Yellow Fever: UCL Hockey 1st XI fall short in a thrilling Varsity ULU cup final (5-4 aet)

UC managed to take Strand Poly to extra time, despite missing some key players and being issued an unbelievable four yellow cards during the game. Playing with 10 men or less for the entire added period eventually proved to be costly.

Speaking to a few of the fans on the way into the ground, they were very disappointed by the lack of Nick Randall on the touchline. But it was hoped that this would not affect the mental state of the players too much. There were mixed levels of confidence after looking at some of the King's results. They thrashed Canterbury Christ Church 8-3 at home, the same opposition that beat UCL on penalty flicks last week.

Before half time, UC went 2-0 up through Barny Chapman and Joe Melly. They were playing much better hockey than KCL and a win seemed the likely outcome.

After the break, KCL found renewed vigour and leveled the scores. But a big boost for UC came after about 53mins. The best player for King's went off for what appeared to be an ankle injury, courtesy of a challenge by Chris ‘c-unit’ Bentley. UCL took advantage of this and Chapman sent another into the back of the net; absolutely on fire. Earlier in the season, he struggled to hit the proverbial ‘barn door’ with a banjo, but he certainly knows where the goal is now.

Yellow cards were issued to Eoghan McNulty, Joe Melly, Jamie Lilley and Edward ‘EDR’ Richardson. Eoghan, who has a reputation for being one of the cleanest players in the game, was sin binned for 10mins. However, he was still off the pitch after 15mins. The fans shouted, the UCL players shouted, and eventually McNulty was re-introduced to the game with the umpire admitting his mistake. Hang your head in shame Mr Umpire, what were you thinking?
 

A few minutes later, Northern Irishman Ciaran Kelly did some good work up front and managed to get a fourth goal for UC with a classic Kelly slap – “Happy Days”. The game ended at 4-4 after regulation time; so extra time was needed to determine the winner.

During extra time KCL appealed that the ball hit the foot of Dave Vidler inside the D and the umpire played on. But the assistant ran over from the other half of the pitch and gave a penalty corner, claiming that he had a better view of the ‘incident’. Kings scored their best goal of the game from the resulting short corner and the game ended 5-4.

Post-match interviews took place in The Rocket (other press conference venues are available). The general feeling was summed up by Taz Mangat via Twitter; King's were “there for the taking!”

Captain Ed James gave credit to the opposition for their determined performance. He would like to thank his players for putting in outstanding effort this season … “it is just a bit disappointing that the excellent individual skill and team play did not translate into more silverware.”

Striker Charles Higgs thought that “certain players had the game of their lives, especially the guys playing their last ever game for the club, it is just a shame that the indifferent performance by the officials limited their effect.” A lot of the players gave credit to Jonathan Bayfield, who was the stand out player on the day for his Park Ji-Sung-esque work rate and commitment.
 

The final thought is from a hockey veteran, who wished to remain anonymous. He thought that “despite the score-line, UCL remains triumphant as King's are still [insert insult of choice]”