The Lacrosse Blues continued their unbeaten season with an impressive performance against Manchester in the quarter-final of the BUCS championship. Buoyed by the return of Co-Captain Alana Livesey who had been away on international duty with the Senior England Team, the Blues dominated Manchester throughout the game in freezing cold temperatures.

After a scrappy start to the game, the Blues began to show some of the attacking prowess that has seen them go from strength to strength this season. Goals from Daniella Allard and Laura Plant gave Cambridge the upper-hand from early on, accompanied by some slick finishing by Livesey. Manchester’s attacking opportunities were few and far between, but were able to capitalise on one such opportunity, bringing the score to 8-1 at half-time.

From then on it was one-way traffic, Cambridge enjoying almost 100% of the possession and some excellent finishing from Ellie Russel and Welsh international Ellie Walshe. With Manchester withering form the barrage of Cambridge attacking moves, Anna Pugh was able to dance through their entire defence to score a superb solo goal, bringing the score to 17-2 at the final whistle.

The Blues will be delighted with the way they have started the second half of the season, especially as they build towards Varsity at the end of February. They face a tougher challenge in the semi-final, coming up against a Bristol side fresh from victory over reigning champions Durham.