Newcastle University

On the 24 March 2012 both of Newcastle's Medics teams travelled up to Dundee for the annual National Association of Medical Schools Football Tournament (NAMS) with the hope of bringing back the trophy to Newcastle for the first time in the competitions 21 year history.

The event is considered by most Medical School football teams as the highlight of the footballing calendar and the trophy is the most fiercely competitive and highly coveted piece of silverware.

Both Newcastle teams travelled up to Dundee on the back of successful seasons, the 1sts top of the Intra Mural Saturday Premiership and the 2nds top and unbeaten in their Intra Mural Wednesday league campaign. Both teams were looking to stake a strong claim for the trophy, but it was the Newcastle Medics 2nds that ran out eventual winners with the 1sts knocked out at the quarters by eventual finalists Manchester.

The tournament was structures in a Champions League format with 32 men's teams, divided into groups of 4 playing each team once in 20 minute matches. The tournament started shaky at best, with a 1-0 defeat to Leeds 1s but that was enough of a wakeup call for the 2nds. 2-0 and an impressive 4-0 win over Dundee 3s as York 1s respectively saw Newcastle Medics 2nds into the knock-out stages against a strong Bristol 1s.

An extremely fast tempo match with Newcastle having the bulk of possession and chances ended in a 0-0 draw resulting in an epic penalty shoot-out, each team having to take 16 penalties before Newcastle wound up eventual winners.

The quarter-final fixture against Dublin was a close affair but a hard fought 1-0 victory was enough for Medics 2nds to progress to the last 4 of the tournament

By the semi-final round against Brighton 1s both teams had extremely tired legs and the game ended 0-0 at full time.  This meant Newcastle Medics 2nds now well practised penalty takers had to go through the agony once more, but after 9 penalties they were through.

The final against Manchester 1s, arguably the most historic team in the competition having won it 7 times in its history including an impressive period in the 90s which included 4 consecutive wins. Full of confidence and with a great support behind them, Newcastle Medics 2nds started brightly in an extremely competitive and even match which was settled by a penalty in normal time.

Newcastle Medics 2nds ran out deserved winners of the tournament with a goal tally of 8 goals for and only 1 against.  They have brought the trophy back to Newcastle for the first time in its history and look forward to mounting a strong defence of the title next year.

As winners, Newcastle has the honour of hosting the event the following year, which draws nearly 1000 people to the tournament and makes for a terrific event to play in and a magnificent spectacle to watch. Hope everyone will look forward to Newcastle NAMS 2013.