LaxForums

We are going to try and do a real-time text update for the England games....

(depending on internet connection)

you can follow here:
http://www.englishlacrosse.co.uk/lacros ... nd-live-2/

a few problems to start but all running properly now

Any news on the Wales v France game mate?

18-0 Wales mate

So, England beat Ireland 11-7, which was closer than I was expecting. Are England just warming up? Or Have the Irish improved massively in the last 2-4 years? Are England in for a real struggle to retain their crown?

orange05 wrote:So, England beat Ireland 11-7, which was closer than I was expecting. Are England just warming up? Or Have the Irish improved massively in the last 2-4 years? Are England in for a real struggle to retain their crown?

i would say warming up...first game and there were mistakes etc and some harsh calls but its all things that the team no doubt will get used to...
I also think Ireland are a little better than most people think they will be, it will be interesting to see them against the other teams...oustide bet for finishing with a medal

Looking at the stats England pulled Ben MCallister at half time when they were 7-2 up.

Ireland scored twice in the last minute as well.

I hear it's a general all-round improvement from the team of four years ago - good box-to-box athletes who all want to play and improve.

Great to hear it's not all imported talent.

Couple of snippets from the games:-

England are rotating the Starting Goalies and playing a Half each
- Good idea for Team Spirit & Moral, guys pay a lot of money
- BOTH Goalies are playing well nobody got pulled (Amsterdam Dutch humour is weird)

Ireland
Sweden
Germany (Except USA/Germany 2001)
Netherlands (Not Holland)
Finland

Are All stronger than previous years
There are some good local(-ish) rivalries developing
Germany vs Netherlands
Finland vs Sweden
England vs Ireland

this helps development of the games as whoever loses those games rededicate themselves to improving because of the historic rivalry

Nice to see some joined up thinking

All for now

I just caught up with the Ireland game and watched it back online.

The result was actually a lot more comfortable than the scoreline suggested. The Ireland keeper had an outstanding game and England wasted some very good transition opportunities early in the game (early tournament nerves / rust etc - call it whatever). With more clinical finishing, this would have been 20+ goals easy. England also put themselves under far too much pressure playing man down - too many penalties. It was a very stop-start game with whistles every 10 seconds from the refs. I think I only remember about 4 clean face offs in the entire game. All this will have disrupted England's momentum.

All-in-all a solid start that they have now built upon. I'll catch up with the other games when I get chance. If they were to meet Ireland again in the QF then I would suggest it will be a lot more comfortable.

Good effort on commentary too. Must be tough up on the scaffolding talking on your own for 80 minutes. A couple of saves by Nick 'Watson' (sic) towards the end suggested you were tiring

Particularly enjoyed the two-man zone.

Roll on tomorrow - I'll try to catch that one live.

Legendary Stockport County manager Danny Bergara talking to another manager about sending Jim Gannon out on loan.

Other manager "Is it true that he is quite volatile?"

Danny Bergara "Yes, he can play quite a few different positions."

Nick Watson is now officially a volatile player.

davidmcculloch81 wrote:England also put themselves under far too much pressure playing man down - too many penalties.

Once again penalties seem to be England's Achilles heel in all sports!

webby wrote:

davidmcculloch81 wrote:England also put themselves under far too much pressure playing man down - too many penalties.

Once again penalties seem to be England's Achilles heel in all sports!

Really from a Frenchman?