Teams: Warrington, Radcliffe, Chester Saxons, Liverpool Thunder, Liverpool Lightning, Bridgefield, Chester Romans, L&D Allstars.
Warrington were out in force on Sunday at the 12&U tournament with our best player turnout of the year so far - we were actually oversubscribed with 14 players on hand.
Jaques and David were great sports agreeing to play for Liverpool & District Allstars to make up their team numbers.
Warrington in Group A were playing first up against Radcliffe, a team who have been strong all season. It was a lively opening with good strong play from both teams. Two great goals from James B and Tom closing the first half 4-2 to Radcliffe. Second half saw a great save by Fintan and two shots on goal from Ella and Christopher just missing the target. Final score 6-2 to Radcliffe.
Next up was Chester Saxons, and a fast and furious start with shots by Tom, James B and Laura not quite hitting the mark. However goals from James B (2) and Tom finished the first half at 1-3 to Warrington. Success continued into the second half with Warrington dominating Saxons. Great save by Fintan as the half started then James B and Christopher had shots saved by a great Chester keeper. James C then broke through scoring 3 goals in quick succession followed up with a final goal from Jess. Final score 2-7 to Warrington!
Our last match in the group stages put us up against Liverpool Lightning. Warrington started strong with 3 goals in quick succession by Tom, Jess and James B. Unfortunately things went downhill - two lob shots from Tom narrowly missed and Liverpool converted on the break to equalise finishing the first half 3-3. Second half was tense and dramatic with spirited play from both sides. Tom missed an early lob shot then Lily scored for Warrington. Great save from Christopher as Liverpool continued to pressure us. James B and James C both had shots just wide then Liverpool fought back. Liverpool scored in last 10 seconds to make it 5-4 to them and hearts sank! Then with just 2 seconds on the clock, a lob shot from Tom at the half way line found its mark and as the clock went the scoreboard updated to 5-5. Shot of the tournament so far, and an exciting end to a competitive match Fantastic result for warrington against fierce opposition.
With a win, a loss and a draw, our group position was decided on goals scored which placed us 3rd in group.
In the playoffs we came up against L&D Allstars firstly. Good start from Warrington with Amy and Laura scoring to put Warrington 3-0+ up. Chester fought back with a late goal. A good save at the end from Fintan sees us 3-1 ahead. second half saw Warrington dominate with great all round play from all the team. Goals from Tom (2) James B (2) James C (4) and Christopher (1) sees the final score 12-1 to Warrington.
Final match of the day saw Warrington take on Chester Saxons for 5th/6th place. Goals from Tom, James B (2) and James C put us 4-0 up at half time.Warrington continued to perform well in the second half with a number of missed shots from Jess, Ella and James C. Saxons were held at bay throughout the second half and we were unlucky not to have converted more attempts on goal. We ended with a satisfactory 5-0 win and placed 5th out of 8, which is a real improvement over previous tournament final placings.
I caught the end of the Allstars match to see both Jaques and David scoring for their temporary team - well done guys!
Warrington Team:
Tom
James B
James C
Lily
Tilly
Laura
Amy
Jess
Ella
Isabella Sm.
Christopher (GK)
Fintan (GK)
Allstars
Jaques
David
Coaches
Craig
Emily
