Port Meadow saw almost a hundred competitors in the cross country club’s cuppers last weekend, covering a 10km course. in the women’s race, Lucia Gibson (worcester) ran strongly throughout the race to break away from university team-mate Lizzie Brathwaite (Mansfield), but Mansfield packed three runners into the top six to beat worcester to the team prize.  The men’s race was dominated by Teddy Hall, with Alen Chetwynd and James hogan first and second, pushing Oriel into second.Paddy Wallace, Captain of the University Club, said afterwards that he was extremely confident for the forthcoming Varsity Match against Cambridge, adding "with a fully fit team we could take on any university in the UK".ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

St Hugh’s’ up and down season continued as they slumped to a 5-0 defeat to St Catherine’s before bouncing back to edge past Jesus 1-0. St Ccatz were scarcely better than Hugh’s but made the most of Tobias Warnecke’s goalkeeping errors and the home side’s late capitulation. Chris Bargate’s header put the visitors 1-0 up, before Aarchie Hardiment doubled the lead with a 30-yard half-volley. Captain Ben Isaacs added a third before two own goals, one from Alex Lesley, the other Warnecke’s, completed the rout. Lesley made up for it two days later, scoring Hugh’s’ winner against Jesus. Catz beat Magdalen 3-2 the same afternoon to maintain their 100 per cent record.“I was very happy with the performance,” Isaacs said after the 5-0 victory. “think we’re going to go on and do very well this season. We’re gunning for the Championship, for winning it. Absolutely.”ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Worcester’s unshakable domination at the top of the premier division was finally ended by a powerful Queen’s side last Wednesday. In a tightly fought match the resurgent Queen’s side, previously pointless in the league, left with a well-earned point.   Worcester had previously recorded three wins from three, scoring over a dozen goals in the process and knocking holders Balliol out of cuppers. But the cancellation of the centaurs’ match saw Queen’s strengthened by a number of players from the University second team, a more challenging prospect than had encoutered thus far. Queen’s were able to shackle them successfully with hard working, aggressive and composed performances in midfield. As a result, never managed to assert themselves on this game as in previous weeks.From the off the confident swagger Worcester has earned this season was rattled. A twenty-yard strike from Queen’s simon Lennox on the stroke of fifth minute left rattled Worcester keeper Dave Quiggley beaten and only the woodwork prevented a surprise early lead. Offering the tantalising prospect of the goal fest we were all hoping for, Queen’s patience was rewarded early on with a perfectly positioned free kick from the left. The industrious Kirosh Nikbin struck the ball crisply into the heart of worcester’s defence to be beautifully converted by Captain Paul Gorrie.This proved to be the wake-up call Worcester needed to get their game in order. The remainder of the first half was commanded easily by the Worcester midfield who looked to be gaining the upper hand. It was not long before prolific fresher Toogood was in on goal only to be denied by a desperate clearance off the line.Worcester kept piling forward to try and preserve their unbeaten run, and were rewarded in fine style after Chris Beanland slotted the ball home from a nicely taken corner from sam rowlands, levelling the scores and dealing a psychological blow to Queen’s before half time.The second half saw neither team establish any dominance of the pitch in what was a hard fought and physical midfield battle. Worcester were unable to maintain the pressure they had piled on at the end of the first half, but Captain Lucian Weston gave a determined and diligent performance that was surely worth man-of-the-match to rouse his troops. The game was up for grabs as it suddenly came back to life in the last ten minutes of the second half. In what was a nail-biting finish it looked as though Queen’s were going to take the three points as Nikbin found himself in space on three occasions only to put the ball narrowly wide. In Queen’s captain Gorrie’s eyes "the Queen’s season starts here". However, Worcester will not be displeased. up against a side containing players of a calibre they are unlikely to meet again in the league, they held onto their unbeaten record and remain top ofARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

