by Bryn Goodall & Editor
DESPITE a difficult start to the campaign, Hartpury made it through to the BUCS football Championship final to face USW this evening.
The two teams meet in Nottingham, having already encountered each other twice this year in league competition.
Their first was at the start of the season in October. USW played hosts to Hartpury and the home side ran out 2-0 winners on the day. The reverse fixture was played in November and ended all square at 0-0.
USW finished the campaign as league leaders of the BUCS Football Premier South, with Hartpury in second place.
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Hartpury beat Northumbria 3-1 to go into the BUCS National final in 2 weeks time to face USW⚽️
Goals from Hamilton, Harding and Page sealed the victory!
Great effort from the lads💪🏼🔥#DNA #ProudToBelong pic.twitter.com/2U6psi2U89
— Hartpury Football (@HartpuryFC) March 13, 2019
Former Cardiff City Academy player Isaac Kelly is in his second year of studies at Hartpury. He also plays for Gloucester City in the National League South.
The defender explained that Hartpury’s season had been one of lows and highs.
“We had a very up and down start to the season with our starting eleven changing most games,” he said.
“We had to grind out results in matches that we should’ve won more convincingly.”
Turning defeat to motivation
The turning point came following a 3-2 defeat to USW’s closest rivals Cardiff Metropolitan University. It was a major motivational factor for Hartpury.
“The lowest we’ve been this season was when we lost 3-2 to Met at home when we were winning 2-0 comfortably at half time, then threw it away in the second half.
“We have used that loss for motivation and it has helped us to see out games better and make sure we hold onto the lead.”
While the season wasn’t as consistent as Hartpury would have liked, there were highs.
“A high was when we went to Northumbria and won 3-1 in the semis,” added Kelly.
“We produced a great performance which reflected in the convincing result.”
Nullifying USW’s threats
League form will not matter this evening however and Kelly is confident that his side can get the job done against USW, who have been undefeated this campaign.
“We know exactly what USW are like and what they’re capable of by playing them twice already in the league.
“They’re a well-drilled outfit who defend well and I am not surprised that they’ve had a lot of success this season.
“However, we’ve been doing a lot of analysis of USW, of their players and the way they play. We’ve got the strongest side we could possibly have heading into the final and believe that we have the right system and personnel to nullify any threats they can cause.
“We fully believe that we deserve to be in the final and USW have our respect but we believe we are going to get the job done on Wednesday night.”
