WEEKLY ROUNDUP NOVEMBER 29TH

INTRODUCTION
The bad weather in recent days meant that the weekend saw the first serious disruption of the season with most pitches waterlogged and unplayable. However, for Timperley the two ATPs and our new super grass surfaces meant that we suffered much less than most clubs with all our home fixtures being played.

Our Women’s team suffered a serious setback to their hopes of silverware when the entertained a feisty and skilful Mellor team at Stockport Road and went down to a 9-11 defeat.

After their massive win over Stockport in the opening game of their Premier 1 season Timperley faced a potential banana skin in their home game against Mellor. In a game of definitely two halves the first two quarters were nip and tuck with both teams swapping goals and Timperley getting their noses in front to lead 4-3 at the break. After Timperley scored the opening goal of the second period Mellor came storming back to lead 6-5 before Timperley levelled things up before Mellor again edged ahead to lead 6-7 at half time.

The second half saw Timperley get their game heads on and destroying Mellor with 6 unanswered goals in the 3rd and 4th quarters to take a convincing 18-7 victory.

After two games Timperley can savour the rare experience of being top of the Premiership –albeit on goal difference.

Next Saturday Brooklands come to Stockport Road for the last 1st team game before the Winter Classic and the mid season Xmas break. It is a must win game for the Blues as they attempt to keep their winning start to the season going. The restart on the 6th January sees Timperley visit second placed Poynton.

The men’s A team’s game at Stockport was a victim of the weather and a waterlogged pitch. The B team were without a fixture.

Timperley U16 travelled to Brooklands to take on Brooklands / Rochdale (a bizarre union!). Earlier in the season the two teams played out a draw and this game was similarly tight ending up in a 7-7 draw.

In my view the most improved team of the season is our U14 although the improvement is in performance rather than results. On Saturday they entertained Waconians and some tough officiating calls saw them go down to an 8-10 defeat.

The U12A game at Mellor was unsurprisingly the victim of the weather.

The U12B suffered as B teams always do but gave an improved performance against a much bigger Liverpool side.

The Girl’s U15 Blue team’s game against Brooklands postponed because of a waterlogged pitch whilst the U15 White gained their first win of the season with a 12-5 win over Cheadle/Norbury.

MATCH REPORTS
Saturday 25th November
Men’s 1st Team v Mellor (Home) Won 18-7
On paper, following their win over Stockport, Timperley were firm favourites to win their game against Mellor.

The early exchanges were very close with some uncharacteristic errors from the Timperley goal keeper and defence. The Mellor attack made the most of their opportunities and their goalie was in great form.

The sides traded goals with Timperley getting their noses in front 4-3 at the end of the 1st quarter but Mellor struck back to edge ahead 6-7 at half time.

A tough half time talk saw a much different Timperley in the second half.

With Tom Bracegirdle overwhelmingly dominant at face offs and the defence completely shutting off the Mellor offence and Tim Blower in goal stopping everything that came his way Timperley simply destroyed Mellor scoring 12 unanswered goals - 6 in each quarter to take an emphatic 18-7 victory.

Ollie White and Jack Brook led the scorers with Mikey Armstrong pulling the strings. All the midfielders put in a full shift making use of the possession and clearing the ball well.

Next week Brooklands are the visitors to Stockport Road with Timperley needing to keep their impressive start to the season going.

Scorers
Ollie White 7.0
Jack Brook 5.1
Taylor Wallace 1.6
Mikey Armstrong 1.2
Tom Bracegirdle 2.2
James Bates 1.0
Brendan James 1.0

Men’s A Team v Stockport (Away) Postponed

Boy’s U16 v Brooklands/ Rochdale (Away) Drew 7-7
U16 were away at Brooklands/Rochdale this weekend. With the result a draw in their previous meeting earlier in the season this was going to be a close game. On a cold wet Saturday morning Timperley started the brightest with two quick goals from our main scorer this year Harry. However Brooklands got back into the game with three goals from fast breaks which appears to be our main weakness this year in defence. Timperley played better than last week and moved the ball in attack with more pace resulting in 3 goals to 1 in Q2 which gave us a half time lead of 4 v 5.

The next two quarters was all about two solid defences which made it difficult to score goals. Both teams took it in turns to move the ball around in attack without making too many chances. The game finished with another draw which was the fair result for both teams, a game without penalties is rare in lacrosse (especially one with Ollie Lee in the team) which allowed both teams to always have 6 men in defence. With 5 of the 7 goals coming from Harry we need more goals from the other players, Dan is doing his part each week we just need some more from the rest of attack and midfield.

