Losses for 1st and A were a disappointment but there were many positives to be taken. The B train made short work of a very competitive Stockport side who to me (the reluctant and qualified but hardly competent referee) encapsulated much that is commendable about grass roots sport. They were competitive and despite only having 10 men never allowed their heads to drop. Stockport 1st team are a challenge but their B team is a credit to their club and the game.

The 1st team had beaten Poynton earlier in the season, but for that game they were missing some outstanding US players. Timperley are capable of beating any team that Poynton (or any Premier team) can field, but the League is so competitive that no team can afford a bad day at the office –any team can beat any other team. Saturday was not one of Timperley’s better days with possession being sacrificed needlessly. Lacrosse is a possession game and the ball is gold. If you throw it away you have a problem. On Saturday Timperley were missing Jack Brook, who has the ability to score goals, but unfortunately fires are not respecters of weekends! I also feel that Ros Armstrong could have made a greater contribution to TLC if she had had four sons and not just two!

The A team lost in extra time to Cheadle A, who are the strongest team in North 1. The A team has made huge strides in the last few years. Young players have made us one of most competitive of the clubs in the League. On Saturday Timperley fielded 3 very competitive teams despite having at least 10 players unavailable because of, principally, half term. Probably a lot more if you counted players who could be persuaded to play at a pinch!

Over the years clubs who have been successful have been those which have had real strength in depth. We have never, in the last 50 years, been closer to that position than we are now!!

The 1st and A have been knocked out of their Cup competitions but not without a fight. The attention now has to shift to the League and the 1st team in particular have the potential for achieving greatness!!!

MATCH REPORTS
Sat 17th Feb
Men’s 1st v Poynton (H) Lost 6-11 Senior Flags
Saturday was a rare disappointing moment within our season. Having started the game strong in the first quarter the game ended with one team having out shone the other.

At half time the game could have gone either way but Poynton stepped up another gear and started to exploit the unforced errors which the Timperley players began to make.

Final Score Timperley 6-11 Poynton

Poynton are now looking to win a third successive Flags Championships, we wish them all the best of luck for the remaining competition. But see you Saturday for the return league fixture.

Scorers
Tom Bracegirdle 2
Ollie White 1
Cam Leslie 1
Rory Norris 1
Taylor Wallace 1

Men’s A v Cheadle A (A) Lost 10-11) OT
The A team were delighted to be finally playing a game after a poor weather/pitch induced break of 5 weeks. The last time we played was 13th January. Despite losing one of our co-capts Adam Henbrey to the first team we went into the game with a strong squad and were well up for the game. Hats off to Cheadle for getting the game played, the pitch was heavy but the right call made to go ahead.

Isaac Tweedale was nominated changing room DJ and surprised the mainly younger group by rolling the years back and playing some nu metal classics. Much to team veterans Greg Sandy and Tim Holdsworth’s delight the team got ready to the timeless melodies of Papa Roach and Rage Against the Machine. After a strong team talk by capt Jamie Southworth we were ready to go. We knew what we were facing with Cheadle having only played them in early Jan. They are a highly experienced team with dozens of England caps spread amongst their players. With this in mind we set our game plan around the midfield game as this was an area we felt we had legs on Cheadle.

The game started well and by the end of the first quarter we were 3-1 up. Goals came from Billy Kershaw, Ed Loveland, TJ and were on the whole well worked team goals with some excellent off ball movement from Tom Slater to open a channel for TJ’s goal.

At the start of the second quarter we were unlucky to concede two personal fouls, which Cheadle quickly punished us for. The experienced Cheadle attack of Paul Flowers, Steve Shanahan & the still spritely 49 year old Darren Baythorpe moving the ball well and finding holes in our 4 man defence. Despite some real graft at faceoff from Man of the Match Mike Smith, Cheadle retained possession and turned the screw on us, eventually going into half time with a 6-4 lead. We always knew Cheadle were going to score goals and that we had a chance if we could stay 2-3 goals in touch.

The third quarter continued in a nip and tuck fashion and Timperley were on the board through a top corner laser from Tim Holdsworth and some good work from X by Billy Kershaw. In the last quarter we came into our own and continued to push on the Cheadle goal. Former England international Nick Anderton made a string of saves including one with his helmet which pinged up into the Kingsway sky. Billy Kershaw played a fine game and added his fifth and final goal of the game to tie things up with a couple of minutes to go. Cheadle won the next face and then threw the kitchen sink at us and Isaac Tweedale made some big saves including an acrobatic attempt at the final whistle.

