The University of Gloucestershire men’s football (UOGMF) third team captain Ellis Woodland admits his team “have to learn” from their Western Conference Trophy final defeat to Southampton Solent.
UOGMF were beaten 3-0 in the final on Wednesday 9 March, falling to a disappointing defeat following the adulation of their penalty shootout wins over Plymouth second team and Solent third team in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
Despite beating Solent third team in the previous round, UOGMF fell to defeat against the same university’s fourth team, but Woodland believes it simply wasn’t their day.
“It’s hard to say [what went wrong], I think the lads gave their all really. It’s been a tough season and we’ve all done really well in the cup, but it just didn’t fall for us [in the final].
“There were no real clear-cut chances in the second-half, even though the ball was in their half most of the time. The lads gave everything, and they scored two on the break so I can’t complain with the lads’ effort.”
As captain, Woodland understood his responsibility to motivate the rest of the squad. “I just told them to keep their heads up. They’ve got their heads down right now which is understandable but they’re young players.
“Luckily I’ve got one year of university left, for some of them it’s their last year, but for some of them it’s their first year, so hopefully we’ll get another chance. We just have to go again and learn from it. You don’t get many finals in men’s football.”
Solent fourth team remarkably beat their third team in the league, topping their division to win a historic double on the same day. For UOGMF however, the league hasn’t been so kind with results going against them, despite some impressive recent performances. The team need a point in the final game of the campaign to maintain their status in the Western Tier 5B division.
However, the team managed by Tom Deakin face the division winners, the University of West England third team, so it won’t be an easy task for the side bottom of the table, a fact Woodland acknowledged.
“We’ve got a huge game next week. The lads have got their heads down at the minute but we’ve got to treat the match on Wednesday as another cup final for us, and hopefully have that winning feeling at the end of that one. Dust ourselves off and we go again. It’s a massive game,” he concluded.
