OXFORD 2
WORCESTER 6

The Blues women’s football team lost to a strong Worcester first team on Wednesday, leaving them mid-table and in desperate need of points if they are to stand a chance of winning the league. After taking a beating earlier in the season, the Blues were ready to fight back against a bulky and tough Worcester first XI. In a tight Midlands Conference Premier League, Oxford knew they had to surmount a strong side that is thusfar unbeaten this season if they were to sustain any kind of title charge.

The mental battle had already begun before kick off as Worcester audaciously decided to warm up over two halves of the pitch, trying to add mental dimension of pressure to their already formidable physical one. The game began slowly with the opposition using long balls to create end to end action before then releasing women’s football’s answer to Rory Delap, whose throw-ons frequently sailed over the box, troubling the somewhat vertically challenged blues defence and leaving it to goalkeeper Rachel Aldred to make an awesome save just 10 minutes into the game. Despite her efforts, there was nothing she could do about the next Worcester attempt. The ball was struck from some 25 yards out, catching her off her line and resulting in the first goal of the match.

Despite taking the lead, Worcester did not rest on their laurels. They then followed up the excellent long range first goal with another cheeky one from a well placed cross leaving the blues positively fuming.

However, from this point they picked up the tempo with solid defending from captain Kirsten Morris and great passing and movement from central midfielder Emma Dickinson leading to a dubious offside call after a brilliant finish from Eijiro or ‘Jij’ and an impressive effort from Sophie Le Marchand that just clipped the inside of the crossbar within 15 minutes.

However, the Blues found themselves steamrollered by a determined Worcester side for the last 20 minutes of the first half with a succession of well taken corners falling right by the goal line. Despite some excellent defending the pressure duly told, with one tapped in by a ruthless Worcester forward.

A header from Chrissie Murray off a high ball cleared a Worcester attack but sent her into a spectacular backwards roll, much to the amusement of the opposition team. It was rather emblematic of what can only be described as an unfortunate first half. Things went from bad to worse soon after with a strong Worcester run through midfield and a careless defensive error leading to another goal so that the score line stood rather unfairly at 4-0 at half time.

After a fiery and an inspired team talk from coach and ex-blues player Brett Burns the girls were raring to go in the second half, getting off to an impressive start. For the first ten minutes of the half the Blues dominated play and kept Worcester on their back foot and stuck firmly in their side of the pitch.

Oxford’s time finally came after a darting run down the right wing and stunning finishing with a powerful long range strike from winger Lucie Bowden which flew past the Worcester keepr putting Oxford on the score sheet. This glimmer of hope for the losing side inspired great pass and move football leading the Blues to dominate possession and keep the ball in Worcester’s half.

Yet once again despite some of the best pass and move football they had played all season the pressure could not be converted into goals and with Oxford over commited Worcester were able to add a fifth on the break.

Oxford though, were in no mood to roll over and be humiliated. Another run through Worcester’s strong defence and a clean pass from Sophie Le Marchand put Jij through for a one on one with the keeper, which was unfortunately called offside. Worcester gained a dubious free kick on the edge of the area resulting in another dazzling save from player of the match Rachel Aldred; who certainly did not deserve to concede as often as she did considering her commanding display and a string of high quality saves.

After more impressive set pieces from Oxford that left the tired Worcester team run ragged, they launched a lightning counter attack with winger Sophie Le Marchand taking on three of the defence with her extraordinary skills and assisting Jij in a shot that curved nicely into the back of the net in the closing minutes of the game.

Worcester evidently are a strong side and througholy merited their pre-match status as favourites. However the margin of the scoreline was clearly flattering on Oxford’s opponents, especially given the strength of the performance is the second half.

The Blues will regret the small few first half errors that allowed Worcester to take an unwarrented lead, meaning that when the Blues improved markedly after half time, they were rather over exposed at the back and thus Worcester were able to add two goals against the run of play on the break.

They will be hoping to reflect on the numerous positives from the game and realise that ultimately they will not have to play sides of Worcester’s quality every week.

“Underdogs?” says Steve Hill with a degree of bemusement. “It’s interesting to hear Cambridge describe themselves as underdogs when they’ve won the last three Varsity matches.”

From Hill’s point of view, Oxford are the “underdogs from a form point of view, at least in terms of this particular game.” And he’s at pains to point out what a different sort of fixture it is – “it’s very much a cup final situation; there’s a huge amount of pressure on players. If you make a mistake in a league game, you’ve got the chance to make it up the following Saturday. Once you set foot on the pitch at Twickenham, you’re there to win.”

