INTRODUCTION
A very busy and successful weekend for Timperley. Teams played a total of 8 games and we ended up with 7 wins and a very close and creditable loss.
The Women’s team had a week off so have the time to prepare for their big clash next Saturday with Oxton.
It has been a tough few weeks for our 1st team who were hit hard by Xmas fixtures which were affected by the availability of key players. On Saturday they faced Brooklands at Stockport Road in a Battle of the Roundabout and in a dramatic and exciting game showed their fighting spirit to come from behind to take a 10-8 victory.
The A team were without a game and our B team faced Boardman and Eccles A at Stockport Road and gave one of their best performances of the season to take a 20-11 win.
There was a full list of Boy’s games with the U16 taking a comfortable 17-0 over Liverpool. For lacrosse people the miracle is that there is a Liverpool U16 team at all and people have put in a good deal of work to reach this position.
Timperley U14 is a challenging team in that one moment they can be great and the next they are awful. On Saturday they managed to show every part of their game in one match, going down to a close home defeat 8-10 to a strong Norbury side.
The U12 fresh from their impressive win over Mellor travelled to take on their semi final opponents Heaton Mersey. A 21-2 win was convincing but did not really reflect the game as Mersey were much more competitive than the score would indicate. Mersey have excellent coaching and they will certainly improve before the semi final match on 2nd March so nothing can be taken for granted.
On Sunday the U19 faced Sheffield in the 1st Round of the Floodlit Cup and continued their winning run with a 13-6 win in an excellent game which was a great advertisement for U19 lacrosse.
Our improving Girl’s programme enjoyed a successful Sunday. Our excellent U15 squad travelled to Norbury and on a difficult pitch and on a bitterly cold morning they played some class lacrosse to take a 22-5 win.
The U13 Girl’s continues to improve and they took a comfortable 13-1 over Stockport which could have been by a larger margin if they had not taken their foot off the gas.

MATCH REPORTS
SAT 26TH JAN

WOMEN’S NO GAME

MEN’S 1ST V BROOKLANDS (H) WON 10-8
After a tough couple of weeks for the 1st team, it was essential to get a positive result to stop the rot and get the squad ready for the upcoming cup run. Who better to play than local rivals Brooklands?

After 15 minutes of the game, Timperley found themselves in the worst possible position. 4-0 down and Brooklands we’re controlling the tempo of the game. As a team the 1st’s have come back from worst positions and a goal by skipper Jay Armstrong was needed just before the end of the first quarter to get the ball rolling.

Timperley were a different side altogether in the 2nd quarter and had the score line even at 4-4 just before the break. However Brooklands just about managed to keep their noses in front, scoring a late goal to make it 4-5 at half time.

With Timperley’s defence now thwarting nearly all of Brooklands attacks and Timperley finding their rhythm in attack the control of the match was very much in Timperley’s hands. Well worked team goals saw Timperley finally get ahead in the match and take the score to 7-6 going into the final quarter.

More of the same was asked for by the Timperley captains and that’s what was given by the squad. Any 50/50 balls were coming Timperley’s way and more great team goals were scored. The final score of 10-8 represented the balance of the game.

Scorers
Ollie White 3, Jack Brook 2, Tom Bracegirdle l, James Bates 1, Jay Armstrong 1, Tommy Kirkland 1, Harry Alty 1

MEN’S A NO GAME

MEN’S B V BOARDMAN AND ECCLES A (H) WON 20-11
A great effort this week as evidence of the number of players available for the B team this week. We had a full squad of 14 in preparation for the cup games to come.
Timperley out ran B&E across the whole game, playing some very good lacrosse. A strong defensive game from regulars James Walker and Tarik Crooks was supported by Adam H. Jamie S, Johnny and Mark O ran their socks off in midfield, with Sam H, Will H and new star attacker Ollie Lee holding the ball up well in attack. With an early lead in the first quarter, the team looked comfortable across most of the game and were rarely troubled by B&E.
The game started off fantastically for Timperley with Sam H, Will H and Johnny finding themselves at the end of some great team goals, even after they struggled to win possession from the face-offs.
In the second quarter, Timperley continue the form from the first quarter, managing to make the face-offs more competitive, and holding some real authority in the attack. The attack did brilliantly to work the B&E defence to create a lot of high percentage chances, which the attack was ruthless in converting. The defence also did a fantastic job of closing shop to cut out the amount of chances the opposition had. More goals coming from Sam H, Will H and Ollie Lee saw Timperley with a commanding lead going into the second half.
The second half saw Timperley take their foot off the pedal, but B&E never really used it to their advantage and the B team cruised through the third quarter. The fourth quarter was much more like the first half of the game, with Timperley picking up the quality all over the pitch. Goals from Will Hirst (who did a brilliant job in creating opportunities for the attack the whole game), saw Timperley finish the game with a convincing 20-11 win.
On reflection after the game, this was Timperley B team’s most dominant win of the season.
Scorers:
Sam Hirst (8,5), Will Hirst (3,5), Johnny Hackett (3,1), Ollie Lee (3,0), Owen Atkinson (2,0), Joel Clark (1,0), Jaime Southworth (0,2)

