The South team claimed victory over their rivals from the North in the first game of the 2023 North v South box lacrosse series with a 7-6 win at Macclesfield Rugby Club, Cheshire, on Saturday.
Louis Alhage scored four, including the eventual winner within the final two minutes of the match, in a standout performance for the South team.
Iain Murray, Jamie Powell, and Albert Whitehead also got their names on the scoresheet as the South team started the 2023 series the way they finished the 2022 edition, with a win.
The North team were unfortunate, however, having never been behind in the game until the South’s seventh goal and the ever dependable Matt Marsh and Luke Mills-Doig, who both scored a brace, ensured their team pushed the South all the way.
And, the North even had chances to draw level late on with Elliot Leonard being denied by Eliot Pugh’s shoulder before Will Allsop shot just wide.
But it was the South’s day and they take a 1-0 lead into the second game of the series at the same venue on 26 August.
A development game was also played prior to the main event, showcasing some of the best up and coming box lacrosse talent in the country.
In that game, the South team also took the win running out 11-3 victors with a hat-trick for Russell Farrer and two goals for Ben King.
The games were followed by a bumper two-hour women’s box lacrosse session led by England Assistant Coach, Andy Downing, as the women’s game continues to prepare for the first ever Women’s Box Lacrosse World Championship in September next year.
Watch both games in full HERE.
North 6-7 South
(2-1, 3-3, 5-4, 6-7)
North scorers | Marsh (2), Mills-Doig (2), Edwards, Dury
South scorers | Alhage (4), Murray, Powell, Whitehead
North (Dev.) 3-11 South (Dev.)
(2-2, 3-6, 3-8, 3-11)
North (Dev.) scorers | Best, Gartside, Lewis
South (Dev.) scorers | Farrer (3), King (2), Davies, Milson, Morton-Smith, Piper, Rosberg, Russell
North squad
Jacob Brindle (GK)
1 Ollie Allsop
2 Cai Jefferies
8 Ming Trinh
9 Elliot Leonard
10 Nathan Edwards
11 Kristien Warren
12 Matt Marsh
13 Luke Mills-Doig (c)
15 George Dury
18 Sam Burgess
19 Luke Maloney
21 Elliot Bickerton
30 Will Allsop
31 Ollie Rogerson
South squad
6 George Bascom
13 Callum Counihan
17 Rob Harris
23 Jamie Powell
25 Andy Thomas
28 Jacob Nichols Cook
33 Louis Alhage
44 Travis Payne
48 Albert Whitehead
51 Tom Roche (c)
66 Kieran Garvey
89 Eliot Pugh (GK)
91 Peter Shepherd
93 Will Mallonee
97 Kyle MacQueen
98 Iain Murray
99 Valts Grinsberg