competitive match

[the pom]

Good win for mersey A vs Wacs A today in that most rare of things a competitive game it could have gone either way in the last quarter Actually fun to play in rather than drubbing a team by 15 to 20 goals

[young_trig]

Good to hear, Pom.

Also looks like the Prem divisions are generally providing pretty compettitive scorelines too (if you exclude the top Vs bottom).

[whopead]

Or anybody vs Nottingham at the moment!!

[the pom]

Back to normal this week we only had 10 players lost one just before half time due to injury so it should have been close but we won 17 to 1 fun for all involved

[whopead]

Nottingham lost 12-9 to Wilmslow. Close competitive match throughout.

Unfortunatley lacrosse is a game whereby you dont need to be "that much better" than your opponents to run up a large margin of victory.

I have to agree with Pom though that this league structure does throw up uneven match ups that wouldnt have appeared in the past.

On the otherhand in the olde division 2 Nottingham dished out and were on the end of some big score differences so maybe there isnt such a difference!

[the pom]

Yes there were some uneven games they were not the norm though north one is supposed to be a good level but we were playing with 9 I could have left for a brew for a quarter then our goalkeeper could have gone in to warm up for a bit and we still would have won easy
Its not fun for the kids coming though also it is not good for their development. This structure is working making it easier for new team and mid level teams to progress at the cost of other teams Stockport have lost their c team Mersey and cheadle are regualy not fielding fullbsquads on higher teams so the bottom teams can field a team and theses squads have been the transfer from junior to senior lacrosse. If you think about it most the newer teams are fed by players from these teams who still want to play lacrosse but have moved to a new area.

[whopead]

Pom...I gree with you up until the last point. Newer/Not Manchester clubs (not having a dig) are being supplied more with Players leaving University and still wanting to play or being at a local university in my opinion. Nottingham have had several players in the last 2 seasons moving back from University to home/new job, as have Hull, Lincoln and I would think a lot of the southern clubs (sorry dont have Stats for other teams)

Nottingham have had uni returners from
Manchester Uni
SOuthampton
Sheff Hallam
Portsmouth
Bristol

None of which have played before uni. It has meant a drop in experience as there are less Manchester Juniors playing. And in the Short/medium term has led us to struggle more against the better teams.

[the pom]

So you who runs or is influential
the club where did you start?

[Jim13]

Enjoyed the game yesterday against Nottingham.

Much closer than the last one by all accounts.

First time I've played over there, I think.

[young_trig]

Some intersting points being made.
I think at the lower end of any league set-up there have always been thrashings handed out when new teams with limited experience face more established players.

However, the problems that happen in North 1 mainly occur due to the teams near the bottom of the table who have been stuck at a level above their means for a a few years now do to the lack of movement between the divsisions.

In my own personal opinion, I think the North divisions would benefit from the 8 team realignment which would there for condence the standard into less teams. Its more likely that 8 teams will show a similar standard and more competitive fixtures than perhaps 10 teams would!

Unofortunately, the players forum last winter indicated that the North leagues were operating adequately and didn't need any tampering.

[whopead]

Pom

I run the club along with 2 or 3 others

I started playing lacrosse at staffordshire Uni in 2002 and played at Wilmslow in my 3rd year The other committee started playing at Staffordshire and Nottingham Trent.

We currently only have 2 players who played before coming to University. One from Poynton and one from Spencer.
There are however a number of "lax Juniors" at the 2 unis in Manchester but they dont want to commit to saturday lacrosse due to the amount they play during the week which is sad but true

There are 2 from Timperley, one from Mellor, one from Stockport, one from Norbury and one from Reading who due to uni lax and course cannot commit to playing on saturdays

[the pom]

a quick update on this weeks match.

it started off quite good the first team had 6 cry offs due to playing Stockport and other reasons.

this was good news as they are the 6 best players out of the A

Game started scrappy with the recently promoted players taking a while to find their feet but then we took control as ran out for an easy win taking foot of gas in last quarter.

so all in all a good social day out as meet some of the timplerly boys had a bit of a chat . also had a good chat to a few of the spectators who I had not seen in a while.

lacrosse was not the winner today it was not pretty but played in good sprits.

we I guess that is all we can ask for it did not rain which was a plus


good job the first took half the team that morning other wise it would have been dire

[LivTeamJones26]

How'd it go today Pom? Walk in the park? Had a cup of tea 3rd qtr???

