#BleedGreen magazine - Issue Three: Finals Week special

#BLEEDGREENTHE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING’S SPORTS UNION

ONE DAY. ONE MATCH. ONE TROPHY. ONE UNIVERSITY. ONE WINNER.

ISSUE #3 - FINALS SPECIAL 2014

ISSUE THREE - FINALS WEEK SPECIAL

IT’S FINALS TIME

”#BLEEDGREENEditorialE-mail [email protected] Stuart KennyContent Stuart KennyPictures Rob Adair, Zoe Birkbeck, David Christie, University of StirlingThanks to Rebecca Gracey, Jonny Adamson, Khan Williams-Mitchell, Tomos Jones, Robert Orr, Craig Black, Cammy Murrie, Robyn Pick, Chloe McIlwaine

Sports Union ExecutivePresidentRebecca [email protected] [email protected] OfficerStuart [email protected] OfficerPaige [email protected] [email protected] OfficerOdhran [email protected]

Media contactsBrigGraham [email protected] SportStuart [email protected] [email protected] SportRobert [email protected] [email protected] StirSportJonny [email protected]

WELCOME

#BleedGreen Spring 2014 2

It’s clear to see just how much the chance to claim some silverware really

does mean to everyone involved

Stuart KennyEditorSports Union Communications Officer

@Stuartkenny

CONNECT WITH YOUR All the latest in updates from around the world of sport at the University of Stirling, as well as instant news access, in-game photographs and the latest match results at www.facebook.com/StirlingSportsUnion

Exclusive on the go updates from the team at your sports union. Capturing the University sport scene blow by blow, 140 characters at a time @StirUniSports

Hello once again and welcome to our third and latest edition of your offi-

cial Sports Union magazine #BleedGreen.This issue is a special mini-edition of the maga-zine, where we’ve reduced the page count and will be focusing entirely on the BUCS and Scottish Student Sport Championship finals that are coming up later this week.Inside this issue you’ll find words with a variety of clubs; volleyball, football, tennis, hockey and American football outlet the Stirling Clansmen.

It’s clear to see from hav-ing a quick word with each of these teams just how much it means to everyone involved to have a chance to claim silverware, and with the confidence at a massive high surrounding each of the teams involved, we have ev-ery reason to expect that there will be at least some cups coming back to campus in the next week.The tennis men’s first team, football men and Clansmen

will be competing for the British title while the

hockey and tennis ladies and volleyball

men are chasing Scottish titles.

Good luck to all in-volved and here’s hoping

we’ve got some more tro-phies in the cabinet come

the start of next week. Enjoy your latest issue of the magazine. With Thanks,

10 We catch up with hockey first team freshers Robyn Pick and Chloe McIlwaine as the ladies hockey team aim to take the treble with a de-feat of Edinburgh’s third side in the Scottish Student Sport cup final

FINALS SPECIAL 2014

REGULARS

FEATURES

CONTENTS


CLANSMEN P.O8

TENNIS P.06

LADIES HOCKEY GEAR UP TO BATTLE IT OUT FOR THE TREBLE WIN P.10

VOLLEYBALLP.14

FOOTBALL P.6

04 Rebecca Gracey An update from your Sports Union President

06 We talk to tennis club president Jonny Adamson about the upcoming men’s first British final and wom-en’s second team’s Scottish Student Sport final in Dundee

14 Volleyball president Cammy Murrie talks exclusively to the Sports Union mag-azine ahead of his club’s men’s first SSS final showdown with Napier University in Dundee

16 We chat to football first team freshers Tomos Jones and Khan Williams-Mitchell about their upcoming BUCS Championship final with Loughbor-ough University

”

08 The Clansmen talk to #BleedGreen after qualifying for their first British cup final since they lifted the crown against Hertfordshire in 2003.

”Hello all,

firstly I would like to give massive congrat-ulations and well done

to all the teams this year,

especially those who are going to the Conference Cup Final games on Wednesday in Dundee or are competing for a British title in the next week.It’s a great achievement to reach a national final, and it is never easy. Teams need to be consistently solid and put in a massive work load through-out their campaign but to get that day out at the final makes it all worth while, and I have no doubt that we’ll be bringing back some trophies to Stirling in the next few days.All of the teams this year have performed at an incredible, high standard throughout the year though, whether they have the opportunity to now take cup success or not. With loads of teams receiv-ing promotions and several making finals as well it is clear

that sport at Stirling is going from strength to strength. This is something that is

absolutely wonderful to see as I reach the end of my tenure as the Sports Union president, and it really has been a great year to be involved in sport at the university.To all those involved in the fi-nals day on Wednesday and to the Clansmen who play their British final later on in the week, here’s a big good luck from everyone on the sports team at Stirling and i’m sure all of the students in the sports union too.This should be a great upcom-ing week for the university and hopefully when Sports Ball ar-rives at the end of April we’ll have a lot of wins to celebrate.Wishing all those involved in finals this week the best of luck. Go for gold and always #bleedgreen.

