2s left out on their feet

Exeter University v Bath 2s

10th March 2012

West Division 2

Final Score

Exeter 5:4 Bath

The 2s had a tricky fixture away at Exeter this week, but all who made the trip gave an outstanding display of how Bath players can step up and represent the club. With the squad lacking midis, other 2s regulars stepped up, with Jack Coward and Ben Jessup holding their own well, swapping their poles for a short stick.

The team started fresh despite the two hour journey down to the south coast and Bath came bursting out of the blocks in the first quarter of the game. Andy Kenyon set the pace in the first 10 minutes pinging a shot over the shoulder of his defender into the corner of the net. A great draw and dump by Tim Lyne then left Jessup, to sling a side arm shot between the keeper’s legs, before Colin Carey finished off a stunning first quarter for Bath, darting towards the crease and slipping a third into the back of the net.

The Bath defence, led by Paul Bown and Luke Wilmot, was a force to contend with throughout the entirety of the game. Add to this mix the clearing ability of both keeper Mark Lane and pole Alex Aiton (who was surely a candidate for M.O.M.), both demonstrating brilliant movement and vision, and Exeter really were lucky to put away a transition goal in each of the second and third quarters as the midis began to tire and became slower to drop back into defence.

Carey, Joe Brickell and Tom Jacques’ experience in attack was clear, but Exeter’s defence began to pressure the ball when Bath slowed the play down, and ground balls became scrappy as both teams tired. Brickell continued to shine however, with a fantastic individual goal in the third quarter, darting through 3 defenders before dumping the ball into the goal over the keeper’s head. 

Throughout the game, Exeter took advantage of their home circumstances, and their squad was boosted by late arrivals. These increased numbers proved to be Bath’s downfall in the final quarter with Bath players on their final legs having given everything in the first 60 minutes of the game. Going into the last quarter the score was 4-2 Bath, but a few sharp plays from the Exeter men saw a change in fortunes, with Bath’s adjacent slides a fraction too slow to stop the opposition’s movement.

Despite the unfortunate result, this game bodes well for the future of Bath Lacrosse. With Phil Jervis and Sam Edwards switching up well in an LSM capacity, Bath had plenty of depth in defence as is always the case with the 2s, the squad just found itself lacking legs in midfield on the day. Nevertheless, with Tim Lyne in his first year of lacrosse, Yugo Jacques improving his game and Joe Trevorrow proving his adeptness in midfield and attack, as well as his ability to face, it is clear that the club will continue to help youngsters develop their play. Overall, it was a sound team performance by Bath with positives to take forward to next weekend.

Quarter Scores

1^st quarter Exeter 0:3 Bath

2^nd quarter Exeter 1:0 Bath

3^rd quarter Exeter 1:1 Bath

4^th quarter Exeter 3:0 Bath

Final Score Exeter 5:4 Bath

Scorers

Andy Kenyon 1
Ben Jessup 1
Colin Carey 1
Joe Brickell 1
Tim Lyne (1)