York overwhelmed Lancaster in the men’s lacrosse bought in a match played under sad circumstances. This was one of the first matches the York team had played since the passing of much-loved member Charlie Watkins, who sadly died in March.
Before the game kicked off, players and supporters from both teams assembled in the centre circle for an emotional minute’s applause, after flowers were placed from both sides in the centre, and the York captain gave a heartfelt speech, drawing tears from everyone.
This was definitely in the minds of both teams, as the game started slowly and nervously. It wasn’t long though before the intensity raised, as the tackles came in thick and fast. And it became clear quickly enough which team was on top.
York asserted their dominance, going 3-0, and subsequently sat back to soak up the pressure. Lancaster may have had more of the ball, but failed to do anything more than speculative shots from distance. Only York seemed likely to score, and before the first quarter, they got another.
The Lancaster crowd did not die down, and some of this spilled onto the pitch, with players squaring up to one another after a few friendly tackles. Despite it threatening to boil into a repeat of the infamous match in 2015, this was the peak of the anger.
York continued to dominate, forcing a spectacular goalline clearance from the Lancaster keeper. Lancaster struggled to get any momentum until the third quarter, where they launched some quickfire shots into the York net to make their adversaries worried.
Despite scoring three times without reply, Lancaster went into the final quarter 7-4 behind, and couldn’t do anything further in the finalé. York comfortably sat out to win 9-4, the perfect way to honour Watkins, something noted by both teams.