Yours in Sport,

Rebecca Gracey

Sports Union President #BleedGreen Spring 2014 4

REBECCA

GRACEYAll the latest from your Sports Union president

@Becca1719

With loads of teams promoted and several making finals it is clear

that sport at Stirling is going from strength to strength



With seven teams to their name it’s safe to say that the Uni-versity of Stirling’s tennis club are one of the biggest sporting

outlets on campus, and with two cup finals coming up this Wednesday it’s going to be a massive week for the club.The next few days will see the men’s first tennis team travel to Sheffield to take on long-time rivals Durham for the British ti-tle, while the newly formed women’s sec-ond side will face off against league rivals Dundee firsts in the Scottish Student Sport Championships.Durham pipped the Stirling men to the BUCS Premier North league title this term, but the women’s second team are still bat-tling Dundee for promotion to the second tier of Scottish tennis with fixtures still re-maining in the Scottish 3A. Plenty of sub-plots in these two ties then, and club President Jonathan Adamson ad-mits that both fixtures are likely to come down to the wire.“It’s going to be very, very tight,” he said. “We’re taking down pretty much a full squad of guys to the final in Sheffield. I don’t think the team is even picked yet but we’re just trying to tactically think about it. “The match is going to be very close in both the singles and the doubles, but it’ll be good. That’s what you want. It would’ve

TENNIS“Both finals are going to be very, very

tight. Each team has a rivalry

with their Wednesday opponent.”

TENNIS PRESIDENT JONATHAN ADAMSON TALKS TO #BLEEDGREEN


been a shame if we had been drawn against Durham earlier in the cup. It’s good to get them in the final because we’re the two best teams.“The ladies are playing a Dundee first team that we’ve beaten once and lost too once this year so it’s definitely going to be tight,” added the club president.“At the moment it’s between these two teams to get league promotion up a divi-sion too. Dundee are quite a strong side so there’s a bit of rivalry there already. It’s quite similar to the men and Durham.”The tennis club are an outlet known not only for their numbers but also for their suc-cess. The team are regular victors in BUCS competition, and after the men took home the BUCS Championship crown last year, Adamson reckons they are more than capa-ble of retaining it now.He continued: “We won the final last year which will add a little edge to it and psy-chologically as well that just gives us a little bit of an edge. The guys will be especially keen to try and win it back after we lost the league, so there’s a little bit of tension.“I think [our reputation] is an advantage because it means that we’ve done all this before and have guys that are experienced. Especially the men’s first team are a bit old-er; they’re all now master’s students and they’ve been there and won these things.

“There’s also pressure again though just to keep winning and this would be the first bit of silverware the teams have got this year if we can win on Wednesday – for both the ladies and the guys.“Every match is going to be close and it’ll really be on the day that we’ll have to see what happens.”The competitive on-court action is indeed a massive factor for Adamson’s club, and the president was quick to admit that the forma-tion of the women’s second team has been a major breakthrough after struggling in the past to field a ladies team at all.When asked if the development of the team was the highlight of the year for the club this far, Adamson did not hesitate in stating: “Yes. I mean overall it gives us seven teams with five men and two ladies and that is an achievement in itself having so many players playing every Wednesday. “They’ve not lost many matches this year as well so it’s quite impressive.“It’s good to have so much depth in the girl’s squad because a couple of years ago to even get one ladies team out could be tough at times. To be able to get two out is really brilliant.“They’ve not had a second team before, so they’ve kind of just been put together and they’ve done extremely well. It’s a tough, tough cup that one.” n

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLINGWOMEN’S SECOND TEAMVS.DUNDEEin Dundee

MEN’S FIRST TEAMVS.

