Oxford’s Women’s 2nd XI took centre stage on Monday as they thrashed a strong Cambridge team 5-1, surprising even themselves as they dominated a match which was much closer than the score suggests. Oxford started sharply, quickly going 2-0 up thanks to 2 goals from Riki Gale, making her last outing for the Monkeys. Cambridge threatened briefly at 2-1 but goals from Morvan Allen, Helen Macadam and a late strike from Sian Roberts secured a great win. The difference between the 2 sides came in the form of Jess Hughes, Oxford’s Goalkeeper. “She was just a woman-possessed.” said the Monkey’s Captain, Aynsley Bruce, “It seemed like she’d be able to stop anything Cambridge threw at her. It helped that their keeper was utterly pathetic, but Jess still deserves a lot of credit for todayís result.” Their game was followed by the much-anticipated Men’s 2nds match. In a tense affair, which never saw the Occasionals playing their potential, Oxford both took the lead through Martin Pickup and had to come from behind thanks to veteran performer Neil Gallacher to secure a 2-2 draw. Although creating enough chances to have won the match, the 2nds also had to withstand periods of pressure, and a draw seemed the fair result at the final whistle. The same could not be said for the Men’s 3rds who could be forgiven for feeling aggrieved with their game ending 1-1. Cambridge had taken an early lead with the Infrequents looking the more nervous of the 2 teams. Oxford used a moment of undoubted ingenuity from fresher Jonathon Monk to spark them into life and quickly equalised through a coolly taken penalty stroke from Benji Portwin. Having had the majority of possession in the second half, the 3rds could not seem to find the winning goal and it was telling that the final whistle was met with clear relief from the Cambridge bench. The Ladies 3rds, affectionately known as The Hos, ended up on the wrong side of a 2-0 defeat after a determined performance which failed to see them take any reward from a game that on another day they felt they could easily have taken something from.by Ian RossiterMen’s & Women’s 1st XI play Cambridge in 8th week
