Women’s Football Take on Crossbar Challenge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-dcwuj18TI&feature=youtu.be

After last season’s well-earned promotion to the top tier of BUCS football, NUWFC have had a tough season. Although administrative errors meant that the team were in a challenging position from day one, they were unable to reverse their fortunes and climb up the league table.

“It’s been a difficult season” said 1^st team captain Sinead King. “We’re in the Premier League this year and we lost a lot of good players from last season, so the results don’t reflect the team. It’s been a good season but a very difficult one; we finished on -1 points.”

“We did start on -1 but we didn’t pick up any points. There was an administrative problem which meant that every UoN football team started on negative points – including the men’s – which was very frustrating.”

Despite the disappointment, the girls have been training hard for Thursday’s game against Trent.

“Because of the holidays, we haven’t had that much time for preparation but we have been training every other day since then.”

“It’s been intense: we have been at Wollaton Park doing fitness and hill sprints and have just played Raleigh Park men’s team in a friendly. The spirits are high and we’re preparing really well – we’re in good shape.”

Although Trent have been playing in the division below UoN this season, King reckons that NTU are the big favourites going into this clash and that this reduced pressure may aid her side.

“We’re underdogs, which I think is nice. This way, there is less expectation. Trent won the league below us this year, which we won last year. Basically, we have gone through a bit of a role reversal!”

A tight victory in last year’s game saw UoN clinch the 2012 Varsity series and NUWFC will be hoping for a similar performance this week.

Celebrating last year’s win

“We know some of their players, so we have a rough idea of how they are going to play. Our coach Chris really knows what he’s doing. He’s a Nottingham Forest coach as well, so he’s got a great insight and knows his stuff – he’s a lovely man.”

“We’re a really tight-knit team, we do a lot of stuff outside of football too and obviously travelling four hours to places like Durham this season helps the team get closer. It’s a lot more than just playing football.”

Tickets available from the SU at just £4 each. Make sure you head down to Meadow Lane and support the girls and boys this Thursday.