Harry 5 Goals
Dan 1 goal and 1 assist
Tom 1 goal

Boy’s U14 V Waconians (Home) Lost 8-10
Sadly again we were left short due to a no show, but as it was supposed to be a cup game and the U12’s game was cancelled we had 11 players. I thought the midfield was again very strong when we eventually controlled the ball. With Matt being the focal point. We must start to move the ball quicker and play smarter with our decision making.

In attack we were a little too quiet and we did miss so many opportunities that if we start taking we will score lots of goals. Lots of positives to take in that area.

Overall the boys have shown great improvement and despite a frustrating day I can honestly say what a great bunch of lads they all are.

Defence was solid where Olly Hancock was simply outstanding with Graeme who played his part, we also used both Angus & Alfie in defence as we are short in numbers in that area & I thought they both showed great endeavour and commitment.

We lost the game 10-8 but nearly snatched a draw in the last minute before WACS caught us in transition and scored another goal.

Goals came from:-

Laurie Bailey
Matt Fazal x3
Joe Tomlinson x 4

Assists

Matt Fazal x 3
Mackenzie Baird
Joe Tomlinson
Alfie Jenkins
Cai Alty

Boy’s U12A v Mellor (Away) Postponed

Boy’s U12B v Liverpool (Home) Lost 2-14
Liverpool took the lead early in Q1 but the initial goal was followed by a good save from Lucca and hard defensive work from both Sam & Leon in midfield. The second Liverpool goal of the quarter was followed by another great save from the Timperley goalie and hard work from every member of the Timperley team before Liverpool got their 3rd before the close of the quarter.

The hard work continued with a bright Timperley start to Q2. The pace of Liverpool continued to cause the Timperley midfield problems but a strong counter attack involving Mark, Alex and Freddie brought a good save from the Liverpool goalie. A period of good Timperley pressure followed the attempt before Liverpool added another 2 in quick succession. Despite the score line the Timperley team continued to try hard and score high for determination. Mark reacted with a couple of strong attacking runs whilst Finn forced Liverpool to lose possession and allowed Matty to scoop up the loose ball and launch an attack. Following Liverpool's 6th Leon returned to the field with immediate defensive impact and Mark closed the quarter by ensuring the Liverpool did not score again.

The third quarter began with strong midfield from Timperly and the reward was a first goal for Sam and Timperley with an assist for Matty. Mark had another chance from the restart. A Timperley second was scored by Matty from a move begun be debutante Eddie turning defence quickly into attack. Liverpool reacted and Lucca stood strong and alone on a couple of occasions to save and force errors but Liverpool added for 8 and Q3 closed even.

Tiredness truly took its toll on Timperley in Q4 and Liverpool piled on the pressure. Lucca again saved well when he could and at the other end Matty was denied another goal by the post. Both Mark and Alex with others still pushed the attack despite the mounting Liverpool total proving that these "B" boys have the resilience in abundance.

Sausage and chips were enjoyed by all.
Scorers
Sam Ginger 1.0
Matty Harrison 1.1

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Sunday 26th Nov
Girl’s U15 White (Home) v Cheadle/Norbury Won 12-5
We had 13 players, with 2x from U13s (Jess Haywood and Bea Bell).

We started well and took a commanding lead but then took our foot off a bit and allowed them to get closer to us and make it more exciting than we needed to. We were in control from the beginning till the end but we need to tighten our defence from the midfield. First win of the season for the White team 12 - 5.

In attack, our goals came from good team play and some individual efforts. We can settle and be dangerous but we need to improve our effectiveness in front of goal. As touched upon earlier, in defence we got caught out by fast breaks due to not enough players coming back. We need to work on this. We can defence and we showed it enough times.

WHITES:
Man of the match: Elise Humblet - scored, assisted and played in different positions to support the team.
Defence: Charlotte Bell - worked very hard.
Midfield: Emilly Meppem - put a lot of effort.
Attack: Jodie Pollard - strong in attack.

Scores and assist.
Elise Humblet 7/3
Jodie Pollard 3/1
Maddie Lord 1/1
Jasmine Torevell -/2
Jess Haywood 1/-

U15 BLUE game against Brooklands was cancelled due to water logged pitches.

Updated 08:00 - 1 Sep 2019 by Tom Slater