Well being new to all this lacrosse malarkey I have to say I was concerned that all I would have to report on was the weather and the quality of the bacon sandwiches. Thankfully an entertaining game from the boys and some fantastic assistance from fellow parents put paid to that.

So at 10 O'clock under an ominously dark sky, I couldn't resist a nod to the weather, the game got under way. Mellor playing in their traditional white and red kit playing left to right (that said if you were watching from Husseys back garden it was right to left) and Cheadle playing in a mish mash of colours as their kit man had forgotten their shirts?

Both teams started a little slowly, but it was perhaps Mellor who showed their desire more in the early exchanges. The first of which led to Mellors opening goal in the 3rd minute, Daniel Jones checking a Cheadle player in possession with such force it left the opposition winded and nick Hughes pouncing on the opportunity to open the scoring. Cheadle, who's passing wasn't quite as sharp as Mellors then started to dominate the quarter. Mellor sat back allowing them to play the ball around in our half, and the warning signs were there as Will Macdonald was called into action to make two important saves. Eventually in the 7th minute the pressure told and Cheadle equalised. The Mellor defence of Ben Mochan, Joe Kynaston, Josh Haining and Rory Fell were under pressure foe some time but kept Cheadle at bay until normal service was resumed in the 11th minute when Daniel Jones scored the first of his mornings brace. Sadly against the run of play Cheadle equalised in the 13th minute so the quarter ended 2-2.

Everyone was expecting an improvement from the Mellor team at the start of the second quarter, however it was the Cheadle side who came out of the blocks the fastest, scoring almost straight from the off in the 16th minute. Both sides were now playing with a bit more purpose but Cheadle definitely had the upper hand, their defence were chasing down our attackers with a purpose and then in the 19th minute they increased their lead to 4-2. It was at this point it was noted that they had come out in their full kit now, were they like Superman and could only fly with their underpants on the outside of their trousers, were they about to start running away with the game? Thankfully the answer was no! One of the turning points of the game came in the 20th minute when Drew Bickerton unleashed a fierce shot from the centre which found its way through the Cheadle defence striking their keeper in the ribs knocking the wind and most of his stuffing well and truly out of him! Mellor finally started to become too much to handle and it was two fine individual goals that brought the half to an end all square at 4-4. The first for Daniel Jones after a run from deep in his own half the second from Joe Hussey with a run from the half way line.

The third quarter definitely belonged to Mellor, they came out strong and finished with 5 more goals without reply. The first of which was made by Daniel in the 31st minute. Despite being hit by an over enthusiastic tackle which brought gasps of "Ooh Eck, come on?!" from the crowd he still managed to get away a fine pass to Joe Hussey, who finished with ease. In the 34th minute Will pulled off a fine save which prevented Cheadle from closing the gap. Said gap was very quickly increased in the 36th minute by an individual effort from Drew. It has to be said that at this point the poor keeper from Cheadle looked like he would rather be anywhere other than in his teams goal. Mellor were now in full flow and Josh Poke was very unfortunate not to get his own name on the score sheet. In the 39th minute Josh S Pink's shot was too much for the Cheadle keeper who could do no more than deflect it into Joe Husseys path for him to dink it in for his hat trick! Drews second of the day made it 8-4 in the 42nd minute. The highlight of the quarter came soon after with Eddie Jenkins' fantastic take just in front of goal, if his shot had come off he would have surely been a contender for man of the match (well maybe not but there have to be some perks for sitting up at 11pm on a Saturday night writing a match report). The quarter was tied up in the 44th minute with a fine take and individual effort from Josh S Pink making it 9-4.

They still had the chance to potentially make us sweat at the re start, pulling a goal back almost immediately in the 46th minute. Joe Hussey though soon calmed the nerves in the 48th minute running the full length of the pitch to score. There was still a little fight left in Cheadle as they went straight up from the restart to score again 10-6, thankfully though this was their last resistance. A fine defensive turnover from Sam Griffiths showed that Mellor still wanted the game more. Then in the 56th min came the goal of the match, Ben Tipping picked up the ball in centre midfield surrounded by the opposition, he then proceeded to pull off not one, not two but three pirouettes which would not have looked out of place on the stage of the Moscow State Ballet leaving all in his wake before picking out the perfect pass for Daniel Jones to get his hat trick! This seemed to inspire some of his team mates Christian S Pink certainly started getting stuck in more assisted by the gentle tones of his mothers encouragement from the sidelines. Will pulled off a couple more saves and really started spraying out the ball nicely becoming the first line of our attack. Daniel Jones maybe got a little enthusiastic in the late stages, getting pulled up for unnecessary roughness, something his father apparently did not know existed? There was still time for Joe Hussey to get his fifth of the game in the 56th min meaning Mellor finished worth victors at 12-6!

It certainly wasn't the best performance of the year, but as they say of all great teams if you can still win when you are not playing all that well, that is the key! It may be a bit early to say it but if Mellor keep playing like this, well roll out the sushi.......this team could be big in Japan!!!