England shine at European Lacrosse Championships
England's men have taken a step closer to this year's semi-final
at the European Lacrosse Championships in Prague.
Having beaten Scotland comprehensively, 20-2, in the opening
match of the tournament on Saturday, Dave Elwood's team triumphed
17-4 against Sweden and now look well placed to reach the
last four.
England now meet Wales today, knowing that victory would guarantee
them a place in the last stages of the competition.
"We played tremendously well against Scotland and blew
them out of the water," said Elwood. "I think they
had a sneaking suspicion that they were going to beat us,
but we were too good for them and now we've set ourselves
up really well for a place in the semi-final, having beaten
Sweden."
Steve Shanahan, Chris Mountney and Richard Wilson were the
heroes against Sweden, all scoring hat-tricks as they led
throughout.
And it was Mountney, with five goals - plus three apiece
from Shanahan and Wilson - which made sure England ran riot
against Scotland, their fiercest rivals.
England women suffered a surprise 15-3 defeat in their opening
match at the hands of Wales, but bounced back to triumph 12-4
against Germany to keep their interest alive in this year's
title.
EUROPEAN CH'SHIPS (Slavia Sports Centre,
Prague, Czech Republic).- Men, Gp Blue: Germany
5, Sweden 3 (1-0, 3-0, 1-2, 0-1); England 20, Scotland 2 (6-1,
3-0, 5-0, 6-1); Czech Rep 8, Wales 2 (2-0, 4-0, 0-2, 2-0);
England 17, Sweden 4 (2-1, 5-1, 5-0, 5-2); Wales 3, Germany
12 (0-5, 0-5, 1-0, 2-2); Scotland 8, Czech Republic 7 (2-1,
1-4, 2-0, 3-2). Gp Cyan: Denmark 3, Finland
9 (0-0, 0-4, 2-2, 1-3); Latvia 1, Holland 15 (0-4, 1-1, 0-4,
0-6); Ireland 13, Italy 1 (6-0, 4-0, 1-0, 2-1); Finland 3,
Ireland 12 (0-5, 0-2, 3-3, 0-2); Italy 8, Latvia 3 (2-1, 1-2,
2-0, 3-0); Netherlands 4, Denmark 5 (1-1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-1).
Women, Gp A: Czech Rep 13, Wales 2 (8-0,
5-2); Scotland 23, Denmark 0 (16-0, 7-0); Czech Rep 4, Scotland
9 (2-3, 2-6); Wales 2 26, Denmark 0 (13-0, 13-0). Gp
B: England 3, Wales A 15 (1-7, 3-8); Germany 8, Scotland
B 8 (5-1, 3-7); Germany 4, England 12 (2-6, 2-6); Wales 17,
Scotland 2 3 (6-2, 11-1).
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