Lacrosse girls turn the tables

Last Quarter the Charterhouse girls went to Claremont, squandered a four goal lead and ended up relieved to get a draw. On a bitterly cold Wednesday 10th February, and with a good win over St Swithun’s under their belts from the previous week, they were back looking to set the record straight.

The game began as if the Charterhouse girls did not want to be there at all and as they shivered Claremont Fan Court took control. They laid siege to the Charterhouse goal and only some excellent goalkeeping from Ella Buchanan and some wayward shooting kept them out. Eventually the inevitable happened and the home side went in front. Charterhouse were spurred into action after this and scored twice in quick succession. They had the ball in the net a third time shortly afterwards but were pulled back to be given a free pass and somehow the momentum was lost. The hosts steadily wrested control again and, despite the odd surging run from Charlotte Oliver and Miffy Nash, it was Claremont who deservedly led 4-3 at half-time.

Stern words were uttered at the break and Charterhouse were a different side in the second session. Apart from one uncharacteristic lapse, Ella Buchanan continued to prove a reliable last line of defence in goal and, with Antonia Gardner, Gabrielle Erhardt and Becky Skeffington screaming like banshees and working much harder in front of her, the home team began to find penetration much more difficult. Miffy Nash did an excellent job of tagging their dangerous centre and this gave a lot more room to Stephane Frayne and Rosie Knottenbelt to weave their magic.

This they did to great effect, but it was Rebecca Rowe who made the real difference. She had been starved of ball in the first half, but now, with a regular supply, she came into her own. Time and again she bore down on the Claremont goal and the home side had no answer to her. She scored three times in as many minutes and the whole complexion of the game changed. As time ran out Charterhouse assumed complete dominance and in the end were good value for their comfortable victory.