Timperley arrived on a bright and crisp Mellor winter’s morning as the only team to beat us this season, even if that defeat was avenged in a friendly match just before Christmas. They certainly started the stronger team and stormed to a 0-2 lead within minutes of facing-off; Mellor looking jaded and not at the races. But Mellor have built a reputation for rarely being rolled-over and a great link-up between Jack Royal and Josh saw us halve Timperley’s lead, a position protected with a fine save by Fredrick as the quarter came to an end.

Q2 continued to be close, with Timperley re-establishing their two-goal lead via a typically effective fast break, before George executed a couple of fine shots to bring parity to the game at 3-3. Hopes from the touchline that Mellor would forge ahead were soon put on ice, appropriate in freezing conditions; Timperley sneaking a goal in against the run of play to lead once more at the end of the quarter.

The game continued to swing one way and then the other through Q3. Will made a trademark storming run from defence to set up Josh once more, before he netted once again, linking up expertly with George. Timperley never let us gain the lead, however, finishing the quarter up 5-6.

The game then changed early in Q4. Mellor were excerpting a degree of dominance in possession, but frequently making the wrong decision when confronted by a well-drilled Timperley defence. Timperley once again made a quick break and shot to be awarded a goal, although the Mellor defence all immediately claimed the ball didn’t cross the line; the shouts for VAR assistance were unfortunately nothing more than in jest.

From here, heads dropped as a perceived injustice from Mellor were met with Timperley putting us to the sword; running in five unanswered goals before a late consolation from Josh.

There were lots of lessons to learn from this game, not least that Timperley continued to edge Mellor through three hard-fought and close quarters. The take-away from the game shouldn’t be a controversial decision leading to a significant change in the fortunes of the two teams, but of two well-matched teams who will no doubt battle again for bigger prizes later in the season.