Northern Premier Division Round Up

SHEFFIELD Steelers remain rooted to the foot of the Men's North of England League Premier Division after slipping to a seventh defeat of the season on Saturday. The South Yorkshire team have managed to pick up just one point from eight matches so far and are three points adrift of second from bottom Mellor. But Steelers do have two games in hand on Mellor and one game in hand on third from bottom Rochdale, fixtures which could prove crucial to their hopes of staying in the top flight. Of course there are still ten games to go this season, but 19 points separate Steelers and top of the table Stockport, a clear indication of the difference in performance levels this term. Steelers are not expected to be challenging at the top of the division, but they know they will have to raise the bar to get themselves out of trouble.

Heaton Mersey proved far too strong for them at the weekend as they eased to a 21-5 away victory with six different scorers on target. Having drawn the opening quarter 2-2, Steelers would have been pleased with their efforts, but they then lost the next quarter 8-1 to trail 10-3 at half-time. The third quarter was only 3-2 in Mersey's favour, but again Steelers lost their way as they were whitewashed 8-0 in the final quarter. Midfielder Andy Whilde, Dave Alcock, Sam Glover and attacker Justin Rychlichi were all on target for the hosts, but Mersey outshot them by the staggering margin of 58-20, with 44-15 of those efforts on target. Dave McCulloch, Dan Heighway and Jamie Gallagher did the damage for Mersey with five goals each, attackers Matt Beadle and Chris Battersby both contributed two goals each, while defender Andy Downing and midfielder Peter Hayes completed the scoring. Midfielder Tom Gallon impressed by winning 16 of 29 face-offs as Mersey never looked in trouble.

Timperley, who will find out who they play in this year's Northern Senior Flags semi-finals tonight (Thursday), had former league winners Wilmslow in trouble on Saturday. But despite having led 4-2 and 7-3, the visitors were unable to hold on for what would have been their fourth league win of the season. Steve Parkinson top-scored with four goals, and there were hat-tricks for Rory Sanborn and Andy Brickell, as well as goal for Tim Holdsworth.

Wilmslow, though, won the third quarter 5-1 to level matters before each side traded goals in a gripping final quarter. Timperley scored late on to make it 11-11 and made sure they got a point having dominated the early exchanges. Attacker Chris Mountney, as he so often this season, led the way for Wilmslow with five goals and three assists, while England international Mark Reynolds scored twice and provided three assists. James Perrin scored and contributed two assists, while Ian Davies bagged a brace for the home side who, having been slow out of the traps, also had face-off ace Mike Jordan to thanks for a large share of the possession. Jordan lost just two faces from the 24 he contested all afternoon. There was also a Timperley own-goal in the match as both sides had to settle for a point.

Mellor's plight at the bottom end of the table doesn't look any healthier after they were beaten 16-3 away to Manchester Waconians. Attacker Matt Marsh and midfielders Tim Roche and Tom Marsh all scored a goal each as the visitors were well beaten. Mellor keeper Ruairi Dolan made 11 saves from 27 shots, but Wacs were dominant and won every quarter 5-2, 3-1, 4-0 and 4-0 for their fifth league win of the season. Midfielder Reece Eagle won 16/21 faces and keeper Will Stelfox made 10 saves from 13 shots to help the cause, with attacker Chris Stott Wacs' top scorer with five goals and an assist. Fellow attacker Tim Langan scored four and provided two assists, with midfielder Casey Martin on-song in a six-points game which included three goals and three assists. Two goals from Eddie Owen and Case Watson completed the scoring with Wacs fifth in the overall standings after ten matches.

Neil Goulding English Lacrosse Association