The end of a successful sporting day for Newcastle University was capped off with the Men’s 1s Futsal team facing off against Northumbria on centre court at Sports Central, in Northumbria University.
The dramatic penalty shootout to end last year's Varsity saw Newcastle come away with a narrow victory, and it seemed written in the stars that the contest would be a tight one again this year. The packed crowd, expecting a fast-paced game, were only let down by the lack of goals in the opening eight minutes.
It was a scrappy game with a lack of clear-cut opportunities for either team. Newcastle, who have been unbeaten in the league this season, have been used to scoring first this season, and the floodgates opened when a period of possession ended with a chance at the back post to be neatly finished off.
The Northumbria crowd were silenced, and the loyal Newcastle fans were on their feet
The Northumbria crowd were silenced, and the loyal Newcastle fans were on their feet. A combination of poor goalkeeping and well-worked passes found Newcastle 4-0 up with 2 minutes left in the half, and if not for a mix-up at the back, it would have surely gone into half time with a clean sheet.
The Northumbria team looked dispirited going into the changing rooms, but came out and started the second half brilliantly and, with 10 minutes to go, the scores were level at 4-4 and looking a one-sided contest in favour of the Poly.
The Northumbria crowd were alive and quick to let the Newcastle fans know they had let the lead slip. However, a late goal saw Newcastle, completely against the run of play, into the lead again and after a tense final few minutes, victorious for the second year running.
To the chorus of the Newcastle crowd and the seats of Northumbria fans emptying, the boys lifted the trophy, rounding off another emphatic win for Team Newcastle. Following the game, I asked a couple of the players, including the winning goal scorer, if they could describe the game with one word each: “Feisty” and “Sensational”. After being in the crowd for the past two fixtures, I can only expect that next year’s contest will be much the same and one to look out for.