This was another powerful win for Mellor as they demonstrated a mixture of teamwork, individual skill and strong physicality. As they have done in so many games this season they started slowly before picking up speed and eventually steamrollering their way through the game.
The pitch was a little boggy and the ball got stuck in the mud too many times to make this an elegant match. Instead, Mellor ploughed through the opposition demonstrating one of their key strengths - their strength. Time and again Poynton players were muscled off the ball, checked or forced out of play by the tough approach of Mellor. It was a scappy game, not one for the purists, but there were very few sendings off and it is to Mellor’s credit that they never stopped working for the ball and for each other.
By end of the first quarter Mellor had already stamped their authority on the game. Daniel Jones bossed the midfield, setting up Drew Bickerton for the first goal and scoring the second after a mazy dribble through the Poynton defence. A superb individual run from Nick Hughes added a third and Poynton’s early reply of a quick goal soon became a distant memory.
Mellor had a few key players missing on U-14 duty so this was a good chance for the newer members of the team to get a good run out. Eddie Jenkins did a lot of brave running down the left wing and started to distribute the ball well. In the second quarter Tom Brady also showed signs of great promise with some neat passes and he was rewarded with a fine goal from an assist by Daniel Jones. This second quarter was where the Mellor steamroller truly flattened the opposition. Josh Poke scored the first of four goals after a clever pass from Nick Hughes, Daniel Jones got his second with an awesome effort and Rufus Lancaster was rewarded for his efforts with a well taken goal to make it 8-2 at halftime.
Throughout the first half the Mellor defence had held a strong line and snuffed out virtually all of the Poynton attacks. In fact this defence looked more solid and better organised than we’ve seen for a few weeks. Aside from a couple of scares - one well taken goal by the opposition – they didn’t look like letting much through.
The third quarter picked up where Mellor had left off. The steamroller was relentless with Daniel Jones and Josh Poke demonstrating their individual skills as well as always seeking to drive the team forward. They took the score to 10-2. As the midfield play got increasingly bogged down in the mud Josh Haining reacted by bypassing it altogether. His arching defensive clearance soared like a bridge over troubled water, landing in the safe hands of Nick Hughes who dispatched a fine, route-one goal.
As well as muscle and speed there is also a neatness to Mellor’s play this season. Will Macdonald is careful, reliable and tidy at the back and always giving accurate distribution. Up front Sam Griffiths is fast maturing into a very thoughtful passer of the ball. Sam increasingly came into the match in this quarter, always eager for the ball and always looking for the simple pass. His efforts were rewarded with two fine goals, one assisted by Daniel Jones and the other a tricksy individual run that ended the quarter 14-2
To their great credit Poynton kept working hard and made life as difficult as possible for Mellor but unfortunately for them the last quarter was more of same. Ben Tipping executed another series of his unique and baffling pirouettes to somehow squeeze through the orange defence and pop the ball in the goal. This was quickly followed by goals from Josh Poke, Nick Hughes and Ben Tipping again - the last one an assist from the hardworking Joe Kynaston. Finally, Sam Griffiths picked up his hat-trick with a well taken goal after a pinpoint pass from Drew Bickerton. The game ended there with the referee sounding a blast like a steam-whistle to which the Mellor steamroller ploughed off, looking for new opposition to flatten.
It was never a great game but it is in these hard-fought, mud-bound, scrappy matches that Mellor show what a well-coached team they are and what a strong capable squad they have too.
Man of the match ; Daniel Jones