Mens 2nds v Leicester Uni

Top of the table clash - Students unbeaten, won all their games except one draw just after freshers week, put 4 past the previously unbeaten Newark 2 weeks ago, full of confidence and ready to brush aside another team on their unstoppable journey to the title. Except.....they met a team who've come a long way since that defeat to Newark all those weeks ago, one prepared to battle despite 3 players starting the game distinctly under the weather - "man flu" in Richard's case; Sonny not only feeling ill but then to compound things taking one on the knee which left him hobbling like a cripple before gritting his teeth and putting in another sterling midfield performance; Greg sidled guiltily up to the skipper just before the start to say he was not feeling too good and might have to go off at some point before putting in 70 minutes of real graft. So not a auspicious start, and then Jamie decided to get his head in the way of the ball - loads of blood but a quick steri strip or two and he was soon back on.
Meanwhile the students had started brightly and it was all hands to the pump to keep them out - Rob, in goal for the absent Lee, excelling with some crucial saves (which later saw him taking the man of the match award) but midway through the half we managed to start playing ourselves and forced a series of short corners which eventually saw the ball slipped to the skipper who made no mistake from 10 metres out.
1-0 up at half time and then a sterling defensive performance as the students piled forward but met a defensive rock, until 10 minutes from the end when the students finally got the break they were looking for when a nifty piece of footwork went unseen and Leicester finally found a way past Rob. A tense final few minutes ensued but with Ian (runner up in the MotM stakes) leading the defensive effort in midfield there was no further way through for the Students
So 1-1 in the end, probably a fair result - we still need to hold onto the ball better when we've won it but collectively this was an excellent performance. We complete the first set of fixtures next week against Rolls Royce - so no silly mistakes there and it's bring on Newark for the first of the reverse fixtures!