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11th - 17th October 2013
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Loughborough hit back to deny Brum The University of Birmingham men's 1sts kicked off their season with a tough match against rivals Loughborough. Josh Hunt
Sports Reporter
@j_b_hunt
The Birmingham Men’s second team went up to Leeds and won BUCS gold on penalty flicks against Manchester’s first team. The match itself finished 2-2 after extra time. Birmingham scored all five of their flicks, with their goalkeeper, Ashwin Raj, saving Manchester’s first, handing Brum the victory. Early on in the game it looked like a different story. Manchester were dominant, keeping hold of possession, whilst Birmingham struggled to gain a foothold in the game. Indeed it was Manchester who had the first clear-cut chance of the match from a short corner, which Raj saved sharply. This was to become a theme throughout the game. Birmingham’s Men’s hockey 1sts made a solid start to their 2013-14 BUCS Premier North campaign, with a 2-2 draw against fierce local rivals Loughborough at the Bournbrook pitches. On the back of a reasonably successful campaign last year – a respectable fifth place finish in the league coupled with defeat at the hands of Sheffield Hallam in last year’s Championship final – Birmingham entered the new league year full of hope, with Head Coach Steve Floyd targeting league honours for his young and talented side. On another day, Birmingham would probably have come away from this game with all the spoils, having dominated Loughborough for long periods of time, but, ultimately, a lack of conditioning and fitness saw the visitors come back to earn a welldeserved draw from two goals down. The first half was a very tactical affair, both sides having sustained periods of possession, but struggling to break down their opponent’s stubborn defence. Forward Nick Bandurak was kept mostly under wraps by Loughborough’s well-drilled centre halves, and neither side were able to fashion any real chances. It took until midway inside the first half for Birmingham to get their first shot on goal, but a well-worked penalty corner routine resulted only in a routine save for the away team’s keeper. Eventually, however, Brum did manage to find the opener, though it came during a rare spell of Loughborough control. Moments after, Birmingham keeper Ashwin, making the step up from last year’s Trophy
winning 2s, made a remarkable double stop to keep his team on level terms, the home side broke quickly down the right hand flank. With Loughborough unable to get defenders back in to their attacking circle, Bandurak found himself unmarked to fire a ferocious shot right into the top right-hand corner of the goal. A final sustained five minute spell of pressure from Birmingham failed to result in a second goal, but Coach Floyd could have had no complaints about his side’s performance as they reached halftime. The second half started exactly where the first half left off. A combination of Birmingham defensive pressure and mental errors from the visitors meant that Loughborough barely had a touch of the ball before falling two goals down early in the second period. Brum’s second penalty corner of the evening was injected by Welsh U21 international Patrick McDowell, who then got himself in the right position to divert a wayward shot home from close range. For much of the rest of the half, it looked like there would be no way back for Loughborough, who lost on two of the three occasions they faced Birmingham last season. Bandurak and Will Byas continued to pose the biggest threat going forward, but last year’s Championship runners up were not to get another shot in on the Loughborough goal. That was to prove costly in the last 15 minutes, as Birmingham’s fitness levels began to drop. It was 2-1 when Birmingham were opened up down their right-hand side, Loughborough’s impressive number ten fizzing the ball across Ashwin’s goal, to find his centre forward unmarked at the far post. From only a yard out, he made no mistake. From then on in, a second goal seemed almost inevitable, though the away side had to wait until the final hit of the game to find it, when their second penalty corner of the match ended up with the ball cannoning past Ashwin’s outstretched right arm. Despite the late collapse, blamed on a ‘combination of fatigue [and not reacting] well to a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way’ by fullback Chris Way after the match, this was an encouraging opener for Birmingham’s men. Another run to the BUCS Big Wednesday will be a big ask this time around, but it’s clear that this inexperienced side is set to achieve great things in future years.
George Evans
@georgeevanss