Nottingham Trent took the honours and city bragging rights for the second year in a row as they defeated University of Nottingham 8-6 in the BUCS Men’s Championship final.

Trent had to do things the hard way, clawing back an early three-goal deficit to finally go ahead in the final quarter and never relinquishing the lead thanks to a shutout second-half.

UoN looked poised to cause an upset in overturning the reigning champions and 2024 Premier North league winners, but NTU and Brady McFalls composure in front of goal proved decisive as he led the game with five goals to see boys in pink home.

UoN came out of the blocks noticeably quicker, going ahead through Billy Styche off an extra man opportunity, before two goals in under a minute from Tommy Rooney and Ethan Holthaus capped off a roaring start for the green and gold for a 3-0 lead after just six minutes.

Trent took a timeout and regrouped, retaining more ball for the rest of the quarter and slowing the game down to a tempo that suited them and allowed them to begin to dictate, Brady McFalls cutting the deficit by one off Trent’s own EMO.

Trent pulled back another at the start of Q2, and despite Rooney getting his second for UoN, NTU did well again in controlling the majority of possession and taking their opportunities to level at 4-4.

The play then moved pretty freely from end-to-end for the rest of the half, with both teams having chances, Nicky Palermo for NTU and Rooney, bagging his hat-trick for UoN, adding a goal apiece for 5-5.

And when Owen Caputo, the Duke University grad and NCAA Championship runner-up who had been restricted two assists up until that point, bagged a goal just before the buzzer, UoN showed they were in it for the long haul.

After a ferocious first-half, the play began to settle down, and it was the defences taking centre-stage as goalies Cole Hiller for NTU, and Joachim Ruby for UoN, made numerous saves.

A McFalls goal midway through the third period was the only goal of the quarter, and took the game into the final 15 on an absolute knife edge at 6-6.

And the Washington College recruit McFalls was deadly again, isolating his defender one-on-one and taking him on the outside to score from a tight angle to put NTU up for the first time in the match.

A disallowed goal for Trent’s Robbie Guglielmo then caused controversy as his effort to put his side 8-6 ahead was chalked off for failing a stick check and saw his side go a man down for three minutes.

However, Trent saw off the penalty time and McFalls did finally put the game out of danger, sealing the victory and the match MVP award for his five goals, including both final quarter scores.

The win completed the BUCS double for Nottingham Trent, and a third Men’s Championship for Head Coach Sam Patterson.

Box Score: 1:3; 5:6; 6:6; 8:6

Trent Points: Brady McFalls (5G), Nicky Palermo (2G, 1A), Blair Pachereva (1G), Ethan Caldwell (1A)

UoN Points: Tommy Rooney (3G), Owen Caputo (1G, 2A), Sam Griffiths (2A), Billy Styche (1G), Ethan Holthaus (1G)

MVP: Brady McFalls - Nottingham Trent

In the Men’s Trophy competition, Leeds fought off a rousing Sussex comeback to win 7-6 take the BUCS title.

The Yorkshire side seemed fairly comfortable throughout, looking the dominant side without moving away with the game until a final quarter push from Sussex had the game all-square with five minutes to play.

But Owen Atkinson managed to score to end Sussex’s streak and help Leeds to see the game out and seal the trophy.

Box Score: 3:1; 5:2; 6:4; 7-6

Leeds Points: Leo Butterworth (2G, 1A), Owen Atkinson (2G), Tom Wallis (1G, 1A), Marco Shelton (1G), Adam Rogers (1G)

Sussex Points: Benton Martin (2G), Wyatt Shipley (2G), Michael O’Brien (1G, 1A), Charles Vasilakakos (1G), Thomas Deschenes (1A)

MVP: Adam Rogers - Leeds