INTRODUCTION
The build up for Christmas seems to go on for ever. In Manchester the Christmas Markets open only a few after Halloween and seem to go on forever.

In Lacrosse we have almost seamlessly moved into a winter break, which in my view is no bad thing.

The return to action saw Timperley travel to the notorious bog which is Poynton Lacrosse Club. (It used to be Timperley but that seems to be history with TSC grass pitches emerging from the Xmas break in superb condition. It is a novel situation for TLC to have arguably the best pitches in Lacrosse!)

For Timperley the match was a triumph with the Stockport Road side edging a 7-6 win which takes them to the top of the table with Brooklands. If the intention of the competition re –organisation was to produce more exciting and competitive games then the powers that be have succeeded in spades. So far there have been 13 games in the top level. Of these, 10 have been matches where the games have ended with a two goal difference or less. Timperley are tied at the top of the League with surprise package Brooklands. Timperley fixtures have seen one goals victories over Stockport and Poynton and a one goal loss to the season’s dark horses Brooklands.

Timperley A have proved that the move up a level has been one they have coped with well and although they went down to a 6-11 defeat to a strong Cheadle A they were in no way out classed.

It was a tough introduction to 2018 for Timperley’s Boys programme with all the teams struggling to notch up a win.

Timperley U16 seem to be forever victims of the weather. On Saturday their game at Poynton was cancelled, although the Poynton pitches were deamed fit for play by the afternoon. Surely the U16 game could have been played either at Poynton or on one of the 3 pitches available at TSC.

The U14 faced the formidable Norbury side – the season’s outstanding team in the age group. When your opponents have a record of played 12 won 12 and a goal difference of 120 you are clearly in for a tough morning. So it proved as Timperley went down to a 0-17 defeat.

The U12 hoped to repeat their narrow win over Norbury earlier in the season but with Timperley struggling with ground balls the visitors took a deserved 9-11 win.

The U12 B travelled to Liverpool and gave a good account of themselves before going down to a 6-14 defeat.

The senior women’s programme does not recommence until 13th Jan when Timperley travel to Heaton Mersey before the big clash when, on 20th Jan, Oxton are the visitors to Stockport Road.

On Sunday Timperely U18 Blue and White teams clashed in an entertaining and skilful encounter which saw the Blue team take a 21-9 win.

On Sunday Timperley Girl’s U13 travelled to Heaton Mersey where in a great match Timperley took a 16-4 win.

MATCH REPORTS
Saturday 6th Jan
Men’s 1st v Poynton (A) Won 7-6
Timperley started the New Year in a strong position in the league having won 2 (Stockport and Mellor) and frustratingly lost 1 (Brooklands) just before the break.

Facing Poynton with nearly a full strength squad we knew that we could start the year well and get another vital win. Big mention to Taylor who rearranged his flights back in order to make it in time for the game.

We started the game in similar fashion to all our other games so far this season and conceded two very quick goals. Mikey Armstrong and 2 goals from Jack Brook saw us go in ahead after the first quarter.

Timperley pushed on going into the 2nd quarter and 1 goal from James Bates and 2 from Ollie White meant Timperley had some room to breath going into the second half of the game. Tim Blower had a late scare in the 2nd quarter where he was saved by the half time from being lobbed by the opponents goalkeeper.

Poynton, fired up from not being awarded the goalie goal, put Timperley on the back foot and scored 3 goals without reply to create a nervy 4th quarter.

The final quarter ebbed and flowed with both teams taking it in turns to test each other’s defence. Ollie White grabbed his third goal of the game to give Timperley the much needed break. Poynton scored once more to make the last 2 minutes extremely nervy but we held on to get the points needed.

