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WALCOUNTIANS' BAGLEY AND BIRKETT HELP SOUTH OF ENGLAND CEMENT BEST FINISH EVER (16 May 2008) Walcountian Blues played their part as the South of England recorded their best ever result at the British National Championships at Wilmslow, Manchester, earlier this month.Walcountian Blues were represented by Matthew Bagley and Matthew Birkett, and the former, who has been selected for the England training squad, played a major role as the South opened their campaign with a 3-3 draw against Yorkshire, hitting two fantastic goals. The Walcountians midfielder was again on the scoresheet as the South were held 4-4 by England Under 19s. The third game for the South, was against Scottish Universities. Birkett opened the scoring, with Bagley also hitting the back of the net in the first half as their side romped to an 8-1 win. Sunday started with a tough game against Scotland and despite taking the lead, the South found themselves 5-1 down at the break. Some timely words at half-time from coach Ian Ballantine (Walcountian Blues) galvanised the South and they ran out 7-6 winners. Some class goals from Bagley then saw the South edge out Wales 4-3 to earn a place in the third/fourth place play-off where they again met Scotland. All square at 1-1 heading into the break, the South were given the advantage by a Bagley strike. He was again on target in the second half as the South ran out 7-2 victors to claim third spot behind winners Cheshire and runners-up England U19. The South Development Team also attended the tournament to play friendlies against other development teams. They beat Scottish Universities 7-2 (two goals from Walcountian Blues' Peter Ross), beat Wales U19 6-2 and lost to Scotland U19 6-2. Walcountian Blues ladies this week emerged victorious at the Portsmouth eight-a-side tournament. Having won their league section, Blues overcame Southampton 8-4 to set up a final showdown with Warwick University. The game started slowly, with both teams finding it hard to find the back of the net but it was Blues who claimed the title. ........................................................................................................................................ BLUE'S PLAYER - CROYDON TEACHER'S GLADIATORIAL CHALLENGE (taken from the croydon advertiser) Battling the fearsome Gladiators is a far cry from Gayle Vicker's day job of teaching primary school kids. The 28-year-old from Croydon fought her way into the quarter-finals of the TV gameshow on Sunday night - escaping unscathed against the likes of Battleaxe, Inferno and Enigma. Now she is just three steps away from claiming the £50,000 cash prize. Gayle told the Advertiser: "I'm not sure how I would spend £50,000, maybe a holiday or a house? "The main thing is winning the trophy, but that is a lot of money and I wouldn't say no to it!" Gayle was brought up in Cearn Way, Old Coulsdon, before moving to Grovelands Road, Purley and then Commonside Close, Coulsdon. She now teaches at The Royal School, in Haslemere near Guildford. It was back in February when Gayle first applied to enter the show. After an interview and tough training programme she finally got the chance to compete on the Sky One programme, hosted by ex-Crystal Palace footballer Ian Wright. Gayle, an England international at lacrosse, said: "I used to love the show when I was little. "I remember (ex-contestant) Eunice Huthart and (ex-Gladiator) Jet. "I'd always wanted to try the games, like Hang Tough and the Eliminator. So to get the chance was great. "It's much easier teaching children than competing against Gladiators who are double your weight. "The children were there wearing t-shirts and waving banners, it was amazing to hear them cheering you on. "They haven't stopped talking about their teacher being on Gladiators since I returned to school." Last week we spoke to Gladiator Destroyer - real name Damar Martin - who is from Thornton Heath. Despite his hardman image, he revealed he is scared of an evening out in Croydon's rougher nightspots, explaining: "I may be a gladiator, but I don't know if I could handle a night out in Croydon. "It gets a bit crazy there, I think I'd prefer a quiet one." But Gayle, a former Croham Hurst pupil who was nicknamed Gayle Force on the show, said: "I still like going out to Croydon although it's not as safe as it used to be." ......................................................................................................................................... Walcountian Blues players show strength in South of England Lacrosse Teams (and for the Southern Coaches team!) Following numerous trials and training sessions, Matthew Bagley and Matthew Birkett were selected to play for the South of England Lacrosse Team, and Sam Rowlands and Peter Ross were selected to play for the South of England Development Squad. Both teams played on Sunday 17th Feb 2008 in Hemel Hempstead. The South of