This game got off to a fast pace, with Norbury initially looking very organised going forward and moving the ball well around the Mellor goal. Slightly against the initial run of play, Mellor soon took an early lead with goals in the first quarter from Jamie, Josh Myers (2) and Oli Hague with assists from Jamie, George (3) and Joey all in the first quarter. The goals were all clinically finished and robbed Norbury of their initial confidence. Q2 started well with two goals from George, one excellent individual effort and one with a well-timed assist from Jamie. Oli Plant chipped in with a fine drive through the opposition defence and a neat finish to finish the first half 8-0.

Coming into the third quarter Norbury still seems unable to find any answers whatsoever to the zonal defence and never looked like scoring at all in the first 3 quarters. Shots were always from distance and saved confidently by Ned who had a superb morning, with some fine saving and distribution and some great running out of defence by Jake Fell. Joey was typically dominant at breaking up the play and make life very hard for Norbury and together with Toby, they never really let Norbury get back in the game.

Q3 we looked a little less fresh after chasing Norbury through the middle, with Will Hodson's speed helping us when their faster players ran through midfield, but further goals from Jamie and Josh stretched the lead. Nice work up front by Eddie, Fin, Miles and Freddie, keeping the defence on their toes and opening up gaps for the older players to exploit. Q4 Norbury finally got a couple of deserved goals, but we hit back for four more of our own from Jamie, George, Josh and Joey.

Lots of great performances today, Ned in particular had a superb game. Strong goal and assists haul for the senior players, but to my untrained eye the organisation at the back looked really good to me, with the zone defence working well, looking confident and disciplined and very nearly keeping a clean sheet.

Mellor 15 - Norbury 2

Well done boys.