We look back at a couple of excellent weeks for the men in red. First we’ll look at a tough away fixture vs Rochdale A in a top of the table clash and then cast our eyes on the men’s first home game of the season.

Rochdale vs Liverpool – October 15th

Our boys made the long journey up to Rochdale in what was expected to be a hotly contested match with promotion connotations. In recent years, the northern Mancunian side has gotten the better of our Merseyside boys, so this made the prospect of an away win all the more difficult for the men in red.

LivLax started started the game well with some sustained possession looking at finding a way through an experienced defense. A few exchanges early on for both teams but, neither goalie was really tested until the 8 minute mark when Liverpool’s Dan Brown opened the scoring. This would be the first time this season that Rochdale would trail in any of their games. Mikey Panton would score another just a few minutes later as LivLax doubled the lead. This woke up the home side and they would reel off three goals before the break.

Trailing by a break a tactical change to slow the game down and play a more controlled style was brought in. The first five minutes of the second started with four turnovers for the home side and it would be the fifth where Rochdale goalie Pete Dobson would have his pocket picked while clearing, Sean Gibson who picked off the pass easily scored on an empty net. LivLax would immediately go on to a man advantage as the goalie threw his stick on the play and the ensuing man advantage would see LivLax’s Gibson grab his second of the game. More pressure came from LivLax and a forced turnover on the midline by Matthew Conway saw Gibson score his Hatrrick goal on an empty net shot from half. Rochdale would pull one back before George Widdowson would score for LivLax. More sustained pressure from LivLax saw Tom Dexter take a hard check from behind and a Rochdale defender flip the ball blindly to the net where Gibson scooped up the ball and finish easily for his fourth of the quarter. LivLax would finish the half with all the momentum and a 7-5 lead.

Liverpool’s defense took over lead by Frank Lewis who was having a solid performance behind a well organised defensive unit. Both teams would exchange goals in the third but, really the story was the dominating performance by the LivLax defensive unit and the controlled possession game played by the attacking unit.

The fourth quarter was all about closing this game out and more defensive pressure and sustained possession frustrated the Rochdale side. LivLax would get another couple of goals through Mikey Panton and Ming Trinh in the closing portion of the game. Liverpool would march out to a 10-7 away win and their first win over Rochdale in some time. Man of the Match honours went to Sean Gibson this week but, really it was a full team effort and any number of players put their hand up for MoM considerations.

Scorers: https://liverpoollacrosse.com/event/261/

Liverpool vs Stoke

Stoke was a different game altogether, LivLax was looking to close out first overall in the promotion battle while Stoke was looking for their first win. This was LivLax’s first home game of the season and the men in red were looking to impress their home fans.

Impress is exactly what they did. Though it did take about ten minutes for LivLax to shake off some complacency and get things rolling.  Ben Brookes got LivLax up and running finishing in close. Sean Gibson would grab three before the end of the first quarter.

The second and third quarters saw the offense put on a clinic scoring a further 14 goals  before heading into the fourth quarter. Now on a score of 18-0 and with 6 different goal scorers the LivLax side looked finish strong and close the game out well. Ben Brooks would finish out an four goal, eight point performance as well as Gibson who finished with a season high 15 points and 10 goals. Ming Trinh would cap off an eight point game with a couple goals of his own as well.

If last week was all about team defense then this week was all about team offense. The score finished 23-0 and it was a well balanced game for Liverpool’s attack with 8 eight players scoring for Liverpool and four players having 5 points or more in the game. With all this offense, it would be Liverpool’s George Widdowson who earned Man of the Match honours for all his work in the midfield and at the face off X. Frank Lewis earned his first shutout of the season though Mikey Panton (back at long pole) made the save off the game when Frank went out to play a ground ball.

Congratulations to Liverpool Men’s team who have now clinched top spot in Division 2B and will now head to Divsion 2H with Rochdale and either Cheadle Hulme or Wilmslow (who play each other next weekend). Liverpool will now face Ashton to close out the remaining game in CHampionship 2B next weekend at Liverpool Cricket Club on Saturday.

