U12s at Home to WACS

Delighted to welcome a full compliment of players from WACS for the first time in a few years.  Took a short while to get going, with us being a little complacent in front of goal.  However, once we settled down, we established ourselves with some good lacrosse and well executed goals.  Good team goals, with excellent clears from the keeper, some slick interpassing, and good finishing up front it was good to watch.  Q1 was a 5-1 quarter, and with the coach resting a few experienced players, Q2 was even at 1-1.  Q3 and Q4 had normal service restored, with a 4-1 and 4-0 quarter leaving ourselves 14-3 victors.  WACS nominated to take the free clear, despite being competitive in this area, and they scored a few 1 on 1s with the keeper.  Excellent to have 13 players with us today, providing the coach with lots of options throughout the game.  A little wasteful in front of goal today, with us scoring 14 of our 32 shots, with goals from Rhys (5), William (3), Jay (2), Luca, and Cameron (3).  Semi Final this week against Timperley.

Maybe a little tight for Hugo

In the Back

Good Contest throughout

Strong at face

Pearls of Wisdom being shared

Breaking Free

Crisp Passing

Jacob about to put WACS under pressure

Composed

Nice Ground Ball

Jay & Cameron linking up well

William soaking up the pressure

Cameron dictating Play

Look at the talent on show here

Luca only focussing on the ball

U10s at home to Spencer and Timperley

Following a last minute switch of venue the U10s assembled at home to face Spencer and Timperley with Rochdale not being able to field a team this time.

Once we got a pitch set up we allowed the visitors to play each other first, invoking the old-fashioned “winner stays on” rule. This also had the advantage of giving our coaches a chance to work out how to organise our 12-man squad (the best turnout yet for the U10s this season) into a well-drilled 8-man unit.

The plan was scuppered by the first match ending 3-3 following a late comeback by Timperley. After a few moments of confusion Stockport got themselves set up to play against Spencer who got off to the better start as we took a while to adjust to the formation. We found it hard to retain the ball despite doing quite well at the face-off. As we rotated players through the midfield we never got our passing game going and the bigger stronger opposition ran out comfortable winners.

After a few minutes rest we were back on against Timperley who seemed to pick up where they left off and again we found ourselves chasing the game from early on. There were a few good pieces of skill and no shortage of effort from the home side but we never got close to them and our energy and concentration levels were dipping in the second half.

It was great to see Sam and Bertie making their debuts for Stockport and neither of them looked out of place. With such a young squad there is plenty of time for them to improve and learn from games like these.

Fighting for possession

Spencer in on goal

Will he save it?

Plenty of numbers back in defence this time

Chasing hard

Keeper on his toes waiting to see who wins the ground ball

Making some progress up the pitch

Sam's ready for a pass

Competing well

Spencer winning the face

A fast break coming straight at us

Freddie needs some help, he's under pressure

U12s Away at Brooklands

In a repeat of an earlier fixture, we arrived expecting a relatively easy morning.  Potentially we underestimated our opponents, and the improvements which they have made over recent months.  As the game started we were all relaxed, missing a couple of early catches and openings, with the weeks previous cancellation clearly showing.  However, our opponents weren't so generous, and a soon as they had an opportunity they seized upon it, and quickly raced to a 3-0 lead before we awoke from our slumber.  Realising, we were in a game the young guns placed 4 passed Brooklands in the last few minutes of Q1, giving us a 3-4 quarter.  As Q2 came about, our debutant Daniel was moved to face and we found a winning formula of Daniel at face, and Hugo quickly coming in from the wing gaining possession more times than not and Q2 was dominated by Stockport with a 1-6 quarter.  With Brooklands not electing to take the free clear, the face was competitive throughout, and Q3 went our way with another strong 1-7 performance.  Q4 we changed the attack and defence around, providing a closer 3-4 quarter leaving us with a 8-21 victory. 
Overall a more competitive game, than the scoreline suggests.  A massive welcome to Daniel, 6 different scorers of Luca (2), Jay (2), Hugo (6), Ben (2), Rhys (4), and Cameron (6), with 10 of the goals assisted.



Looking good in Stockport Blue

Mixing it at Face

Rhys under increasing Brooklands pressure

Don't think their keeper knows where the ball is

Ben using his pace

Time for a lie Down

Give and Go from Rhys & Jay - Which leads to one of our goals

Strong at face all game

An excellent game from Jay - Strong throughout

Keeper feeling the Strong Arm of Brooklands

Hugo - Giving it the Eyes

Luca enjoyed his 2 goals today

Will & Ben, having a chat about something?

Jay deciding to do a few press ups

Some fantastic clears today, leading to a number of goals from fast breaks

Jacob about to go down