Two goals in the first half were enough to secure victory for the University of Nottingham Men’s (UoN) Hockey Team in their Varsity Hockey fixture against Nottingham Trent University (NTU), in a result that saw the Green and Gold go 9-4 ahead in the Nottingham Varsity 2017.
After a cagey start from both teams, the UoN boys took the lead after a short corner was saved by the Trent keeper, and was hammered home on the rebound. The first opened the game up, and its was end-to-end as UoN looked to stretch their lead and Trent looked to equalise. UoN would grab a second gaol before half-time, however, with another short corner creating havoc, having just crossed the Trent goal-line.
A late goal from Trent, which came very much against the run of play, led to a nervier ending than the home side would have hoped, but they saw out the game with relative ease, making it 5 years undefeated in one of Varsity’s closest events.
It has been a hugely successful season for the Men’s Hockey team, as they were promoted back into the Premier Division having finished first in the Midlands 1A league. They also did superbly to reach the final of the BUCS cup, losing narrowly to Loughborough, and yet another victory in the varsity match against Trent will surely be the cherry on top of an excellent season.
Their opponents, meanwhile, have endured a much worse season, winning just 3 games all season in the same league from which the University of Nottingham team were promoted. Having won all their season fixtures against Trent, the men in Green and Gold were always likely to have the psychological advantage, as well as the better team, than the away side.
However, just like last year when the game finished 3-2, it was a tight affair between the two teams from Nottingham, but once again it was those in Green and Gold who were able to claim the victory, and thus sending the travelling Trent fans home with nothing once again.
The #NottsVarsity series now stands at 9-4 to @UoNSport after tonight’s games. pic.twitter.com/ofz8y4nYE7
— Impact Varsity 2017 (@ImpactVarsity17) May 8, 2017
The men too will surely have taken some inspiration from the women’s team, who having played and won the earlier game 2-0 very comfortably, which made it 8-4 in the series, before the men’s game of course extended the lead to 5 points over Nottingham Trent.
These two points will hopefully prove pivotal in deciding the victor of the entire series, and University of Nottingham will hope to extend that lead further in the Basketball fixtures this evening, points which would hopefully go towards another Varsity series victory for the University of Nottingham.
Jimmy Moorhouse
Follow @ImpactVarsity17 for all updates on the second half on the 2017 Nottingham Varsity Series.
