WEEKLY ROUNDUP (4TH APRIL)

INTRODUCTION
My noble intentions of completing a newsletter whilst cruising the Garonne and Dordogne in South West France turned out to be an illusion for a number of reasons. Firstly, the tour was too hectic with a lot of coach trips to Chateaux where wines were available from the modest price of 75 Euros a bottle to well over 1,000 Euros. This was interesting but I suspect Christine and I will be sticking with £5 a bottle from Tesco. Additionally, the challenge of doing anything with a small ipad proved far too difficult for me. However, I have decided that I would produce a combined letter including the few senior games and if possible the girls’ tournaments played on 1st April.

The previous weekend saw a host of games for Timperley teams and some notable success.
On the Saturday the 1st team played high flying Heaton Mersey and gained a very creditable 9-9 draw. On Sunday they travelled to Poynton to take on another team above them in the table. The team was far from full strength but they gave a good account of themselves going down to a 9-8 defeat after trailing 9-3 at ¾ time.
The A team was the one disappointment of the weekend losing again to Rochdale A 7-12, leaving their promotion hopes hanging by a thread .
The B team after leading for much of the game against Stockport B and being level 8-8 at ¾ time ran out of legs and went down to 8-12 defeat.
There was a better result for the B on Sunday when they defeated Boardman 15-11.
For the Boy’s junior teams it was a very good weekend with wins for the U16 over Rochdale 9-5 and for the U14 8-6 over Wilmslow in their respective Cup semi finals joining the U19 and U12 in the Finals. I cannot recall any club ever getting all of their age group teams to their respective Finals before. A very proud achievement for the club.
The U12 avenged a defeat by Norbury a few weeks ago with an 8-7 win at Stockport Road. The U12 B have shown great improvement during the season and if they get down to summer training next season there could be some interesting players on our U12 teams. This week they had a competitive game with Boardman and Eccles before going down to a 3-7 defeat.
The big game on Sunday saw Timperley U19 take on holders Brooklands in the Final of the Norman Barber Cup. With Brooklands big favourites Timperley gave a tremendous performance to be level 5-5 at the end of normal time. In overtime Timperley were victims of a very controversial call which gave Brooklands the opportunity to score the golden goal and retain their title. It is never satisfactory to see a great game and a title decided on an officiating decision. It would certainly never happen in US Lacrosse.
On Saturday 1st of April Heaton Mersey called off the 1st team’s last game of the season because of a waterlogged pitch. When did it last rain? There was a time when the Mersey grounds were looked after by the legendary Alan Clarke. Year after year they won the trophy for the best grounds in the North .It was always a pleasure to play there. Nowadays they seem to battle with Poynton and Timperley for the muddiest pitches in the premiership.
The B team travelled to Rochdale and looked like likely winners until veteran attack man James Shuttleworth was forced off with a serious muscle injury in the second quarter. A 7-6 defeat was tough on a fighting Timperley side
On Sunday the Girl’s U13 continued their unbeaten season with a victory in the Timperley Club Tournament. With victories over Mellor, TimperleyB, Oxton, Cheadle and Poynton they were undefeated and picked up their 4th trophy of the season with 2 tournaments still to go.
The U18 played in their club tournament and faced tough opposition with Oxton winning and Timperley finishing 4th with the B team joint 5th.

MATCH REPORTS
Men’s Seniors
Sat 25th March
1st v Heaton Mersey (H) Drew 9-9
Timperley played the first of two matches this weekend against Heaton Mersey. On a glorious sunny day it felt like it was appropriate to open the debate of this is the sort of days we should play lacrosse and not on cold, rainy November afternoons.

Timperley vs Mersey are always close battles and this game followed suite with two goals being scored in the last minute of the game. The game could have been done and dusted by half time but a stick check on Jack Brook saw his goal wiped clear and consequently Mersey scored from the man up. Keep your sticks legal kids.

With 30 seconds remaining Mersey took the lead for the first time in the game, heart break for the boys in blue. With 15 seconds remaining Mikey Armstrong tied the game. A draw was a fair result and the two teams will go at it again next week for the final game of the season. Timperley will be without 7 regular 1st team players for this week’s fixture. As this fixture has been rearranged twice already due to poor weather let's just think what if we played in the summer.

