Week 2 in the BUCS calendar and a full set of fixtures for the 1st time meant campus was once again buzzing with the anticipation of NTU students taking part in over 70 fixtures across the week.
We start our round up at Clifton Campus where our mens football 1st team were up against the university of Newcastle 1st team, looking to back up their strong away point at last year’s champions Loughborough. The game was incident packed with including 5 goals and a red card for the away side but the team in pink held their nerve winning 3-2 and maintaining their unbeaten start.
Attention then turned to the Hockey pitch where another double header in the National league meant both the men’s and women’s 1st team faced the same opposition. It was University of Oxford who were the visiting team to our Clifton Campus with mens push back 1st up. NTU made an impressive start putting the visitors under immediate pressure and raced to a 2-0 lead in the 1st quarter which was later added to for a 3-0 lead. A late goal from Oxford made for a slightly uncomfortable finish but a 3-1 victory was secured.
The women’s team were on straight after the men’s team and were looking to bounce back from a tough defeat to Exeter last week, and back up the strong performance that wasn’t reflected in that score line. They didn’t disappoint, overpowering their opposition to come away with an excellent 4-0 victory, keeping a cleaning sheet was particularly satisfying for the team in pink.
While these matches were ongoing, next door in the Tennis Centre, the Womens 1st team were starting their campaign with a fixture against University of Birmingham 3rds. The team have high hopes this year of a promotion push so a strong start would certainly support that. The opposition put up a tough fight against the NTU team, but a strong start in the doubles going 2-0 up meant sharing the singles 2-2 gave them a 4-2 overall victory and the perfect start.
The final 2 fixtures this week were away from home and contrasting journey times! Womens football 1st team were facing a short trip down the M1 to local rivals Loughborough University where they faced their 2nd team, looking to push for promotion once again to the competitions top tier which they have been so close to previously. They did not look fazed by this challenge and put down a marker for the season winning 4-1.
Our Rugby League 1st team had a slightly longer away trip to Gloucester to contend with to kick off their campaign in the Premier South Competition. Historically slow starters, the NTU team were looking to put that tag to bed and raced into commanding leads including at one point 24-12. Gloucester did respond and it meant a tense finish, but the team held out and won 33-28 to start the season with a win and build the confidence for the season ahead.
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