Double double joy for Cheadle
CHEADLE Lacrosse Club completed a double double for the second year running to cap a remarkable season of success.
The first team beat Stockport in the Senior Flags final while the B team saw off Stockport B to lift the David Beesley Cup.
Those victories in the knockout competitions followed success in the Nemla Premiership for the first team, while the B team had already been crowned League 2 champions.
It was the second successive season the two teams have claimed the double. First-team player Daniel Condron played a key role in helping Cheadle reign supreme once again, and he admitted it was a fantastic feat for the club.
“It was a great achievement, especially after the success we had last year,” he said.
“It was never going to be easy to follow up what we did last season as all four of our teams won the league and three of them won the cup.
“For the first team and the B team to then go and do the double for the second straight year is fantastic, as it doesn’t happen very often.
“Last year we had around 13 players who were regularly in the team, whereas this season there has been around 16 or 17 who were playing their part.
“It really was a squad effort rather than a team effort, so again it’s a good accomplishment for everyone involved.”
Cheadle’s success is recognised on the international stage too, with several of their players having represented England in the past.
Condron is confident that several members of his team will also be lining up for their country in the near future.
“It’s the European Championships next summer and we’re expecting to get five or six play- ers in the squad,” he said.
“It’s the trials for the team in a few months so, all being well, those guys should get picked to play for England.
“I’ve never been involved in the England senior team personally but a lot of other players in the team are certainly aiming towards it.
“Then, in 2018, it is the World Championships in Manchester so it will be great to have it back on our doorstep.
“The 2010 World Championships were in Manchester too and that was arguably the biggest event ever, so it should be even better than that next time.”
Cheadle’s success in lacrosse has seen more and more youngsters in the local area take up the sport over the last few years, and Condron has high hopes for the future.
“It was really difficult to get kids playing a few years ago but things have improved recently,” he said.
“We have Local Development Officers coming over and those are American lacrosse players who have just finished college and university and then come to the UK for a year.
“Every clubs tends to have one and they go into primary schools to get kids playing, and it really seems to work.
“The youngsters like the idea of an American person coming in as they seem to listen to them more and have more fun.
“American players not only tend to have more drills but are good lacrosse players themselves, so it certainly pays off.
“It has worked so well for us that we’ve now started an under 10s team as well as our under 12s, whereas in the past we just had under 14s and under 16s.
“The under 14s just won their plate final too so since the LDO programme started we have definitely benefited.”
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