Mellor overcome B&E in close game

Last year Mellor U12s travelled to B&E and, to be honest and no offence to Boardman, but it was a bit of a walkover for the boys. A quick scan of the league before today’s game showed that this was unlikely to be the case this time round, and so it proved.

Mellor started well in the first quarter, Cam scoring quickly following a solo run and we were off and running. Or so we thought, as a certain young red haired pitch invader brought the game to a halt as he delivered a bacon butty to his father ! Game restarted, and butty delivered, Boardman equalised as Mellor’s defence got caught between zonal and man to man marking. The rest of the quarter was all Mellor though, as Charlie picked up a great groundball to score, Miles then fed Sammy for another, great groundball from Dyl to score, then Sammy repaid the complement setting up Miles for our fifth. So 5 - 1 after Q1 and Mellor dominant.

Again, you’d expect us to kick on, but this season we seem to play our best lax at the start and end of games, with the middle quarters our worst. Boardman scored first in Q2, but Charlie got another from an accurate long shot and it was 6 - 2 to Mellor. However that was to be the last goal we would score in the best part of 30 minutes. It wasn’t for lack of possession, we were stilling winning face offs and passing reasonably well, but a combination of stout defending from Boardman, poor shooting from Mellor and good goalkeeping frustrated the visitors. In contrast Boardman were making the most of their fewer chances and scoring. They got another two in Q2 and it was 6 - 4 to Mellor at half time.

Momentum had swung to Boardman and Mellor had a terrible Q3. It was the same story, possession and shots but no goals. Credit to the Boardman keeper who was having a stormer. Boardman on the other hand were making the most of their more limited chances, scoring four in the quarter to take the lead 8 - 6. It was the first time Mellor had been behind this season and they were up against it....how would they react?

The answer was well. Miles started to motor with the face offs, as we know he can, the passing improved, as did our shooting, and we started to get back into the game. First Charlie, as reliable as ever, got one back, then not to be outdone brother Dyl, who had been having a great game picked up another groundball to equalise. Miles, back to his best, got two more and we had a cushion. Into the last few minutes and Boardman got one back....it was close... but Mellor hung on to win 10 - 9.

Really good game against a strong and determined team who have massively improved from last season. Mellor continue their unbeaten run with nine wins out of nine and were really tested, showing grit and determination to come out on top.