Week 18 of BUCS action saw some huge games for our teams in pink. This week see’s Midlands Conference up final action which you can check out here, but also semi-final action for many of our National Championship chasing teams. Victory this week would secure spots at the end of season showpiece, BUCS Bug Wednesday hosted by University of Nottingham.
Our first fixture of the day focusses at home on our Clifton 3G, where Men’s Lacrosse 1st team were looking to continue their already history making season. Having already secured the Premier North Division title for the 1st time in their history, a semi-final win against local rivals University of Nottingham would give them the opportunity to become National Champions as well, possibly completing a historic double. With that opportunity to make history driving them on, the team never let up and dominated from the outset, coming away with a 13-6 win securing that final spot.
Away from home this week, Men’s football 1st team, were also chasing their own piece of history, as they faced an away semi-final against the University of Newcastle. NTU had beaten this team twice in the league this year and were on the way to finishing 2nd in the league in Premier North division, but there was no complacency from the team, who raced to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd half and never relinquished control. This means that NTU have a Men’s Football team have secured a spot in the National Championship finals for the 1st time ever, making history.
Back on Clifton campus under the lights on the Hockey pitch, our Women’s 1st team were looking to become the 9thand final team to qualify for BUCS Big Wednesday as they faced University of Durham 2nd team in the National Vase trophy. This competition is for sports that have a national league and sits in-between the National, Championship and National Trophy competitions. The girls qualified for this by virtue of finishing in the bottom half of the National League, which in itself was a fantastic achievement for their first season in the National league. In the previous round, the team had ground out a narrow victory based on a solid defence, and so it proved again, with the girls putting in an outstanding performance to win 1-0 and qualify for the final.
This mean NTU now have a record 9 of teams at BUCS Big Wednesday finals on the 23rd March at the University of Nottingham. We’d love to get as many supporters down as possible and you can purchase tickets for the event here.
Two final fixtures to note that happened on campus yesterday were Womens Lacrosse 1st team taking on University Manchester 1st team. Though the league was already won, the girls finished their season off in style winning comfortably and going unbeaten. Congratulations to the team who will be promoted to the Northern Premier 1 division for the first time in its history. To top it all they will be one of the teams competing at Big BUCS Wednesdays in the National Trophy final.
The Women’s Basketball 1st team had a similar fixture, with the league sewn up and a place in the National trophy final secured. However, this was against local rival University of Nottingham’s 1st team, so its never a dead rubber. It proved to be a feisty and physical affair, with our girls being pushed all the way, but winning 55-41 to go unbeaten this year in the league. The team will now be going into the playoffs to hopefully be promoted to the Premier North Division.
NTU Sport Blog 