Scorers
Ollie White 3,0
Jack Brook 2,0
Mikey Armstrong 1,1
James Bates 1,0
Taylor Wallace 0,2
Jay Armstrong 0,2
Tom Bracegirdle 0,1

Men’s A v Cheadle A (A)Lost 6-11

Q1 2-3
Q2 3-4
Q3 7-5
Q4 11-6

Scorers: Greg Sandy (2,1), Billy Kershaw (2), Louis Humblet (1,1), Joe Harris (1,0) Tim Holdsworth (0,2)

Match report
This was a stern test for the A team. Cheadle A are have arguably been the strongest team in North 1 this year and are the only remaining undefeated team. Our game plan was clear from the start, this was to possess the ball with long possessions and fight for everything. The Cheadle team is laced with experience, with many of their players dropping down after years of experience on the 1st team (Nick Anderton, Ian Wilkinson, Paul Flowers, Steve Shanaghan, Matt Boyd etc). It was the tough test we have been relishing and although we came up short there are lots of positives to take away.

The game started in a nip and tuck fashion with Timperley taking an early lead after an inverted dodge from X picking out Billy Kershaw who finished well with a placed shot above Anderton’s left shoulder. Timperley had plenty of long possessions after some good face off work by Joe Harris and Padraig McGowan. As the game progressed Cheadle started to kick in and scored on settled possessions. The D anchored by Mike Smith did a great job of harnessing Cheadle’s firepower during the first three quarters with Gregor Allan making some great saves.

The turning point of the game was in the third quarter. Timperley had a period of man up opportunities where we were unfortunate to hit the post/crossbar 3 times within a 4 minute period. After this period Cheadle tightened up at the back and we couldn’t find the back of the net again until the last quarter. The last quarter was one to forget as Cheadle pulled away with 4 unanswered goals. As a team we went into the game looking for a performance, for 80% of the game the performance was there and if we had been more on target in the third it could have been a different result. Thanks to Cheadle for a great game. Lots to take away and learn for our young team. Very much looking forward to the return fixture. Special mention goes to Tom Slater, Louis Humblet, Paddy Mcgowan, Joe Harris, Sam Hirst. Also Nathan Nekrews on his first outing in blue.

Big thanks to Conor Turner for reffing.

Boy’s U16 v Poynton U16 (A) Cancelled

Boy’s U14 v Norbury (H) Lost 0-17
The U14 were soundly beaten by a Norbury team which have dominated the age group this season going unbeaten winning all of their fixtures , generally by large margins.

They were much bigger physically than Timperley and came with a large squad compared to the bare ten fielded by the home side.

However, Timperley contributed to their own downfall as their effort was poor. Put it down to a Christmas hangover which they will try and rectify next week.

U12A v Norbury (H) Lost 9-11
Norbury arrived to a very cold Timperley with a strong team, both in terms of scale and depth with 7 subs available. Recent games vs Norbury have been close for the U12A side and it was great to see direct approach from Jack Dearden with 2 early goals giving Timperley a much needed start. Great defensive play pushed the Norbury attacks wide. Further goals from Cai Alty and Owen Shuttleworth saw us leading 4-1 at the end of the first quarter with some great saves and distribution of the ball from Tom Allen in goal. Norbury responded with 4 goals in a strong second quarter to even the scoring at 5-5 with a single Timperley goal from Ben Edwards. Norbury’s confidence held into the third quarter with play centering on their number 44 who demonstrated both skill and speed and was clearly their most influential player, with effective checking before setting up attacks. Timperley struggled to answer this and the second half was scrappier and more ground balls, though Owen proved solid a little deeper, distributing the ball well and helping Jack Dearden and Ben Edwards to score. Unfortunately Norbury scored 4 and had the momentum into the final quarter, leading 9-7. With longer legs and more subs I feared that Norbury would start to run away with it, but the Timperley team fought hard in the final quarter with a quick goal from Cai taking us almost level. Play slowed with a couple of stops and you could see the frustration in some of the Timperley players. Another Norbury goal was quickly answered by Cai and tensions were high entering the final few minutes. The pace was slowed again with Norbury in control and unfortunately Timperley couldn’t get back into the game with a final goal from Norbury finishing the game at 11-9 to the visitors.