DURHAMin Sheffield


CLANSMENTHE CLANSMEN’S CRAIG BLACK SPEAKS TO

#BLEEDGREEN AHEAD OF HIS SIDE’S BRITISH TITLE SHOWDOWN WITH THE BIRMINGHAM LIONS

The Stirling Clansmen have secured their place in the final of the Nation-al Championship after proving the Imperial Immortals’ name false

with a commanding 48-0 defeat of the London-based outlet.The result sees the side earn the right to take on the defending Birmingham champions in Leeds this Saturday, and will give them the chance to win the biggest student prize in the Britain game for the first time since they claimed the crown in 2003.For Craig Black, a student in his fifth year at the university who has now played his final game in Stirling for the team, Sunday’s win was not just a victory, but a result that ensures he will get the chance to end his Clansmen career with a national title win.“It means everything,” said Black, talking shortly after the match. ”In my first year with the team we got to the plate final, which is the kind of under-tournament where all the third or fourth place teams play. We got there and we lost, but now I think we’ve come full circle and we’ve come back to where we thought we should be.“We hold ourselves as one of the top teams in the country when we practice and it’s great that now we’re going to go and get the chance to show it next Saturday.“The final is going to be the culmination of all of the weeks that we’ve spent in the rain and the cold, all the days of going through practice when we didn’t really want to. It’s going to be everything that we’ve been working towards.”While the Clansmen contingent were under-

standably reserved when speaking direct-ly about their Championship prospects pre-match though, Black admits the team did have one eye on the final in the run up to their tie with the Immortals.The team will now come up against a Birming-ham Lions side that knocked them out of the play-offs in the final seconds of their first round encounter last term. On that occasion, it was a heartbreaking late loss for the Clan over a side that many of the team feel they should have been triumphant. For Black, the rematch presents an opportunity to right past wrongs on the biggest stage in the British student game.


“I don’t think there is a team in Britain who can stop us.

Who knows what the final will hold. I can’t wait.”

The athlete continued: “With all due respect to our opponents this week we did have one eye on the final. “We wanted to go out there and get the win and play as well as we could, but with the full expectation of winning this game and going out and playing next week; in the big one.“To mention a wee quote that Kyle [Zahariev] gave last week, there is definitely some ‘poetic romance’ in the fact that we have got Birming-ham, but there also would have been if we had gotten Hertfordshire – the first time our team ever won the National Championship, which was in 2003, we beat Hertfordshire in the final.“If you ask me though, I would rather it was

Birmingham. I would love to play them.”After racking up 134 points and conceding just seven in their play-off campaign so far then, the Clan have certainly justified their number one seeding for the tournament.There may have been much talk before the knock-out rounds about the legitimacy of the Scottish champions, but their recent ties have certainly dispelled all of that.So, is there any chance of another 30+ point Clansmen masterclass when Saturday arrives? “Who knows,” laughed Black. “I don’t think that there is a team in Britain that can stop us. So who knows what the final will bring. I just cannot wait.” n

STIRLING CLANSMEN vs. BIRMINGHAM LIONS , LEEDS


LADIESHOCKEY

“The only time you see success before work is in

the dictionary. Our success has definitely come down to our massive work rate.”

#BLEEDGREEN CATCH UP WITH HOCKEY FRESHERS CHLOE MCILWAINE AND ROBYN PICK AHEAD OF THE FIRST TEAM’S SSS

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL CLASH ON WEDNESDAY

BUCS PROMOTION. NATIONAL PROMOTION.IT’S TIME TO TAKE THE TREBLE.


After securing promotion from both the BUCS Scottish 3A league and the Women’s National Third Divi-sion, the attention of the ladies’

hockey first team at the University of Stir-ling is now firmly focused on a cup final victory this Wednesday.The club will come up against Edinburgh University’s third side in a clash that will see a first ever cup final for the student club, and fresher Chloe McIlwaine admits is has been a privilege to be a part of such a successful side in her first year at university.The left inner is eager to get going in the competition final, and believes that the hard work that has already earned the stu-dents a double promotion will again see them prevail this week.“A professional rugby player once told me that the only time you see success before work is in the dictionary,” she said. “And our success has definitely come down to the massive work rate the team have put in this season.“We train extremely hard, and it has totally been worth it. Every training session has been something different, which we have practiced and improved on. We also had strength and conditioning in the gym to help with flexibility, recurring injuries and making sure our team was extremely fit for every game.“I can’t believe that in my first year, I am getting to play in something like this al-ready. I am extremely proud of the team

