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LANCASTER TRIUMPH AGAIN

After battling it out neck and neck all season for the National League title, the final-day showdown between Lancaster and Bristol turned out to an unexpectedly one-sided affair.

2005 Season - Phase 2 PLD W D L F A PTS GD
Lancaster 12 10 1 1 144 73 21 71
Bristol 12 8 1 3 105 95 17 10
Rotherham 12 7 0 5 124 102 14 22
Cheltenham 12 3 1 8 99 129 7 -30
Manchester 12 0 1 11 68 141 1 -73
               
2005 Season - Phase 2 PLD W D L F A PTS GD
Polytechnic 12 12 0 0 99 54 20 45
Penguin 12 8 0 4 83 64 16 19
Birkenhead 12 5 0 7 97 99 10 -2
Tyldesley 12 3 1 8 92 114 7 -22
Otter 12 1 1 10 79 119 3 -40

Confident Lancaster cruised to a 15-4 victory and so claimed their fourth consecutive championship, four points clear of their West Country rivals.

Back left to right : Duncan Holmes (Manager), Jamie McIlquham, Andy Squires, Ryan Pinnington, Tom Curwen, Neil Bowers, Dave Bush.
Front left to right : Dougie Campbell, Zak Sly, Chris Hartley (Capt), Mark Taylor (Coach), Sam Broadbent, Colin Burgess, Scott Carpenter.

Bristol had beaten Lancaster 10-9 earlier in the season and drawn a second meeting 8-8. But more recent defeats by Cheltenham and Rotherham meant they had to beat Lancaster to finish on top.

They were rarely in it. Lancaster led 4-2 before taking charge in the final minute of the second period with a remarkable burst of three goals in just 46 seconds. By the end of third period, the lead was an unassailable 10-3, making the rest of the match a formality.

Tom Curwen’s four goals took his total for the season to 68 – by some way the division’s leading marksman. Colin Burgess and Neil Bowers both contributed three and there were two goals from young Scott Carpenter. For Bristol, who were without injured Craig Figes, John Sissons and Jez Sherman claimed two apiece.

Third-placed Rotherham, fielding a depleted squad, held Lancaster to 4-4 at half-time but eventually went down 17-9. Bowers (5) and Curwen (4) led the Lancaster scoring, Adam Scholefield replying with four for Rotherham.

Later, the outstanding Scholefield more or less outgunned Cheltenham on his own, netting eight times in an 11-8 victory.

In the lower half of the table, Polytechnic made certain of securing the sixth British Championship place by finishing the second half of the season with a 100 per cent record.

Long-serving ex-international Gary Simons’ goal two minutes from the end snatched an 8-7 win over Tyldesley. Poly raced into a 6-0 lead against Otter and eventually won 10-8 with both Danny Davis and Nik Zhukovsky scoring four times.

Penguin also won both their Millfield matches. Against Birkenhead, they overturned a 5-6 deficit towards the end of the third period to win 7-6 with two goals by Lorenzo di Fazi – the last with one and a half minutes remaining. Penguin also defeated Tyldesley 10-4.

Birkenhead were completely out of luck. After that narrow reverse against Penguin, they lost 9-8 to Otter – having led 7-5 going into the final period. Andrew Pillar was chiefly responsible for Otter’s first win of the season, scoring three of his five goals in the last quarter.

Leading Goal Scorers    

Club Goals Games
1 T Curwen Lancaster 68 17
2 A Fowler        Birkenhead       51 17
3 M Cowburn Tyldesley 50 17
4 R Leighton Rotherham 47 12
5 D Taylor Cheltenham 45 17
6 C Burgess Lancaster 40 17
7 J Hutchings Bristol 39 17
8 C Figes Bristol 33 11
9 P Doris Otter 32 16
10 D Davis Polytechnic 32 17

 

Exclusion Offences    

Total
Birkenhead 159
Bristol 125
Cheltenham 133
Lancaster 121
Manchester 140
Otter 123
Penguin 123
Polytechnic 108
Rotherham 114
Tyldesley 101

 

MILLFIELD     White     Blue    
Sat:  Dec:  03 15.30   Birkenhead 6   Penguin 7  
  16.30   Manchester 5   Bristol 9  
  17.30   Tyldesley 7   Polytechnic 8  
  18.30   Lancaster 17   Rotherham 9  
19.30   Otter 9   Birkenhead 8  
20.30   Cheltenham 12   Manchester 7  
Sun:  Dec:  04 10.00   Otter 8   Polytechnic 10  
  11.00   Cheltenham 8   Rotherham 11  
  12.00   Tyldesley 4   Penguin 10  
  13.00   Lancaster 15   Bristol 4  
               
LOUGHBOROUGH   White     Blue    
Sat:  Nov:  19 15.00   Cheltenham 12   Bristol 9  
  16.00   Otter 3   Penguin 6  
  17.00   Rotherham 14   Manchester 2  
  18.00   Polytechnic 8   Birkenhead 6  
19.00   Cheltenham 4   Lancaster 15  
20.00   Otter 6   Tyldesley 9  
Sun:  Nov:  20 13.00   Manchester 7   Lancaster 11  
  14.00   Birkenhead 13   Tyldesley 8  
  15.00   Rotherham 8   Bristol 5  
  16.00   Polytechnic 5   Penguin 4