Scores on the Doors: 2013’s first

The return of the intramural Saturday league saw an entertaining programme of fixtures to help forget the memories of essays and exams.

A top of the table clash between Medics 2 and Henderson Hall received top billing in Division 1, and a typically tense encounter eventually saw the Medics triumph 4-1 in an entertaining game – Medic’s victory indebted to a Bullock brace and goals from Parker and Batham, as they replace their opponents at the top of the table.

Both Medics 1st and Barca-Law-Na retained their hopes of winning the title with wins over FC Civille and Ave-Wielding Baboons respectively, the former winning 6-2, the latter 4-2. That leaves the defeated sides looking over their soldiers, while the Medics will be hoping to take advantage of their 3 games in hand to close the 10 point gap to their fellow future doctors.

At the other end of the table a relegation six-pointer between NUSSC and Dyslexic ended in stalemate as the two struggling sides played out an engaging 2-2 draw.

There were also three fixtures in division 2, Saturday seeing Castle Leazes triumph 4-1 over Panthers FC thanks to goals from Tom Fishpool, Euan Johnson and two from Henry Scutt. Queens of Everything gained a vital three points to move clear of the relegation places, winning by the odd goal in 7 against Chem Eng,
The ‘Super Sunday’ game saw a top-of-the-table clash between Boca Seniors and SS Ladzio. In a classic 6-pointer, Boca triumphed 2-1 with goals from man of the match Ben Hunter and Paddy Noble.

In Division 3 Bath-a-loner maintained their position at the top with a hard fought 4-2 victory over third placed Roman Villa, while Hamilton Biomedical’s 5-2 victory over Bayern Toonich sees them maintain the gap to the leaders at just one point, with Hamilton having a game in hand.

A dwindling Fiorientina Turner squad meant that this game was not played. Bayles picked up the 3 points which saw them leapfrog their opponents into 6th place as they confidently maintained their record of failing to draw a game all season.

A surreal game between Aesthetico Madrid and Shakhtar LN, saw the rarity of two orange kits and an helping hand from the weather in a tense encounter. Shakhtar’s winning of the toss proved vital as they used the dazzling sun to their advantage and man of the match playmaker Miguel El Guendy taking advantage of two sun-induced mistakes form the Madrid defence to give his side a two goal lead at the break.

Madrid started the second half the stronger and halved the deficit with a 23.6 yard thunderbolt from Ayaz. Their joy was short lived however as Claudio Carvalho restored his side’s 2 goal advantage. Madrid will take heart from their performance but they still remain rooted to the bottom of the league without a single point thus far.

The weather also proved pivotal in the Second Round Cup Games played this week. Henderson Hall eventually triumphed on 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw with Bayern Toonich. Henderson had the better of the 1st half, while Bayern came back in the 2nd, more down to the ferocity of the wind that made playing one way decidedly easier than the other. Henderson’s goals came from Jack Mellor (2) and Jimmy Taylor.

The contest between Division 3 Shakhtar LN and Division 1 Dyslexic Untied nearly saw a classic upset as the lower league side took the lead through Matt Geddes, only to see a resurgent Dyslexic go through with a 2-1 win. The game saw huge controversy as Carvalho’s fifth minute shot was handled outside the area by the keeper but the referee inexplicably waved play. The other cup tie saw Fiorentina Turner cap off an absent squad weekend by taking the hit and losing 5-0 once again, this time to Axe-Wielding Baboons.

Had the avid Tina Turner fans turned out this weekend there may have been a very different league table with their prolific striker Alex Smith poised to continue his hot streak from last semester.

Saturday saw the resumption of the Rugby Intra Mural League, the game of the week saw the Titans face off against the Agrics 1sts. A hard fought encounter saw the Agrics pack controlling scrums and lineouts before the Titans capitalised on a loose ball to score a well-worked try. The Agrics responded in the second half as they charged down a kick to score a try of their own. However the Titans defence held out as their superior kicking in blustery conditions proved pivotal as they ran out 8-7 winners.

A similarly close game saw the Agrics 2’s outlast the Medics 12-10. Despite the Medics pack controlling the game, the pace of Harry Lees and John Crick resulted in left-wing tries for the Agrics, before the Medics responded with a try that owed much to their domination of the ruck while a missed tackle saw them reduce the deficit further. A penalty on the final play of the game gave the Medics a chance to steal the victory but the kick went wide as the Agrics continue their impressive season.

The week’s other games saw the Southern Fairies win 9-8 against Cheeky Ladies and BioSci Falcons whitewashed bottom side Law Blacks 30-0. The results see the top-of-the-table intriguingly poised as Cheeky Ladies, Agrics 1, Armstrong and Titans all separated by just three points. How times have changed for Armstrong from the heights of last year!

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