Ladies 2s Storm Armitage Tournament

The ladies 2s made a strong start to their pre-season campaign, winning the club’s first silverware of the season.

Their opening match pushed back at the very early time of 9.20am, with games only being 20 minutes one-way. After downloading the car parking app and paying for the privilege of spending the day at the Armitage Centre, it was clear the team were running a bit behind schedule. Scraping 11 players on to the pitch for the starting whistle, Timperley fumbled their way through the first game. S.Chancellor scored from a penalty corner to settle the early nerves and beat City of Manchester 1-0. After a short break, the blues found some composure in the second game against a young Alderley Edge team. One goal came from A.Sumner, two from C.Bass, and E.Bartlett, who scored a diving deflection, which you can see on Match of the Day tonight.

The next game was a grudge match against Macclesfield, with a new formation, the girls’ hard work was rewarded with a 2-0 victory, with goals from A.Sumner and S.Impey. Without a break, Preston were up next, and S.Chancellor, S.Impey and L.Hutchinson all scored, before Timperley conceded their first of the day, finishing 3-1. At this stage Timperley were almost certain to win their pool, with one game outstanding, against Newquay, Cornwall (serious commitment by them!). This was probably the toughest game of the day, and a good test for the new defensive system, with a goal from S.Impey, but with Timperley also conceding from the counterattack to end the game 1-1.

After some feedback to the tournament organisers, the semi-finals were scrapped, and Timperley therefore went straight through to the Final against summer league rivals Prescott. With a thorough warm up from L.Hutchinson and several motivational pep-talks, followed by some tactical tweaks from Coach P.Lewis, the girls were determined to demonstrate their dominance at the tournament. They cruised through the final game 2-0, with goals from A.Sumner and O.Kelly, to lift the inaugural Brian Linfield Trophy.

Overall, it was an excellent effort by a relatively new group of ladies 2s players, under the leadership and guidance of P.Lewis. There were new tactics, new formations, and with several players missing (to do things like marathons and iron mans) the season ahead is looking pretty optimistic for this keen and committed group of players.