Loughborough Academy 7-4 Nottingham Trent match report

Loughborough Academy and Nottingham Trent went head to head in the second National League 2 fixture of the season. In the unusual setting of the Radmoor Centre, at Loughborough College, Loughborough Academy earning a well deserved 7-4 win.Nathan Riches opened the scoring after three minutes with a well worked team goal, quickly doubled by Ollie Brant in the sixth minute.

Former Grimsby Town and England U19s Liam Hulse countered to make it 3-0 in the twelfth minute adding to his hat trick against Tranmere Rovers. Trent responded within short succession to take the score to 3-2. However the persistence of  Loughborough Academy paid off:  a long range effort from Jordan Astell took the score to 4-2 just before half time.

In the second half, Loughborough Academy continued to dominate. Nathan Riches doubled his tally following great team play and possession. Within one minute, Loughborough Academy captain, Steven Dovey extended the lead to 6-2. As the game drew to a close both teams scored with Ollie Burton claiming his third for the season before a late consolation from  Trent.

Captain Steven Dovey summarised:

“It was another good performance individually and collectively from a group of lads as talented as I’ve ever played with. The court did not suit our style of play but the team worked hard from players 1-12 in the squad, playing some great stuff. Following our first two games I’m left feeling very optimistic for the season and really believe with our squad we are one of the teams to beat despite being young and having not trained together for long. On the whole it has been a great start but we are focused on being even better for the rest of the season”.