Scorers Louis Humblet (1) Ollie White (2) Jack Brook (2) Pat McGowan (1) Mike Armstrong (3)

A v Rochdale A (A) Lost 12-7
Q1) 5-2, Q2) 8-4, Q3) 11-5, Q4) 12-7
The A teams final run out of the season was a trip to Rochdale. Having failed to get a win against them twice already this month and with the league title hanging in the balance this was a very important day out.
Unfortunately the game started in a similar fashion to the last 2 with Rochdale taking an early lead. After struggling to get anything past the Rochdale keeper over the past few weeks Billy Kershaw stepped up and scored 2 in quick succession to end the quarter 5-2 down.
Sadly the game continued in the same manner with Timperley chipping away but Rochdale extending their Lead. By the end of the 3rd quarter the game looked to be out of sight with Rochdale having a 11-5 lead. After a moment of madness from the Rochdale goalie who was expelled from the game for fighting thing looked like they may be swinging in Timperley favour. But despite a 3 minute period of being a man up with a stand in keeper in the Rochdale net Timperley failed to capitalise. Winning back possession Rochdale ran down the clock and eased to a 12-5 lead.
Although it was a disappointing end the rest of the season has been a great success with several new young players cementing their positions in the A team squad. With promotion out of our hands but still in the balance, we have to some other results to go our way and will look to build on the positives from this season to take into the next.
Billy Kershaw (4.1), TJ Burgess (2.0), Ben Fox (1.0)

B v Stockport B (A) Lost 12-8
Bright start saw B go 2 ahead ending 4-3 up at end of 1st Qtr. Stockport dominated possession from face off for most of the game and in 2nd Qtr Timperley's groundball let them down however some smart shooting saw them 6-4 up at half time with Stockport scoring their 4th goal seconds before half time whistle.
3rd qtr was nip and tuck with Stockport continuing to win face offs and Timperley's ground ball and unforced errors in attack letting them down. Timperley edged 7-6 ahead however all level 8-8 at end of qtr.
Final qtr saw Stockport retaining possession and putting 4 to nil in the net with final score 12-8.

JD 4, Noel Harrison 2, James Shuttleworth 1, Ethan Cassidy (1st game) 1

Sunday 26th March
1st v Poynton (A) Lost 9-8
1st narrowly lost to Poynton 9-8. Considering we were 9-3 down going into the 4th and only had 11 players two of which were Conor Turner and Adam Henbrey we can take this as a decent result.

Quarter scores
1st- 1-2, 2nd 2-4, 3rd 3-9, 4th 8-9

Points
Cam Leslie (2.2), Mikey Armstrong (2.1), Tom Bracegirdle (2.1), James Bates (1.0), Pat McGowan (1.0)

B v Boardman and Eccles (H) won15-11

U19 v Brooklands Cup Final Lost 6-5 (OT)
The U19 suffered a cruel defeat in the final of the U19 cup; going done 5-6 to Brooklands after a golden goal finished the game.
Brooklands, with their four England U19 players making the journey home from University on a weekly basis, were the overwhelming favourites, and they had already beaten Timperley soundly in the pre-Christmas league. However, Timperley’s young team were having none of it last night and they put in a mature and disciplined performance from the off, and almost pulled off what would have been a huge, yet deserved, upset. Timperley were out of the blocks in fine style, scoring three unanswered goals in the first quarter, but they failed to add to this tally during the second, but still led 3-2 at half time.
The third quarter ended 4-4, but with a minute to play Brooklands were a goal up, with possession on our back line. A double team forced the Brooklands player out of bounds, and Timperley broke up field, and drew a penalty. One shot went wide, before JD Bulmer scored the man up equaliser with seconds to go. 5-5 and into the golden goal period. Brooklands won the face and, aided by a dubious penalty, went to goal and got the winner. A very disappointing end to the game for the young Timperley team, most of whom will return for the U19 season next year, somewhat wiser for the experience.
Scorers
JD Bulmer 3, Billy Kershaw 2

Boys
U12A v Norbury (H) Won 8-7
This week the U12A took on Norbury, who scored a header last time we met. So we were hoping for a little bit of luck to go our way.
Timperley started brightly and Jim was strong at the face off and with the movement of Laurie and Kit led to Timperley racing into a 3 goal lead with 3 goals from Jim. Some great movement from Ben E, Mackenzie and Owen helped to create the openings. Norbury managed to pull one back, score at the end of the first quarter 3-1. Timperley dropped off the pace a little in the second quarter which allowed Norbury to creep back into the game but a goal from Kit late on in the quarter kept Timperley in the lead. The third quarter saw Norbury start to dominate the possession and force the tempo. 3 goals from Norbury saw them take the lead but a goal from Owen kept Timperley within touching distance. The final quarter was a scrappy affair with both teams making hard work of ground balls. Some good work at the back from Ben, Toby, Hamza and Leon helped to keep Norbury at bay with Tom making some good saves. Timperley eventually regained their composure and good work from the midfield and attack saw Timperley score 3 more goals, Ben E 1 and Owen 2. Final score 8-7 Timperley. A well earned victory today for the boys and a special mention for Hamza and Leon who helped us out after playing a b team game first. We were impressed with their progress.
Man of the Match Jim Hartley

