Kian Gadsby
Both of the University of Nottingham football teams were defeated in their National Championship finals at BUCS Big Wednesday in Loughborough.
The University of Nottingham Men’s football team were defeated 1-0 by Loughborough, whilst the Women suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of St Andrews.
Men: Loughborough 1-0 UoN
The Green and Gold earned their spot in the final after defeating Newcastle 4-1 after extra time in the semi-finals. They finished 3rd in an impressive league campaign, ending the season 3 points ahead of their opponents after they defeated them 2-1 in the fixture back in January.
The start of the match was disjointed, as captain Ant Banks suffered an injury and had to be substituted. However, UoN had the better of the play, and almost took the lead as Jesse Friend forced a save from the Loughborough keeper.
The game didn’t really get going in the first half because of frequent stoppages. This meant there were 15 added minutes at the end of the first half. Despite the added time, there were no further chances, meaning the half ended 0-0.
The second half started with more intensity. Loughborough’s striker Josh Strouts went through on goal and forced a brilliant save from Alex Akers in Nottingham’s goal.
Unfortunately for UoN, Loughborough’s pressure led to a goal. Strouts once again went through, and his shot nestled into the corner of the net to give them the lead just past the hour mark.
Loughborough forced Nottingham onto the back foot as they tried to score the second goal that would kill the game. However, Akers made some impressive saves to keep the score at 1-0.
The Green and Gold threw everything at the Loughborough defence, and it almost paid dividends for them. Jonny Banks got the wrong side of Nat Salsby, who brought the Nottingham striker down for a penalty. Unfortunately for Nottingham, Ben Barnett’s strike was saved by Luke Skinner, meaning Loughborough kept their slender advantage.
The penalty firmly shifted the ascendency in Nottingham’s favour. They had plenty of possession in the attacking half of the pitch but couldn’t create any clear goal-scoring opportunities.
Nottingham were running out of time, and their desperation led to spaces opening up for Loughborough. Akers brilliantly denied Loughborough’s Felipe Morales at close range to keep the score at 1-0.
Unfortunately, the Green and Gold were unable to find an equaliser, meaning the game ended Loughborough 1-0 UoN.
Women: UoN 1-2 St Andrews
The Women’s team had also had an impressive run to the final. They won 3-0 at Southern Premier Champions Bristol in the quarter finals, before they defeated Northumbria in the semi-finals 3-1 to secure their place in the final.
This final was always going to be a tight game, as the two teams were only separated by a point in league play and their last encounter ended in a 2-2 draw.
That showed during a cagey first half that was once again devoid of opportunities. St Andrews set up in a defensive 5-3-2 formation that limited Nottingham’s ability to progress up the pitch to make chances.
Nottingham did control the ball, but they had very little opportunity to progress through the St Andrews lines. Lauren Wilshaw did manage to beat the defence, but her shot from range flashed wide of the post.
As the game went into the second half, it was clear that a spark was needed to win the game. Unfortunately for Nottingham, St Andrews found that spark.
Straight from the restart, St Andrews progressed the ball up the pitch. Some quick passing and a couple of deflections allowed Olivia Boscaccy to score just 30 seconds into the second half.
Although the earliness of this goal meant Nottingham still had time to get back into the game, the lead played right into the game plan of their opponents. St Andrews continued to frustrate the Nottingham attack and looked to break whenever possible.
That strategy once again paid off. A counterattack caused the ball to pinball around the Nottingham penalty area, eventually falling to Boscaccy, who once again slotted the ball into the Nottingham net. UoN were 2-0 down with about half an hour to rescue the game.
Roared on by a brilliant visiting support, the Green and Gold almost got themselves back into it. Amelia Penfold was unlucky to be penalised for a foul after tackling Rowan Blacklock, the St Andrews goalkeeper, in a dangerous area, and Thea Clearkin hit the post from a free kick from just outside the area.
Nottingham did get a late goal back. A thunderous header from a corner by Sarah Tweedie saw them make the game close, and five added minutes at the end of the game meant they had time to equalise.
Unfortunately, Nottingham were unable to find a second goal, meaning they ended up losing 2-1.
Both Nottingham teams were backed by tremendous travelling support throughout the games, and they were both unfortunate to lose their matches. The University of Nottingham has a bright football future, and they will improve from these matches and will hopefully be back next year.
Kian Gadsby
Featured image courtesy of Flynn Duggan and BUCS Sport via Flickr. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @uonfc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @uonwfc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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