Plymouth City Lacrosse Club win SW Championship
PLYMOUTH CITY LACROSSE CLUB have been crowned South West Champions after defeating Bath in the final round of the Plate competition.
On Saturday the Plymouth City Men's Lacrosse team travelled to Sherborne to defeat Bath in a historic 8-4 victory in the Cup Final. The boys in green have been made the South West Champions, and in only their first season!
As part of a South England Men's Lacrosse Association tournament they defeated local rivals such as Exeter to reach the regional final and where they have now qualified for the Flags Final, facing South East Plate winners Hillcroft LC on the 9th April in Reading.
Currently ranked number 1 in their division, the Plymouth Men's Lacrosse team beat the 2nd place Bath team in what was the hardest game of the season. With the score level at 2-2 at the end of the first quarter, it was all to play for.
Ben Lipinski, the Captain for Plymouth, noted how they were "just testing the water in the first half" and that once the Greens had settled down, they were able to take lead and keep it all the way to the final whistle, winning 8-4. Ben added: "We played really well in the defensive end and stopped Bath from scoring for 35 minutes at one point. With an athletic midfield we kept playing until we could tire them out, eventually by making them play our game we could put points on the board. Ultimately, the real test is going to be against Hillcroft next month, if we keep playing hard we'll surely come home with the national title."
The Greens' attacking unit retained much of the possession in the closing duration of the game and kept the pressure on Bath's defence. With half of the goals split between Ben Lipinski (c) and Dan Sheaff the Attacking unit managed to capitalize from the dominating nature of the Defence and Midfield. The rest of the points came from the athletic midfield; 2 by Freddie Pearce, 1 by Aidan Smith, and 1 from Face-off Specialist Barney Hall. Hall's performance culminated in losing only 1 face-off to Bath, giving Plymouth's Attacking unit the best possible chance to score. Man Of The Match was awarded to Defence man Henry Gwynn-Thomas whose ability to strip the opponent of the ball and counter-attack earned him an assist.
The landmark victory comes at a time where Plymouth City LC are exploring ways to build on the successes of their first season. With promotion and a Cup trophy already under their belts, the club is extremely excited about the possibility of moving their home ground towards a more central location in the city, which might allow for more people to attend and watch their matches.
As much as Plymouth City LC are looking to celebrate their victory in the Cup, they will face Bath again in a top of the table clash away on the 19th March. As the final league game of the season, both teams will be looking for the win. Plymouth will be looking to maintain their season-long unbeaten record and Bath will have the added incentive of wanting to repay Plymouth for their Cup defeat so there will be no room for complacency for either team.
If you would like more information please email plymouthcitylacrosse@gmail.com
Written by Dan Sheaff
