Lacrosse european championships

My first time shooting lacrosse. Funny looking sport I have to say
C&C welcome

All taken during same game yesterday, Wales vs England

1.

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Great shots!

WOW, very nice!

Im surprised they dont have to wear any face protection. The photographer side of me wishes it was that way in America but the athlete side of me is glad they have it there. A LAX ball is extremely hard.

CC?

All the pictures look somewhat "creamy" to me.
First one has a crop at the knee and a distracting girl in the BG.
Second is ok but its confusing on what the main subject should be. Your eye keeps going back and forth between the two players.
Third is solid. Id crop tighter though. A good amount tighter actually. Make the picture feel tense not only through the subject but through the framing too. This one also shows that creaminess Im talking about especially in the BG. Its not bad. It just looks different to me.
Fourth?..After a lot of experimenting, Ive come to the conclusion that it almost never benefits to have an OOF object in the foreground unless it serves to frame or enhance your main subject somehow. This is loose and could have been shot a lot tighter with much more dramatic effect.

Thanks for the comments.

Adam, your detailed comments are much appreciated.

I think the creamy look is due to noise reduction software (neat image). I
noticed same thing after I ran them through it. Didnt really care as the main
subjects still remains sharp. It also gives amount of skin smoothening which is
not that nice. Looks little bit unnatural. I used neat image as I wasnt pleased
with results that 30D gives at ISO 400. Way too noisy for me.
I agree with tighter crops on some of the shots but Im pretty much limited
with my 100-400 lens and 1.6 crop body. Even I was next to the field I felt I
wasnt close enough. And all shot are cropped in PP.
Im not making any excuses here, they are just facts I have to live with.
Anyways Im going to shoot more today with your tips on my mind

Great images, nicely done. I love number 3, just the look on the defensive player! Like to see the others that you shoot. Thanks for sharing these!

Thanks for the comments Pete