Another incredible season is drawing to a close for the UCFB sports teams across both campuses. The continued success of the UCFB Athletic Union teams is a fantastic reminder of the vast amount of sporting talent that runs through the UCFB student cohort, in both the Men’s and Women’s categories.
UCFB would like to give a special mention to James Sandford, UCFB Burnley Men’s 1st team captain and current UCFB Burnley Football President who recently played his last game for UCFB after three years in the 1st team.
UCFB Burnley Weekly Update
UCFB Burnley Men’s 1st Team
The UCFB Burnley elite men’s football team recorded a convincing away win in North Wales in their penultimate game of the season. Goals from Kayode Adewale (2), Ben Herriman, Jordan Greenfield, Josh Briggs, Dan Getliff and Tom Divver gave UCFB a resounding 7-0 win over Glyndŵr 1sts. This now leaves UCFB one victory away from securing the BUCS Men’s Northern 5C league title.
UCFB Burnley Men’s 1st Team
UCFB Burnley Men’s 2nd Team
For UCFB’s final game in the BUCS Men’s Northern 7A division the 2nd team, managed by Chris Boyd, had a lengthy away trip to Cumbria. Having been handed the walkover from the same opposition the previous week, UCFB were strong favourites. UCFB lived up to their expectations with a comfortable 4-0 win with goals coming from Paolo Prioglio, Robbie Bloodworth, Connor Wells and Dale Hargan, who played his final game for UCFB. This win cemented UCFB’s place of second in the table, earning 5 BUCS points.
UCFB Burnley Men’s 3rd Team
Playing their final home game of the season, UCFB faced Glyndŵr 2nds at Prairie Sports Village in another dominant performance from a UCFB team which saw a very comfortable 6-0 home win. Goals were scored by Josh Darlington (2), Simon Johnson (who started the game in goal), Jake Hannah and Jordan Kay as well as an own goal. This win secured a second place finish in the BUCS Men’s Northern 7C division, earning UCFB an additional 5 BUCS points. Manager Jono McPhail, has been impressed with the team’s work ethic and attitude in their recent games.
UCFB Burnley Men’s 4th Team
Following the 3rd team fixture, UCFB Burnley Men’s 4th team faced Keele at Prairie Sports Village. To complete the UCFB Burnley sweep, the team won 4-1 with goals coming from Chris Hough, Charlie Lloyd, Oliver Lawrenson and Callum Limb. With one fixture left of the season, UCFB can secure a further 1 BUCS point with a win over Glyndwr next week.
Sports Coordinator for the UCFB Burnley campus, Ashton Allen commented on the four UCFB Burnley teams’ performances:
“It was another fantastic game week for all of our UCFB Burnley teams. To have all four teams collect three points each at this stage in the season is a great effort from the players and coaching staff. The emphatic away win for our Men’s 1st team against a very capable Glyndwr 1st team illustrates the quality amongst the team. We now head to Blackburn on the 23rd March knowing that a win will secure the BUCS Northern 5C division and secure yet another promotion. Following a 12-0 home win earlier in the season, we travel to Blackburn full of confidence.”
Wembley Weekly Update
UCFB Wembley Men’s 1st Team
Due to a number of regulars being invited to this week’s Cheltenham Festival, there was an opportunity for two players to move up from the Development squad. Nevertheless, the UCFB Wembley Men’s 1st team played second placed King’s College London (KCL) away from home and came back with a well-earned 1-1 draw, with Joe Enright scoring UCFB’s goal. The team are still top of the table with 20 points, however King’s College London (KCL) have 16 points with three games in hand. Promotion is therefore still a distinct possibility and some BUCS points will hopefully be added to the UCFB total once KCL have played all their remaining fixtures.
UCFB Wembley Women’s 1st Team
The Women’s team unfortunately narrowly missed out on promotion to BUCS SE Tier 3 due to the league regulations prioritising head-to-head record over goal difference. Despite having a better goal difference (+16 compared to +15), the team lost 3-1 to London School of Economics (LSE) earlier in the season and therefore the second promotion spot was awarded to LSE. In the last game of the season, the girls’ determination and self-belief was phenomenal – had the rules aligned with professional football, the 8-0 victory would have guaranteed promotion with the eighth goal being scored dramatically in the final minute of the last game of the season.
UCFB Wembley Men’s 2nd Team
Despite having nine regular starting players missing due to the Cheltenham Festival, the UCFB Wembley Men’s 2nd team won 4-0 away against University College London. Jai Dawson scored two, Reggie Yembra added another and an own-goal completed the score line. The 2nds secured the BUCS South Eastern 7D division last week and now have an 89%-win record with eight victories from nine fixtures. With one league game remaining, the team will end the season with a valuable 10 BUCS points for UCFB. Managers Gonçalo and Thim have been extremely impressed with the team’s performances this season.
UCFB Wembley Development Team
With four regular players moving into the UCFB Wembley Men’s 1st and 2nd teams and a number of injuries, a make-shift Development squad managed to beat second placed London School of Economics (LSE) 2-1 at Silver Jubilee Park. UCFB took the lead into half time. A wobbly first 20 minutes of the second half, conceding from LSE’s only real chance, was overcome by a penalty scored by captain Joe Thompson. The team have now played 11, won 11 and sit comfortably at the top of LUSL Midweek Division 4.
Sports Coordinator for the UCFB Wembley campus, Lewis Timms commented:
“Yesterday’s results were truly impressive considering the changes to each squad. Unbeaten in all fixtures with two wins and one draw cannot be argued against so overall I am very pleased with the points achieved. The UCFB Wembley Men’s 1st team are currently top of the BUCS SE 7C, the Men’s 2nd team are BUCS SE 7D champions, the Women’s 1st team narrowly missed out on promotion and the Men’s Development team are LUSL Division 4 Champions. All in all, it has been an encouraging season for the UCFB Wembley football clubs. There is still plenty of room for improvement but we are heading in the right direction.”
Other UCFB Sports News
Futsal
Since the start of the academic year the UCFB Futsal Club has rapidly grown to over fifteen members. The club has managed to arrange two friendlies against Liverpool Futsal Club and Accrington Stanley Football Club with impressive performances during both encounters. UCFB Futsal Club President, Jacob Weaver has been impressed by the club’s commitment and togetherness throughout the season and is excited for the future developments of the club.
UCFB Futsal Club
Darts
The UCFB Darts Club are currently 5th in the B Division of the Harrow & District Darts League.
Athletics
We’d like to give a special mention to Jack Gladman, one of UCFB’s finest athletes, who finished third in the Ambulant Men’s 60m and competed in the heats of the Ambulant 1500m in the BUCS Indoor Athletics Championships in Sheffield. Jack also recently competed in the BUCS Cross Country Championships.
Jack Gladman during the BUCS Cross Country Championships