Stats
Cai Alty 3, 0
Jack Dearden 3, 0
Owen Shuttleworth 1, 3
Ben Edwards 2, 0

U12 B v Liverpool (A) Lost 6-14

Sunday 7th Jan
Girl’s U18 Blue beat Girl’s U18 White 21-9

White Team Report
We knew this was going to be another tough game and we had to improve on our previous performances. The girls rose to this challenge and had a great game. We might have lost but we have plenty of things to look forward moving on. If we keep this up and build on it we will start delivering some wins.

We had 15 players of which 8 were U15s. This team will be part of the core for next year if we only have one team with the addition of girls from the Blue team.

The final score was 21 - 9 for the Blues. At the end we discusses what we need to work on and what we have to watch out for during the game to make it harder to beat us. We will work on these during coming training sessions.

Thank you to all the girls. All of them worked hard and made life very difficult for the Blue team. Nina made some great saves throughout the game, Ali and Jasmine S organised the defence, Charlotte and Mia fitted in very well and showed great composure, Talia worked hard (and once was told about the system (my mistake for not briefing her before) did well), Kelly and Elena made their usual great runs from defence, Ellie and Miranda as usual reliable and hard working for the team, in attack we scored some lovely goals due to either great cuts, crisp passes and great positioning by Emma C, Emilly Meppem, Jasmine T, Jodie and Sophie H.

Man of the match: the team — great team performance.

Scores and assist.
Jasmine Torevell 2/1
Sophie Hurlstone 2/1
Ellie Racle 1/2
Jodie Pollard 2/-
Elena Rink 1/1
Emma Coghlan 1/1
Emilly Meppem -/1
Kelly Cheng -/1

Blue Team Report
Playing at home against our White team cannot be taken for granted, and that was discussed with the team prior to the start.The first half saw some great Lacrosse good wins from the draw ,good transition play and finishing was on point taking every opportunity when it came.

The blues came in as 11-2 up in the first half.

As is becoming the norm the second half was a different game the whites stepped up and the blue team lost focus and momentum staring to run the ball and not pass through which had been our success in the first half.

Our defence was strong which it needed to be at times, well done.

There were lots of positives but lots to work on and get right for the remainder of the season.

All in all a good day for LAX

Final score from the referee 20-8

Scorers
Erin Pollard. 5 goals/ 2 assist
Lauren Cheyne 4 /1
Emilly Hall 1/2
Emma Whitley 0/1
Elise Humblet 5/3
Maddie Lord 3/1
Cathy Woolham 2/0
Hope Cooke 0/2

Girl’s U13 v Heaton Mersey (A) Won 16-4
After a frosty start and a disconcerting message from the opposition whilst on route on the M60 that the pitches maybe too hard to play on, the sun shone on what turned out to be a glorious game of lacrosse.

I was faced with another difficult decision on arrival as HM had dropped to just 10 players - so did we just play 10 or 12 against 10?

I opted for the former for sportsmanship but I am still not sure if this was the right decision and I do apologise that this in turn meant we had more subs than intended.

However, they were a very friendly team both pre and post match and quite hospitable with meat pies and beans on offer. Their team manager Greg really complimented our team on their skilful passing.

At the start of the match HM took the ball into our half but were not able to score. Timperley recovered quickly and Katie scored the opening goal.

At half time we were 7:4 up but we still needed to make sure we could score plenty more goals to gain maximum points.

In the second half numerous goals were scored by Zofia, Bella, Jess, Tilly and Laura.

Charlotte was our star goalie preventing many goals and at all times remaining calm and composed. She also allowed Katie to do the long throw outs - this approach clearly worked well.

Elsa assisted many goals and put in a reliably strong performance.

It was great to see some of the younger less experienced players like Laura, Lotta and Bella come into the game more.

Timperley demonstrated some fantastic passing and awareness of the game.

Well done to all.