Cambridge can’t mix it up with the Dark Blues

Oxford’s Mixed Lacrosse squad finally got their season started with a satisfying Busa league victory over Cambridge. After suffering a succession of cancelled or postponed matches a hungry, motivated side blew the tabs away and, led by seven goal hero Nick troen, kept the cambridge keeper busy fishing the ball out of the Light Blue net all day.The match got off to a sluggish start as Cambridge arrived late, delaying the start by thirty minues and leaving some Oxford players concerned about a lack of light. But despite this disruption, Oxford sprang from the blocks, playing aggressively and at a fast pace. it took just two minutes for Troen to open Oxford’s account. By the end of the first quarter the Dark Blues had gone on to notch up seven goals, while had responded with only one, leaving Oxford goalkeeper sarah Lewis with little to do. The Oxford midfield outclassed its rival with Laurence Witherington, David howie and Oliver proudfoot confidently picking up and distributing the ball with thoughtful passes that regularly produced scoring opportunities, and the Light Blue defence just could not cope with troen’s pace and clinical finishing.After the first quarter Oxford started to make use of their other advantage, a large squad of substitutes. Tired players were given time to catch breath with a few minutes on the sidelines and as a result Oxford stayed on top of the match. in fact had no female subs at all, forcing one of their girls to play on through injury to ensure her team had the obligatory six women on the pitch.Throughout the remainder of the match Oxford continued to notch up goals, albeit at less of a pace than in the first quarter. There was an outbreak of grumbling about barging from in the fourth quarter but referee emily dennis quickly quelled it and the match finished in good humour. Oxford can now look forward to their next game against Hertfordshire with some confidence as they build up to their match with uea, who promise to be a sterner test.Oxford co-captain Bryony tomlinson was clearly satisfied with the outcome of the match, stating after the final whistle: "we were awesome, once we settled into the match, the play was simply beautiful." Cambridge, meanwhile, were hoping for improvement. Mark Lee, playing left defence, explained, "Oxford definitely got the better of us, but we were down a couple of players and Iam sure that come Varsity the result will be much closer."  ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005