BOY’S U16 V LIVERPOOL (H) WON 17-0
Each side had 8 players. Timperley lined up this week with none of our regular defenders. Graham kindly stepped up from U14’s for his debut and performed admirably in what was to be a lock out by the Timperley defence.
In reality the Liverpool squad is a work in progress with very keen players but not overly skilled. However they fought and fought, ensuring that our team had a workout and were given a change to work on their rides, man-ups, tempo and fast breaks.
It was good to see a large number of the team getting on the score sheet. Importantly James was also on the side line cheering on his team having bounced back (excuse the pun!) well from the drama of the week before.
Quarter time scores were, 6-0, 9-0, 14-0, 17-0
Matt Fazal 2, Josh Spinks 1, Jack O’Mahoney 6, Ewan Ginger 3, Tom Wallis 4, Jack Lee 1

BOY’S U14 V NORBURY (H) LOST 6-8
This week the U14s took on Norbury at home.
Timperley got off to good start with the defence repelling Norbury’s first attack and then on our first break Jack ran the length of the pitch and fired a shot past the Norbury keeper. Norbury fired back quickly and dominated the possession scoring 3 to end the quarter 3-1 up.
Second quarter and Norbury started the brighter of the two teams and increased their lead before Cai hit back. Norbury again dominated possession and made this count with two more goals before Jim pulled one back late in the quarter.
Third quarter Timperley started to play some better lacrosse but couldn’t keep hold of the ball at the crucial moments and Norbury again made us pay for our errors scoring twice more before a cracking goal scored by Hamza from a great assist by Cai. Final quarter saw Timperley dominate and started to move the ball round with more pace and this led to goals from Cai and Laurie. A strong finish from the boys but just a little late. Final score 6-8
A good fight back with some solid performances all round. Leon at the back making his full defensive long pole appearance had a great game and Angus was all over the pitch.
Match was Hamza Rahman with a great performance in attack.
Stats
CAI Alty (2,1), Laurie Bailey (1,0), Jack Dearden (1,0), Jim Hartley (1,0), Hamza Rahman (1,0), Mark Harrington (0,1), Leon Read (0,1)

BOY’S U12 V HEATON MERSEY (A) WON 2-21
Timperley arrived at full strength with 18 players allowing for Nathan to rotate in our prequel for the Cup semi-final vs Heaton Mersey. The HM goalie was tested early and made some great saves before Owen Shuttleworth scored from close range. HM retaliated and what looked like a pass from deep flew through the defence taking Lucca off guard to even the game. The HM goalie saved a great shot from Tom Hayton and the action was quickly back up by Timperley’s goal. A clear from defence by Ben Lawton was picked up by Owen on a fast break to score. Another from Owen ended the first quarter 1-3 to Timperley.
Owen continued his run with a goal from an overhead pass close to goal from Sam Ginger. The HM goalie was being peppered by Timperley’s strong attack and despite some brave saving was unfortunately injured and subbed off, delaying play for some time. Noah Brennan found the back of the net shortly afterwards, and the team showed some great linking play with a pass from Sam to Lucas Brennan to score. Both teams found play tough in muddy conditions with the ball on the ground too often. I think the sticky ground made it tough to shoot too, but goals from Owen and Kuba Jenkins continued to build Timperley’s lead. Tom spotted George Rommel in space to score on his first game for the Blues this season. Bruce Terry made a great run from deep, passing to George, on to Finn O’Brien to get the last goal of the half. H1 1-10.
I was pleased to see the HM goalie recover to play outfield in the 3rd quarter. Owen again opened the scoring. Mattie Harrison was great on the face-offs, but also accurate in front of goal, scoring from an unselfish Oscar Street assist. We can rely heavily on Noah’s pace and strength in midfield but it was great to see Oscar and Lucas with boundless energy and Daniel George also featured heavily, though Daniel miraculously stayed cleaner than most of the parents managed! I feared Finn had taken it too wide but he scored from a tight angle. Timperley had another goal from Owen who was slippery in attack, but Heaton Mersey took advantage whilst we were a man down to score. The Blues retaliated with goals from Noah and Owen before Sam scored with a cheeky underhand shot found the net. Noah finished with his third goal for the game Q3 1-8 (2-18).
With the result a foregone conclusion in what felt a very long game, Kuba assisted for Sam to score. Sam scored again before George got the last of the game. It was a great team performance with players rotating the ball and passing to others if they were in a better position to score. They also fought for the ground balls as a unit and ran for every loose ball - fantastic to see. Final score 2-21.
I’m personally very grateful for the support from parents and children whilst George has been undergoing treatment and he’s delighted to be welcomed back into the team with the MoM award. Thank you so much. Alan
Mattie Harrison 1, Owen Shuttleworth 8, Kuba 1, Sam Ginger 3, Finn O’Brien 2, Noah Brennan 3, Lucas Brennan 1, George Rommel 2

