Lancaster dominate in the pool 

Lancaster participated in a charitable tournament in Blackpool last weekend, held in the memory of former Blackpool polo player and referee Brian Walsh. The tournament, which has taken place for the past six years, has raised money for a wide range of charitable causes. This year Cancer Care North West was the designated charity and almost £1,000 was raised towards this very deserving cause. 

After losing out by one goal in the final in 2007 Lancaster’s polo players went into this years event determined to make amends and apart from one occasion where mid way through the match Burnley grabbed two quick goals to level the scores at 3 – 3, Lancaster always took the initiative and looked in control of their games. 

Apart from Rysz Detko, the squad were all either 20 years of age or under, demonstrating the depth of talent that Lancaster continues to produce and testament to the dedication of coach Ron Winn and his colleagues. 

With eight teams competing the competition was organised into two groups of four with the top two sides competing for the trophy. In their draw Lancaster faced Preston, Burnley then Kendal whilst in the other section, Blackpool emerged as overall winners after three straight wins against Newcastle, Bury and Fleetwood. 

Preston certainly fancied chances after their recent North Lancs League home victory over Lancaster but the presence of the enthusiastic and talented Ciaran James in the Lancaster squad made a significant difference to the overall strength of the team. The youngsters were too sharp for Preston and by the end of the first half Lancaster held a comfortable 3-1 lead which was increased a minute into the second period. 

Ciaran, Matt Little and Dan Barker linked well together up front throughout the tournament and caused all sorts of problems for every defence they faced. Ciaran gained the accolade as the tournament top scorer with seven goals to his credit. 

The three forward players were well supported by Anthony Trafford, Decland Ellwood and Michael Brown coming through from mid-bath on a regular basis whilst Rysz Detko and Sam Liver worked well together to defend Zak Sly’s goal. 

Lancaster’s youngest players, 14 year olds Stef Detko and Elliot Trafford also fitted in well. As well as a couple of late appearances in the outfield Stef played half the match against Kendal in goal and matched regular keeper, Zak Sly’s first half clean sheet. Meanwhile in the outfield Elliot Trafford proved a useful link for his team mates as well as demonstrating good match awareness in defence. 

Results

Lancaster 6    Preston 2
Lancaster 6    Burnley 3
Lancaster 8     Kendal 0

Final

Lancaster 6      Blackpool 4

 Team: Z Sly, M Little, M Brown, S Liver, R Detko, A Trafford, C James, D Barker, D Ellwood, E Trafford, S Detko.