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10/11/07

Birmingham Bulls 5 @ 19 Warwick Men's

Saturday the 10th of November saw Warwick take one massive step towards making their league run as they took down a Birmingham who hadn’t really faced a proper test in the league as of yet. Nottingham conceding the match to them gave them an easy 10-point walkover that would surely not have occurred had they played the match; Warwick would have to win by over 10 to cancel out this result.

Birmingham Bulls had a great recruitment this year and received an influx of experienced players from both the North and clubs like Welwyn and they were out to test the purely homegrown Warwick, especially since Warwick won the series between the two last year (2-1). The Bulls, when combined with returning star Leo Carey, looked to have the most dangerous attacking force they had ever had.

The match was to start very tight; Birmingham took the first goal with a good isolation play. A few minutes later Seb Croft (3,2) dodged to feed Duncs Trenholme (7,5), his first of seven goals to come, to tie the scores.

The second quarter saw the Warwick defence begin to settle themselves a little, and both teams started to give away penalties that could have well been avoided. The addition of a qualified ref was a pleasure, and meant for a much higher standard of lacrosse. However it was Warwick who were conceding less, a goal from Neal Roadley (2,2) came at a crucial turning point in the match. Duncan Trenholme and James Aris (5,5) then started their attack partnership that was to break down the Birmingham defence throughout the match with a simple draw and dump technique from behind goal. Seb Croft added another to his tally with a charging dodge through the Birmingham defence. The score at the end of the quarter: 5-3 Warwick.

The second half was a completely different story; the draw and dump seen flittingly in the first half soon began to break down the defence physically and mentally. As their heads went down Birmingham started to concede more and more penalties, while Trenholme and Aris kept attacking their bottom corner and taking advantage of the multiple man-up opportunities. Despite Birmingham’s effort to go to a four man zone with a loose man they were marking the wrong men, and concentration on the bottom corner ripped the defence apart. When they started to understand the plays Warwick just moved the ball faster, with goals coming from Bob Ainley (1,0), Alex Twiss (1,0) and Neal Roadley.

Crucial as well were Croft’s face offs. He managed to win 21 out of 24 faces (0.875), a brilliant feat against an experienced face off man from the North. Aaron fox was 1 from 2 (0.5). The match saw Croft perfect his punch through technique leading to multiple fast breaks, again converted by the Warwick attack time after time.

The last two quarters ended up Warwick winning both 7-1, and the final score ended up 19-5. Special mention must go to defence men Jon Treacy, David Salmon, Ben Stothard and lkeeper Thomas Riddlestone, who recorded 12 saves. The four defence men managed to lock down an incredibly talented Birmingham attack and hustled for every single ball.

This score puts Warwick very close to the top of the league table, and team spirit gives the impression that it is well within Warwick’s grasp to win the league. The return fixture will be very interesting with Birmingham looking for revenge over this result, as they will doubtless have had a little bit of the wind knocked out of them.

Warwick are next in action at the BUSA tournament on the 17th November, and they play the Welsh U-19 team on the 18th November.

Warwick - 19 v 5 - Birmingham Bulls

Trenholme (7,5)
Aris (5,5)
Croft (3,2)
Roadley (2,2)
Twiss (1,0)
Ainley (1,0)
Fox (0,1)

Saves: Riddlestone 12 (0.706)

Season record: (4-1)

More photos here and here.