England team played against The Southern Coaches team (SoCo), which is a team of of American Players, straight out of American University Lacrosse Programmes, who are all working the the South of England as Lacrosse Coaches. Walcountian Blues was also well represented on the SoCo team by the club's two coaches, Zach Nedbalski (shirt 12) and Colgan Sloan (shirt 13). As you can imagine the standard of Lacrosse was very high, but the South Team came away victorious with a 13-11 win. Matthew Birkett (shirt 25) played in a central position, taking face-off for the South, and winning 5 out of the 7 faces he took. Matthew Bagley (shirt 29), who captained the team, scored a number of fast high quality goals, coming from excellent team play and his own fast running! The South Development team also won their game, beating off the Wales U-19 team 10-7. Blues' own attack-man Peter Ross scored a whopping 5 of the 10 goals, including scoring from laying on the floor after being body checked, scoring with one hand on his stick. Pete also clocked up two assists. It is great for the Blues to have more players representing the South. 8 of our members now represent regionally for the South of England, 4 playing for the South Under 18 team, and 4 on the seniors team. Claire L. Kelly 07763647459 ........................................................................................................................................ Walcountian Blues Lacrosse Club are hosting A FREE MENS' UNIVERSITY DAY on Sunday March 9th 2008! It's an opportunity for university players to visit the Blues lacrosse club, see our excellent facilities and develop their lacrosse skills!!! Coaching will be provided by excellent American LDO coaches - offering coaching in attack, midfield and defense, followed by a match / tournament. The day will start at 12 midday, and finish with a FREE dinner at approx 5pm. Please get back to Claire Kelly with numbers etc, "i hope to see as many people as possible at this amazing event". For directions, see 'Club information'. dont hesitate to contact Claire: clairek50@hotmail.com See you there! ......................................................................................................................................... Two Club Social events are just around the corner! The Camden House Alternative Race Night will be held on 2nd February from 7p.m at the Club. With Championship Short Course Beer Pong, Jakes Detox Hell, Dizzy Long Jump and more mad events, this will be a night of madness and hilarity. Tickets £5 including supper. Contact Claire for more information. And on 23rd February its the return of the annual Curry Night. With a wide range of starters, main courses and side dishes, tickets for this more than you can eat buffet are again just £12.50 (£7 for under 14s and veggies). Food will be served from about 7.30p.m. And, yes, England v France will be shown! ......................................................................................................................................... Half Term Lacrosse Bonanza Its been a busy week for the Blues Juniors with two games against a Czech touring team, a three day camp led by John Grant Jr and U18 South selection. For many this amount of lacrosse would be excessive but we reckon its a great way to spend your hlf-term. ......................................................................................................................................... John Grant Jr visits the Blues It was a privilege for the Blues to host a John Grant Jr Pro Skills lacrosse camp from 23rd-25th October and an exceptional opportunity for the Blues players who attended to receive top level coaching and to be inspired by Johns stick wizardry. For some campers, three days of lacrosse was may have seemed daunting but the structure that John and the other coaches, Shawn and Jay, brought to the camp, allowed everyone to progress at their own pace. And there was undoubtedly an improvement in all the players after the three days. ......................................................................................................................................... Blues U16s and the Czech Tourers On Monday 22nd and Thursday 25th October 2007, representatives from Blues U16s played in two matches against a team called Jizny Mesto from Prague. In the first match they combined with players from East Grinstead. A slow start from the Blues/EG team allowed the Czechs to take an early lead. With the combined coaching of Cole and Zach, Blues/EG did find more structure to their game and began to play as a team, but the lead was unassailable despite three goals from Ewan Willsmer. The final score was 4-13 in favour of Jizny Mesto. The Thursday match saw the Blues join with players from Spencer and Croydon to create an All Stars team to take on the Czechs at a wet and windswept Clockhouse. This game could not have started any differently from Mondays