The Saint
Saints claim Korfball Bronze at BUCS
Andrew Magee
Photo Credit: Andrew Magee
The Saint Andrews Korfball team claimed a deserved bronze
medal at the British Universities and College Sports National
Championships last Sunday. The team beat Cambridge 10-7
in the third place playoff after enduring a heartbreaking defeat
in the semis.
The Championships are the culmination of national student
sport and saw over 6,000 athletes competing across 26 sports
over five days in Sheffield, Britains first city of sport.
Having won the Northern qualifiers last year, the Saints headed
to Sheffield with high hopes of a medal. Competing over
Saturday and Sunday, the Saints were drawn in group D of the
competition alongside Oxford, Bristol and Lancaster. They
were confident of progressing and had every reason to be as
they began the weekend on fine form with three straight
victories in their group games.
Saturday saw them defeat Oxford 5-3 in a close fought match before going on to crush Lancaster 15-4 in the second game of the group. Andrew Hall scored five in that game while Calum Lindsay grabbed four. The final group game against Bristol ended 9-3 in the Saints favour and with three out of three wins meant the Saints topped their group, thereby qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Championship competition.
In the quarter final they were drawn against Manchester who were comfortably swept aside 11-3, with captain David Jones, Dave Ewing, Lindesay Scott-Hayward, Naobh ODonoghue, Hall and Lindsay all amongst the goals in a comprehensive victory.
After several good results, the team then met local side Sheffield Hallam in the semi-final. With both teams desperate to win and go for a shot at the gold, it was an incredibly tight affair, and the Saints were desperately unlucky to lose.
At the full time whistle, the two sides were locked at 4-4 so the match entered a period of golden goal extra time. During this period, each side is given a chance to attack the korf and whichever team misses or loses possession after conceding a goal goes out. Unfortunately for the Saints, it was they who had to suffer deafeat.
Sheffield Hallam scored from their first attempt meaning that the Saints were under pressure and had to score from their attack. Sadly, they lost possession meaning that Hallam could take control of the ball and win the match. It was a cruel way to lose in such a crucial game but the team were determined to come back strong in the third place playoff.
With a two hour break to rest and train, the Saints were refreshed and ready for their clash with Cambridge to battle it out for the bronze.
The early stages of the match were dominated by the Saints, with early goals from Hall and Lindsay giving the side a 4-1 lead. A further goal from ODonoghue meant the Saints went into the half time break with a comfortable 5-2 lead. They were bossing the game and Cambridge did not really look like they would threaten.
However, despite a goal from Hall and one from Ewing, Cambridge managed to claw it back to 7-5. A timeout changed Cambridges game plan and it looked like they might find a way back into the match but the Saints were able to keep their composure. With two further goals from Hall and one from Alice Penman, the Saints were able to secure a 10-7 victory that gave them the bronze.
After coming fifth at last years Championships, captain Jones was delighted with the effort and improvement of his players. Were ecstatic. We came to make the semis at least and go for a medal if we could but we knew we had it in is so it was nice to confirm it.
Its great to come and win a medal because weve not won a medal in at least ten years and were only the second St Andrews team to do it so its brilliant. To be able to go the AU and show them something concrete that weve achieved is fantastic.
Korfball President Hannah Fearnley was equally pleased. Im very, very proud. Its a big achievement. Were the most successful St Andrews team ever!
Saints coach Wim Chalment, a former Belgium U23 player and GB coach was also proud of his stars and hoped their victory can help raise Korfballs profile. They deserved to be in the top four and I think they played really well throughout the whole tournament.
I think its a very good event to get the whole of the UK playing together. This means a lot to get a team in the top three so I hope that will improve and promote Korfball throughout Scotland.
Squad: David Jones (c), Calum Lindsay, Andrew Hall, David Ewing, Roo Miller, Donald Morrison, Karen McClymont, Hannah Fearnley, Naobh ODonoghue, Lindesay Scott-Hayward, Alice Penman, Mackenzie Monserez.Coach: Wim Chalment
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