St Edmund Hall 27-LMH/Trinity 18: LMH were robbed of a huge upset win late in their opening match, away to champions St Edmund Hall. With Hall undermined by seven injuries, the visitors’ dominance at the set piece and an aggression and adventure out wide saw them build a healthy 13-0 lead early on before Hall showed yet again the class of champions, clawing their way back to snatch a victory.The first half belonged to LMH/Trinity, who won the majority of posession and had the wherewithall to use it. The game’s first try after ten minutes showed this. a cross kick to winger chris copplestone confounded the Hall defence, and he spilled the ball back for shaun Collins to score. Their second try, after half an hour, came as captain and flanker Jonny wright’s chip across the Hall line was collected by fullback tom Markham. after a Jack wallace penalty, faced a big deficit, but their icy cool showed itself once more. As the half drew to a close, the Hall backline fired to fashion a try for winger peter cay, and with rob Yates’ conversion the game was thrown wide open.The visitors scored first in the second half too. an excellent break by Markham, from between the half way and ten metre lines, led to a score for left wing Tom Harris. Hall struck back once more, and charged back into LMH/Trinity territory. From a lineout, the pack drove hooker paul Smith for a well worked score.The try saw Hall finally gain some ascendency. an hour gone they finally took the lead, after some rather scruffy passing gave cay enough space to skilfully round his marker. Yates converted from a difficult angle and, minutes later, added a straightforward penalty for a 22-18 lead, leaving LMH/Trinity in need of a try. Time was running out and as outside half George robinson tried to spark something with a horribly misconceived american football-style pass, david saleh capitalised and stole in for the decisive try.hall’s captain robert Newman understandably stressed that his side had been handicapped by injuries, but praised the squad players who had come in to replace more established names. his disappointed opposite number Jonny wright attributed his side’s late eclipse to a lack of fitness, stemming from games missed due to opposition concessions. if LMH/Trinity can rectify this, their skills and spirit leave no doubt that they can thrive in the top division.  ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Oxford 1 Oxford Brookes 1Oxford jubilation, Brookes despair. Reactions that tell their own story of a match in which Oxford’s dark blue shirts snatched a draw that, after 90 minutes of angst, trepidation and anxiety, felt more like a victory.The pivotal, defining moment, so cruel upon Brookes, so welcomed by undeserving Oxford, came in the dying moments. Jak hazzard tangled innocuously in the area and Oxford were granted the most dubious of salvations. seemed little more than an accidental clash of heads was unbelievably rewarded with a penalty. Vince Vitali converted and iffley’s silence was transformed into shocked enrapture. Oxford’s unbeaten run miraculously remained intact, and the nightmare start of their neighbours’ prolonged.For ninety minutes on a beautiful winter’s afternoon Oxford hobbled, stalled and stumbled against a side yet to record a win this season so that, deep into injury time, it was still difficult to discern which was the team unbeaten in the league and which was the side about to sink further into the relegation zone.Before that limpest of penalties Brookes had defied their poor start to the season, producing exciting and quick football, stretching the Blues on both flanks and, with the charismatic skills of Freddie sakyendoo, at the heart of every Brooke’s move, terrifying the Oxford backline. Only a desperate challenge from paul rainsford denied the striker a clear run at goal, a theme that would continue throughout.In contrast Oxford looked flaccid, a distinction manifested in the tales of the two strikers. unlike Joel Lazarus looked increasingly ineffectual and demoralised; isolated against a mean Brookes defence. everything he tried seemed to fail. a flick in midfield went directly to a striped shirt; a pass down the line went straight out of play and a clear sight of goal remained a distant dream. Oxford created just one chance in the opening forty-five, a corner, not cleared by the visitors that could not turn in from close range. But it was to be a brief interlude in a sea of Brookes dominance.Their inevitable opener came after half an hour. corner was completely missed by Mark addeley and sakyendoo rolled the ball home. Less than a minute later Brookes almost extended their lead as inside the area, found his powerful drive deflected into Nick Baker’s arms.With the smell of blue blood Brookes surged forward and should have added at least another two before the interval. Mark elliot and were out-battled on the left and were fortunate to see a shot ripple the netting. Moments before