Men's Lacrosse crowned National Champions
(12 March 2010)
Durham Men’s Lacrosse 1s remain invincible and indomitable as they sealed a 17-6 BUCS Men’s Lacrosse Championship final victory over Nottingham 1s at Sheffield’s Mount St Mary’s School.
In a pulsating and often bruising encounter, the Palatinates fell behind in the opening stages to an early Nottingham strike – with John Meade levelling the scores moments later. Meade scored another within seconds to send Durham into the lead, before Nottingham equalised to tie the scores for the second time in the match.
As the half progressed, Durham grew in stature, confidence and composure, displaying signs of the attacking fluidity and dynamism that have become the hallmarks of their season. The Palatinates retook the lead, the game now poised at 3-2, with Jono Linebaugh’s strike followed by a piece of clinical finishing from Andrew Sousa. Meade, Linebaugh and Sousa each scored once more to fire the Palatinates into a 7-2 lead at the interval.
A flurry of Durham strikes punctuated the start of the second period, their speed on the counter-attack and their scintillating wing play catching the Nottingham defence cold. Kevin Discepelo, Scott Sullivan, John Meade and Omar Dupree each chipped in with fearless finishes to see the heretofore unbeaten side end the third quarter with a lead stretching to eleven goals to two.
Final quarter braces for Jono Linebaugh and Kevin Discepelo, as well as first BUCS final strikes for Daniel Kemp and Max Walters, completed the scoring for the Palatinates on an afternoon that put the perfect finishing touches to a season shaped by an unbroken series of twelve victories.
John Wheeldon, Durham Men’s Lacrosse 1s captain, said: “We’re absolutely ecstatic with the result and the performance, and with the way we’ve performed throughout the season – we’ve worked hard together, and we’ve really demonstrated how far a team can come in a matter of months. We’ve made huge strides.
“We always knew this would be a tough and physical match, and – although sections of the crowd were occasionally creating an awkward atmosphere for us – we’re really grateful that they came out to watch us, and ultimately drove us to perform to our best today.
“Other teams have commented on the fact that as a team, and as a group of individuals, we are extremely hardworking – and that’s been the secret to our success this season. We’ve trained hard, we’ve played well together – and it’s great to finally get recognition as national champions for that.”
