Wales v. West - 22nd Jan 2006
The Welsh squad rounded off another successful training weekend with a practice match versus the West at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
With trials looming February, and with the match providing the first opportunity to impress new coach Stephy Samaras, the players could be forgiven for showing off their individual capabilities and skills. However, this was not the case on Sunday. Across all four quarters of the match the most pleasing aspect was the team work and communication demonstrated by the squad, with newer members combining well with the more senior players and vice versa. This was an encouraging reflection of the team ethos and spirit which is slowly developing within the squad.
In Quarters 1 and 2, Wales fielded a strong squad but took time to settle and conceded the first goal to West's Jess Maloney. The team hit back with two well taken goals from Bonnie Mahler and Storm Trentham only for former Wales international, Marie Martin, to equalise for the West. This was quickly followed by 2 further goals for the West who took the first quarter 2-4.
Quarter 2 was a different story. Wales came out guns blazing, scoring 3 quick goals (Wray, 2 & K Jones, 1) and demonstrating fast, fluid and exciting lacrosse. The Welsh pressed on relentlessly with 2 more goals from Laura Warren and Annaleene Holliday at the mid-way point and a further flurry of goals to end the quarter by Trentham (2) and Hammond. Defensively, the West were limited to four shots on goal, all of which were saved by debutant goal-keeper Tory Hill. An awesome quarter!!
Quarters 1 & 2:
| Time | Score | WALES | WEST | |
| Quarter 1 | ||||
| 5:31 | 0-1 | 77 Maloney | ||
| 6:49 | 1-1 | 3 B Mahler | ||
| 7:54 | 2-1 | 11 S Trentham | ||
| 8:58 | 2-2 | 52 Martin | ||
| 13:51 | 2-3 | 65 | ||
| 15:24 | 2-4 | 7 | ||
| Quarter 2 | ||||
| 2:56 | 3-4 | 8 L Wray | ||
| 3:19 | 4-4 | 8 L Wray | ||
| 3:56 | 5-4 | 4 K Jones | ||
| 5:41 | 6-4 | 5 L Warren | ||
| 7:22 | 7-4 | 9 A Holliday | ||
| 13:49 | 8-4 | 11 S Trentham | ||
| 14:24 | 9-4 | 17 K Hammond | ||
| 15:25 | 10-4 | 11 S Trentham |
The final score at the end of Quarters 1 & 2 was 10-4 with Storm Trentham top scoring with 3 and a sensational shot conversion rate across the squad of 91% (10 from 11).
Quarters 3 & 4 saw Wales field a largely developmental side with many of the players playing together for the first time. The squad struggled to assert their own attacking game plan but gelled together superbly in defence to hold out the West until the 14th minute when England veteran Sarah Butt broke the deadlock. However, this was to be the only blip in Q3 as Wales continued to defend heroically and goal-keeper Anna Garner saved any shots the West were able to make.
In Q4, the quality and depth of experience in the West squad began to show. With a number of England internationals, they took control of the game and scored 5 goals in the final period. However, 4 of these were from fast break/man up situations as Wales continued to defend stoutly in settled play.
The final score at the end of Q3 & 4 was 0-6, but in perspective, across a period of 40minutes and against quality opposition such as the West, this was not a score to be ashamed of. There were many encouraging aspects of play from the developing side and it was particularly pleasing to witness the team work displayed by all the players, none more so than Sarah Bell who was named Most Valuable Player (MVP).
