Heaton Mersey v Rochdale

U12’s played their first full match against Rochdale on Saturday. It had been raining all night but Saturday we woke up to the Sun. We had a team of 10 players who were ready to play after the half term break. We were back to strength with Benjamin and Freddy both having recovered from knee injuries- both were back in their rightful place of midfield. We were able to swap and change players throughout the game but only where it would not upset the formation. After the first quarter we were losing 2-1, first goal to Mersey by Benjamin. Rochdale then started to put a number of goals past us and at the end of the 2^nd quarter we were 6-2 down. Dave gave a team talk and we started to score in the 3^rd quarter but so did Rochdale. At the end of the 3^rd quarter the score was 10-5 to Rochdale. We had one quarter to try and get back in the game, which is what we did. Mersey battled on and persevered and the result was 4 more goals to bring winning the game into our sight. We had little time left to try and bring the scores equal or to win. Despite a few attempts the final whistle went and the score was 11-9 to Rochdale. A really good game. Mersey played some great Lacrosse and what was noticeable was that they played as a team. Parents commented on how they had improved considerably from last season and the score reflected this. Sheer determination by all the players almost gave them a draw.