The men’s football Blues fell agonisingly and disappointingly short of capturing the BUCS Midlands Division 1A title on Wednesday: a 0 -0 draw was enough for their opponents, Nottingham Trent, to claim the championship instead. With only the league’s top side gaining promotion, this was a doubly bitter blow for the Blues.

Oxford endured a desperately frustrating afternoon at Iffley Road, failing to break the resilience of a determined Trent defensive line. The side from Nottingham began the day one point clear of the Blues, knowing that they would wrap up promotion if they avoided defeat here. Perhaps inevitably, the game began tentatively, both teams settling in for a high-stakes, winner-takes-all encounter. The standard of football was not particularly high, and neither side looked capable of asserting themselves upon the contest.

The first real chance of the game fell to Oxford in the 15th minute, when centre-forward Tom Mayou found himself in behind the last man; his slightly heavy touch invited the Trent goalkeeper to smother the loose ball and nullify Oxford’s most penetrating move of the first half. Trent offered little threat going forward in the early exchanges, content to sit on their cushion of an ultimately decisive one point advantage: Oxford’s full-backs and centre-backs dealt comfortably with Nottingham’s blunt attacks, and the Blues goal was rarely troubled until midway through the second half.

After the break though, the game opened up, as did the heavens above Iffley. On a slick surface, both sides began to pass the ball with more zip and quality. Blues captain Leon Farr uregd his team forward, his determined commands echoing around the grandstand: the heart and desire of the Blues could not be faulted. Oxford needed a spark, a catalyst to propel them towards a coveted championship, but it became harder and harder to see where it would come
from. The Trent keeper and captain was exceptional, both in his shotstopping and distribution, but he was not tested enough by an Oxford attack that was, at best, ineffective.

Tom Howell worked hard, often as a lone forward, but was rewarded with few chances in front of net: the Blues just seemed to lack creative talent, relying upon predictable channel balls that were easily handled by Trent’s competent defenders. Lacking invention in the midfield areas, Oxford could not muster a cutting edge to complete their decent passing play. The balance of domination swung back and forth as the second half progressed, both teams enjoying spells of pressure and possession. A whipped Oxford cross into the box narrowly evaded the head of an oncoming midfielder, and the Blues were unlucky not to gain more from several dangerous corners. Cameron Knight made some enterprising runs for the Blues, striving to forge something
that would test the Trent defence.

Opportunities were difficult to engineer though, and composure deserted Oxford at vital times. Trent too were wasteful, squandering their sporadic chances with a series of miscues and weak shots: without doubt, neither side did enough to justify victory on a day that impartial spectators will quickly forget.

One moment that will haunt Oxford arrived in the dying minutes, when a ball from wide right deflected, bobbled and squirmed its way across the gaping goalmouth: an Oxford player, unmarked at the back post, swung a leg, almost ready to wheel away in glorious celebration- unfortunately for the luckless Blues, only the damp air received a lashing from his boot as the ball trickled away to Trent safety.

The final whistle brought jubiliant cheers from Nottingham’s champions, now promoted to the Midlands Premier. The Blues left their home pitch humbled and disconsolate, regretting the two draws in the season’s final two games (the other coming last week at Lincoln) that have cost them a league title and a much sought-after promotion to the region’s top division.

Nonetheless, Oxford must now focus on the upcoming Varsity match against Cambridge’s Light Blues, for which they have a couple of months to prepare. On this evidence, they will need to use that time wisely and profitably, lest disappointment here become even more intensified with a loss to the rival Tabs. The Blues will require no greater motivation than what they witnessed today, ushered away from their own field by Trent’s taunting chants and flowing champagne. 

A wise man once said “you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles himself on the lacrosse field”, and at Oxford University, it is fair to say that this maxim holds true. Lacrosse pushes a person to their limits. It confines some to the hospital bed; it reduces some to tears; but, for a select few, it brings triumph.

Despite its recent increase in popularity, few are well acquainted with the rules of the sport. The aim of the game is to score more goals than your opponents, by cradling (holding the ball in the net of your stick whilst running), passing, and eventually shooting. The rules differ greatly between the men’s version, which is contact, and the women’s, which is not. There are 12 players on a women’s team, and only 10 on a men’s team.