hazzard, under pressure from the indefatigable panicked and horribly skewed a header, meant for his keeper, out for a corner. The resulting set piece caused carnage in the Oxford penalty area, with tackles and scrambled hacks at the ball flailing, the home side were relieved to see the ball float over for a goal kick.The second half saw the Blues emerge with renewed vigour, a rebirth that was quickly tempered by the visitors and a return to the lethargy of the opening period. despite vicious roars in the tunnel Oxford returned to the pitch with something of a whimper. Five minutes in and a skewed clearance from Baker fell to the feet of a Brookes striker. his curled shot was not claimed cleanly by the off-balance Baker and only on his second attempt was an embarrassing second goal averted. Sakyendoo certainly should have sealed it but his shot, from an unmarked position in the area, looped awkwardly over.There were a few signs of life from the otherwise dormant Blues, but these were rare. Left-back aaron Barkhouse came close twice in thirty seconds in the closing minutes, first having a header cleared off the line from an corner, and secondly, as he was retreating into defence, sending a dipping shot just over. such sights were, however, rare glimpses of an otherwise unimpressive Oxford side. The visitors looked relatively comfortable throughout and only the delusions of the referee, at the death, were enough to break their stranglehold. ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

The Well of the Saintsdir Michael Levy22 – 26 NovemberBurton TaylorIn a tableau reminiscent of the plays of a later, bleaker Irish dramatist, two blind beggars sit at a crossroads, stripping rushes and squabbling. Mary (Amy Tatton-Brown) and Martin Doul (Alexander Stewart), the main protagonists of JM Synge’s The Well of the Saints, inhabit a dream world in which, gently deluded by the local villagers, both imagine the other to be matchlessly beautiful. Their life is one of idleness and isolation until a passing saint grants them the power of sight, but though they are now able to join the community, they find the life of toil harsh and disillusioning.Vision brings suffering and sin: Martin’s first sight is the saint’s bleeding feet, and his eyes lead him away from his unlovely wife and into lascivious pursuit of the young and beautiful Molly Byrne. Aas their sight dims once more, the couple retreat from reality, until the chance to regain their sight is offered once again. Hhowever, as the Ddouls resist a second curing, the villagers turn from indulgence to censure, with Vicky Orton as the saint modulating alarmingly between saintly calm and stinging vituperation. Iin condemning the couple, the communitydemonstrates its own ‘wilful blindness’ to the desires and needs of the individual, unwilling to recognise that some may not belong to the world of ‘working and sweating’.First performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in 1905, Ssynge’s dark tragicomedyuses the symbolism of sight and blindness to explore the boundaries between illusion and reality, sight and insight, and the place of those who chose neither to toil nor spin. The play’s thematic stress on the uneasy struggle between real and imaginary worlds is reflected in the rich rhythms of the dialect which characters speak, blending homely country speech with the language of folklore and legend. The Beckettian savour to the couple’s blind bickering is sweetened by their comic mutual preening and the rich, mythopoeic idiom of their speech, which creates worlds of sound to rival the seen.However, myth is both friend and betrayer. Iits role as both comforting fantasy and cruel deception is one of the play’s main concerns: the villagers’ pranks take on a darker hue when the Ddouls’ illusions about each other are cruelly shattered, as Levy mutes the text’s comic elements in order to draw out the tragic potential of the first act’s apparently innocent deceptions. Hhowever, after the trauma of the visual, we are reminded in the last act of the regenerative power of myth-making, as it becomes a tool for the tentative reconstruction of the couple’s fractured intimacy. Ttatton-Brown and Sstewart express the couple’s awkward affection with sensitivity. they build an increasingly vivid aural landscape, gesture and movement become more fluid and expansive, their bodies move closer, and Sstewart’s agitated, ankle-clutching rocking subsides.The sparse, impressionistic staging of the production aids the sense of a slightly surreal dislocation which the drama cultivates: this is play as parable, and the symbolism often swamps the characters on stage. Levy’s decision to bring Ssynge to the Oxford stage is a bold move, and a definite departure from the standard repertoire of Wwilde, Ccoward, Mamet, Sstoppard et al. The Wwell of the Ssaints denies us that happy grounding in reality we expect from these dramatists, as characters inhabit a world of emblem and sign, in which an idealised peasantry speak a language infused with the rhythms and motifs of folktale and song.Though amplified sounds of birdsong and brook try to involve the audience in the experience of the blind protagonists, when the action has concluded, we are still left grasping after the play’s final meaning, with an uneasy awareness that the blindness we are experiencing penetrates beyond the eye. Levy’s production may be strange, but it is a strong and thought-provokingenchantment nonetheless.