Timperley U16 'A' 9 v Sheffield 4 - Match Report by Rob Hawksley

Headline news - the U16's fielded TWO full teams, and the 'A' had a substitute for the first time in a few weeks.

This was something of a stealth victory but the U16 'A' team, a comfortable win that seemed to just come from nowhere. My notebook has 'lack of urgency' written against the first quarter scores - yet we ended that period 3-1 up.

Sheffield are a strong team, with a lot of upper age U16 lads who looked to me to be physically intimidating. Sheffield were also smarting from having been beaten in the U16 6-a-side cup final, and were less than impressed to see a photo of the winning team (minus Tommy Hawthorn) pinned up in the club entrance.

The second period saw more action. Paul Chapman in goal was particularly good, making some quick instinctive saves that kept us in the game. The two Jacks had a good period - Jack S-S put in a huge hit on a Sheffield middie, and Jack Mann was just awesome in defence, hounding every red-shirt that came his way.

Nothing much in my notes about period 3, other than Paul Chapman making another great save, spinning a fast shot away off the post. End of this period 7-2.

The final quarter was a far more even period, but Sheffield had just left it too late. Tommy Hawthorn seemed fired up and bagged two goals which were very much solo efforts, attacking the goal. My notes show that the Timperley attack seemed to get going and Tommy's efforts reflected the whole attacking spirit shown by the Timperley forwards. The passes were quicker and there was a lot more movement. This left gaps in midfield that Sheffield exploited to bag their two goals, but at the final whistle the final score was 9-4 Timperley.