FLAGS U14 CUP FINAL 2016 – THE CENTURION TROPHY
MELLOR 17 TIMPERLEY 4
This cup final confirmed Mellor U14’s as the top team of the last few years in junior lacrosse. The score-line of Mellor 17 Timperley 4 did not really reflect the total dominance of Mellor and if it hadn’t have been for some wayward shooting and a terrific performance from the Timperley goalkeeper it could have been an even more crushing defeat.
Mellor’s outstanding midfield made an instant impact with goals through Dan Jones and Josh Pink Mellor retained possession well, dictated the pace of the game and then made sudden cuts which tested the Timperley defence time and again. Such was the dominance of Mellor that Will Macdonald in goal had to wait until the tenth minute for his first touch of the ball. Mellor finished the first quarter 4 – 0 up. It was a similar story in the second quarter. Timperley managed a goal but Mellor added another three to end the first half with a worthy 7 – 1 lead.
After the break some players became a little complacent and the careful possession, passing game that they started with was thrown away in too many solo runs and shots from long distance. The Timperley goalkeeper managed to stop many of the shots that were fired in at him and Mellor only added three goals by the end of the quarter.
In the final quarter Timperley started to show signs of why they had reached the final with some neat play that resulted three goals. But Mellor responded with a more disciplined and focussed finish. Goals from Joe Hussey, Josh Pink and Dan Jones sealed the victory at a crushing 17 – 4 (a scoreline accurately predicted by U12’s manager Martin Mochan before the game!)
The U14’s deserve a lot of praise for the way they played as a team today. They all played their part. The defence was solid, Will in goal had one of his less memorable games but he wasn’t asked to do much. The midfield was awesome and dominated with speed, strength at the face-off and sheer skill. Probably the hardest working, energetic player today was Drew Bickerton up front but a big mention must be made for Ben Tipping, Will Tadman and Ben Mochan who are all good team players whose unselfish play helps others to shine.
It was 3 years ago that this Mellor team came to their first Flags Final and were narrowly beaten by a Timperley team making some controversial team additions. This game felt like a just revenge and also demonstrated how far Mellor have advanced compared to a lot of their rivals. Many of these players will now move up to U16 level and with a great crop of U12 and U10 players coming through Mellor will be a major force in club lacrosse for many years to come.
Scorers :
Dan Jones – 6
Josh Pink – 5
Drew Bickerton – 2
Joe Hussey – 2
Ben Tipping – 1
Josh Poke – 1
Dominic Macdonald