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LANCASTER FLOORED BY BRISTOL

2007 Season : Phase 2 PLD W D L F A PTS GD
Cheltenham 14 11 1 2 203 134 23 69
Bristol 14 11 0 3 165 118 22 47
Lancaster 14 10 1 3 215 115 21 100
Manchester 14 7 0 7 158 133 14 25
Rotherham 13 7 0 6 163 140 14 23
               
2007 Season : Phase 2 PLD W D L F A PTS GD
Penguin 15 7 3 5 131 154 17 -23
Welsh Wanderers 15 8 1 6 182 172 17 10
Polytechnic 15 3 1 11 99 164 7 -65
Portobello 15 1 0 14 137 229 2 -92
Otter 15 3 1 11 137 231 1 -94
               
2007 Season : with GB PLD W D L F A PTS GD
Cheltenham 6 5 0 1 72 57 10 15
Lancaster 6 4 0 2 69 44 8 25
Bristol 6 4 0 2 61 63 8 -2
Rotherham 6 4 0 2 66 55 8 11
GB Juniors 6 1 0 5 56 72 2 -16
Manchester 6 0 0 6 46 79 0 -33

Inspired Bristol Central pulled off a superb 9-8 victory over reigning champions Lancaster in Lancaster’s own pool to give themselves a real chance of reclaiming the title after a gap of six years.

Coach Rhys Tamlyn will be viewing the next weekend at Millfield as key to the championship race. Cheltenham – still going strong and crucially one point ahead at the top of table – have a tough dual challenge against Bristol and Lancaster. Lancaster also face Rotherham.

Lancaster took a 3-1 lead early on against Bristol but were pegged back to 3-3 at the end of the first period. It was 6-6 at the start of the last, when a Greg Harper goal for Bristol was quickly answered with an equaliser from Tom Curwen.

Then Craig Figes struck two vital goals for Bristol, who then had to battle all the way to preserve a lead. Rysz Detko replied for Lancaster, who then called a time-out after earning their 18th man-up of the match – only for Glen Robinson to crash a shot against the crossbar with ten seconds remaining.

Bristol also beat Rotherham 13-9 – after trailing 4-1 at the start of the second quarter. The sides were level at 8-8 after three but two late goals by Matt Threasher made the difference. Paul Morris scored four for Bristol.

Lancaster almost came unstuck against Manchester, who will count themselves unfortunate to lose 8-7. With Sean Rider scoring three times, Manchester reached the last minute with a 7-6 lead. However, with 30 seconds to go, Curwen equalised. Then Lancaster managed to turn over Manchester possession for Colin Burgess to claim a belated winner.

Skipper David Taylor was the star of Cheltenham’s 11-6 victory over Manchester. He scored seven times, including all the goals in a decisive third period when his side netted four times without reply.

Penguin enjoyed an excellent weekend, beating Portobello 14-6 – including six goals by ex-Portobello player Bruce Elder – and Polytechnic 9-6. Poly eased clear of the bottom two places with an 8-5 win over Otter. Hsu scored three of his side’s five goals in a decisive second quarter.

Welsh Wanderers’ Dan Laxton netted five in his team’s 17-12 victory over Otter and another eight against Portobello, who went down 18-10.

GB Juniors went down 11-8 to Cheltenham and 9-6 to Rotherham.