with the All Stars team taking an early 2-0 lead. However, the Czechs were never going to be a pushover and they quickly organised their defence to combat the All Stars offensive strengths. It was an end to end game that could have gone to either team until the last 10 minutes when Jizny Mesto scored a couple of quick goals, finally taking the spoils 3-6. Thanks to Jizny Mesto for another great game and also thanks to John, Shawn and Jay for staying on after the camp to coach the team. ......................................................................................................................................... South of England Success for Blues U16s Congratulations to James Kidd, Ewan Willsmer, Chris Willson and Scott Sterling for rounding off a long week of lacrosse by being selected for the South of England U18 Squad. As they are all only 15 this is an even greater success and a testament to their personal commitment to the game. We look forward to more Blues players joining them in the squad soon. ......................................................................................................................................... Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October 2007 - A full weekend of Lax for the Blues There was a full weekend of lacrosse at the Blues this weekend with every team except the U16s playing. It brought mixed fortunes, highlighting both the strengths of the Club and areas we still need to develop, but everyone should be proud of the fact that the Club fielded 5 teams and over 70 players this weekend. Here is a summary of the games. Full match reports will appear under each section soon. The irony could not have escaped the fixture's secretary as he scheduled the Men's 1sts to play East Grinstead in the first match of the season. Having lost 4-7 to them in the Dunmore Cup the Blues knew they would face a well drilled EG side eager to prove themselves in the Premiership. And they were not disappointed. With EG taking the early lead and being the dominant team during the first half (4-6 to EG) Blues had a lot of work to do if they were not to face their first upset of the season. Some talk on tactics and no doubt a fair amount of soul searching during half-time saw the Blues enter the second half reignited. Continuous offensive pressure from a range of players coupled with tighter defense quickly turned the tables and, having taken the second half 9-1, Blues took the spoils winning 13-7. But congratulations to EG who undoubtedly proved themselves more than worthy of competing at the top level in the South. Whilst this drama was unfolding in Sussex, Blues 2s faced the newly promoted Herts Comets in their inaugural East Division 1 fixture. With the students having only just returned from their summer break and with many freshers in their team, Comets always struggled against the mix of experience and youth that now makes up the 2s. Whilst the Blues team showed - to themselves if no-one else - they could move the ball well, create space in the offense and have the potential for a solid defense, the Comets should be commended for battling to the final whistle. They were rewarded with a late and well scored goal but this made just a small dent in the final result of 19-1 to the Blues. And on Sunday it was the turn of the Purley Blues (Ladies) and the U12s and U14s to take the field. It was the first fixture for the Ladies since thier move to our Clockhouse ground and somehow we knew it could never run smoothly. When the Ladies arrived at the ground they found their pitch had been mismarked and faced a panicked hour trying to make the best of what they had. This unsettling start cannot have helped their game as they went down 0-24 to the Centaurs. It was back to Hertfordshire for the U12 and U14 action where Welwyn hosted the Blues and St Columbus, a new team to enter the league this year. There was more than a little confusion over age groupings and Blues found they faced opposition of a greater age range than they fielded. Our young U12 team fought hard but they found it tough going against the bigger Welwyn players. There were a number of close chances but the Blues were never able to break through to the goal. However some solid defensive work by Jay and Sam T and another strong showing from Liam in goal kept the score to 0-11. The U14s also faced a team with older players and also struggled to break through to the goal, but also battled hard throughout. With every player showing improvement during the game the Blues left it to the final quarter to show what they were really made of. During this they played tighter defense and had renewed confidence in attack. There efforts were finally rewarded in the dying minutes with a superb goal from Daniel, and the game ended 1-9. 3. Results - Mens 1st 13-7 Won Mens 2s - 19-1 Won Ladies - 0-24 lost U12 - 0-11 lost U14 - 1-9 lost

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