We made hard work of this one! A slow start saw both teams holding possession for long periods with Sam going close before a typical Tom Brady finish gave us a 1 nil lead. Our defence started strong, particularly Joey, and Stockport struggled to break us down until they levelled close to the end of the first quarter.
Quarter 2 was all Mellor – great breaks saw Sam score his first of the day, a cheeky shot by George was saved before Ned pulled off 2 great saves. Eddie added our 3rd with a great effort before Sam added a brace to give us a 5 – 1 lead. Totally dominant, we then fell foul to a soft goal before George fired us into a 6 – 2 half time lead.
And from there, we should have been home and dry. Credit to Stockport as they started firing in long shots. Despite a superb cut and finish from Eddie to Ollie Hague we allowed Stockport too much room as they scored 3 for no reply – the 3rd quarter ended at a nervy 7 – 6 lead to Mellor.
Thankfully, an early feed from Jamie to Sam saw us restore a 2 goal cushion in the final quarter before Stockport lost their discipline with players and coaches serving time off the pitch. This was the time to turn the screw but we just didn’t do it. In fact, it spurred Stockport on who, with 2 quick goals, brought the score level at 8 -8.
Jamie than added a cool 9th before Sam fired the goal of the day. Disappointingly, Stockport’s coached decided to call a stick check which saw the goal struck off – quite within their rights but left a sour taste in what had been a reasonably friendly game up to that point. At last the boys realised the need to lock the game out – something we should have done much earlier.
With 24 seconds on the clock Stockport called a time out with 1 last push for an equaliser. A superb interception by Joey saw the ball fly high over the goal and, once we retained possession we sent the ball high into their half and our team to another Onondaga Cup Final.
We weren’t great collectively today. We still reply on certain players and others need to bring a bit more determination and aggression to the games. We allowed Stockport’s only real threat far too much time and space to shoot from range and created a nervy finish that we need to avoid against Heaton Mersey in the final.
That said though, this team never lies down and it’s a credit to them that they keep their cool when others around them are losing theirs. Well done boys – today’s Man of the Match is Sam Griffiths – a Stella performance again by our Captain. Roll on FLAGS!