Kian Gadsby
With a handful of teams getting their campaigns up and running last week, the full complement of Green and Gold sports sides returned to action on Wednesday 15th October in a riveting day of competition.
Here is the best of the action and some of the key stories which you may have missed:
Teams of The Week: Wins as Water Polo Continue Perfect Start
After enjoying an illustrious season last year, with three teams reaching finals on BUCS Big Wednesday, UoN Water Polo came into this season confident of repeating their success.
Those impressive campaigns included a season to remember for the Women’s 1st team, who, after missing out on the league title on head-to-head record, produced a domineering performance over Durham in Loughborough to win 15-8 and retain their National Championship title.
With the team now having their eyes on a three-peat, they have made a scintillating start. They followed up a 39-5 thrashing of The University of Sheffield by comfortably defeating Edinburgh 27-4 on Wednesday to cement their place atop the Premier North table.
After the win, captain Grace Kaye said that she felt results like this set the tone for her team to continue to defend their championship.
“I’m pleased with how the team has seamlessly come together to deliver two incredible results so early on in the season. These results are only motivation for us to keep training hard in preparation to defend our title for the third year running.”
Meanwhile, the Men’s 1’s are out for revenge, as they also want to get their hands on the National crown as a heartbreaking 11-12 loss to Durham denied them last season. They too have made a perfect start in their new season, as they followed an opening day victory up with a 31-7 demolition of Manchester Metropolitan University.
The desire to recover from that disappointment is prominent within the camp, and captain Callum McCourt expressed that he was proud of their performance and optimistic about their chances, after the start that his team have made to the season.
“It was another big win for the boys. After an intense pre-season, we are really starting to find out how each of us play, and after losing the BUCS final last year by a goal, we are determined to keep going until we are Champions.”
These results mean both teams are sat top of their Premier North table with a perfect four points after two matches, leaving them in pole position ahead of challenging trips to take on Loughborough next week.
Lacrosse Begin Quest for More BUCS Titles
After both the Men’s and the Women’s Lacrosse team made the National Championships final on BUCS Big Wednesday last year, there are high hopes within the Lacrosse teams that they can continue to shine and secure more silverware this season.
The Women’s team, who secured a third National title in four years last season, made a perfect start in their bid to secure a fourth consecutive Premier North title by beating Birmingham 17-7 to ensure their campaign got off to a winning start.
Meanwhile the Men, who are desperate to go one better than last season after being defeated by nemesis Nottingham Trent University in the National Championship final, started their season by putting out a statement to their rivals, as they thrashed Manchester Metropolitan University 20-0.
Men’s Hockey Kickstart Trophy Tilt
The Green and Gold’s Men’s Hockey 1st team produced a scintillating display to thrash Oxford University 6-1 and get their season back on track.
After a 2-2 draw with Edinburgh saw them drop points on the opening day of the season, Nottingham, who recovered from missing out on the Premier North league title on head-to-head record to claim the National Championship at BUCS Big Wednesday, produced a much-improved performance to put their visitors to the sword with a stunning statement victory.
The result keeps them on pace with their rivals, as they head into a three-week break from BUCS action in second place, only behind neighbours Nottingham Trent University on goal difference.
Beyond the first team, Wednesday was a successful afternoon for all of Men’s Hockey Club’s other teams, as across the club, they enjoyed an unbeaten day across all seven of their teams.
The 2’s team travelled to Yorkshire to take on Leeds’ 1st team, and they ended up returning with all three points after a 3-2 victory in an action-packed encounter. Meanwhile, in Midlands Tier 1 the 3’s and 4’s played each other, cancelling each other out in a game that ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw.
The 5’s demolished the University of East Anglia 4-1 to move to the top of the Midlands Tier 2 standings after the opening round of matches, and although the 6’s were held to a 2-2 draw by Lincoln University, the 7’s rounded out the day by beating Cambridge 2-1 to leave the club undefeated from this round of matches.
Other things you may have missed:
The Men’s and Women’s Volleyball first teams both continued their solid starts, as they earned straight-sets victories over Northumbria and Derby respectively.
Netball enjoyed a perfect day, as all six of their sides earned hard-fought victories. This included a standout victory for the first team, who followed up their Varsity victory back in March by defeating Trent 68-50 for their first victory back in the BUCS Premier division.
Women’s Rugby Union continued their perfect start to the season, as a 51-24 win over Northumbria saw them move to the top of the table in their quest to earn promotion. Meanwhile, the Men’s team recovered from a disappointing defeat to Hartpury by beating Cardiff 49-24 to continue their solid start to the BUCS Super Rugby season.
Kian Gadsby
Featured image courtesy of Sam Bunce. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @uonwaterpolo via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @uonladieslax via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 3 courtesy of @uonmhc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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