This week saw the Cambridge Women’s Lacrosse Teams take on Oxford in their penultimate matches in the BUCS League. The tension of this match was further heightened by the knowledge that the next meeting between these 2 old rivals will be the Varsity Match on the 26th February on Parkers Piece, Cambridge.

The Blues Team, currently undefeated this season, saw a slow start to the game with Oxford scoring a lucky first goal. An equaliser from Co-Captain Laura Plant was short lived due to another 2 goals from the Oxford side. A time-out instilled some calm in the frantic Cambridge Players, leading to 2 well placed goals from new talents to the team, Check Warner and Ellie Russell. Unused to being in anything but the lead at half time, a crucial team talk was needed to focus the Cambridge players.

Back on the pitch it took another 20 minutes until the pace finally turned in the Cambridge Direction. Some good tactics called by other Co-Captain Anna Harrison, in her debut match after returning from injury, saw a sudden rush of goals from the Light Blues. Georgie Hurt demonstrated her international calibre with a feed to Georgie Pritchard who converted nicely; a second feed, expertly taken by Alana Livesey, saw the ball in the back of the net once more. Distinctly more collected than at the first whistle, the team walked off the pitch victorious. Final Score Cambridge: 9, Oxford 5.

The Kingfishers fought with true determination to dominate the Dark Blues from the start.  An enthusiastic warm up despite the pouring rain provided the team with the inspiration to take the first half by storm. As the light blue sky reappeared, the half time score stood at 8-2. The attack worked hard throughout and all players had a share in the possession , meaining there was no one player that Oxford could mark out of the game. The dramatic exit of Ellie Pithers, sent off in the second half for a dangerous tackle to the head of a key Oxford player meant the team was missing a leading attack.

However, this did nothing to set Pithers back as she returned to score the final goal in the last twenty seconds of the match. Sam Davie was a continuing thorn in Oxford's side and racked up more goals against them than their entire team managed in the full game. A great success for the Kingfishers overall and many essential tactics learnt for their next encounter at the Varsity Match. Final score Cambridge: 13, Oxford: 4.