Wednesday 7th November
Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge) 1sts v University of Bedfordshire (Luton) 1sts
After last week’s success, the team felt confident to win! Before the game there was a lot of positivity throughout the team, everyone was ready to put up a good fight to win. Bedford hadn’t played a game in the BUCS league yet and therefore we felt we had a strong advantage.
The match began and within minutes we could notice that the game was going to be scrappy and fast. ARU held it together to play a slow game and work well as a team. Unfortunately 2 goals were scored by Beds before ARU had even realised, however things soon changed when the centre passes were turned around so quickly that the passes were made before Beds could react. We began to understand that they were quite slow at getting back onside after a goal was scored and therefore used this to our advantage. After the first quarter ARU were winning by 1 goal, which put a lot of pressure on the team to keep up the standard. A few changes were made, and new players were put on. The second quarter became even more aggressive and the umpires were calling contact almost every other pass! It obviously had an impact on ARU as a team as at half time the score was 16-16. After a serious team talk, the girls were back onside with positive heads. Without hesitation 3 goals were scored to put ARU securely in the lead. However Beds carried on fighting, literally. Footwork was occurring frequently from Beds and therefore ARU had a lot of chances of pulling it back. After the third quarter scores were tight still. Finally, the last push. ARU knew they could win, and were potentially the better team. The last 15 minutes were extremely intense, umpires whistles were blowing like crazy and the opposition were getting very agitated. This is where ARU had a good chance; they kept their cool and played on positively. There was 1 minute remaining and the girls on court didn’t know the score. A penalty was given to ARU and the last goal was scored finalising the score to 20-26.
There was so much determination shown from the team today, and the amount of sportsmanship shown was incredible. Despite being covering in scratches and having a few bruises, ARU celebrated their win! Once again, well done girls absolutely awesome game. Massive well done to Amber Hunt for opposition’s player and Laura McAleer for player’s player.
By Laura Smith, Vice Captain