Lacrosse: Cambridge University vs University of Portsmouth 1st’s
Flags Competition Quarter finals, 23/01/2010
Cambridge University vs University of Portsmouth 1sts – Final score 6-5
Portsmouth Lacrosse Firsts were knocked out of the Flags competition in a triple over-time thriller at Cambridge University. Despite having led for much of the game, the 12 man team, hard hit by exam period, ran out of steam and were cruelly punished by Cambridge scoring a golden goal after 18 minutes of extra time.
Despite having had a two month Christmas break, the game started in earnest for Portsmouth, as a well executed game plan gave Portsmouth control of the game. Despite Wez Morris catching Cambridge off guard and breaking the deadlock, Cambridge were a tough team to break down, showing impressive disciplined and structured defence that can only come from four team training sessions a week.
Portsmouth methodically carved out goals from inspired skill by Oliver Bailey and Mike Beatty. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter Portsmouth looked to be in control, at 5-1 up. Cambridge played on the advantage of a larger bench, pressurising the ball, not allowing the Portsmouth midfield to get their breath back. Mistakes began to slip in and Cambridge picked up momentum and pulled themselves back into it, and by full time the score was even.
As a knockout competition there had to be a winner on the day. The game went into 10 minutes of extra time, swinging both ways, with both teams having chances. However, the longer the game went on, the more advantage Cambridge had. With defender Dave Ross hitting new levels of ferocity and some near-impossible saves from Mike Woods, extra time ended goal-less. The game then went into another five minutes of frantic end to end, golden goal overtime.
The game-winning goal came to Cambridge in the 98th minute, during the 3rd period of overtime. It was a bitter pill to swallow for a team who had put so much effort in and pulled out some individual all time best performances.
Scorers: Wez Morris, Liam O’Mahoney, Oliver Bailey, Carl Joyce, & Mike Beatty
