M1 on the road to BUCS title glory
UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL
NORTHUMBRIA Sport M1 football coach Derek Forrest has hailed the efforts of his players after they secured the BUCS Premier North title in style with a 3-1 win at last season’s champions Nottingham Trent.
A magnificent first-half performance meant Forrest’s men went into the break 3-0 up thanks to goals from Gerard Richardson, Jon Weirs and Ali Alshabeeb.
After half-time, the hosts did manage to muster up a fightback, scoring a goal of their own.
Ultimately, though, Northumbria’s first-half performance was just too much for Trent to overcome and Forrest’s side was able to see out the rest of the game.
An elated Forrest said: “I think the guys were all in high spirits ahead of the game thanks to Dan Taggart’s last-minute winner against Sterling a few nights ago.
“We knew we had to come into the former champions’ backyard and win the game.
“Early on we had a few problems with their directness, physicality and skill set.
“However, we were able to play most of the first half in their half and managed to score three fabulous goals.
“Ali’s scored an unbelievable individual effort, Jez scored a great team goal which involved about 20 passes and then Jon scored a nice goal across the front post.
“We were expecting a bit of a backlash in the second half and they did score a good goal to give them a little bit of a sniff but from then on we defended magnificently.
“It was an unbelievable performance from the lads – everyone was 120% at it.”
Despite his team wrapping up the title with two games left, Forrest said: “Heading into next year we need to make sure we keep going and keep our mindset up as we build towards the cup.
“It has been an incredible journey so far but we have to remember that is what it is - a journey - so we need to keep pushing forward.”