Unfortunately for us, Cheadle won the first face of OT and used their experience to hold onto the ball, eventually grabbing a goal after 4 minutes. The midfield worked tirelessly at the next face but again the ball popped into a Cheadle stick. After chasing the ball for 3 minutes we were able to win it back and press on for a final attack of the game. Ed Loveland went close with an effort towards the end but we unfortunately fell short.

Whilst this was a disappointing result for our A team there are a lot of positives to take away. We probably have the youngest team in the league and Cheadle will be fighting with Mersey for the top spot this year. They are currently unbeaten and we gave them a true test this time round. After the disappointment of the final whistle we regrouped and realised we have a good run of league games to push on with and will continue to push towards our target of a top 4 finish. Plenty to play for and looking forward to next season’s cup run already. Special mention goes to Mike Smith and his midfield crew for fighting hard in the middle of pitch. Also big thanks to David Loveland for reffing, much appreciated. Thanks to Phil Lynch and Cheadle for hosting, good luck in the semis.

Quarter scores
1-3
6-4
8-6
10-10
OT 11-10

Scorers
Billy Kershaw 5, 0
Ed Loveland 2, 1
Tim Holdsworth 1, 3
TJ Burgess 2, 0

Men’s B v Stockport B (H) Won 16-8
It was Cup weekend for Timperley Men’s teams this week with the B Team playing against Stockport B in the David Beesley Cup. The strength in depth of the Men’s teams this year was obvious to see this weekend as the B Team, missing at least 10 players was still able to have a squad of 15. With a midfield of Joe, Marius, Conor and Sam, all with A team experience, the quality is there too. On paper with Stockport only having 10 players it should be a comfortable game for the B Team.

Conor worked hard on the Face Offs winning the vast majority giving the team good attacking possession. However in the first quarter the team was rusty (having not played for several weeks due to the rain) and didn’t make the most of it. Two quick goals from Stockport finally woke the team up with Joe H responding with two goals either side of one from Will G. With a lead of 3-2 at the start of Q2 this quarter would determine the outcome of the game. The team started to play some great Lacrosse. Will G was clinical with his finishing, scoring 3 more; Joe added another, Sam (1) and Marius (2) both joined in. Stockport clearly didn’t have the stamina and often when they attacked started with only 4 or 5 men as they waited for the extra players to join in. Half time 10-4 and it was now about making the most of the extra players and finishing the game off strongly. It appeared that in the second half they tried too hard as individuals and not enough as a team and while they scored 6 more goals to Stockport’s 4 it should have been more. If this team can improve their team work they will put themselves into a great position to do well and a have a good cup run with a trip to Rochdale in April the prize.

There were a couple of senior debuts for Ollie Lee and Will Hirst this week. Ollie is having a maturing season this year with some very good performance as LSM at U16 and U19. He brought his controlled aggression to the game yesterday with a very good performance. Will H had a steady game in attack (until his brother kicked him to the bench) was always available and moved the ball well. Both boys capped the day off with an assist each.

Will Greaves 5 goals and 1 assist
Joe Harris 5 and 0
Sam Hirst 2 and 1
Marius Robinson 2 and 0
Noel Harrison 2 and 0
Will Hirst 0 and 1
Ollie Lee 0 and 1

No junior games. Half term!!

Sun 18th Feb
Girl’s U18 White v Stockport (A) Won 12-11
We had to build on our last game in the wintery conditions against Mellor, which ended in a draw. The girls rose to this challenge and came away with our first win of the season, which in my view was well over due.

We had 14 players of which 7 were U15s. We had to play 10 vs 10 due to Stockport only having 10; this was a good practise maybe for things to come in the near future. The team had to get used to playing 10 and how we need to set up and who needs to do what. At the end, all the girls contributed to a very exciting game. They fought hard for each other, did not let their head go down when we fell behind early in the second half and came out with the victory they deserved.

At the end of the first half, we were leading 7 - 5. We were always in control but never could extend our lead too much. At the beginning of the second half, Stockport started very strongly and we fell behind 7 - 8. But then the girls took control and the final score was 12 - 11 for us.

Thank you to all the girls.

Man of the match: the team — best team performance this season.

Scores and assist.
Elena Rink 4/1
Ellie Racle 1/3
Emma Coghlan 2/2
Alice Allan 2/1
Jodie Pollard 2/-
Sophie Hurlstone 1/1
Mia Bowie -/1

We now have 1 game left which is against Oxton.