February 4, 2016, by Laura Estrop
BUCS round-up 3 February 2016
Wednesday 3 February saw another action-packed afternoon of BUCS matches. Almost 80 games were played but UoN Sport were triumphant and have managed to retain our amazing third place in the BUCS league with 2238 points, placing us comfortably in front of Edinburgh University but also not too far behind Durham.
Matches were won and lost but we now turn to match reporters to share their victories and losses over an exciting afternoon of games.
Ladies Hockey 5s – Catherine Hill
On a brisk Wednesday morning, the Nottingham University Ladies Hockey Club 5s departed from Portland hill venturing to Lincoln to play their next hockey match. Having arrived in plenty of time we were ready to go for our first BUCS game of 2016! After a slow start the 5s started to pick up their pace and towards the end of the first half a lucky goal was scored by Ellie Hield, well assisted by Lucy Barwell. Although overly unhappy with our performance of the first half they came to the second half stronger and managed to fight off attempt after attempt from Lincoln’s attack. Fantastic play from Nottingham’s defence meant the score remained 1-0 to the 5s, with a great win to begin the New Year and maintain our position as second in the league. Next week against Warwick, the 5s need to continue this quality of play and secure as many goals as possible!
Men’s Hockey 1s and 2s – Hugo Atkins
The Mens 1st travelled to Sheffield Hallam knowing that a win would relegate rivals Nottingham Trent out of the Northern Premier league. The game started at a fast pace with both sides creating chances to score. A skilled aerial from first team debutant Jake Ling led to Kieran Ratcliffe winning a short corner. Ben James played the resulting corner to Mo Ghandi whose deflection opened the scoring. Nottingham then remained in front for the rest of the first half and deep into the second. Pressure was building as the game neared its end with Dan Darby saving several short corners late on. In the last five minutes, a costly card and the resulting numerical disadvantage for Nottingham led to a late equaliser from Hallam to deny Nottingham the victory. The final score of 1-1 meant results in other matches would determine Nottingham’s final league position. Trent’s loss against Birmingham confirmed their exit from the Northern Prem and sees Nottingham
finish the league season in fifth place. The first team now look ahead to the start of the knockout stages and the defence of last year’s BUCS Gold title.
The Mens 2nd were in Birmingham to play their 2nd team for the fifth time this season. Always a tough opponent, Birmingham went into the game with a seven-point lead at the top of the table. After a sluggish start, the visitors found themselves 2-0 down paying the price for a series of lapses in concentration. After the break, Nottingham woke up and put pressure on Birmingham winning a series of short corners, one of which was converted by Matt Fildes with a strike into the bottom corner. With their advantage cut in half, Birmingham became nervous, picking up a series of cards as Nottingham continued their great pressing in midfield through Alex Jacobs. Nottingham continued to seek an equaliser but ran out of time despite their much-improved second half performance. Though their position at the top of the table is precarious, the 2nd XI still have much to play for. They take part in the quarter finals of the England Hockey 2nd XI cup on the 14 February and face St Mary’s University in the last 16 of the BUCS cup on the 17 February.
Motorsport – Josh Watts
A mix of ups and downs for the University of Nottingham’s Motorsport teams as the opening rounds of the British Universities karting Championship took place at Buckmore Park kart circuit in Kent. After a brilliant performance from our A team back in November 2015 for the qualifiers, we were in 3rd place entering the day. A morning of sprint races resulted in our A team finishing in 13th and our B team in 34th out of 54 teams. The afternoon consisted of two one-hour endurance races for each team of four where we raced in pairs , carried out pit stops for fuel and driver changeovers. With some bad luck in the hours of darkness, our A’s finished 19th and our B’s 28th. Overall, our A’s are now placed 10th and our B’s 31st. A frustrating day as we had very good pace but bad luck meant this didn’t show in our results. We hope for better luck and good weather at the next round in Wales in two weeks time.
Many thanks to our match reporters! You can follow all of the action that happens during next Wednesday afternoon’s matches on our Twitter @UoNSport and show your support by using #GreenandGold!
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