Yet Hill seems confident about Oxford’s chances. “Obviously we believe there are certain strengths we’re going to play to – it’s been great having Anton Oliver training with the guys this time around. He’s made an outstanding contribution, and is a really important part of the team now from both a rugby and social point of view.”

Hill is reluctant to talk about many of his players, having still to make his mind up about the final squad. But he has a lot of time for the ex-New Zealand hooker: “it’s great having someone with experience of playing in front of 40,000 spectators. There’s only two or three guys from last year’s line-up who can say the same, and Anton knows the pressure of playing in front of huge crowds with his international experience.”

Peter Clarke, OURFC captain, also comes in for praise. “He’s had a very strong season captaining the squad, as well as in his capacity as openside flanker – a crucial position,” says Hill. “I’m sure he’s keen to put on another great performance at Twickenham.”

Hill’s concerns lie in the Oxford side’s capacity to deal with the Tabs’ massive forwards. Captain Jon Dawson’s abilities at prop seem to unsettle the Oxford coach, along with some hefty back-up from “irreplaceable” former Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman. “Cambridge are an incredibly strong pack and they’ve had a formidable scrum these past couple of years,” Hill tells me. “That’s an area we’re doing to have to work hard at to negate their strength.”

Injuries and illness have also played their part in dampening expectations. “Four or five guys have been out recently with stomach bugs and the like, and this has really disrupted preparations. There’s still one or two down, but we’re hoping they’ll be back for the Varsity fixture.”

“I think the hardest thing this year has been the loss of Lehman’s, though,” says Hill, referring to the former sponsor’s collapse at the end of the summer. “Now we’ve got Nomura on board, though, I’m really hopeful to get back lots of student support. I’d like to see as many people as possible who have associations with the university there to support the squad.”

Perhaps a strong turnout for Oxford will help to counterbalance the nerves of a team which isn’t used to the tremendous pressure that a fixture like the Varsity match will bring.

As expected the JCR Premier league has proved to be tightly contested between a number of evenly matched sides. Rather unpredictably however, Worcester are not only not leading this pack, they are not even among them. Worcester entered the season, as ever, as the team to beat, yet their start to the season has been rather tepid. A quick glance at their teamsheet however, reveals that this moderate start was only to be expected. They have lost a large number of last year’s title winning side including captain Danny Plaxton, and this year they have been unable to replace them with quite the same calibre of first years.

Their demise has left the race for the title wide open, with just four points separating the top four. League leaders as we approach the halfway stage are Teddy Hall, who after a first day blip have proved imperious. Their five game winning streak has saw them obliterate all-comers, particularly through the incomparable strength and power of forward Charlie Southern and the driving running of midfielder Tim Hoffman as well as a formidable defensive record.

Hall are chased by three equally matched sides.

Unsuprisingly among them are St Anne’s, who, currently in second place, will be looking to go one better than their second place last season. Lead as ever by the goals of the giant Ed Border, so far top goalscorer in the league, and the twinkling feet of captain George Kynaston, they will be hoping to start turning the slightly large number of draws into wins if they are to press on.

The other two sides in the mix are somewhat more of a suprise, especially New who have shaken off their attacking woes of last season while retaining their defensive rigour to find the winning formula they were missing. St Catz form from last season makes them rather less the suprsie package, but the way they have transferred from the First to the Premier division is startling; that is, until they are observed in action. Their brand of high tempo pass and move, centred around targetman Alan McNaughton and the buzzing running of midfielder Carl Assmundson has made them a formidable force and seemingly the side most likely to be able to counter the sheer power and strength of the giant Teddy Hall side.

At the other end of the table matters are equally as tight. Promoted Magdalen are propping up the table without a single win to their name and look likely to go straight back down. Fellow new boys Christ Church are not far ahead, though will be buoyed by this week’s win over fellow relegation candidates Wadham. The latter are a suprise member of those at the bottom of the league given their strength last season. Yet despite some good football their chief problem has been a lack of goals, the lowest of any side in the league. Despite this the fight to stay up between themselves, Christ Church and Oriel promises to be one of the most exciting battles of the season.

Worcester’s apparent fall from grace, while suprising, has only served to set up one of the most exciting leagues in recent memory. Predicting the eventual winner is undoubtably tough, but at the moment the focus will be on stopping the steamroller that is Teddy Hall.