SUN 27TH JAN

MEN'S U19 V SHEFFIELD CUP WON 13-6
The basic approach tonight was to do the same as last week, and this is pretty much what we achieved for the greater part of the game, notching up another good win, this time in the first round of the cup.
This game can be summarised into thirds. Timperley totally dominated the first twenty minutes, jumping to a 6-0 lead, with Patrick McGowan really leading the charge. The momentum then swung the way of Sheffield, with them scoring six of the next eight goals. It wasn’t that it was all one way traffic from the Yorkshire team; Timperley created plenty, but the Sheffield goalkeeper made some incredible saves in this period to keep his team in the game. At 8-6 up, we were rocking, but regained our composure for the final 20 minutes of the game, as Will Greaves bagged four to ease us into a comfortable winning position. Credit to Sheffield for not lying down at all tonight, it was a good match, played in a decent spirit.
Missing Coach Armstrong the team still played a mature game tonight, sticking to our ingrained game plan. We out-shot Sheffield 37 to 21, dominated the face off, still turned the ball over a little too often, rode really hard, and were good value for the win.
Goals/Assists
Will Greaves (5, 1), Patrick McGowan (3, 2), Marius Robinson (3, 0), Ed Loveland (0, 4), Harry Alty (1, 0), Will Hirst (1, 0)
Gregor Allen 8 saves

U10 TOURNAMENT AT STOCKPORT
Timperley U10 team played their third tournament of the season on Sunday in a bitterly cold Stockport. The team warmed up well against Heaton Mersey, drawing 2-2 and then a 1-0 win against Stockport. Tom Hayton and Finn O’Brien showed their transferable skills in goal, Tom scoring against Stockport. Josh Macklin provided pressure in attack while Noah Bowpitt found openings for ground balls in defence. Jack Broatch had many attempts on goal and scored against Heaton Mersey. Lucas Brennan also scored against Heaton Mersey and showed great strength in all the matches in mid-field, fighting off tough opposition in the Stockport game. Sam Shawe was consistent throughout the four games just missing out on some goal opportunities.
The team’s and parents’ limbs were getting a bit frozen for the last two games losing against Mellor and Boardman Eccles. Zach Lawton and Thomas Barlow got stuck into the scrum to find the ball, switching positions between defence and attack. Fraser Gregory was new to the team today and is a player to watch as he really got stuck in and shows great skill on passing and ground balls. A great if not cold day, thank you to Alan Holdsworth and all parents and for their support.
Team
Tom Hayton, Finn O’Brien, Josh Macklin, Noah Bowpitt, Jack Broatch, Lucas Brennan, Sam Shawe, Zac Lawton, Thomas Barlow, Fraser Gregory

GIRL’S U15 v Norbury (A) WON 5-21
Those summer games against the Maryland tour team seemed a long way off today as we had a proper winter game with a cold wind and a heavy muddy pitch at Norbury.
Those conditions don’t lend themselves to the best quality lacrosse, but there were bright moments in a 21-5 victory away from home.
Timperley competed well and generally moved the ball quickly. There was plenty of team spirit on show as the girls swapped positions, and took their share of time on the subs bench, to make sure all of the team stayed as involved (and warm) as possible.
Well done!
Goals / Assists
Alice Allan (5,3), Charlotte Christian (1,2), Niamh Gribbon (1,1), Jess Haywood (2,2), Karina Henshaw (1,0), Else Hopley-Catalan (3,0), Henny Wright (4,2), Sophie Hurlstone (1,2), Jas Torevell (1,2), Katie Young (1,1), Tilly Young (1,2)

GIRL’S U11 V STOCKPORT (H) WON 13-3
The Girl’s played some great lacrosse and the margin of victory could have been greater except that Timperley eased off to concentrate on their passing game