and myself for being part of it. I am just excited to get out on the pitch and show everyone what SULHC (Stirling University Ladies Hockey Club) is made of.”With a potential treble on the line for the students if they can claim the Champion-ship crown, there is every reason to sus-pect that the pressure of the occasion may be mounting on the players.McIlwaine insists that this factor will not play a major role in the midweek match in Dundee though, and believes that if any-thing, the prospect will only spur them on to further success.She continued: “I don’t think [the oppor-tunity to claim the treble] will add an extra element on the day. The girls and I just need to be focused on the task ahead of us and make sure we can get a positive outcome.“The only pressure being applied to the players will be from themselves. It will be an emotional day for the girls in their final year, but if anything, because it is their last game, the team as a whole will step up to this challenge.”The player was quick to admit that she has loved being involved in the club thUs far, and hopes that future years in the team can be as fruitful as this.“I have loved every minute at the hockey club. On the pitch with the first team, and then at the socials with the whole club - everyone has made me feel so welcome. “I’m really excited for the years ahead that i’ll have with the club.” n

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING VERSUS

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 3sDUNDEE, KO.2PM

MCILWAINE: WE DESERVE THIS CUP


First year student Robyn Pick is confident that the ladies’ hockey first team can triumph over the third

side from Edinburgh when the sides meet up in the Scottish Student Sport Championship final in Dundee this week.The team have already claimed a double promotion this sea-son, and will next year play their hockey alongside their midweek cup rivals in the BUCS Scottish 2A league.Despite the fact that the capital side are currently in a higher di-vision than the Stirling students, Pick believes that there is no strong favourite in the game and that her and her teammates are more than capable of picking up the win.She said: “There is an extremely strong belief that we can go out and get a win on Wednesday. “We’ve had a fantastic season so far and if we carry the con-fidence we’ve had all season through to the final on Wednes-day then we can get the win. “I don’t think that either team are a clear favourite to win and the fact that they are in the league above us doesn’t come in to it. It just depends how both teams perform on the day.”While Pick may have only linked up with the university team last semester, the student revealed that she was confident all along of a successful campaign with the club.The student admits that a cup final win would be the perfect way to cap off the season, and reckons it would be a well earned triumph after a lot of hard work from the team.“It would really mean a lot to the whole team if we come

ROBYN PICK: WE CAN GO ALL THE WAY

away with a win in the final on Wednesday,” she continued. “We’ve had a fantastic season so far and we deserve to win after all the hard work every-one has put in. “We always knew we had a re-ally strong team and thought that we were going to have a successful season.

“I’ve had an amazing first year with the hockey club. The stan-dard of hockey that has been played throughout the season has been fantastic. “It has also been a brilliant opportunity to get to know an amazing group of girls that you can always rely on and have a laugh with!” n



VOLLEYBALL

“Although Napier have beaten us twice this

season, there is noth-ing the team want more than to get revenge on

the big stage”

#BLEEDGREEN MAGAZINE CATCHES UP WITH VOLLEYBALL

PRESIDENT CAMMY MURRIE

MEN’S

Volleyball president Cammy Murrie believes that Wednesday’s Scot-tish Championship final

will provide the perfect stage for his club to take revenge on a Napier side that have beaten them twice already this season. The students will need to over-come a capital club that have beaten them 3-0 and 3-1 on league duties in the past term if they are to claim the cup win.While the Stirling outlet may have fallen to defeat from the Edinburgh side in the past though, Murrie admits he is ex-tremely confident that they can right their past losses in the final, and believes the rush of the occasion will help his team raise their game.“The players we have definitely respond well to the big occa-sions and although they [Na-pier] have beaten us twice this season in two very close games, there is nothing the team want more than to get revenge on the big stage,” he said.“I think it will be a close game just like the two league fix-tures. Both teams have some big hitters but I feel that hav-ing an experienced coach who

has worked tirelessly with us all year will see the benefits of his hard work pay off when we edge it.“Everyone loves an underdog in the important games. I’m hoping that the status of us be-ing the underdog and not being expected to win will help relax the players before the game which will aid our team perfor-mance.”Certainly, Stirling will go into the match with the odds against them after a struggling BUCS league campaign that current-ly sees them sitting second to bottom in front of only Glasgow Caledonian.While Napier’s third place po-sition in the Scottish 2A league

will give them confidence ahead of the tie though, cup wins against the likes of Abertay and Heriot-Watt have shown what Stirling are capable of produc-ing, and Murrie is looking for-ward to a big performance in the cup.The student continued: “I think to be in any final is something that everyone as a player should be looking forward to, but with the up and down season we’ve had, it’s our last opportunity to gain something from this year and myself and all the players are definitely up for the chal-lenge.“Team confidence is probably the highest it’s been through-out the whole season. We have trained really well all week and the players know that if we all play to the level of performance we know we can then we have a chance at the gold medal.“It will be who wins the scrappy rallies that will come out on top. If the team work for each oth-er and don’t let the ball hit the ground by putting their bodies on the line then by the end of the day I have no doubts we will be bringing home the cup to Stirling.” n

