It was honours even on the hockey pitch between Gonville & Caius and Magdalene, as a pulsating Men’s C Division college game ended 4-4 at St John’s pitches on Sunday afternoon.

Caius came into the fixture off the back of a 6-1 loss to St John’s last week and were looking to get their first points on the board for the new season. However, as in their last match, they were hamstrung by the fact that they did not have a goalkeeper and were forced to play newcomer Joe Chandler as kicking back, though having 11 outfield players partially offset the disadvantage of virtually having an open goal at every Magdalene attack.

It was arguably this outfield advantage that helped Caius take a 2-0 lead. Some slick possession and passing through the wide areas saw Caius skipper Tim Venkatesan finish into the bottom right corner. The lead was doubled shortly after with what was one of two truly outstanding goals during the afternoon. New signing Jakob Münch dribbled inside from the right, entered the top edge of the D, and fired an incredible and unstoppable tomahawk into the keeper’s bottom left corner.

Despite Caius’s early ascendancy, however, Magdalene were always dangerous on the counter-attack, effectively utilising their forwards’ skill and pace. This threat was accentuated by the fact that their opposition did not have a keeper. One dangerous break saw Magdalene hitting the post from a tight angle on the left-hand side, just before they eventually pulled one back before half-time. A swift break through the middle saw Magdalene’s attack tap home into an unguarded goal, as they took advantage of some slack Caius marking and their high line.

The goal seemed to put wind into Magdalene’s sails as the second half started. Magdalene dominated possession early on, and took full advantage, once more making the most of some lapses in defensive concentration to slide the ball in twice in quick succession. The comeback seemed to have been completed – but the match still had plenty of twists and turns yet before the finish.

Having fallen behind for the first time in the game, Caius started to rally and resumed the direct and smooth passing game that brought them rewards in the first half. And the equaliser duly arrived after a flowing move ended with Lucian Clinch providing Katharine Curran with a simple close-range finish at the back post. 

It was now anyone’s game again. Caius went on a ferocious search for the winning goal and came agonisingly close to making it 4-3 on two separate occasions, with the ball rolling marginally wide of the posts both times. It was, however, the Magdalenites who seemed to have snatched the three points when yet another blistering counter-attack isolated the Caius defence and produced another close-range finish to make it 4-3. With only a few minutes left, it looked like that would be the deciding goal.

However, Caius’s never-say-die spirit salvaged a point right in the dying embers of the game. Another direct and quick passing move down the right-hand channel saw the ball deflect towards Curran on the right side of the D. Despite close attention from a Magdalene defender, Curran made clean contact with the ball while on the half turn and thumped it against the backboard with seemingly little space or time to even contemplate shooting. It was an exceptional finish, and it proved to be the final goal of an exceptional game.

Magdalene will rue the fact that they let their lead slip on two occasions, while Caius will be frustrated that some of their encouraging attacking play was not rewarded with a victory and that some avoidable defensive errors crept into their game. Having a goalkeeper might well have given the Caians the win, given the soft nature of a number of Magdalene’s goals. However, a share of the spoils for each side was probably the fair result at the end of an exciting and hard-fought contest.

Gonville & Caius: Venkatesan, Maiter, Brennan, Curran, Patel, Clinch, Marashli, Chandler, Münch, Roberts, Robson, Tomlinson, Halls

Scorers: Curran (2), Venkatesan (1), Münch (1)

Magdalene: Smith, Holt, Lewis, Kirby, Freeman, Borthel, Lenny, Coltman, Cutajon, Thicknesse, Brignal

Scorers: Kirby (2), Smith (1), Freeman (1)

Umpire: Anthony Graff

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