Kian Gadsby
For the second time in as many years, the University of Nottingham’s Women’s Football team have suffered defeat in the National Championship final.
This loss will hurt. It was supposed to be their comeback campaign after defeat in the same venue by St Andrews last year. They had enjoyed a stellar season up until this point, romping to the Premier North title and then banishing the demons of last year by beating Saints in the semi-final. This game itself was their swansong, with the vast majority of the team making their final appearance in Loughborough, hoping for one final glorious night.
That didn’t happen.
Last year, St Andrews didn’t let UoN play the style of football they want. They kept the pressure on by playing the ball forward and targeting second balls, pinning Nottingham back into their own half and limiting their opportunities to progress the ball forward with the incisive passing that characterises their game.
Northumbria had clearly learned from that tactic, as they too adopted a similar approach. Their 3-2-3-2 formation remained compact in the middle of the park, pouncing on loose balls that didn’t travel due to the pitch that had been bogged down by multiple finals and torrential rain earlier in the day.
After a tense ninety minutes in which UoN threatened through Amelia Penfold down the right-hand side but were unable to make the breakthrough, we headed into extra time.
Then the game came alive.
Retribution echoed around the ground when Sarah Tweedie scored in this game for the second year in a row. Now UoN had the lead, all they needed to do was keep hold of it.
But they were unable to do so. Disaster struck, as a sublime goal from Rhian Rowe brought Northumbria level, before a strike from Sophie Curle put the Northern outfit in front following a fast break.
All of a sudden, the situation was the same as last year. UoN needed to break down a stubborn defence and find a goal to bring them back into the game.
Their chances were limited, and despite being clearly the better team they were just unable to make scoring opportunities. Once again, a valiant effort was in vain, and once again they returned home empty handed.
Upon the final whistle, the UoN players fell to the floor, devastated. Most will not play for them in another BUCS game, and those that do will have to pick themselves up and look to return to BUCS Big Wednesday for a third straight season.
Kian Gadsby
Featured image courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.
In article Image 1 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.
