WEEKLY ROUNDUP DECEMBER 13TH

INTRODUCTION
Not a great weekend (Except for our Women and U12 teams!).

The weather was not great but certainly nowhere as bad as the forecasters predicted. Over the years I have learnt there is nothing as unreliable as a weather forecast. I also have a firm belief that a frosty pitch is one of the best surfaces to play lacrosse on.

On Saturday we had an A team game moved to Mersey, we had U16 and U14 games cancelled because the pitches are unfit but these same pitches are fit for women’s and U12 games. Complete nonsense. I am always in the camp which believes that the purpose of the exercise is to play as much lacrosse as possible. The weekend was not the apocalyptic wipe out predicted by the forecasters where Manchester was to be overwhelmed by snow. In fact there was little snow and little excuse to cancel Lacrosse games. More on this later!

Given that the 1st Team are without a game until 5th Jan it was reasonable to presume that highly competitive A and B teams would be fielded. The reality was exactly the opposite as Timperley fielded teams which were arguably the weakest they have fielded this season and against two of the strongest teams in their respective divisions. The predictable outcome was two embarrassing thumpings with the A going down 2-15 to Heaton Mersey and Timperley B going down to a 2-19 loss to Sheffield A. Both the A and B are in very competitive leagues after the reorganisation and fielding teams which are not full strength will be punished. Additionally, I have a problem as to why we field teams which are not only short on quality but also short on numbers. The rules permit us to field15 players on our A team and more on our B team. To end up with injured players on both teams leaving us struggling with 11 players is ridiculous when only a few weeks ago we were fielding 16 players on our B team. Very difficult to understand.

Both our U16 and U14 games at Stockport Road were victims of the weather, but when the going gets tough the tough get going and our U12B team were not intimidated by the conditions and took on Brooklands and in the Battle of the Roundabout recorded their first victory of the season with a 14 -6 win.

The U12A travelled to Cheadle where an excellent pitch staged a competitive game where Timperley always held the upper hand taking a 15-8 win.

The Sunday games were victims of the weather with the deciding game of the Floodlit U19 League between Timperley and Poynton being put off to another day.

MATCH REPORTS
Saturday 9th December
Women v Brooklands (H) Won 19-9
The pitch thawed out just in time this week so we all made it out for a rather chilly game. Brooklands are always a good match for us but this weekend they had only 11 up until half time making it an easier game than expected. The team played well with good transition through the midfield and we were back on form with our shots in goal. MVP goes to Kat Swallow this week for some amazing goals and fantastic play in attack.

Final score 19-9

Men’s 1st Team No game

Men’s A Team v Heaton Mersey (H) Moved to Mersey Lost 2-15
This weekend should have seen Timperley host Heaton Mersey however with less than ideal weather conditions the venue had to be reversed. With the game being such a tight contest in the earlier version of this fixture, with Timperley narrowly missing out 10-8, this billed to be a nail biting game. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case, with several key players taking part in the winter classic and many more already enjoying an early Christmas break Timperley turned up with a depleted squad of 12 players.

The game did get off to a good start with Timperley first on the score sheet, but Mersey responded quickly to end the first quarter 2-1 lead. Early in the second quarter Conor Turner underestimated the size of a Mersey midfielder going should to shoulder when trying to clear the ball. Although a fair challenge it saw the Irishman depart the field for hospital and a 6-week stint out for ligament damage. From this point on Mersey took control of the game exposing Timperley’s inability to perform defensively using adjacent slides, a recurring downfall of the season. Despite a promising A-team debut performance from youngster Will Greaves, the lacking firepower from the boys at the winter classic and the demanding physical toll of being reduced to 11 men Timperley could find a way back into the game. A 15-2 victory to Mersey that could have been a lot worse if not for Gregor Allen between the sticks who pulled off multiple wonder save after being left unfairly exposed by a ropey defensive unit.

TJ Burgess (1/0), Ed Loveland (1/1), Patrick McGowan (0/1)

Men’s B Team v Sheffield A (A) Lost 2-19
12 fool hardy B Team players were waiting to leave snowy Timperley for non-snowy Sheffield last Saturday. Will Atkins was pinched prior to departure to help out the A Team leaving just 11 players to travel. Will’s father appeared very cheery as he waved us off. With heavy snow falling on our journey we had visions of getting to Sheffield and the game being cancelled, however the call never came and it was clear to see why as we reached the M1 – not a snow flake insight. Enough of the weather reports, what about the game.

