On 1st October, St Mary's Calne took three Senior Teams to compete in the South West Schools' Lacrosse Tournament at St Swinthun's in Winchester.

With clear blue skies, it was a much better start to last year's event, which saw snow and cold weather! The 2nds and 3rds played in a big tournament with other 2nd and 3rd Teams, while the 1st team competed in the 1st team competition.

The 1st team faced the hosts, St Swithun's (and last year’s finalist) in the first game of the day. In a close encounter the opposition took the win, however, we knew that we could beat them and just needed to be better at converting our opportunities (1-4). A good win against Heathfield (0-5) led us to our last group game against familiar foes in the form of Marlborough College. The game started well for St Mary's, taking the lead. Although Marlborough came back into the game, St Mary's worked well to secure the win through solid play in defence (3-2). The result meant we finished second in the group and had gained a place in the Championship Division.

The next round saw us take on three new teams. First up was Sherborne -  St Mary's played a good controlled game for the win (4-0) before taking on Queen Anne's School, Caversham (QAS). We knew this game would be tough and, from the whistle, the girls fought hard for the ball, enabling us to take the lead. QAS levelled the score but this spurred St Mary's on to score three unanswered goals before QAS scored a goal from a solo run. It was a great game which showed the full ability of the team (4-2). The final Championship game was against Westonbirt, who had won all of their games so far. St Mary's started well, taking a two-goal lead, but Westonbirt worked their way back into the game with good timed cuts and quick finishing. Although we lost that game (2-4), we were pleased with the level of play and knew we could beat them again.

The disappointment was short-lived as we had made it to the Championship Semi-Final and were due to face St Swithun's again. The game started positively, with both teams playing well and the Keepers making saves; St Mary's worked an opportunity for Daisy to open the scoring and it stayed that way until the final seconds of the game, with the opposition pouncing on a loose ball to attack goal quickly, the final horn went just before the shot was taken which would level the score. After a tense minute waiting for the officials to deliberate, the goal was disallowed which meant that St Mary's had made it to the Final!

The Final against Westonbirt was intense, with St Mary's Lily M. breaking the deadlock, before Westonbirt equalised and took the lead. A good finish from Celeste brought the game level, but as the time started winding down the opposition re-took the lead. St Mary's had one more opportunity to score and level but Westonbirt held out to win. Although St Mary's finished as runners-up, the level of play throughout the day was of a great standard, with all of the players on the team stepping up and playing their part, and with the hard work they had put in during training paying off on the pitch.

It was a day of two halves for the 2nd team. They played superbly in the morning rounds against Godolphin, Monmouth and Malvern - winning two out of three matches and losing the third to Malvern 1st team by one goal. This saw them qualify for the Championship section and kept us in contention for lifting the trophy.

Tired legs set in in the afternoon as the competition became tougher in the Championship group. The team had a great day playing lacrosse and showed lots of promising play which they will look to take into their next tournament.

The Senior 3rd team, playing in the 2nd team competition, started well but they lost their first two games by one goal against two 2nd teams, however, a turn around in gameplay saw them win (6-1) and draw (2-2). Two further wins in Division 1 put the team into the Division 1 Semi-Final against St Helen & St Katharine. The St Mary's team fought well in the Semi-Final but were beaten by the opposition. The 3rd team can be proud of their play throughout the day in very competitive matches. It was great to see the players improving with each game and scoring some fabulous goals!

Mr David Abini, Head of Lacrosse