U14s Semi Final V Mellor

Its been some time (and might be some time until the next one) since I last put my thoughts down on a lacrosse match, and whilst I wish I was reporting on a great victory it wasn't to be.
Being around this team for as long as I have, we know during the season the games to look forward to are those close affairs against Mellor, and as often been the case in recent years a semi final game against Mellor is a common occurrence, and usually we end up on the wrong side of the result.  Today wasn't any different, and in close games you really need to get off to a good start, and show how we can play on the front foot, as opposed to chasing the game right from the off.  That's exactly what we were doing today, with Mellor scoring straight from the Face, 20 seconds gone 1 down. By the end of the first, we were 4-2 down with a couple of good strikes from Hugo and George keeping us in it.  Q2 was an even quarter, with a goal a-piece (Jacob finding the net), and I found myself constantly saying we need the next goal, and a little bit of momentum, but it just didn't happen.
Q3 felt like everything was slipping away, with good pressure in the Mellor half, only benefiting Mellor as a missed opportunity resulted in a fast break and an opportunity for them to score, and this was a 4-1 (Hugo) quarter to Mellor, and as we enter the 4th quarter we were trailing by 4, 8-4 and even any optimists amongst us thought that it was all over.
To the credit of the players, they kept on in there, scored quickly and precisely on a couple of occasions and belief crept back in, and we might get something.  3 strikes brought us to within 1, and then Mellor extended it back to 2, and another couple brought us to within 1.  We still had opportunities but its all about precision in front of goal, and with another day of missed opportunities (27 shots in total), we got pipped by 1.  5 -1 final quarter to Stockport (2 x Jacob, 1 George and 2 x Luca)
Analysis after the game, makes we wonder why?  Was it the astro? The early start?  Miss of key players?  Unfortunately on the day, we just got beat by a better team who for 3 quarters of the game wanted it a little more than us.  When we did get into the game, we just didn't have long enough to bring it back.
This all being said, it might be some time until we play again, and I want to make sure all our players, players families and lacrosse friends stay safe and well.  Lets get through these difficult times, and be stronger next year.

All photos taken on Flickr Click Here

Worked all game at both ends of the pitch

A Couple of good goals today

Always a threat with the ball

Got into the game late on today

Q2, Q3 and Q4 was trying to drive his team forward

Explaining the Rules to the Ref

A defeat always hurts this man

Being consoled by friends

Consoled by the opposition

Consoled by the Manager

And Family

U12s Stockport vs Heaton Mersey

U12s Stockport vs Heaton Mersey

A Turf war lands the Stockport team in Levenshulme! 

Quarter finals cup match.

Well its been a month since we played a match due to such bad weather including two storms and some major flooding in the UK.

So due to a scarcity of good dry turf to play on has lead us to go to MEA Central, a secondary school academy which on the map is in Levenshulme and their 4G astro turf to guarantee our quarter final match between Stockport and Heaton Mersey.

Onto the match and we looked fairly good at the start for a few minutes with Dan Teal scoring the first goal with a good face off and some good early connecting passes, however there is a large number of players on the team that clearly hadn’t  practiced that much and looked like they were playing for the very first time. Good possession was lost so easily with a lot of clumsiness, while some of this can be excused due to not playing for a good while, there was some passiveness and a general lack of enthusiasm and ability to win a ground ball even on a 75% chance.

Heaton Mersey won the possessions up for grabs on the pitch and were practically jogging the goals in at times,

scoring five goals in each quarter, the Stockport players looked extremely rusty and were on the back foot for most of the match.

Clearly frustrating for some of the Stockport players at the end of the match.

This year the u12s team have been very inclusive to all players in the club, including giving some younger and new players experience in playing matches also and this has sometimes reflected in some of the results, however we have won some matches this year and this season has been a good foundation for the players for future seasons where the teams will be fairer in terms of ages and abilities.

Well done to all players and parents for playing and persevering in the sport in some trying weather and uneven matches.

Dan Teal scored another goal in the third quarter and Tom Smith scored in the last quarter finishing the game 20 - 3 to Heaton Mersey.

Goal Scorers Dan Teal 2 and Tom Smith.

                                             I`m not sure this qualifies as a swim dodge.

                                 The lads doing their level best to contain the Corona Virus