University of Birmingham netball player takes a shot during a game in the Munrow ArenaCategoriesStudent News

Intercept: The Lions Dominate Exeter in 58-31 Victory

A crushing win by Birmingham’s Netball 1s yesterday at Intercept see the Lions straight through to the National Championship Final.

In front of a home crowd, Birmingham never looked like losing. Right from the first centre pass, the Lions kept Exeter out, piling on the defensive pressure and forcing Exeter to make riskier passes. Goal Defence Kate Henshall’s incredible interception early on in the first quarter set the tone as Birmingham looked to start strong. The defence continued to make Exeter’s life difficult, forcing many errors and allowing the Lions to start pulling away. By the end of the first quarter, Birmingham were leading the way 14-3.

Into the second quarter, Goal Shooter Kat Short was still going strong. Birmingham looked firmly in control and starting to settle into their rhythm. Some fantastic plays in centre court from Ruth Hughes (Centre) and Captain Jessie Ducker (Wing Attack) kept the Birmingham shooters well fed. Hughes and Ducker’s partnership was unmatched by the Exeter defence who couldn’t seem to keep up with the pair in mid-court. After Goal Attack Sophie Jackson’s interception stopped Exeter from gaining another goal, Birmingham finished the second quarter 26-7.

The half-time show once again saw an incredible performance from the Birmingham Pussycats cheer squad. The crowd in Munrow Arena was thoroughly entertained by the Pussycats who have really made their mark at the Super Series this year. Even Rory the Lion got involved!

The beginning of the third quarter after half time saw one change for Birmingham with Rosie Gray coming on at Wing Defence. She immediately made an impact by forcing a turnover just as Exeter were trying to make a strong start to the second half of the game. President Lottie Robinson continued to force the Exeter Goal Shooter out of the circle, keeping Exeter’s score down as the third quarter continued. Once again, Short stayed calm and collected, maintaining her shooting to the highest possible level. Even Exeter’s change in Goalkeeper couldn’t keep her out of the circle for long. The end of the third quarter ended 41-16 and a tired looking Exeter side trudged back to their dugout, seemingly demoralised.

Quarter four unfortunately started with an injury for Birmingham with Georgia Pexton taking a nasty fall. After a brief pause in proceedings to help Pexton off the court to assess her knee injury, the game resumed with Exeter coming out of the gates strong. It took a little while for Birmingham to find their stride again, no doubt shaken from Pexton’s injury, but the Lions soon settled back into their usual rhythm. Birmingham made several other changes throughout the last quarter, seeming to rotate their squad nicely to give everyone some court time. Exeter did manage to find some traction throughout this quarter, pulling their score up from their disappointing first three quarters. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Birmingham who finished the match 58-31.

Next up for the Lions, they face Hertfordshire 1s in the National Championship Final on Wednesday 23 March. Hertfordshire, who took everyone by surprise by beating Loughborough in their semi-final, were undefeated in their league and so will be tough competition for the Lions heading into the final. Make sure you catch it!

Netball Squad Team PhotoCategoriesStudent News

Intercept Preview: Final Super Series Event of the Year!

Intercept is almost here with the University of Birmingham Netball team raring to go!

The fourth Super Series event of the year will see Birmingham 1s go head-to-head with University of Exeter 1s on Wednesday 9th March in the EY Netball National Championship semi-final. Exeter, who are currently second place in the Premier South Division, are sure to provide tough competition for the Lions. However, with Birmingham currently in top spot in the Premier North Division, the match will be a real showcase for all netball fans.

Ruth Hughes, Vice Captain of the Birmingham 1s, emphasised the excitement of the event. “It’s our big netball event where loads of fans can come and watch,” she told UBSport. “We’ll be on the show court and it’s just a great event for everyone to come to.”

Not only will there be fantastic netball to watch, but also a half time performance from the Birmingham Pussycats. So far this year, our cheerleaders have led the way for UoB support at XpLoSION, Engage, and Rebellion, and so their performance at Intercept is highly anticipated.


Birmingham have only lost one game this year from their league matches, already proving that they are the team to watch. However, Exeter will pose a new challenge to the squad who are hoping to make it ten wins from eleven on Wednesday. With a place in the National Championship finals on the line, both teams are sure to come out fighting.

Also excited about the match is UoB Netball’s President, Lottie Robinson, who told UBSport of the team’s intense preparation. “All the girls have been working really hard on and off the court,” she said. “We’re all really excited to be playing in front of fans so hopefully we’ll bring home a win.”

With Intercept being the last Super Series event of the year, this is UoB’s opportunity to end the series with a bang. After fantastic performances at XpLoSION, Engage, and Rebellion, it is time for Netball’s Intercept to shine.


To watch the Birmingham Netball 1s, get yourself down to the Munrow Arena in Sport and Fitness on Wednesday 9th Match at 6pm. Don’t miss out!

Basketball players from the University of Birmingham pose in front of the basketball hoop in their red match kitCategoriesStudent News

Rebellion Preview: The Super Series Continues Here!

With Rebellion just days away, UBSport caught up with the Birmingham Lions Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams ahead of Saturday’s matches.