Stats
Jim Hartley (3.1), Owen Shuttleworth (3.0), Kit Sanders (1.2), Ben Edwards (1.0)

U12 B v Boardman and Eccles (H) Lost 3-7
A beautiful morning and an early start did nothing to put off our players and again we had a strong turnout of 14 players. Thanks for the enthusiasm of the boys and the commitment of the parents for another enjoyable season. David Shuttleworth said it’s not how they win but how they react to a loss that makes the difference and the team should be proud of how they have conducted themselves at all times, winning or losing.

Today was unfortunately a loss, though with the momentum to the end I think we could have snatched it had the game been played over 7 or 8 quarters. Boardman borrowed a couple of players from Norbury to make up a team an maybe they tired towards the end, but they started strong with 3 goals in the first quarter and 2 in the second leaving us trailing by 5 at half-time. In the heat and with some strong running there were some tired legs. Nick Hill had to come off feeling unwell. Some ‘strong’ defending, no doubt borne of frustration, resulted in both Hamza Rahman and Leon Read being sent off for a minute each. A quick goal from Boardman in the 3rd quarter and Mattie Harrison was back doing a great job on the face-off despite some heckling from our parents! Hamza had a shot on goal forcing a save, and not too long after the efforts of Daniel George were rewarded as he passed to George Rommel who went on to score - How we cheered! Finn O’Brien and James Birtles were showing the benefit of other sports, getting into good positions. Lucca Read continues to improve in goal, making some great saves, but was beaten in the last quarter by a single goal. We were 7-1 down before George Rommel pulled back 2 more goals leaving a score line that more fairly reflected the performance, if not the effort that the boys put in. With more experience and as their passing improves, I can only hope they continue with their full commitment, and then, they will be a force.

Scorers George Rommel (3)

A reminder that this was the last game. There may be another cup/tournament and I will advise if I hear.

If any of you couldn’t make the game today and still have helmets/pads/shorts/shirts, then please return them at training on Weds. We need it all back for stocktaking.

Junior awards - it’s in the diary for Sunday, 7th May at 4.30 at Timperley. I hope to see you there.

U14 v Wilmslow (A) Cup Won 8-6
Tom Wallis (2.0), Ewan Ginger (2.0), Seb Page (2.0), Josh Spinks (1.0),
Joe Tomlinson (1.0)

Lovely day for a game of lacrosse, a bright dry spring day. The Wilmslow grass was deemed unplayable so it was agreed to play on astro, or as some quip said ‘Brighton Beach’ as you could have built sand castles on it.

For the first time this season we had a full squad (15!). Timperley made their now routine slow start, failing to hold possession, sloppy passing and poor ground balls. However Wilmslow were running all their play through their big centre Oscar Mellor, and generally when we could get Luke as LSM on him we could defend against him. End of the first quarter saw us 2-1 down, with Wilmslow having the majority of play.

2nd quarter was much of the same, scrappy from us with a poor possession rate and silly send offs, leading to a few home truths being dished out by Dan towards the end of the first half and we finished 4-2 down.

3rd quarter saw the start of the Timperley fight back. Seb got the best of Oscar at face, Ewan utilised his pace in midfield, the defence stepped up the aggression and the attack began to move and look fluid. Possession increased and the quarter ended with us 2 goals to the good, score 4-4.

This was going to be a tense final quarter; we got off to a poor start with Wilmslow scoring 2 swiftly. After the second Dan called a stick check against their scorer, the stick was adjudged illegal by the referees and the goal was disallowed. So at 5-4 down the lads knuckled down and really fought, in first for the ground balls, held the possession and attacked in a controlled manner. Soon we found ourselves 8-5 to the good, a Wilmslow goal 3 minutes from the end ramped up the tension but dogged determination saw us through to the end, winning 8-6.

This was by no means a comfortable win but it goes to show that the team can play good lacrosse, but to do it they have to believe in themselves singularly and collectively. It takes them too long to get going and too long to realise the need to support each other on the pitch.

However we got there, we join the other Timperley Junior teams at the Flags finals. So no rest as yet, 4 more weeks practice to come before we face Norbury/Cheadle who came through strongly against Sheffield U14A.

