Issue 1247 - The Courier

Th eCourier Tuesday 6 March 2012
StanCavlert2012.7
rivals
n Calvert battle
Kim-credible: Poly stunned
by courageous NUWFC
lap of more than 2 (a number which
is coincidentally the shared number of
SATS between the entire team). This
was duly converted by their stand-off.
After some epic carries from Mensa
members Henry Cumminghand and
Adrian’s Wall O’Smith the Owlets
looked as if they’d sunk their dumb
cross-district rival dungos for the final
time but the Poly airheads survived
in a 12-12 draw which complimented
the GCSE-less Northumbrians.
magic
Stan Calvert
Cup 2012
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Newcastle 1sts
Northumbria 1sts
By Charlie Scott and Rory
Brigstock-Barron
at LONGBENTON 3G
Two goals from Gibraltan genius
Kim Baglietto and one each for Lucy
Crann and Lizzie Campbell helped
Newcastle University Women’s Football
Firsts to an astonishing 4-3 victory
over illustrious rivals Northumbria
in Firday night’s Stan Calvert clash.
With their opponents’ top of the
Northern Premier – a division three
tiers above their own – the Royals
could have been forgiven for not expecting
much from the game. Nevertheless,
to the shock of everyone
in the know and the opposition, the
Royals produced one of the best performances
ever seen under the famous
Longbenton lights, to send the
Poly home with their tails between
their legs.
Both sides took advantage of the
artificial surface from the off playing
exceptional football at times, the first
ten minutes seeing a back and forth
battle for possession. However, the
deadlock was soon broken, a sumptuous
ball over the top from Kim Baglietto
released Newcastle midfielder
Lucy Crann, who cut on to her left
foot and finished expertly despite the
despairing last ditch tackle of Northumbria
defender Kirsty Lincoln.
Going behind seemed to spur on
the Royals’ illustrious opponents and
it was not long before parity was restored.
Poor defending from a corner
allowed Poly captain Sarah Wilson to
level the scores with a brave header
from close range.
Both sides looked dangerous, Newcastle’s
patient build up and excellent
wing play was causing the opposition
all sorts of problems but Northumbria
always looked dangerous on the
break. It was the Royals though who
4
3
took the lead again, a neat, sweeping
move ending abruptly with a right
footed screamer from Baglietto in to
the top left corner of the goal. Newcastle’s
support erupted on the sidelines,
shortly before chants of “2 – 1,
that’s a real degree” began to ring out
from the Royals faithful who were
now in full song.
The second half wound down with
each side registering rather speculative
long-range efforts, (Newcastle’s
slightly less wayward than that of the
Poly) before Referee Steve Catchpole
called time on the first period.
Newcastle took a 3-1 lead when the
impressive Lizzie Campbell stole a
yard on her marker wide on the right
in the penalty area before lashing
home an unstoppable strike into the
far corner.
With the Royals performing superbly,
the highly-rated Northumbria
side struggled to contain the likes of
Campbell and Baglietto, the latter of
whom was enjoying one of those performances
where everything seemed
to go right, and Newcastle looked
comfortable as the second half wore
on.
Northumbria’s Amelia Hall seemed
to have other ideas though, singlehandedly
dragging her team back
into the game with a fabulous 25-yard
strike that flew into the top corner of
Jade Redhead’s goal.
With the score on a knife-edge at
3-2 both sides sensed that there were
still goals in this one, and embarked
on increasingly gung-ho approaches,
leaving few players at the back as
they went in search of the goal that
for Newcastle would have given them
some breathing space, and for Northumbria
would have drawn the scores
level.
The Royals took the initiative
through the irrepressible Baglietto,
after a fine move down the middle
eventually found the tricky winger
out wide on the left. After driving past
the challenge of Wilson, Baglietto
demonstrated her undoubted class by
curling an effort into the bottom right
hand corner as nonchalantly as if it
were a training game.
On the sidelines Northumbria’s
manager Colin Stromsoy fumed at
Catchpole’s correct decision to ignore
an offside flag against Lizzie Campbell
in the build-up. Replays confirm that
Catchpole made the right decision, as
at no point was Campbell either interfering
in play or with an opponent in
9
Won
the move that led to Baglietto’s goal.
A late rally from Nothumbria produced
their third goal of the game, a
confident header from Kirsty Lincoln
after a lofted corner to the back post.
Too little too late for the Poly though,
as Newcastle sustained some heavy
pressure in the remaining minutes
to hold on to one of Newcastle’s best
results of the whole Stan Calvert competition.
There were jubilant scenes on the
sidelines as Catchpole blew the final
whistle, with Newcastle telling Th e
Courier afterwards that they had gone
into the game considering a 2-0 loss
as a good result. How wrong they
were. After 90 minutes of pulsating
action the Royals fully deserved their
4-3 victory after dominating their
more illustrious counterparts all over
the pitch.
Newcastle Captain Steph Dalby
spoke of her joy at the win, telling us
how the team were ‘over the moon’
with their victory against ‘the best
team in the country’. She went on to
describe how their current crop was
‘the best team we’ve [Newcastle] have
had in years’ and that her side ‘definitely
deserved the win’.
Newcastle Women’s
Firsts celebrate
their shock victory
over Northumbria
on Friday
Photography:
Kimberley Lee
Even field in Cross Country contest
alty area.
There was still time for more drama
though as Newcastle refused to accept
defeat, and their dogged commitment
to attacking paid off as Nathan Campbell
clawed one back with a header to
make it 4-3 with just seconds left to
play.
As Newcastle tried in vain to get the
ball forward one last time the referee
blew the whistle and ended what was
an entertaining tie at Coach Lane.
Sadly for the Royals their second half
endeavours were not enough to overturn
Northumbria’s first half advantage,
with the Poly leaving the pitch in
possession of a rare two Stan Calvert
points.
Stan Calvert
Cup 2012
CROSS COUNTRY
Newcastle
Northumbria
By Andrew McClune
at TOWN MOOR
1
1
The Great British weather can be a
cruel and unpredictable creature at
time and this was definitely the case
on the Town Moor Saturday morning
for the five kilometre Cross Country
Stan Calvert race. After several days
of sunshine, the weather turned leading
to cold and blustery conditions.
The build-up to the race suggested a
very close men’s race, which could go
either way, but the women were predicted
to dominant, as they have done
in the last two years.
As competitors made their way to
the start line, confusion was struck
across the whole Newcastle team as
it appeared Northumbria didn’t have
a women’s team. After speaking with
the Northumbrian Director of Sport
he was also unsure why there was no
women’s team and could only apologise.
This allowed some of the women
to save themselves for the Athletics
event the following day but did not
deter many of the women from running.
Amy Jessett was first in 17.03 followed
by Charlotte Christensen in
19.58. It was now just down to the
guys to bring home the points. The
poly proved to be slightly too strong
on the day, claiming the top three positions.
However Newcastle did claim fourth
and fifth with Nathan Reed coming
home in 16.33 closely followed by Joe
Turner in 16.37.
This meant the total men’s points
were 24-12 in favour of the poly and
that the Cross Country finished one
point apiece. A quick race lead to
many PB’s being broken, with Cross
Country captain AP McClune stepping
up to the plate and smashing his
PB by over a minute.
Many positive can be taken from the
race, especially the fact that our women’s
team intimidates them enough to
not even bring a team.