Rugby players from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) wrote their names into the sporting history books, clinching first ever cup victory for #TeamDMU in emphatic style.
The history-makers defeated league rivals the University of Northampton 1st XV 25-11 on Wednesday afternoon to lift the British University and College Sports (BUCS) Conference Plate.
Before this season, no #TeamDMU side had ever made a BUCS Cup Final, let alone win it, but four made the semi-finals and two reached the Finals Day at Loughborough University.
Women’s Hockey who had secured promotion and a 100% winning record in BUCS Division 4B faced the University of Birmingham, but were defeated 3-0.
Nonetheless, they should be proud in the fact they achieved something no other cohort had ever managed.
Men’s Rugby Club 1st XV Captain and 2nd year Business Management and Economics BA (Hons) undergraduate, Owen Roberts, said: “I am incredibly proud to be Captain of this side, who have achieved so much this season and have worked so hard.
“I knew we would pull away in the second-half like we did, which is great to see considering in previous games we’d faded away towards the end.
“Our dedicated coach and work of the Strength and Conditioning team at DMU have helped us to achieve our goals and be a success.”
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Northampton took an early 6-0 lead at the Holywell Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon, in what was a scrappy start.
Vice-Chancellors Sports Scholar Henry Clement scored two penalties just before the break to draw things level and leave the game hanging in the balance.
Henry then went over for the first try of the game in the corner, 10 minutes into the second-half as he went on to score 15 of DMU’s 25 points.
He converted two other tries late in the half to widen the gap and leave the win in touching distance.
Late pressure from Northampton saw them get a try back, but it was too late as DMU secured an historic victory.
Watching the action unfold was Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard and former Leicester Tigers prop and DMU honorand Matt Hampson.
Owen said: “It was brilliant to have the VC and Hambo there to support us on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are thankful they took the time out to support the club and hopefully we will have a unique opportunity to work with Hambo in the future.”
The club could potentially still secure promotion from BUCS Midlands Division 2B with one fixture remaining against their Cup Final opposition Northampton in the coming month.
They will now get to work as they finalise preparations for their Varsity fixture v University of Leicester at Welford Road on the evening of Wednesday 22 March
Owen said: “It will be nice to get a result on the night and put our demons to bed after the disappointment of last year.
“We will be working hard over the next week or so in training and in the gym to get our game plan right.”
Elsewhere, in BUCS league fixtures, Men’s Basketball 1st closed in on the title in BUCS Midlands Division 3B with a 59-53 victory over University of Cambridge 2nd.
Tickets for the fixture can be bought for just £5 on the DSU Online Store.
You can keep right across the Varsity series through Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat accounts, and follow the story using #DareToWin and #TeamDMU on social media.
Posted on Friday 10 March 2017