Trinity And Downing Eye The Top Spot

The football season’s back and in rooms across the University captains are intoning how, if only they could find a ball-playing, goal-scoring central midfielder of a Fresher, everything might be ok.

But as the new crop is uncovered expectations are reevaluated and title pushes are put on hold for another season until the College can unearth somebody with a trace of goalkeeping ability. The next two terms will follow the pattern of seasons immemorial.

Until the new crop have been integrated it is of course difficult to make too many predictions but the past two seasons in the PWC Division 1 have both ended up as a two horse race between Downing, the 2010 champions, and Trinity who avenged their one point deficit two years ago by taking the league unbeaten last season, five points clear of the competition. 2011/12 will certainly centre on whether anyone can break this duopoly.

Trinity, the self-styled ‘feeder-club’ of the Blues will take some beating, especially after conceding only 4 goals last term, but Homerton, the league’s top scorers last term, are also breathing down their necks. Selwyn, newly promoted from PWC 2 are also worth keeping an eye on under the guidance of the Blues’ Northern Irish running machine, Mark Baxter.

Last season’s Cuppers champions, Queens’, will face an uphill battle to defend their title from PWC 2 after narrowly missing out on promotion. On their way to the trophy they had to recover from a 4-1 defeat to John’s in the first round and benefitted from a bizarre windswept weekend when 5 top division sides crashed out but the knock-out format and big-game nerves guarantee a few shocks year on year.

Down in PWC 2 John’s and Queens’ will feel their stay in Cambridge’s lower echelons has been quite long enough. However, this league is often decided by the peculiar presence of Long Road, a local college. Replete with footballers a class apart from the University leagues, their results sway entirely dependant on their squad availability. Hence last season, in successive weeks, they turned over John’s 9-0 and lost 5-0 to Selwyn playing with 9 men, including their P.E. teacher. Their presence simply skews the final table and has surely gone on long enough.

Whether you’re a fresher or a key member of last season’s 2nds, get along to trials and get involved. It promises to be quite a season.