The heights of the BUCS Premiership are that which most university sports clubs around the country can only dream of. These leagues are often dominated by the usual suspects – Loughborough, Nottingham, Birmingham, et cetera. So it’s always exciting to have an Oxford team competing at the same level, despite the apparent academic rigour. On Wednesday 9th April, the hockey Men’s Blues beat Cardiff Met 4-2 in the BUCS Premier playoff to stay up for another year thanks to a hat-trick from second-year Alex Adair and yet another goal in ‘Blue’s Performance Athlete’ Caspar Beyer’s debut season for OUHC.
The Men’s Blues first achieved promotion to BUCS Prem in 2022, and the 2024-25 season marked their third year at the level. For all three seasons, they’ve come 8th out of nine teams. The BUCS Prem format means that the last-placed team gets automatically relegated, whereas the second-to-last team plays a playoff match for the chance to stay up. In 2022-23 this didn’t happen, but last year it was the narrowest of margins that saw them survive after their 2-2 draw with Cardiff Uni was sent to shuffles. This year, while the scoreline was more comfortable, the game itself was far from it.
After a goalless and cagy first half, Adair smashed home the opener with a volley that resembled a front-foot jab, straight out of the cricketing textbook. Beyer, desperate not to be outdone, slotted home a drag-flick not long later to double Oxford’s lead – a demoralising goal for Met summarised by the frustration on their Instagram story: ‘Oxford taking their minimal chances’ was the caption. Supposedly cruising at 2-0, the jubilation was cut short when a tidy routine from Cardiff Met at a short corner saw a reverse deflection sent flying into the roof of the net to reduce the lead back to one.
Adair would step up once again as the ball would drop to him with a yard or so of space near the edge of the circle, and he pushed it neatly into the corner past the keeper’s outstretched, last-ditch effort. There would be another twist in the tale, as Met would dispatch another corner, this time shifting the ball onto the main threat’s reverse and thumping into the far corner past keeper and postman. At 3-2, with just minutes remaining, Met pull their keeper, aiming to take advantage of having an extra man. Ultimately this would prove futile, and as Oxford latch onto the ball in midfield, Adair is slotted through for what would be his most simple goal of the afternoon, finding the empty backboard and wheeling away to celebrate the now certain victory.
A comparison in facilities between Oxford and their competitors in BUCS Prem is testament to the achievement of staying up for another year, even missing last year’s captain Archie Vaughan for the final all-important match. As Edinburgh come up to fill the last remaining spot for BUCS Prem 2025-26, Oxford will be hopeful to continue the streak of seasons spent at the top level, having survived ahead of them just a few years ago in 2022-23.
