In the absence of our Stat Man Nick Donovan who’s sunning himself in Australia this was a difficult game to report. My notebook looked like it had been in the Goyt but, in short, this was another good win on a day when very little Lacrosse took place.
A tight first quarter saw goals from Jamie and Tom as we edged the quarter 3 – 2. The pitch was rapidly deteriorating into a sea of mud but Heaton Mersey were organised, patient and disciplined.
The game was effectively won in the 2nd quarter with goals from Jamie, Sam and Tom to give us a 6 – 2 half time lead. Ned had everything under control in goals, Joe & Joey kept their stronger players in check and Toby had a stand out game in defence breaking up many of their attacks.
The second half started with another from Sam who, alongside the hard working George, really marshalled the game. Archie, Jake, Josh and Jack all rotated into the midfield and we saw much more determination from them as the game progressed. With the score at 8 – 4 perhaps we were moving towards conditions that made it nearly impossible to play. Fred announced that Mellor would be playing downstream in the final quarter and he wasn’t far wrong!
Up front, Tom was a continual threat and always available as we took the game to Heaton Mersey and, with Jamie and Jack’s movement we’re starting to look like a real threat going forward. Further goals from George, Jamie and Sam followed by a couple of tidy goals from Heaton Mersey saw the game end 10 – 5. On another day this would perhaps have been more convincing but it was tricky for both teams to play to their usual standard.
Today’s Man of the Match is Toby Halls – a natural defender, becoming very comfortable on the ball and not scared to throw himself in front of the ball! Well done Toby