EUNC lead 4 out of the 7 Scottish BUCS Leagues!

Last week saw the 4s travel to Dundee on Tuesday to play Abertay 1s in their rescheduled cup match, and then teams 3-8 playing important league matches on Saturday. The end of the season is nearing which means every game is getting more and more tense as the teams are fighting their way up the leagues! Wins for the 3s and 4s in Division 2 mean they are now sitting in 1st and 2nd place. Training partners 7s and 8s also came face to face - the 7s came away with the win continuing their unbeaten season sitting at the top of Division 7 whilst the 8s are sat in 3rd place (out of 8 teams!). The 6s also won an important match against Stirling 2s - they are now winning Division 5! All of these results mean EUNC is now leading Divisions 1, 2 5 and 7... see the full points standings by copying this link into your browser:

https://www.bucs.org.uk//bucscore/Search.aspx

Tuesday 4th February:

4s 63 - 70 Abertay 1s (away) LOSS - conference cup match

EUNC 4s lost 63-70 away to Abertay 1s. After a solemn start to the match (a one minute silence for a late student), we finished the first quarter just 5 behind Abertay, with only 7 players. A cracking second quarter saw us close this gap and even take the lead by 5! Unfortunately, having some players out of position, combined with Abertay’s ability to bring on fresh legs and their consistently great shooting, allowed them to come back stronger than ever and take back the lead. However, the 4s weren’t discouraged! Even though the gap increased, we gave it our all in the last quarter, making Abertay really work for the win. We came away from the match proud of efforts, but also with key points to improve on in training. Ola was named player of the match.

Saturday 10th February:

3s 47 - 27 Stirling 1s (home) WIN

The first quarter saw a shaky start for the 3s who failed to get into their usual rhythm, Stirling had presented a strong squad and EUNC 3s instead of taking the lead that we were hoping for lagged at the same pace as Stirling 1s. By the end of Q1 it was 10-10. A reshuffle at quarter time and a push for energy in the team chat allowed for EUNC 3 to get into our usual playing style and for the first 7 minutes of quarter we didn't concede a single goal against Stirling 1s. This energetic push from the full team meant that we continued our strength into Q3 and 4. What was really great to see in the game was some different combinations in the team and some good food for thought going forward into training this week. Final score ended 47-27. Shout out to Jenny Sharp my personal player of the match who's intercepts and rebounds made all the difference to the momentum of the game.

4s 35 - 29 Aberdeen 1s (home) WIN

EUNC 4s won 35-29 against Aberdeen 1s on Saturday. It was a very close start, with the 4s finishing 1 point ahead in the first quarter. The second quarter saw us in a similar position, just managing to keep our slight lead, this time by 2. We really kept our heads and played our own game, which paid off in the 3rd quarter where we were able to increase the gap by an amazing 8, despite an injury to one of our members (Lis). Aberdeen came back fighting in the last quarter, and while their efforts did see them decrease the gap slightly, our efforts in the 3rd quarter saw us maintain our lead and ultimately win the match! Ola was named player of the match.

5s 28 - 32 Glasgow Caledonian 1s (away) LOSS

This week the 5s travelled to Glasgow to play against Glasgow Caledonian 1s, a team we have previously beaten at home by a few goals. With four players injured, this was going to be a tough game. The 5s went in full guns blazing in the first quarter, presenting a strong and united front- they finished with an 8-point lead making it 3-11. The next two quarters were tense as Glasgow Caledonia came back strongly meaning they finished the quarter only 3 points behind us. This was going to be a very close game! The 5s started the final quarter strongly, turning Caledonian's first centre pass. However, this was not enough. Caledonian came back fighting strong and presented a strong defence. It became very difficult for the 5s to feed the ball into the circle, whilst Caledonian had brought on a new GA who was able to shoot from long range. After a long fifteen minutes, Caledonian were able to surpass us by 4 points, making the final score 28-32.

6s 31 - 30 Stirling 2s (home) WIN

EUNC 6s played an important game against Stirling 2s at home this week, looking to secure second place in the league. With a close win previously, this weekend was no different but EUNC managed to pull away in the final minutes winning 31-30! It was a tough game and the team worked hard defensively down the court to make it an impressive with against a 2nd team. Great shooting and movement on court by Rhianna Queen meant she was named player of the match!

7s 46 - 23 8s

POV 7s: On Saturday morning the EUNC 7s played the EUNC 8s at home in a league match. The first quarter was very close with only a few goals between the two teams. The 7s then started to adjust well to playing against friends and really fought for it. As the quarters went by the lead increased and a final score of 46-23 to the 7s was achieved, with brilliant play and shooting from both teams. The player of the match was Sarah Dallas who played at GD.

POV 8s: On Saturday 10th February, the 8s played in probably their hardest match of the season, against the 7s. Although the 8s played well, the 7s gradually increased their lead from 9-5 at the end of the first quarter to 46-23 at the end of the game. A good effort from the 8s who can definitely take away positives from the game as well as areas to work on.