Lacrosse: England to face Ireland in championship semi-final

L-R: Daniel Madeley, Tom Teal and Alex Halliday

The England lacrosse team will face Ireland on Thursday (4 July) in one of the two semi-finals for the LAX U20s European Championships in Prague.

The team, which includes Rochdale players Daniel Madeley, 18, Tom Teal, 17, and Alex Halliday, 17, landed a spot in the semi-finals against Ireland after thrashing Israel 17:5 in yesterday’s quarter final.

Wales, which includes Rochdale Lacrosse Club member Josh Croney, has won one match so far, and will face Poland and Latvia to determine their final placing in the competition.

This year’s contest is the first ever European Lacrosse Championship for the U20 Men with the U20s team made up of players from 12 different clubs across the country.

The very first Men’s European Lacrosse Championship in Prague was held in 1995 by the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF).

The Rochdale Lacrosse Club is one of the five oldest clubs in the UK with the sport having been played locally since 1888.

Modern day lacrosse descends from and resembles games played by various indigenous American communities, originally devised as a war game to stop killing among the tribes of the Iroquois Indian Nations.

England are currently ranked 5th in the world junior rankings after the 2016 U19 World Championships and England’s senior men are the current European Champions.

The winner of the England and Ireland match will face either Germany or the Czech Republic in Saturday’s (6 July) final.