Image: James Roberts

#BUCSWednesday Notepad: Week 10

By James Roberts, Alex Jennings, Matt Richardson
Dec. 8, 2016
Posted in BUCS Wednesday Notepad, Sport, University Sport

For the last #BUCSWednesday of term one, Boar Sport spread its metaphorical wings as far as it could. This week we had reporters at Cryfield, Westwood and the Sports Centre, taking in a walkover, Fencing’s answer to Olivier Giroud and a team that was labelled ‘shit’ before going on to win 4-0. See you in term two – merry Christmas.

Results at a glance:
24 wins, 1 draw, 18 defeats
Top three wins:
University of Worcester Women’s Football 2s 0-14 University of Warwick Women’s Football 1s
University of Derby Women’s Rugby Union 1s 20-51 University of Warwick Women’s Rugby Union 1s
University of Warwick Men’s Squash 2s 4-1 Oxford Brookes University Men’s Squash 1s

Succession of sucker punches sink Warwick

University of Warwick Men’s Football 2s 0-4 University of Loughborough Men’s Football 4s

Warwick Sport’s ‘Game of the Week’ came from Cryfield, as the Loughborough Men’s Football 4s faced our 2s.

Watched by a collection of dedicated supporters from other clubs, Warwick made a promising start. With Loughborough keen to keep and recycle possession at all times, we sat deep and looked to counter where possible. This resulted in a couple of Warwick chances – a free header glanced wide by Kitenge prompted one onlooker to adjudge “these are shit”. A goal of the season contender nearly followed after some good work from Duval in midfield and a lovely cross field ball from Bailey eventually led to the former shooting just wide.

Image: Alex Jennings

Image: Alex Jennings

Unfortunately, it turned out that Loughborough were not, in fact, shit. Perhaps realising that the first 20 minutes had not gone to plan, they started to counter themselves, and a lot more incisively. A neat move and accurate pull back from the right brought the opening goal with their first real chance of the game. Banks pulled off a wonder save moments later, but it only delayed the inevitable. Loughborough swept through Warwick’s non-existent defensive cover not once, but twice in quick succession. Shell-shocked, we came in at the break 3-0 down, out-fought and out-thought.

The second half was much less eventful. A couple of half chances fell our way and some decent shots from range were attempted, but the opposition no. 1 was never really tested. Another impressive counter-attack was dispatched superbly by Loughborough’s no. 9, after a powerful change of pace left his marker for dead – and that was the end of the action.

Things were put into perspective by reports of the 4s opposition: losing, one of their players had run onto the field to quite aggressively punch a team-mate, causing the match to be abandoned. At no point did we come close to that. Warwick’s man of the match was Duval, who impressed in flashes before his second half substitution.

Women’s Tennis take first win in walkover

University of Warwick Women’s Tennis 2s 12-0 University of Lincoln Women’s Tennis 1s

It’s not often you come away from a BUCS fixture with genuine sympathy for the away team. Dominant Warwick performances come and go with scant thought given to the team left behind – morale bruised; confidence dented. Yet when a cursory glance at past results makes you wince; when, with zero wins from five, a team is able to field only two players, assuring defeat before the first serve – a Warwick win becomes uncomfortable viewing. In Midlands 2A, Lincoln Women’s 1s look down and out.

To Warwick’s credit, they rarely showed signs of complacency. The 2s put Lincoln to the sword here, winning 12-0 to secure their first league win of the season. In truth, the result was never in doubt – as much a result of Warwick superiority as Lincoln’s missing members. Yet despite the win, the lack of competition engendered only dissatisfaction. The 2s will look forward to a contest and their next opponents, Birmingham 2s, will certainly provide that. With two wins and a draw from their last three matches, Warwick will fancy themselves. Let’s just hope that this time they face four players.

Fencing 1s look sharp in win over Nottingham

University of Warwick Men’s Fencing 1s 135-108 University of Nottingham Men’s Fencing 1s

An aspect of Fencing that isn’t afforded much thought is just how much preparation is required. Once both teams had completed their warm ups it was time to get kitted up, which was followed by setting up the equipment that registers points. 40 minutes after the scheduled 1pm start time, the first representatives from Warwick and Nottingham were finally ready to duel.

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Image: James Roberts

A Warwick team boasting multiple players of international standard edged ahead early on and this reflected the fixture overall. With each of the three weapons requiring 45 points to win (hence the winning total of 135) and each team member swapping every five points, every point counted as both teams sought to reach the magic number. One Warwick man’s ability to deliver as a substitute gained him the nickname ‘Giroud’ from a team mate and you couldn’t fail to agree – he consistently had the beating of his Nottingham counterparts.

The victory, comfortable if not dominant, keeps the pressure on Loughborough 1s at the top of Midlands 1A. If this performance is anything to go by, Warwick should have nothing to fear when they take on their title rivals.

#ClubSpotlight week 10: Trampolining

Trampolining rounded off our first term of #ClubSpotlight in style – if your club’s interested in getting involved in term two then email sport@theboar.org!

 

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