Northern Flags Lacrosse Finals
Rochdale 7 – 12 Sheffield University

Sheffield University - Stockport Cup Winners

Rochdale suffered defeat to Sheffield University this afternoon (Saturday 26 April) in the Stockport Cup Final in the Northern Flags Lacrosse Finals.

Possession of the ball was mainly with Sheffield throughout the opening moments of the first quarter. Rochdale’s goalkeeper was kept firmly on his toes throughout and opened the game with a good save at the two minute mark.

Sheffield took the lead and quickley added a second.

Rochdale took possession of the ball at the seven-minute mark, fought to keep it, showed Sheffield that they wouldn’t walk away from the game and scored their first goal just before the end of the first quarter.

Sheffield scored in the final minutes of the first quarter taking the score to 1-3.

The start of the second quarter saw two Sheffield players sent off for a minute each and Rochdale took advantage to score their opening goal of the second quarter.

Aaron Duckworth brought the score level for scoring for Rochdale to make it 3-3.

With their full team back on the field, Sheffield quickly scored their fourth goal of the game but Rochdale didn’t take it lying down hitting back with their fourth.

Both teams played with everything they had but Sheffield came out on top scoring their fifth and sixth goals of the game before the end of the second quarter.

Half time saw Rochdale losing the game with the score at 4-6.

Rochdale Firsts

The third quarter of the final game saw both teams taking possession of the ball moving it across the field.

Sheffield extended their lead in the early stages of the third quarter with the score standing at 4-7 after approximately 37 minutes.

Rochdale managed to bring the score 5-7.

Sheffield were given a stall warning at 39 minutes but quickly scored their eighth goal of the game.

At the end of the third quarter, Sheffield were leading 5-9; Rochdale not being able to secure any more goals before breaking for the final quarter.

The final quarter of the game saw Rochdale falling further behind.

Early on, Sheffield had a player sent off for an illegal body check on a Rochdale player - the Sheffield player hit too high on the Rochdale player.

However, this didn’t stop Sheffield further extending their as they scoredtheir tenth goal of the game.

Rochdale hit back with a sixth goal taking the score to 6-10.

Both teams equally possessed the ball during the final quarter and even though the cup was out of their sights, Rochdale continued to fight hard.

Sheffield scored towards the 48-minute mark giving them a four-point lead.

With minutes left Rochdale scored their final goal of the game but Sheffield had the last word scoring the final goal of the game.

Final score: Rochdale 7 – 12 Sheffield University