Timperley started slowly in the very cold weather and a few fast breaks from Sheffield outpaced our midfield allowing for some quick Sheffield goals. Matters got worse early on as JD went over on his ankle and was out for the rest of the game. With only 10 players and no subs it was a difficult game for the midfield 4 of Sam, Rob, Owen and Tom. Each one taking a rest in attack. While this contributed to the defeat it is fair to say that our control and passing in attack wasn’t there today allowing for too much turnover of ball. The Sheffield first team goalie didn’t help make it any easier to score as well. At the other end the movement of Sheffield was very good and the defence didn’t keep close enough to stop their regular scoring each quarter. Overall a bad result for the boys and something to take away and learn from – final score Sheffield 19 v 2 for Timperley.

Noel Harrison 1 goal
Tom Allen 1 goal
Rob Edwards 2 assists

Boy’s U16 v Cheadle/Stockport (H) Postponed

Boy’s U14 v Mellor (H) Postponed

Boy’s U12A v Cheadle (A) Won 15-8
This week the U12A were away against Cheadle. The game was, as expected, a tough physical battle. Timperley took control from the start with Jim winning the faceoff and moving the ball on to George who scored. This was followed up by goals from Cai, Jack and 3 from Owen. The defensive stood strong and only conceded 1 score, end of first quarter 6-1 Timperley. The second was a much closer affair with Cheadle scoring twice but Timperley rallied and goals from Owen (2) and Cai put Timperley back in the ascendancy. Halftime score 9-3. The third quarter was much of the same with both teams struggling with the ground balls. The defence kept its shape and restricted Cheadle to 2 goals with Timperley matching this with goals again from Cai and Jack. Final quarter saw Timperley take control of the game once more and with goals from Jack, Cai (2) and Owen meant we finished with comfortable lead final score 15-8 Timperley.

Stats
Owen Shuttleworth 6, 1
Cai Alty 5, 0
Jack Dearden 3, 0
Jim Hartley 0, 3
George Rommel 1, 0
Mark Harrington 0, 1

Boys U12B v Brooklands (H) Won 10 - 6
The U12B boys go off to a cold start on Saturday against a Brooklands team who had turned out in strength despite the snowy weather. We were pleased to be able to field a team of 10 (with subs!) this week after a few weeks of being short on numbers.

Brooklands got off to a quick start and Lucca Reed was quickly tested. He made 2 good saves in the first few minutes of the match but they made it through on the third attempt and were quickly off to a 1-0 lead. This goal woke up the Timperley boys who suddenly moved the play to the other end of the field and began pushing back at the Brooklands defence. We saw a shot on goal by 71, then 2 shots by 75. Timpeley's perseverance was rewarded by an equaliser scored by Sam Ginger. Brooklands reacted with a quick return goal but Timperley pushed it back and saw a second goal from Sam. A great shot by our number 9 hit the post, but super scorer Sam got another goal in before the 1st quarter whistle. Quarter 1 ended 3-2 to Timperley with the teams looking very evenly matched.

Quarter 2 saw both teams maintain their good form. Lucca was back in action with an excellent save but Brooklands got one in the net. Timperley midfielders were doing a great job getting up and down the pitch and we saw a goal by Daniel George followed by a goal by Antonio Armstrong. Brooklands tried to fight back with another goal but we ended the first half with another goal for Sam Ginger. In a season record for Timperley we finished the first half with a 2 goal lead at 6-4, and had won both quarters.

With sound advice from coach Brendan to treat the second half as a clean score sheet and fight for every goal, quarter 3 saw Timperley take the lead with a quick opening goal from Sam Ginger followed by a goal by Eddie Warriner . It was briliant to see Timperley's defensive play improve in this half of the game, with Dylan McDonald, Lachie Beazley of course Lucca Read in goal saw a quarter with no goals scored by Brooklands. Q3 finished 8-4 to Timperley.

In an exciting final quarter, the Timperley supporters held their breath as Timperley kept fighting against a hard working Brooklands to maintain their lead. We saw more impressive attempts on goal by Sam Ginger, and Lucca made some great saves. A shot on goal by Hamza Rahman required a quick reflexes from the Brooklands keeper, and Brooklands quickly moved the ball down to score a good goal. Another shot by 9 and another well deserved goal by Sam Ginger. Brooklands managed one last goal for the opposition before Antonio Armstrong pushed us into double figures to cement the win 10-6.

It was fabulous to see the boys play some good lacrosse against a well matched team. All the players deserve to feel very proud of themselves. Thanks as ever to the coach and to our referee, as well as a lovely Brooklands team.

Sam Ginger 6
Daniel George 1
Antonio 2
Eddie 1

Sunday 10th December
All games postponed

Updated 01:40 - 1 Sep 2019 by TLC Admin