Cup final defeat for unlucky women’s lacrosse firsts
UNIVERSITY OF YORK 5 vs. UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM 8
BUCS Cup Final, Wednesday 18th March 2009
A gutsy performance from York women’s lacrosse team couldn’t stop hot favourites Durham from securing the BUCS Cup trophy on Wednesday in the tournament final. Durham were impressive in the second half, with their numerous county-level players showing an assured quality in possession, but the final 8-5 scoreline reflected a little harshly on the home team, who squandered some excellent chances themselves.
After a dominant 18-2 semi-final win over Keele, York were confident going into this game and the home team edged a tight first half, flying out of the blocks and showing passion and a strong desire to capture the Cup. As was the story of their day, though, the underdogs found themselves 4-3 down at the half-way point in spite of their efforts.
But two quick goals straight after the interval gave York hope and were met with rousing cheers from the gathered supporters on the touchline. With the score at 5-4, Durham awoke from their slumber and began to dominate possession, camping out in the York’s goal area. Under intense pressure, Christiana Hambro produced the sort of display usually reserved for goalkeepers’ dreams on these occasions, making save after incredible save to keep the scores close and York went into the fourth quarter tied at 5-5.
With the game set up for an exciting finish, the tension, particularly tangible on the sidelines, crept into York’s play. The pattern of the game continued in the same manner as the third quarter, with Durham dominating the possession count and York countering with force at every opportunity. Chances fell York’s way but to their disbelief, an awkwardly positioned Durham goalkeeper matched Hambro’s heroics at the other end, managing to get stick to each of First Home Emily Lingard’s numerous efforts. York gave everything but, try as they might, they couldn’t find the all-important sixth goal to take them into a final quarter lead, and Durham punished them as they pushed for goals late on.
Reflecting on an impressive run in the tournament team captain Rose Morrison said: “This was the closest match we’ve had for a long time. We went into the game hoping to win and at 5-5 we believed we could do it. It was disappointing in the end but we can certainly be proud of our performance.”
The team has shown some excellent form this season, finishing second in Northern Conference 2A. Defeat to Durham was their only loss last term and victory was by no means expectated in the Cup final. “That was their best ever performance,” next year’s men’s captain Benedict Robinson said of York’s display. “From a goalkeeper’s point of view, Durham’s goalie got lucky at the end. If we could have put a couple of those chances away, we could have won it. Durham were very fortunate.”
The goals for York were spread across the team, with Elsie Blackshaw, Harry Reese, Liz Chan, and Helen Streeter’s names appearing on the sheet, but it was Christiana Hambro in goal who stood out, putting in a finals woman-of-the-match performance that deserves much praise.
York Line-up: Christiana Hambro, Rebecca Chalk, Sophie Pickup, Izzy Miller, Vicky Eagle, Suze Davies, Rose Morrison, Elsie Blackshaw, Sarah Saunders, Harry Rees, Liz Chan, Helen Streeter, Emily Lingard
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