Well that’s another lacrosse season over. For most clubs, their pitches are now the outfield of a cricket oval, and bar a couple of summer lacrosse tournaments and of course the football World Cup, we long for October and the start of the 2006/07 season!
League Review
Hitchin, in their 25th anniversary year, are champions in what was a three-way battle for the title. For most of the season Hampstead were looking favourites, putting big scorelines up against the lower placed teams (including Spencer alas). Hitchin and Hillcroft were never far behind and were going about their work in a more sedate manner. Hitchin were the only team to gain a shut-out, in fact twice, the unlucky recipients were Walcountian Blues (17-0) and Penarth (21-0) – ouch! Also worth noting Hillcroft only lost one league game all season, 13-5 at Hitchin. The two drawn games against Hampstead proved crucial and I understand these were classic encounters.
In mid table, Purley were below par compared to recent years. Behind them came Reading who were a surprise package. They did not score many goals, in fact only the Blues scored less, but their defence was mean, backed up by their excellent American coach/goalkeeper. Bath complete the mid-table trio and although Spencer beat them twice they picked up key wins against Purley and Reading.
Spencer finished 7th, equal on points with Penarth but with a better goal difference. This is a fair result for our season. We blew hot and cold and too often suffered from dodgy periods where we lost concentration and either missed the scoring chance or gave away a ‘free’ goal by sloppy defence. These are two areas that must be improved next season.
Behind Spencer, Penarth finished the season strong with a win against us in our last game and with the bonus of a conceeded game against Purley. Relegated this season are Walcountian Blues.
Spencer Season by Numbers
The following stats relate to League and Flags games only.
Top scorer was midfielder Will Walker with 21 goals.
Ever present was Will Walker and goalkeeper Colin Bryne who both played all 17 games.
A total of 32 different players wore the Spencer colours this year, of those, 17 different players scored goals.
Our average squad size was 16 players.
The attack scored 64 goals, midfield scored 61 goals and the long-sticks scored 5 goals.
Flags Review
Spencer did not feature much in this year’s flags competition. We narrowly lost to Penarth in Round 1, which in hindsight was a bonus at it allowed us to focus on the league and ensure we won the key games and avoid relegation worries. See below for the Flags Finals winners.
Spencer in Amsterdam
The season highlight was without question our first full squad overseas tour. We travelled to Amsterdam to compete in the Lowlands Tournament to join East Grinstead as the UK representitives. It would be fair to say that on paper we were the strongest team at the tournament but you still must perform to win games – and we certainly did! In winning all our games, we played the best lacrosse ever seen in Spencer colours. Read the full report. Plus of course we enjoyed the unique social aspects of Amsterdam and hope to defend our title next year.
Summer Events
Still to play is the annual 6-a-side Tournament at the end of April. We are entered into the Walcountian Blues Summer Tournament, 17/18 June which should be good. We are also attending the pre-season Bath 8-a-side tournament on the 8th September. For all news related to Spencer Lacrosse, keep an eye on this website.