Scorers: https://liverpoollacrosse.com/event/264/

This past weekend LivLax were due to head down the M62 to take on Wilmslow LC. Unfortunately, Wimlslow where unable to field a team due to other commitments. As such, the points have been awarded to LivLax taking them into second place on 6 points. The LivLax lads now just need one more win from their remaining 3 games to clinch a berth in Championship 2H giving them the opportunity to gain promotion.

In Other News…

Congratulations to Francesco Lewis who turned 103 this weekend! Happy Birthday Francis you might be old but, you still go it!

The Men’s season kicked off this past weekend on the road at Cheadle Hulme. Last year the south Manchester side were Liverpool’s closest rivals in Championship 2L and ran our boys close. To add to that Cheadle Hulme were looking to bounce back from a opening weekend loss to Rochdale and were welcoming back two key attackman who were missing the 17-2 defeat. So our boys were expecting a tough outing for our opening weekend.

However, after a solid preseason and with no injuries in the roster, Captain Jay Jones was able to field a strong team for the trip to Cheadle Hulme. Included in the game day squad were several new signings including defensive middie Ollie Lewis (Wilmslow), Andrew Adams, Welsh Development player Ben Brookes and Welsh International (2016) Sam Miles, and welcomed back Irish International Sean Gibson to the team.

Preseason work paid off early as the LivLax crew dominated possession early. Moving the ball well and looking for an early opportunity to find the net. With all the early pressure it didn’t take long for Liverpool to capitalise when Ben Brookes found Gibson down low in transition and Gibson fired his first over the shoulder of Cheadle Hulme’s goalie for the games opening goal. Cheadle Hulme would answer back after a couple of exchanges and Liverpool goalie Frank Lewis was unable to prevent Cheadle Hulme from tying the game up. Liverpool would take the lead again as Gibson returned the favour to Brookes who was able to convert in close for his of the game bringing the score to 2-1 mid way through the first. Brookes would grab another goal as Cheadle Hulme was unable to deal with Liverpool’s transition play. With the scoreline at 3-1 Cheadle Hulme would manage to score before the end of the quarter to cut the lead to 3-2.

Much like the first quarter the second would see Liverpool’s offense dominating possesion. Part of the reason for Liverpool enjoying so much possession was Sam Miles’ dominating performance at the face-off x and he would eventually finish the day 14 face off wins from 16 attempts. It wouldn’t take long for the Merseysiders to convert in the second as Ben Brookes found Gibson on the crease who finish one-handed in traffic to double the lead. It wouldn’t be until mid way through the second quarter for Liverpool to extend the lead. This time Ming Trinh would convert a dodge from the wing beating his defender and shooting past the Cheadle Hulme goalie. With the score 5-2 Cheadle Hulme would grab one back with about five minutes remaining in the half. A defensive miscue would see Liverpool’s Lewis unable to stop a screened shot from up top.  The teams would head into the half 5-3 to the Liverpool side.

A frustrating day for the home team (Cheadle Hulme) would continue with Liverpool’s defense stepping up thier game and goalie Frank Lewis making several key saves (10 save on 13 shots on target). This combined with more sustained Liverpool possession the second half was all Liverpool. Sam Miles would capitalise first on a dodge from the midfield firing the ball through the legs of the goalie in the Cheadle Hulme goal. Dan Brown would score his first of the season midway through the third to extend the lead to 7-3. It would take until the fourth quarter for Liverpool to score again after more sustained pressure from the Merseysiders. Both Ben Brookes and Gibson would complete their respective hattricks to help the Liverpool side earn a respectable 9-3 opener.

With several stand out performances including solid defense (the unsung hero), Frank Lewis’s 10 save performance, Sam Miles dominating at the face off, and both Sean Gibson and Ben Brookes both having 6 point games; captain Jay Jones had his hand full when selecting player of the game. It would be Ben Brookes however, that would earn player of the game honours in the season opener.

The team will prepare for their next game on Saturday October 8th away to Wilmslow A.

Match Summary can be found here:

Cheadle Hulme vs Senior Mens