The sticks used in the two games also differ. While the women’s tend to be of a uniform length, in the men’s game the lengths vary depending on one’s position, with defenders’ sticks being substantially longer than attackers. The duration of the games varies greatly between college and university level, and indeed between the male and female versions. Whereas college mixed lacrosse games generally last only 15 minutes, professional men’s games typically consist of four quarters of 20 minutes each.

Lacrosse has traditionally been a white-dominated sport in the States, with its roots firmly fixed in North American private schools and elite Universities, although was based on a North American Indian game. Virginia University junior, Shamel “the future” Bratton’s rise to the top of the game, as a black male, is all the more impressive. Bratton landed a lacrosse scholarship to Virginia in the summer of 2007, and has since progressed to the extent that he can expect a multi-million dollar contract from a Major Lacrosse League side upon graduating. Bratton’s stunning goal against archrivals Duke University in April 2008 (a Youtube favourite of lacrosse fanatics) epitomised the coalition of all the stunning facets the sport has to offer – the athleticism, explosive attacking flair and the sheer audacity. Shamel’s exuberant display of what commentator Quint Kessenich called “shaking and baking” a helpless defender, combined with “ankle breaking” is a striking example of the delights of watching lacrosse.

The sport is awash with very specific terminology. One of the best examples of this is the technique known as “cradling” which has since evolved into “power cradling”, a move devilishly difficult to master, but deviously destructive when employed. It involves keeping the ball in the net of a moving head of a lacrosse stick, whilst employing a “curling” technique, keeping the shaft of the stick parallel with the ground.

Is lacrosse capable of inspiring equal devotion across the pond? Men’s lacrosse is one of the national sports in the US and is a multi million-dollar industry, whereas it is relatively non-existent in the UK. Here, women’s lacrosse is much more popular than the men’s game, but even this is still limited to a few private schools in the country, and hence is not very widespread. “Players have to pay to represent regions, even England”, as current national player and Hertford College undergraduate Charlotte Houston lamented earlier in the term, contributing to a perception of lacrosse as an elitist sport.

But lacrosse has shown significant signs of growth within Oxford University in recent years. Many colleges put out mixed teams: Keble, Hertford, and Trinity, to name but a few. Interestingly enough, many colleges report high numbers of beginners signing up to try the sport, seemingly entranced by the allure of such a fast, skilful and athletic sport.

Every weekend, colleges do battle on the lacrosse field in pursuit of glory. At university level, there are men’s, women’s and mixed teams, which have all enjoyed success this year, with the mixed team, in particular, maintaining a 100% record so far and the women’s blue team winning over half of their matches. The men’s team has been blessed with an influx of talented players from all over the world, helping them to put out extremely competitive sides.

To all enthusiastic freshe

rs out there, and indeed second and third years who are yet to sample the delights of this most majestic sport, your college needs you! College teams are the best place to start, with mixed teams always great fun. From there the Blues teams, ably captained by Freddie Snowball and Claire Sutcliffe, are always looking for new blood – so what’s stopping you?

Corpus Christi students returned from the Christmas vac to be told that their sports grounds will close from Easter. Whilst the site, shared with Pembroke, has been described by a current student as remote but providing for many years some of the best playing surfaces in the university the College has decided that a ground share with University College is the most viable option for the future.

That Corpus’ governing body apparently made their decision without any consultation with the JCR executive seems to have particularly angered students and alumni alike. A petition has been started with articles posted online, resulting in one student being ‘deaned’ for encouraging protests.

The College has justified their decision for a number of reasons. They felt that, although the ‘MBI Al Jaber Building’, a new drama and music centre, was only recently completed, it was necessary on financial grounds to close the facility and make redundant the groundsman, Mike Clifton. Furthermore the authorities were concerned that the site neither provided suitable ambulance access in case of an emergency nor adequate drainage in poor weather conditions. Both arguments have been criticised because Pembroke are continuing to use the site. That the decision will come into effect in March, giving sports teams only a short period of time to make other arrangements and Mr. Clifton two months to find new employment and housing seems to have only compounded the indignation.

The longer term consequences have also caused concern amongst the Corpus Christi student community. It could not only mean the loss of Corpus’ sporting independence and flexibility due to the need to ground-share with Univ, but there was speculation amongst the student body that it may lead to the end of the long-standing alliance with Linacre in college competitions. With Univ having over two hundred more students than Corpus the fear that an alternative alliance with Univ could dent Corpus sporting spirit was also raised.
It remains to be seen whether the College decides to reassess their decision, but at the present time this seems unlikely.