 

The event, which will take place on Saturday 26th February at the University of Birmingham Sports and Fitness, is set to be a real showcase of UoB’s basketball talent. Starting at 3pm, the women will be playing the University of Wolverhampton whilst the men will play Birmingham City University (BCU) at 5pm. Rebellion will be a key match for both teams as they battle for places in their respective leagues, making it a tense fixture for everyone involved.

Kate Biddulph, the Women’s 1s Captain, encourages everyone to come down and watch the matches. “Tickets are only £3 for a bleachers ticket and £5 for a courtside ticket,” she told UBSport. “So it’s cheap and cheerful. Bring all your friends, bring all your housemates, it’ll be a really good time.”

Taylor Bernard, the Captain of the Men’s 1, echoed Biddulph’s enthusiasm. “It’s our biggest basketball game of the year,” he said. “We have all our fans and supporters come out and watch us. It’ll be great fun.”

 

Saturday’s event will also include a half time performance by the Birmingham Pussycats who many will remember from XpLosION and Engage earlier this year. It goes to show that Rebellion is not just a basketball game, but an event that the whole university community can get behind.

 

As for the league, Rebellion is a good opportunity for both teams to climb up the table. For the women, Biddulph was keen to make an impact. “It’s a really important game,” she said. “It’s been really tough obviously without having competition last year for us to pick up some momentum and gel as a team. So I think we’re at a really important point where we could really make this a good win and potentially make second in the table.”

 

Bernard also stressed the high stakes of the match. “For our Rebellion fixture we will be playing BCU who are currently top of the table,” he told UBSport. “We are fighting to beat Worcester in mid-table so it’s important that we get this win.”

Despite the importance of the matches, both teams are excited to play basketball again in front of home crowds. Matt Dunn, who will be playing in his first Rebellion, had no doubt in what it meant to the players. “I’m personally very excited for it, so are the team,” he said. “We haven’t performed in front of a crowd in a long time so it’s going to be brilliant to have the atmosphere and the support.”

 

If you would like to watch Rebellion, there’s still time to buy tickets! Just follow the link below to purchase your tickets now! The even promises to be one to remember so don’t miss it!

 

To buy your tickets, click here!

The women's rugby team pose for a celebratory team photo between the rugby posts at University of BirminghamCategoriesStudent News

Double Victory for Birmingham Lions at Engage

After dominating performances, UoB’s men’s and women’s rugby clubs triumphed over Nottingham Trent and Loughborough at Engage.

Opening the second Super Series event of the year with the women’s match, the event looked fated to be a spectacular one. The pre-match build-up heard a lot of talk about the talent in Loughborough’s squad, especially with their impressive undefeated league record heading into the game. For other teams, they may have felt defeated before the match had even begun. But for Birmingham, they seemed to thrive under the pressure. Within the first six minutes, Amber Swinglehurst had broken through the Loughborough defensive line and scored the first try of the match, which was swiftly converted by Sophie Jones to make the score 7-0 Birmingham.

A stunned Loughborough team then made several mistakes in quick succession, allowing for Charlotte Daley to make a fantastic run down the left wing to score the second try of the match. Once again, Sophie Jones was cool under pressure and made a difficult conversion with ease. Loughborough managed to sneak in a lucky try off a loose ball but, heading into half time, Birmingham looked to be in control.

The second half was where the real fireworks began. Charlotte Daley once again stormed down the left wing, dodging three opposing players before she dove over the try line. Another collected conversion by Sophie Jones, followed by tries for Vice Captain Sophie Jarett and Molly Chidzey, brought the score up to 31-12. With the end of the match in sight, Charlotte Daley made an incredible interception to score her hat-trick in the 81st minute of the game.

The final score: 36-12, with Charlotte Daley winning a well-deserved Player of the Match.

It was a tough act to follow, but the men certainly lived up to expectations. Like the women, they made their mark quickly, with Matt Harrison scoring within the first five minutes and leaving Nottingham Trent scrambling to keep up. Despite an equaliser soon after, the Lions took this in their stride with Harrison scoring his second of the night which was coolly converted by Nick Blain. Birmingham barely played a minute in their own half, scoring two more tries in quick succession before Trent finally managed to score again, making it 24-14.

With half time looming, Will Pearce made an excellent run through the Trent defence, diving over the try line much to the crowd’s excitement. A successful conversion by Blain saw Birmingham heading back to their dugout firmly in control with the score at 31-14.

After half time, the tries just kept coming. Some fantastic play from Traynor and Bugg ended with tries for each of them, the Lion’s score creeping higher as the minutes went on. As players began to tire, Nottingham Trent started to make a small comeback, scoring two tries quickly to bring the score up to 50-37. But the Lions had the last say, finishing the game with a bang by scoring and converting their last try in the dying seconds of the match.

Final score: 57-42, with Will Pearce winning Player of the Match for his excellent contribution.

With Engage over for another year, both teams can reflect on their success as they start to think about recruitment once again for next season. There’s never been a more exciting time to play rugby and it’s safe to say that this year’s event will go down as one of the most successful Super Series events ever. It was certainly a night to remember.