England reached a second successive World Lacrosse Box Championships semi-final after an impressive 13-8 quarter-final win over Czechia on Thursday.
England’s all-time top goal-scorer Lyndon Bunio got off the mark in this 2024 competition with a brilliant hat-trick of goals and newcomer Jack Royer added to his three goal tally with four more as England downed Czechia in a repeat of the 2022 Euros semi-final.
After three games without a win against some of the best teams in the world during the pool stage, a quarter-final against European rivals Czechia was the first real challenge for England and, despite going a goal down early on in the game, the players looked determined from the off.
Royer pulled England level after six minutes and the team never looked back from there: Corey Small, Elliot Leonard, and Ben Buchanan all netting in a superb two-minute spell to put their team 4-1 up.
Tomáš Knotek hit a second for Czechia before quarter-time but England were really clicking and Albert Whitehead alongside two more from Bunio at the start of the second quarter helped England into a commanding 7-2 lead.
Czechia aren’t a team to be sniffed at, however, and they were always likely to have good spells in the game and so they clawed three goals back through Lukáš Kučera, Pavel Srch, and Jan Fišer leaving England with some work still to do at 7-5.
An eighth for England through Royer was followed by a sixth for Czechia from Srch before England really managed to dominate the game once again.
A five-goal run from the European champions that saw Royer (2), Bunio, Watson, and Leonard all score left Czechia seven goals behind and with too much to do with 10 minutes to go in the game.
As the game reached its dying embers, Czechia claimed two consolation goals through Jiří Loskot and Srch but it was England who would progress to the semi-final.
England will take on world champions Canada for a place in the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships final at 9pm (UK) today.
England 13-8 Czechia (4-2, 4-3, 3-1, 2-2)
England scorers: Lyndon Bunio (3G, 3A), Jack Royer (4G, 1A), Ben Buchanan (1G, 1A), Elliot Leonard (2G), Corey Small (1G, 3A), Dan Watson (1G, 2A), Albert Whitehead (1G).