On a bright cold morning Mellor travelled out to the Wirral for a triangular series with Oxton and Cheadle.

The girls, raring to go, were immediately frustrated though having to sit out and watch the first game of the series. This combined with the cold conditions clearly impacted Mellor and within minutes of Emily K taking the opening face off we found ourselves 2 goals down to Cheadle. It could have been much worse had Aimee not saved well on two further occasions.

The recurring breaks in play from the referees whistle also seemed to prevent the girls finding any rhythm, however we slowly built momentum and started to take control of the midfield. Mellor pressure increased with Emily K, Amy and Aoifa all forcing excellent saves. The Cheadle keeper continued to keep Mellor at bay until a great play from Harley created a chance for Emily K and she finished coolly to make it 1-2. The girls continued to dominate but couldn’t force an equaliser before the half was up.

The second half continued as the first had finished and an equaliser wasn’t long in coming with Amy finishing well from an Aoifa pass. Further Mellor pressure almost forced a Cheadle defender to put through her own goal, before Amy again escaped a defender to score her second and give Mellor the lead for the first time.

Mellor were now in full flow with impressive movement throughout the team on and off the ball, but try as they might Mellor just couldn’t find the goals to give them the breathing space their play deserved with the Cheadle keeper making a string of brilliant saves from Aoifa, Lucy, Amy and Annabel.

This seemed to briefly inspire Cheadle and totally against the run of play Mary was forced to make a goal saving block, followed quickly by a point blank save from Aimee and further vital interceptions from Emily N and Sophie. This re-energised Mellor, and it didn’t take long before Amy completed her hat trick following a pass from Aoifa.

In a last ditch attempt to change the course of the game Cheadle took a final time out, but if anything it gave the Mellor girls a final burst of energy. This lasted to the end of the game as the passing and movement across the team denied Cheadle any quality ball. Amy forced a further succession of saves from the Cheadle keeper before a fine solo run ad finish from Annabel just before the final whistle gave Mellor a 5-2 win, a score which frankly flattered Cheadle.