[the pom]

no today was a bit different.

as per last week we had selection issues with the first being short due to injuries availability and Scotland training(normally a good thing)

so we were very depleted again.6-7 players
we were playing Cheadle who are the best team in our league and would be a battle on a good day(beginning of season they beat us by 1 goal never more than 2 in the game).

unfortunately we lost 16-8 main issue is we turned up with a bunch of inexperienced kids who had not had the experience of this level of play before.
the team we had on sat was the same as the team we had last week where we cruised to an easy victory.

the main issue we had was they players we had have the ability to play at that level but not the experience.
although all had had at least one or two at team games this season none were anywhere near this standard.
it showed a basic lack of the fundamentals of lacrosse. it is quite sad to see that so many young players in the A and B teams of clubs are having there formative years of playing lacrosse stunted by the situation these teams are in. it is a shame but it will take a few years before the affect of this is truly known.
I suspect it will produce a more even playing field across the board but in stead of bringing the bottom up we will have dragged the top down

so basically we ruined on of the only good games we get a year for us and Cheadle

[young_trig]

no today was a bit different.

as per last week we had selection issues with the first being short due to injuries availability and Scotland training(normally a good thing)

so we were very depleted again.6-7 players
we were playing Cheadle who are the best team in our league and would be a battle on a good day(beginning of season they beat us by 1 goal never more than 2 in the game).

unfortunately we lost 16-8 main issue is we turned up with a bunch of inexperienced kids who had not had the experience of this level of play before.
the team we had on sat was the same as the team we had last week where we cruised to an easy victory.

the main issue we had was they players we had have the ability to play at that level but not the experience.
although all had had at least one or two at team games this season none were anywhere near this standard.
it showed a basic lack of the fundamentals of lacrosse. it is quite sad to see that so many young players in the A and B teams of clubs are having there formative years of playing lacrosse stunted by the situation these teams are in. it is a shame but it will take a few years before the affect of this is truly known.
I suspect it will produce a more even playing field across the board but in stead of bringing the bottom up we will have dragged the top down

so basically we ruined on of the only good games we get a year for us and Cheadle

You win. You complain.
You lose. You complain.

Cheer up mate. Its nearly christmas!

[the pom]

I know trig just old and bitter and looking back to the good old days when you went to a game not knowing if you would win or lose and having a good game could change the result.

If I was u19 and not playing in prem 1 I would probably only play on Sunday night as the sat games are a waste of time.


I only play now to avoid ikea/traford center/DIY

[young_trig]

I know trig just old and bitter and looking back to the good old days when you went to a game not knowing if you would win or lose and having a good game could change the result.

If I was u19 and not playing in prem 1 I would probably only play on Sunday night as the sat games are a waste of time.


I only play now to avoid ikea/traford center/DIY

i must admit, you have a point. Results are slightly more predictable now teams put the same squads out week -in week-out to play at their relevant level, rather than loading or weakening teams to avoid relegation or push for promotion.

[the pom]

I don't think you have been reading the threads I have put up we have not managed to put the same team out twice.

the A team is regularly raped for player by higher teams this week was bad as we lost a lot of players to Scotland training

I think you will find most A teams are weakened by first teams taking players rather than strengthened by being loaded with b team players.

if we were in a position to load a team don't you think we would have done it this week.

I am not saying it never happened but it happened less than you think I think it was used as an excuse for teams that were not up to the mark.

next week we will have 4 players on our team that played first last week is that loaded? I can see if you played us next week you would think that but it is just pot luck and a handy excuse for the oposition

[LivTeamJones26]

I am not saying it never happened but it happened less than you think I think it was used as an excuse for teams that were not up to the mark.

Maybe, though I still remember being in a relegation scrap with a certain B team many years ago and we got hammered 18-1, then beat them 14-8 with the same team. Guess which day the A team wasn't playing......

[jasc]

You will have noticed that Cheadle had no 1st team game, so they won't have had to rob their A team of player for injuries and cry offs. Mellor also had no 1st team game and their A team posted their first win of the season.
It is important that the fixtures are not set up with 1st teams missing weeks as this can alter the leagues below.