Oxford Men’s basketballers achieved an impressive victory over their perennial rivals, the London South Bank Topcats. The final score, 84-82, reflected a close-fought game that provided some excellent basketball from both sides. The Blues, led by captain Reed Doucette and the free-scoring Stephen Danley, began the contest in fine form and never relinquished their early lead.
Oxford emerged from their warm-ups in a confident mood, and that attitude carried over after the tip-off.

Aside from a few careless turnovers, Oxford played a fantastic game in terms of tactics and execution. With both teams having already qualified for the Southern conference play-offs, each of the league’s top two squads were eager to assert their dominance.

The overall performance will be immensely pleasing to the Blues coaches; post-Vacation rust was minimal, with perhaps only Oxford’s erratic shooting in the early stages of the game a minor blemish. As the match-up progressed, mistakes became less frequent and the team’s field-goal percentages increased.

The Blues led at the end of all 4 quarters, but a win here was by no means simple. The game remained especially close through the first 3 quarters, and a tense final minute saw the Blues narrowly survive an admirable South Bank rally. The Topcats scored an extraordinary 4-point play to tie the game with only 50 seconds remaining, but Oxford responded with a fine play of their own: point guard Skomantas Pocius carried the ball down-court before arrowing a pass to the right side of the 3-point line- the outstanding Tom Parker held his nerve to nail down an important, high-pressure shot that lifted Oxford above their opponents.

Doucette bossed the boards all night long, leading his team at both ends of the court. Oxford’s offense relies upon good decision-making and intelligent passes from its ball carriers; Pocius excelled in these areas for all 4 quarters, providing the team’s forwards with plenty of chances to dominate.

These two teams might very likely meet again, in a more meaningful contest, further along in their campaigns to win a national championship. Having fallen last year at the semi-final hurdle, Oxford will be greatly motivated to move one step further and challenge for a British title. If they continue to play this well, there is no reason not to believe that the Blues can become the very best university team in the nation.

The ‘09-’10 season has already proven to be an eventful one for the Men’s Hockey Blues. Right from the start the expectations for the coming year were set extremely high with the Captain, Richard Bond, returning off the back of a successful year playing for Brooklands HC, a team in the top flight of English hockey. Double GB Olympian coach John Shaw has also increased his involvement in OUHC. With a brand new International grade water based pitch laid at the Iffley Road sports ground, the tone was set for a tremendously promising season.

Their campaign began back in September with pre-season training centred around a gruelling training camp in Barcelona where they notched up a convincing win against Real Club de Polo, a top European side. With the University’s terms starting so late the Blues had to hit the ground running, and they were able to carry the momentum from their trip abroad forward into their opening game of the South Regional Premier League, beating Banbury HC 5-3. This also marked a hattrick on his debut for 1st year Adam Jordan. Fresh from a year spent at National League side Holcombe HC, playing alongside numerous experienced international players, he has proven indispensable in several Blues victories since.

The side continued to impress with victories against teams at the top of the Saturday league showing a relentless intensity, no doubt stemming from the team’s rigorous training schedule.

Some of the Blues’ most rewarding results have come in the BUCS games where this year they have had to fight it out with the top university sides in the country following promotion into the Premier League. The likes of Exeter and Bath, two teams riddled with England and GB caps, did not prove too much to handle for the Blues who landed respectable results against them both home and away.

With one inconsequential game remaining against Bristol, the team are set to land third place in the most competitive league in British University hockey, an astonishing performance in their first foray into top level sport. In terms of standard the standard that they compete with, and quality of talent, this ranks the Men’s Blues hockey squad as one of the best sports teams in the university. With dozens of junior international caps between the likes of Ed Perry, Andrew Thomas the goalkeeper and Richard Bond, the pedigree in side is easily clear to see.

With the second half of the season ahead of them, the hockey Blues have another packed fixture list to look forward to. The BUCS knockout draw has yet to be decided but due to their high ranking the Blues are likely to be drawn against the likes of Loughborough or Birmingham. Both sides are bound to provide stiff opposition due to their abundance of full England internationals.
Aided on a Wednesday (when BUCS matches are played) by National Premier League players Chris Newman and Ed Perry, there is no reason why the Blues should not progress to the final stages of the cup competition and cap off a great season with a win at Varsity on 2 March. In the meantime, the squad plays on a Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, so get yourself down to cheer the lads on and to witness a fast-paced exciting game with goals, cards and fights guaranteed.