UoN opened up a 5-1 lead in the Varsity Series after a successful day at NTU’s Clifton Campus, with Women’s Futsal storming to an 11-2 victory while UoN Men’s Futsal slipped to a 6-5 defeat in a feisty encounter.
After victories in the Dodgeball and Men’s Lacrosse events, UoN went into the futsal matches with a 4-0 Series lead and it soon became clear that the women’s team were going to extend the lead.
Player of the Match Elizabeta Ejupi took only five minutes to grab a hat-trick, as she put UoN 3-0 ahead with a stunning half volley. Ejupi controlled the game throughout the night and finished up with six goals in a stellar performance from the number 10.
Forwards Mariah Cameron and Ana Mihajlovic caused the Trent defence all manner of problems
The girls were the better team throughout with fluid, attacking play from forwards Mariah Cameron and Ana Mihajlovic causing the Trent defence all manner of problems.
Goalkeeper Garland was excellent when called upon and goals from Hendra, Cameron, Flanagan, Heria and Wilhite confirmed the emphatic victory.
The men were minutes from replicating the women’s success. Goals from skipper Andy Hillarby and Gui Garcia gave UoN a quickfire 2-0 lead, before Jack Pickles added another 10 minutes in with a beautiful curling shot.
However, Trent were able to claw a goal back with four seconds to go in the first half and, despite Garcia scoring his second of the match just after half-time, they fought their way back to 4-4 through a Marques penalty and some lapse UoN defending.
UoN went for the fly-keeper tactic in a desperate attempt to force a breakthrough, but nothing was coming off for the men in green and gold
From here Trent looked dominant, quickly grabbing two more goals, including a screamer from captain Osei.
UoN went for the fly-keeper tactic in a desperate attempt to force a breakthrough, but nothing was coming off for the men in green and gold.
Moe Maghrbi managed to pull a goal back with 20 seconds remaining though his final attempt with less than a second left on the clock was blocked, allowing Trent to see out the victory in the first official men’s Varsity Futsal fixture.
The results mean UoN maintain their four-point Series advantage going into Wednesday’s Ice Hockey face-off at the Capital FM Arena.
Matt Smith
Follow live Varsity updates on Twitter with @ImpactVarsity15
Images: dgtl Concepts photographer Jack Gunter