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

HorseheadFaulty Optic Theatre Co.11 NovemberPegasus TheatrePeople would go miles for a theatrical horse once,” an elderly blue puppet sadly remarks in Faulty Optic’s latest production, Horsehead. Fortunately we only had to go as far as the Pegasus Theatre for this particular nag – an uncanny experience it was too, from the first gradual realisation, on entering the intimate space, that the narrator Daniel Padden was sitting approximately four feet away and staring at the audience through binoculars. Aa strange start to a strange play about the opportune love that blossoms between a horse fanatic permanently dressed as a pair of hind legs and a crippled dancer blessed with hair very like a mane, who together strive for “theatrical horse perfection”, melded together as one pantomime being.It soon appears, however, that the back and the front of the horse were sundered long ago, leaving the former hind legs (a fragile little man with gimlet eyes and a gaunt mouth) sickeningin a sanatorium, daydreaming of his former glory. Rreduced to half a being he can only replay over and over his old musical recordings: like them he has become obsolete. Aas he imagines the dying horse head, which he abandoned in a wasteland, and remorsefully remarks, “Ddid anyone, Ii wonder, ever find her?”, a butcher’s van trundles past in the background, visible only to the audience (one of many moments when you’re unsure whether to laugh or be horrified). Then one night the vengeful spectre of the nag returns to the hospital to claim his legs as punishment.A story about loss, grief, and the various ways of being broken, this is a characteristically haunting tale from the Faulty Optic crew (Liz Wwalker and Gavin Glover), who work with puppets, mechanisms and live projection, and the writer Edward Carey. Iit is a partnership that was destined to be: Ccarey’s previous characters include “an old man who lives in a leather armchair which is more significant than him,” while Faulty Optic have been known to meet their doom being “sucked into oblivion down the back of the sofa”. The unsettling real-life sentiment that “there are so many broken things in the world” is here written large in a character who suffers not just from a broken heart and a guilty conscience, but also “equine herpes virus, pneumonia and phantom limb dementia”. Wwhat makes his situation even more poignant is the fantastically creepy realisation of the sanatorium. Ppadden’s soundtrack, pre-recorded or created live, uses church bells, creaking, the whistling of the wind and operatic muzak to emphasise the eerie emptiness of the ward. Wwalker and Glover have finely tuned the movements of the melancholy patient and the beady-eyed nurse, emphasising the awkward dodder of the one and the brisk annoyance of the other. Aapparently, this patient is so neglected he’s even fed meals of pebbles.This delightfully idiosyncratic side of the production recalls Lynch’s Eeraserhead– in particular a moment when the bed-bound puppet tries to call the nurse because someone is noisily digging a grave under his hospital bed, which is making him nervous. Aand where else can you see a beetle-infested horse skull described as a “mouldy pile of love”? also harks back to the film animation of Jan Ssvankmejer and the Quay Brothers, even more so because the entire production is conducted in semi-darkness.When I spoke to Glover, he observed that there are few contemporary puppet companies in Eengland who are pushing the boundaries of live film and sound in the way Faulty Optic do, although there are younger groups working in London (“though they’re not as dark as us” he added with pride). Aalthough Hhorsehead might seem saturated with nostalgia in terms of subject matter (the parting shot is “I watched the old horses being dismantled…”), the fresh voice that Faulty Optic bring to this makes it truly worth seeing. Aand the beetle-infestation scene is worth the entrance fee alone.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005