U16 v Rochdale (A) Cup Won 9-5
The U16 have had two tight games with Rochdale this season, winning one and losing one, both by one goal. So we knew our cup semi final was going to be a tight game, with the winner going on to play Mellor at Flags. And the loser having no more lacrosse this season.
We had a solid practice on Friday night and arrived at Rochdale ready to perform to our game plan.
The first half of the game was cagey, with each team knowing the strengths of the other. Timperley were 0-1 down, then settled to get to 3-1 up, 4-2 up, before half time came amidst a flurry of Timperley penalties and a score of 4-3 to Timperley. The half time talk was interesting. From an initial feeling of slight despondency the captains were busy reminding their team that we were actually winning the game whilst not playing at our best, we were getting some joy at the face off through Ollie Lee and the game was there for the taking. Some tactical tweaking from Mike, and even though the game then went to 4-4, that was as close as it got for the rest of the morning. Ed and Marius freed themselves from the suffocating man marking to either score or assist the next four goals, and we had some breathing space. Our discipline was exemplary in the second half with no penalties, while Rochdale spent time in the box on five occasions. We possessed the ball towards well at the end of the game, and ran the clock down to not give Rochdale any chance of recovering. Final score 9-5 to Timperley and onto the final for the third time in four years.
Stats
Marius Robinson (3.2), Will Greaves (3.0), Ed Loveland (1.1), Harry Alty (1.1), Tom Allen (1.0), Owen Atkinson (0.1)

Saturday 1st April
1st v Heaton Mersey (A) Postponed.
Water logged pitch !!

B v Rochdale B (A) Lost 7-6
Rochdale took a 2 goal lead in the 1st qtr before Sam Hirst pulled 1 back to end 2-1 down.
James Shuttleworth scored 2 goals to put Timperley ahead 3-2 at half time. The turning point of the game was James' enforced withdrawal with a muscle strain half way through the 2nd qtr and he was unable to take any further part. 3rd qtr saw Rochdale edge ahead 5-4. In the final qtr Timperley equalised at 6-6 in the final stages however Rochdale bounced back to edge at 7-6 with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Whilst James' loss leaving a very young attack was crucial to the outcome, Timperley had more than enough shots on goal to win - the Rochdale keeper had a fine game however the shooting particularly with several 1on1’s was questionable.
Overall a fair result would have been a draw and hopefully this season's experience for our younger players will benefit them for next season.
Scorers: James Shuttleworth 2; Sam Hirst 2; JD Bulmer 1; Noel Harrison 1.

Girls U13 Club Tournament
Winners Timperley who beat;
Mellor, Timperley B, Oxton, Cheadle /Norbury, Poynton.
The winning team were; Henny Wright, Alice Allan, Ana Green, Charlotte Christian, Niamh Gribbon, Nielja Gerhard (her last game before moving to live in Germany . We wish her all the best and hope she will find somewhere to continue her lacrosse), Sophie Hurlstone, Mia Bowie, Emma Maxwell.
Well done again to the girls.

Girls U18 Club tournament
Due to most other clubs not being able to field a full 12 the tournament ended up being 8 a side. I had to split the team up and recruit a few U15 to make up two teams.
TLC-Storm and TLC-Eagles.

TLC Storm
Storm had a tough job with special mention to Saoirse and Nieve Gribbon who played in goal, also with Jodie Pollard, Emma Whitley, Emily Meppen, U15 and Charlotte Christine U13 who stepped up to play at the last minute due to some late drop outs. The girls enjoyed the experience with Charlotte and Emma scoring two goals each with Storms best game against Oxton B where they secured a draw.
Lost four ,drew one

Saoirse, Nieve, Jasmine Spinks, Hannah O’Donnell 1/1, Emma Whitely 2/2, Jodie Pollard 2/1, Flora Bailey, Hope 1/1, Cathy Woolham 2/0, Emilly Meppem 1/1, Charlotte Christine 2/1

TLC Eagles
TLC Eagles played some skilful, fast and furious lacrosse but failed by a couple of goals in two key games Oxton A and Brooklands. The end result didn't show the effort and skill but goals win games and we came up short getting caught on the break with there being no draw after each goal.
There was plenty to build on and hopefully next year will see our competitors field full strength sides and not be forced into games of 8 a side.
Won two, lost three

Gabrielle, Lexi Molnar 0/3, Lucy O’Donnell 4/0, Erin Pollard 4/6, Emilly Hall. 13/8, Elise Humblet 9/1, Miranda King 5/4, Millie Wilkinson 8/2, Ellie Racle 2/4, Josie Woolham

Updated 21:55 - 2 Sep 2019 by TLC Admin