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Season reviews by team captains.
Final standings in leagues can be seen from the link on the left
Following a desperately disappointing 2005/6 season, which culminated in Varsity defeat and relegation from the National League, 2006/7 has seen us redress the balance. Bolstered by the return of Tom Littlewood, the arrival of Phil Balbirnie, and a new coach in last year’s captain, Andrew Middleton, we began in confident mood. The first month of the season saw us win our first four games without ever getting into top gear, the only disappointment being an early cup exit at the hands of Blueharts. However, a 6-2 defeat at Broxbourne and further defeats to West Herts, rooted to the bottom of the table all year, and Cambridge City, saw us throw away our early advantage. Nonetheless, these three defeats were to be our only ones all season, and come the Varsity Match we had put together a run of 10 wins and a hard fought draw against future runners-up Harleston, scoring 69 goals in the process.
Buoyed by this success, we hit the Varsity Match confident we could right last year’s wrongs. An early brace from Phil Balbirnie should have steadied nerves though by half time Oxford had pulled level. A well-worked short corner goal from Jez Hansell put us back in the lead early in the second half only to then be cancelled out by another Joel Evans goal for Oxford. Nine minutes from time, having earlier hit the bar, Nick McLaren deflected our fourth from another penalty corner and we held on, despite being reduced to 10 men for the final few heart-stopping minutes, for a famous win. Simon Ashton was on scintillating form in his first Varsity Match and deservedly earned the Man of the Match award.
Once the celebrations had resided it was back to business in the league. With three games remaining, we were five points clear of Harleston coupled with a far superior goal difference. An 8-0 win against Bury and a 1-1 draw at Havering put us on the brink where only a small miracle could prevent us winning the league. However we took matters into our own hands with a 6-1 win at home against Ipswich II, the final goal our 111th in the league, sparking wild celebrations.
The squad has been a pleasure to captain and my job has been made all the more easy by Andrew Middleton, who has instilled a great sense of professionalism in the side, which will hopefully filter through to next year when the team endeavours to hold its own in the National League.
Blues were awarded to Simon Ashton, Phil Balbirnie, Ben Crooks^, Mark Greatholder, Jez Hansell*, Dave Jones^, Tom Littlewood*, Nick McLaren*, Mike Palmer*, Stuart Penman*, Alun Rees*, Dave Saunders, Andrew Wheatley-Hubbard.
* Denotes former Blue
^ Denotes discretionary Blue
women's blues report to go here: Varsity - 1-3
wanderer's report to go here: Varsity - 5-2, 4th East Prem 1
The 2006-07 season was one of mixed successes for the Nomads. The Nomads started their campaign in East League 1N well with a 4-1 win over Peterborough. Despite this, subsequent matches led to heavy defeats and low team morale.
Meanwhile, a completely different tale was unfolding in BUSA Midlands 2B, where the Nomads lost just one match to the eventual league winners before Christmas. After Christmas, and with the build up to Varsity clear in everyone’s minds, the Nomads won all their remaining games in a convincing fashion to finish the league in second place and with the best defensive record in the league.
Varsity then, was to be the highlight of the season. A storming performance right from the starting whistle put the Nomads 4-1 up by half time. The Nomads completely outplayed Oxford in all areas of the pitch and Oxford were left never looking like challenging the lead. The second half saw many more Nomad attacks and Oxford were lucky to escape without the score line becoming too embarrassing.
Off the back of such a convincing win, the Nomads went back into their East League matches with renewed belief and drive. This newly found confidence led the Nomads to a 2-2 draw with the league leaders Ipswich. What followed however were a series of losses to teams no better in ability. The season could be very aptly summed up by the comments made after each match by the umpires, opposition and supporters, “Well, you were unlucky really. The result wasn’t a fair reflection of the game.” The Nomads ended the season bottom of the table, but with a little work on finishing, and a better understanding between forwards and midfield the Nomads should have no problem in bouncing straight back up again.
The 2006/07 season began with a promising influx of new freshers to add to the ranks of CUHC. It came apparent early on that the Squanderers team would be much changed from the year before leaving only a minority of seasoned Cambridge veterans in the side. By no means has this left the team weaker because of it, with the fresh legs bringing pace and flair to the side. The season has left the Squanderers possibly unfortunately 4th from bottom, in a league of 12, due to a few unlucky results, however the side's stamina has been the greatest attribute continuing a high tempo until the final whistle. The most enjoyable game of the season in the league was an impressive 5-2 defeat of a strong University of East Anglia 1st XI. However with a promising run into Varsity and some excellent training sessions coached by Andrew Middleton the side looked well drilled and undoubtedly the highlight of the season was a 2-1 Varsity victory over the Oxford University 3rd XI, making it 3 wins out of 3 for the Cambridge Men's sides over Oxford.
This season saw a great deal of change for the Bedouins squad. At the start of the season only two former Bedouins remained on the team that during the previous season had been on the verge of promotion. Nevertheless, an influx of enthusiastic freshers and college players meant a new look Bedouin team quickly formed.
Initially we struggled in the league, due mainly to a lack of team continuity as a result of the inevitable changes throughout the club. However, as time went by the team became more settled and this was reflected in our performance and results. Both the playing ability and the team spirit grew in strength and the commitment and enthusiasm of all the players was obvious. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the season was the Varsity Match where we achieved victory in a very tight match. Although we dominated in the first half, Oxford came out strongly for the second and we did well to hold on to the half-time score of 1-0. We were extremely proud to get the day of CUHC victories underway and be part of such a special day. This clearly inspired confidence in the team as we then proceeded to win all our remaining league matches. This included a 2-0 victory over the team finishing 2nd in the league in a particularly exciting match. Consequently, we rose up the table to finish 5th in the Cambridge Ladies League.
It is clear that all the Bedouins have really enjoyed being a part of Cambridge University Hockey Club this season and I am confident that they will be back and eager for more next year!