Lancaster will contest the men's Super 5s once again in the second half of the season - but how close they came to missing out!
At the start of their final match at Grantham against Durham Palatinates, Lancaster knew that a point would take them through - which, thanks to a brilliant seven-goal contribution from Tom Curwen (Photo: Trevor Hyde), is what they salvaged from a 10-10 draw. However, had Lancaster lost, the former Team Northumbria squad would have capped a splendid first campaign under their new name by taking fifth place.
There was never more than a goal between the sides until Graham Harrington's strike took Lancaster to 8-6 at the start of the final period. When Curwen slotted his seventh goal with 3.28 to go, the advantage was 10-8. Durham refused to give way, scoring through Zach White and finally, with 39 seconds remaining, through a man-up effort from John Pratt.
Invicta were held to an 8-8 draw by City of Sheffield. It was the third consecutive draw of the Grantham weekend - and Sheffield's third of the season. Invicta took a point when Jack Waller converted a penalty 33 seconds from the end.
In yet another very close match, Manchester made sure of finishing in first place with a 7-6 victory against Polytechnic. The London side hit back from 6-1 down to level at 6-6 only for James Warman to net a Manchester winner with 47 seconds left.
Tight finishes were maintained to the very end . . . Matt Madden's goal with a mere eight seconds remaining gave Solihull a 6-5 win against Cheltenham, who had fought back in the final period from 5-2 with goals by Matt Witcomb, Tom Hunt and Ali Arat.
At the start of their final match at Grantham against Durham Palatinates, Lancaster knew that a point would take them through - which, thanks to a brilliant seven-goal contribution from Tom Curwen (Photo: Trevor Hyde), is what they salvaged from a 10-10 draw. However, had Lancaster lost, the former Team Northumbria squad would have capped a splendid first campaign under their new name by taking fifth place.
There was never more than a goal between the sides until Graham Harrington's strike took Lancaster to 8-6 at the start of the final period. When Curwen slotted his seventh goal with 3.28 to go, the advantage was 10-8. Durham refused to give way, scoring through Zach White and finally, with 39 seconds remaining, through a man-up effort from John Pratt.
Invicta were held to an 8-8 draw by City of Sheffield. It was the third consecutive draw of the Grantham weekend - and Sheffield's third of the season. Invicta took a point when Jack Waller converted a penalty 33 seconds from the end.
In yet another very close match, Manchester made sure of finishing in first place with a 7-6 victory against Polytechnic. The London side hit back from 6-1 down to level at 6-6 only for James Warman to net a Manchester winner with 47 seconds left.
Tight finishes were maintained to the very end . . . Matt Madden's goal with a mere eight seconds remaining gave Solihull a 6-5 win against Cheltenham, who had fought back in the final period from 5-2 with goals by Matt Witcomb, Tom Hunt and Ali Arat.
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