Brooklands make amends

BROOKLANDS went into this weeks encounter with Stopfordians looking to make amends for a disappointing loss the previous week to Heaton Mersey.

It was always going to be important to start the game strongly and early goals from Summers, Robson and Maddocks forced an early time out from Stops in an attempt to break Brooklands' momentum.

A six-goal lead at quarter-time allowed Brooklands to build on some good early transitional play with some well-structured offensive possession while keeping the score ticking over.

Excellent work at the face-off from Maddocks and Summers, who both chipped in with useful braces, gave possession to Brooklands time and again, while Macken and debut-making John Wheeldon led the way with hat-tricks.

There were also good performances made by fellow newcomers Johnny Macdonald-Taylor and Sacha Stout in their first outing at this level.

Brooklands are looking to improve on this success against Cheadle next Sunday and keep the pressure on league leaders Heaton Mersey.

Meanwhile, in the first clash between two local rivals, Brooklands under 16s took on Timperley B team in a one-sided affair, running out 20-1 winners.

Strong running between the lines coupled with dominance at the face-off gave Brooklands the majority of the possession from which to build a 10-0 half-time lead.

A lack of threat from the Timperley offence gave the Brooklands defence few problems during the match with goalie Chris Lowe maintaining his concentration to make some great saves when required.

A late goal was just reward for Timperley's perseverance but did not take the gloss off a decent performance from an industrious Brooklands team.

Man of the match was Mike Lewis for his useful brace of goals and exceptional ground ball work and tenacity in the midfield.

Brooklands under 14s steam-rollered an under-strength Heaton Mersey Guild 30-1 on Saturday to continue their unbeaten run.

Ryan Sweetman and Tom Harrison finished with eight goals apiece and Liam Wilkinson added three goals and four assists to the tally in a man of the match display.

Adam Wain again dominated the midfield, winning most face offs and grabbing 13 groundballs.

Cara and Challis each scored goals for Brooklands and James Hewitt made an appearance in attack and netted three more.

The senior first team put in a tidy display against the currently unbeaten Stockport side at Beech Road on Saturday.

Despite going down 11-6, the whole team can be proud of the performance against a Stockport side containing a number of current England internationals.

After a strong first quarter from the home side, Brooklands defence kept the score down to a respectable three goals with some great saves from the inimitable John Marr.

Stockport maintained a two-goal advantage at the half - but they knew they were in a game as the wheels started to come off for the home side and the usual discipline problems began to re-surface. Brooklands won the quarter 3-2.

Brooklands continued to apply the pressure and got the game level with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Sliter, Finney and Simpson were proving a handful for the home defense as they scored some cracking goals against a previously strong defensive Stockport team.

However, three quick goals in reply - the home team taking advantage of a low sun - gave them impetus to close out the game.

Fielding an unchanged A team Brooklands secured their third consecutive victory against bottom of the table Wilmslow A.

Brooklands started brightly but poor handling meant that they spent most of the first half defending.

The second third and final quarters followed similar patterns with Brooklands having a great deal of ball yet failing to press home their advantage.

During the final quarter Brooklands went one goal behind with five minutes to play but eventually won 6-5, scoring the last goal with less than two minutes left.

The whole team will have to improve to keep the winning streak going.

The Brooklands B team, without a recognised goalkeeper, struggled against league leaders Poynton B.

With Phil Maddocks "press-ganged" into standing between the pipes the team took on a make-shift appearance.

Brooklands started well and caused Poynton a degree of frustration and the final score of 11-5 to Poynton didn't really reflect on the effort and courage of Brooklands on the day.

Several players deserve special mention. Martin Jackson who rallied the attack, Rory Peters for his work-rate and effort in midfield and Alex Sieradski who dominated the face-offs and consequently was voted man of the match.