The University of Birmingham’s Men’s Rugby League team showed their sheer determination as they triumphed against Loughborough.
The game began in the hands of Loughborough who scored a try and converted it within the first five minutes of the match, 6-0 to Loughborough. The ball continued to remain predominately in the hands of Loughborough. It did not seem likely that Birmingham would be able to make their mark on the game. However, a missed penalty by Loughborough signaled the turning of tables as Birmingham scored a try and conversion thus leveling the match at 6-6. This ignited a fire inside Birmingham as despite the falling temperature, Birmingham’s Joe Price scored a try 26 minutes into the game after a forward pass by Loughborough gave ball possession to Birmingham. Price missed the conversion thereby bringing the score to 10-6 for Birmingham.
Birmingham continued to roar as they persisted in applying pressure on Loughborough who struggled against Birmingham’s defence. Growing in confidence, Birmingham continued to look strong as a mistake from Loughborough allowed Birmingham to quickly recover the ball and score another try, the conversion was missed, bringing the score 14-6 to Birmingham. Under immense pressure, Loughborough missed yet another opportunity for a try because of a knock on and Birmingham added another converted try. The score at half-time stood at 20-6 for Birmingham.
The second half was quieter than the first and was marred by injuries on both sides. Having failed to extinguish the fire within Birmingham, the pressure made Loughborough’s frustration apparent as they made many mistakes. However, they were not alone in this. Birmingham dropped the ball fifteen minutes into the second half, and then only a minute later when a try seemed certain, a forward pass meant the second half remained scoreless.
At the blow of the whistle, Birmingham earned a well deserved victory with a score of 20-6.
