Kian Gadsby
UoNFC forward Jesse Friend said that he was “ecstatic” after helping his team secure their first ever National Championship title with a 3-1 win over Stirling.
Having lost out in the final against Loughborough last season and then again in the BUCS Premier North league to Stirling on the final game of the season, the Green and Gold came into the game desperate to finally get their hands on silverware.
Their evening couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as Tarun Rohilla found the back of the net after only four minutes, and although Stirling equalised, Henry Swann scored minutes later to fire UoN back in front.
It was a lead that they would not relinquish. Nottingham looked the better side throughout the rest of the match and secured their thoroughly deserved trophy when Friend scored with a rasping half-volley from the edge of the area.
Friend won Player of the Match for his display, and understandably was pleased with both his and the team’s performance, saying that the trophy was the culmination of devoted work to get over the line.
“I’m ecstatic. We’ve worked hard for it, the boys – team effort, yeah, massive team effort. After the league finish, we said this was our target after missing out 5-1 to these. We knew what we wanted and we ground it out on the day. And now we’re champions!
“I’m just glad I could help the team. There are some boys here that will never play uni football again. I’m just glad we’ve given them a chance to win something.”
Nottingham had already met Stirling in a critical game once this season, but on that occasion, they suffered a bruising 5-1 loss on the final day of the league campaign to miss out on the title on head-to-head.
That match was the reason they came into this game as underdogs. Yet rather than accept that the Scottish side were better than them, the Green and Gold rallied, and Friend said that the match served as motivation to get them over the line.
“Yeah (it served as motivation). You can either take it one of two ways: you can either become very passive when you’re playing a team in the final you lost to 5-1, but the boys stuck at it and we ground out a good result today.”
The scenes at the final whistle were those of jubilation, as UoN made history backed by a raucous travelling support, and celebrations rung around Loughborough University stadium long into the night.
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.
