitch Poynton and Rochdale hammered each other and it went to a golden goal winner for Poynton by 6-5. Timperley didn’t really get going in the final and finished comfortably beaten by a really good Poynton team.

JULY
There is now a summer tournament which is part of the legacy from the 2010 world cup. Over the weekend just gone, Timperley entered teams at all age groups into the tournament held at William Hulme’s GS.

The U10 had a total mixture of abilities, ranging from 3 boys who had never played a game before, up to an experienced A team player, so it was really interesting to see how they would play as a team. Playing Stockport first game was tough, and we lost 3-4, but from here we never looked back, and got stronger and stronger as the boys got into the tournament. We won our remaining four games (5-1 v Poynton, 8-3 v Mellor, 6-0 v HMG and 5-1 v Norbury) , and with Stockport drawing two and losing one, we ended up top of the league table, and winners of the tournament. This was an ideal tournament for the U10, played on small pitches and allowing our players to get their first taste of proper lacrosse against boys of similar age and size. To win the tournament was exceptional – I had no expectations of this at the start of the day, but Craggie and I were both very pleased with how it all turned out.

The U12 were odds on favourites to win as we had a very strong team out. It was simply a case of keeping the boys focussed on the job in hand and our lacrosse skill would win the day. They have all played and won tournaments in the last 12 months and know what is expected of them; it also helps that the opposition all know how good we are and most go onto the pitch beaten before they start.
We went through the tournament unbeaten, and only conceded one goal, and at times we played some fantastic lacrosse. We still seem to lose our aura against Brooklands, but this was the only close game of the day. The scores were 7-0 v Stockport, 8-0 v Norbury, 2-1 v Brooklands, 7-0 v Oldham, 4-0 v Cheadle Hulme and 4-0 v Poynton. Thanks to Chris for coaching; this was the end to a quite exceptional season for the U12, and they move into U14 in good shape.

The U14 performed well, losing only to Poynton, whilst winning all their other games (including a 1-0 win over Brooklands A). The final league standings was a 3 way tie on 21 points, with Brooklands winning the tournament on fewer goals conceded, leaving Timperley in a highly creditable second place.

The U16 took part in a four team tournament and got a great result in their first game with a 5-5 draw against the man sized Sheffield team. The second game was a 4-2 win over Poynton. Timperely won their third game too, which resulted in them tying with Sheffield on points, but unfortunately Sheffield had conceded fewer goals, leaving Timperley as runners up.

U12A 2010/11 with trophies

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).

Last game of the season U16s vs Brooklands Sat 26th March.

Well - our old rivals in the last game of the season. Brooklands were out to regain their honour after losing to Sheffield in the semi finals - no better way than to defeat Timperley - the other Flags finalists!

Timperley however had their own plans! If we could beat Brooklands we could enter the Flags final with more confidence in the belief we could beat the Yorkshire Puddings!

Jack Cox got the all important opener, followed by Alex Winton, Myles and then Jack again; 4-0 up at the end of the first quarter with Timperley playing a tight, skillful and disciplined game - the best possible start.

Quarter 2 saw Brooklands pull one back and Toby getting Timperley's 5th making the score 5-1.

The third quarter got the pulse going with Brooklands getting 2 more goals but valiantly Timperley increased their score by 3 more goals thanks to Alex, Jack and Myles. This quarter saw the goal of the game with Cameron assisting Myles in a beautiful 1 : 2 move and then Barney made the save of the game after leaving the goal and an awkward cross goal clearance which was intercepted - Barney returned to save the Brooklands shot like a bat out of hell! What a match. 8-3 the end of quarter score.

Final quarter and would Brooklands mount a come back....I think not, despite pulling 2 more back, Jack Cox added his 4th making the final triumphant score 9-5. What a win, well done lads!

Training next 2 Wednesdays and grass training next 2 Saturdays.

With this training and the improved confidence after today's match - we will enter the flags final in the best possible position - Start believing the WIN boys - you can do it!

U12A 13-5 Brooklands [26th Mar]

This was our last game before the cup final in two weeks time, and it was vital that we put in a solid performance, especially given the opposition. Brooklands (for whatever reason) still believe that they were robbed in the Nationals, so today was an ideal opportunity to show them who the best U12 team in Trafford and England is.

In what is becoming an U12A habit, we started off slowly and couldn't initially get into the game. To be honest we were pretty poor in the first quarter and it ended at 1-1; the quarter time break allowed us to sort things out and and make some suggestions to the lads, which they obviously took note of. The second quarter began much better, and we started to move the ball with more purpose, and we got the long stick midfielder into the game too. Some good goals were scored by bounce shots which got us to half time with the score at 6-2. We lost a bit of momentum in the third quarter, before running away with the game in the fourth to get to a comfortable 13-5 win.

A win against Brooklands is always nice to achieve, and the result today concluded our regular season with a 100% record. We have just the one game left now, and the expectation from everyone is that Timperley will win. However, every game starts at 0-0 and we have to make sure that we turn up and play from the first whistle of the final, instead of about 20 minutes into the game. It would be a shame to perform poorly in the final - there will be a big crowd at Rochdale, and it would be great to show the neutral fan exactly what this team is about.

Goals Loveland 4, Hirst 2, Kinghorn 2, Cox 2, Williamson 1, Sugden 1, Hunn 1

U12 "Syracuse" 13-5 Poynton [26th Mar]