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING VERSUS

NAPIER UNIVERSITYDUNDEE, KO.2PM

RECENT RESULTS(H) HERIOT-WATT, 3-0 WIN(H) NAPIER, 3-1 LOSS(A) ABERTAY, 3-1 WIN(A) RGU, 3-0 LOSS(H) DUNDEE, 3-1 LOSS(A) NAPIER, 3-0 LOSS(A) ABERTAY, 3-1 LOSS(A) HERIOT-WATT, 3-0 WIN



FOOTBALL“It’s a chance to

create history for the university and to be involved is special.”

#BLEEDGREEN MAGAZINE TALKS TO TOMOS JONES AND KHAN WILLIAMS-MITCHELL

MEN’S

The season so far has been a domestic suc-cess story for the University of Stirling’s

first team football side.After reclaiming the BUCS Premier North title that they failed to defend last year, the club reinstated themselves as the best team in Britain and have a golden chance to consolidate that position when they face off against Loughborough in the final of the BUCS Championships this Wednesday.Having never before won the premier university tour-nament, a triumphant perfor-

mance midweek would sig-nal yet another advance for a club that have enjoyed a bright recent past.Having failed to beat their Loughborough rivals in either of their two meetings thus far though, with one 2-1 loss and one 1-1 draw to their name, it will no doubt be a tough encounter when they travel to the neutral Surrey venue.Despite past results though, first year stars Khan Wil-liams-Mitchell and Tomos Jones are confident that they can take home the trophy and make university history in the process.

“It would be massive for ev-eryone,” said Jones. “It’s a chance to create history for the university and to be in-volved will make it special.“We expect a very tough game. Loughborough are al-ways a good side and we’ve faced them twice this season and could have won both but were just a little unlucky hitting the framework three times.“In finals anything can hap-pen. I think it’s pretty even and there is no clear favourite but we as a team I think that we can win and it will take a very good performance from


the opposition to win it.“We are very confident though. Everyone is looking forward to be playing in a big final and to get a chance to create history.”“Of course it would be a good achievement to win the cup in my first year,” added Wil-liams-Mitchell. “But there’s still a game to be played and Loughborough are a good side.“If it’s anything like the last time we played them, it will be a very tight game with both teams trying to play good football.”Defender Jones and mid-field man Williams-Mitchell have both played a crucial part in the new look Stirling first team that brought the Premier North title back to the university.The team secured the league win with a 3-1 home defeat

of Nottingham that saw both Jones and William-Mitchell find the scoresheet, and the players admit it has been an enjoyable first season with the club so far.Jones revealed: “Scoring to help the team win the league was great. It definitely made it a little bit better that it was to win the league. Hopefully I can impact the game the same way on Wednesday.“I’ve enjoyed my first year a lot; it’s been very busy with university work, games and the occasional night out. It would be a great ending to my first year to win a cup.”Williams-Mitchell continued: “Yeah I’ve enjoyed my first year with the team. My form picked up from November and from then onwards I’ve been able to keep myself in and around the first team.“I think the BUCS league

and the Lowland League have been our main focus-es this year. A lot of rotation has been made in the squad in order to priorities the two leagues.”With the BUCS league title wrapped up and the BUCS Championship final to come, the opportunity for a presti-gious treble trophy haul re-mains, with the club sitting behind only Spartans in their first year in the SPFL’s Low-land League.William-Mitchell was keen to downplay any focus re-garding the prospects of the treble however, insisting the team must take one game at a time to succeed.“To be honest no one has really spoken about it,” he concluded. “I think the main thing for us is to not get car-ried away and play one game at a time.” n

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING vs. LOUGHBOROUGH , SURREY

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING’S SPORTS UNION

ISSUE #3 - FINALS DAY SEPCIAL 2014

#BleedGreen magazine - Issue Three: Finals Week special

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