It’s a champion effort from uni’s netballers
University sport
Two University of Chichester netball teams will be crowned champions after building unassailable leads at the top of their south-eastern divisions.
The Conference Cup runners-up, Chichester’s netball ones, replaced title rivals Portsmouth at the top of South Eastern 1A thanks to a 59-38 victory, while the fives picked up their seventh consecutive league win overwhelming New Bucks 88-6. The netball threes lost 40-34 to second-placed St Mary’s but the fours got the better of Royal Holloway 4838.
Chichester’s men’s futsal ones put the heartbreak of their sudden death penalty shoot-out cup final loss against Westminster behind them when they beat Kingston 6-3 in what could prove to be a title decider with Marcus Ball, Hamido Jalo, Matty Roberts and Niah Mckinley-burke all on target.
In another tussle between teams in first and second place, Chichester’s men’s tennis lost 8-4 to league leaders Surrey, while women’s tennis moved up to third after a 10-2 win at home to Hertfordshire.
Elsewhere in racquets sports, the Chichester men’s and women’s badminton faced teams from Brighton. The men lost 6-2 but the women drew 4-4. Men’s table tennis edged a close encounter with Kent 9-8 to keep up the pressure on Queen Mary in second.
It was a case of mixed fortunes for the university’s football sides.
Brad Morgan was the busier of the two keepers in the opening exchanges of the match between the men’s second team and Sussex ones. Jamie Austin spurned a good opportunity for Chichester in the 15th minute before the visitors went close twice just after the half-hour mark. The hosts had an effort cleared offthelineearlyinthesecond half and then conceded two goals in ten minutes – a super strike followed by a low drive that beat Morgan at his near post. Austin sent a header narrowly wide and the Sussex No1 pulled off a spectacular save late on to deny Chichester a consolation.
Brunel came from behind to beat men’s football threes 3-1; it was goalless between the fours and Brighton; the sixes lost 5-3 at Reading but the fives cruised to victory at New Bucks to leapfrog St George’s as division frontrunners. The women’s second team thrashed Roehampton 7-0.
IAN WORDEN