Cardiff Men’s
Bournemouth …………………… 2
Cardiff …………………………… 11
Cardiff menÔÇÖs lacrosse produced an excellent win once again last week as they inflicted a heavy defeat on Bournemouth.
Navigation issues on the journey meant a late and hurried start, resulting in the opposition scoring a lucky goal in the first few minutes. Cardiff, however, were quick to improve their play, seeing two superb goals scored by Bradley Cooper and Paul Chapman within the first quarter.
Over the next quarter, Cardiff kept their opposition at bay with excellent defence, withstanding skilful ground balls and making strong clears. Jack Ward also impressed onlookers with his talented stick and body checks.
Bournemouth increased their attacking attempts in the third quarter, but their advance forward up the field allowed the canny Cardiff attack to execute their proficient structured techniques, resulting in brilliant cuts and feeds, and a number of goals by Paul Chapman, Joakim Schuwer and Ondre Teluch. Schuwer scored a particularly impressive goal when the ball rebounded off the ÔÇÖkeeperÔÇÖs helmet.
The team demonstrated great lacrosse, perfectly executing some of their newly practised plays. Peak physical fitness was shown by Jamie Bodnar-Horvath, Silas Fuller and Ward, all of whom made full-pitch runs. Several attempted shots were narrowly missed with six hitting the post, creating an incentive for tighter accuracy in their forthcoming games.
The final result was 11-2 to Cardiff, continuing their run of victories, which includes championing the pre-season tournament in Gloucester. Despite demolishing his stick head in the third quarter, Most Valuable Player went to Paul Chapman, who showed talented play throughout and scored two goals.
CARDIFF: J Ward, B Cooper, P Chapman, M Lane, W Morris, H King-Oakley, J Schuwer, S Fuller, J Bodnar-Horvath, D Evans, J Tilley, M Cork, O Teluch
Cardiff Ladies
Oxford …………………………….. 22
Cardiff ……………………………… 1
Cardiff Ladies opened their BUCS Premier League campaign on Wednesday with an away match against Oxford University.  With an Oxford team full of international players, this was always going to be a tough introduction to the Premiership.
CardiffÔÇÖs defence started strongly with Gabbi Shields, Amy Broughton and Emily Bartholemei responding quickly to OxfordÔÇÖs attacking plays. ┬á Despite strong defence and some good midfield runs from captain Amy Rochford and vice captain Gaby Jenvey, Cardiff were 10-0 down in the first half. However, Cardiff finished the half with a lovely series of crossfield passes and looked threatening in attack.
After a team talk from Rochford and Jenvey, Cardiff started the second half well with some more solid defence that slowed down the Oxford attack.
CardiffÔÇÖs chance finally came when Anjuli Seaborne was awarded a penalty in the fan. Seaborne dealt with the pressure well, scoring a brilliant goal in the bottom left hand corner with a sprint towards goal under pressure from the rush Oxford defence.
The second half proved hard, but Cardiff kept their heads up and concentrated on maintaining a tight defensive unit. There were some fantastic saves from goalkeeper Cat Williams, but unfortunately she was unable to prevent Cardiff from losing 22-1. This was a tough match but a good learning curve for the ladies.
Eliza Nicholas & Ellie van Klaveren
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