Football is all about character, physique and tekkers. All of the above can found in what is arguably, debatably, and probably-not-but-we’ll-say-it-anyway, the oldest cup competition in the world: Cuppers.

Last weekend saw three of the four quarter finals of this great competition take place on wind-swept, rain assaulted pitches, with Robinson and Selwyn’s battle succumbing to the whims of the weather. With eight colleges dreaming of the floodlit-utopia that is Grange Road glory, it was inevitable that some college hopes would be dashed as quickly as Churchill lost their quarter final lead.

In the first game of the weekend, perennial runners-up Pembroke maintained their course for more cup final heartbreak after they managed to make it past John’s slayers Girton, recording the only win in normal time in the quarter finals so far. The shock of the round however came at St Catharine’s, where the Second Division side stunningly knocked out Premier League leaders and Champions elect Jesus, holding their nerve to see out the game on spot kicks. Churchill, meanwhile, were not able to hold theirs, as they suffered a double hammer blow against Hill rivals Fitz, having led the game with just moments to go in extra time and then holding the advantage in the shoot-out after an opening Fitz miss, yet still finding themselves dumped out the cup at full time. Shame.

 

Fitzwilliam 1-1 (aet) Churchil  (0-0 FT, 4-3 pens)

Fitz: Painter

Churchill: Rolph

For all my Churchill bashing and derision, it would be foolish of me to contend that Fitz deserved whole-heartedly to go through in this quarter-final (based on quality of football, not quality of college, obviously if that it came into it then ‘deserving’ wouldn’t do a Fitz win justice).Churchill came into the game off the back of a good run of form. Three straight wins had left them sitting comfortably in fourth, above Fitz by 2 points, and still harbouring outside hopes of launching a late title surge. Fitz meanwhile have had to reset their league expectations, with a top four champions league place now the main focus in light of falling just off the pace in the league – despite being the only side in the Premier League to beat league leaders Jesus.

Fitz of course were boosted by the return of a strong university squad contingent, with seven taking to the field against their hill college rivals; Churchill by contrast had two, with Tom Rolph struggling with a knock before kick-off. And they certainly helped Fitz to dominate the ball for long spells in what was a ninety-minutes of few chances. Fitz struggled to create any clear cut openings to test Churchill stopper Smythe, with credit going to Churchill for their disciplined and industrious approach to the game.

It was the visitors who created the better chances. Twice Fitz keeper Warne was called upon to deny them from close range in the First Half, whilst in the Second, despite a renewed urgency from the home side, Churchill undoubtedly saw the better openings come their way. After a 90 minutes of little exception, the real drama was to unfold in extra time. With Fitz pushing high and again on top in terms of possession, Churchill again looked to threaten through the movement of Tom Rolph, springing through the Fitz backline on more than one occasion but to no avail.

Until five minutes to go, that is. In the 115th minute, Rolph again surged into the area after some good pressing on the edge of the Fitz box, and from right hand side he managed to send the ball into the back of the net. Cue jubilant scenes. The travelling support went wild, the Churchill substitutes were on the pitch, lost in delirium. They thought they were about to pull off shock of the tournament against their arch rivals.

But it wasn’t to be. Fitz, stunned at the prospect of local rival embarrassment, were given in a lifeline when a free-kick, a rather soft one, was awarded on the right hand side of the pitch, 30 yards from goal. With only a couple of minutes of play left, Stefan Wolf whipped the ball into the area with his right-boot, and rising highest was Fitz veteran Joe Painter, who headed the ball low to the keeper’s right; an effort too hot to handle. Now it was the turn of the Fitz faithful to lose the plot, rushing onto the field to celebrate with their jubilant – but relieved – college footballers.

The game then went to the lottery of the shoot-out. Fitz went first, and immediately handed the advantage to Churchill when Rutzler dragged his penalty wide of the post. From here, the goals rolled in, with Churchill netting through Waller, Holland and captain Berridge-Dunn, and Fitz through Sandbach, Spyrou and Wolf. With the scores level at 3-3, but Churchill up next to assert retain their penalty advantage, Fitz turned to keeper Henry Warne to save the day. Warne pulled off a fine stop to level the scores, tipping Churchill’s fourth penalty onto the bar with a finger-tip stop. He then proceeded to take the next penalty himself, calmly slotting the ball home to give Fitz the advantage for the first time in the game. With an all or nothing fifth spot-kick for the away side, Warne comfortably saved an under-hit final Churchill penalty, sending Fitz through to the Semi-finals by the skin of their teeth.

 

Girton 0-2 Pembroke

Pembroke: Nielsen, Ogier

Many would have smelt the scent of a shock coming into this fixture. Girton, high-flying in Division Two with their sights firmly set on promotion, and of course the slayers of holders St John’s in the previous round, would have felt quietly confident that they could out-muscle Premier League opposition again. Perhaps they smelt blood too, Pembroke have lost three on the spin, and are now teetering on the edge of the dropzone. The shock was on.

But Pembroke put pay to that. They put on a solid display on what was an enormous pitch at the back of beyond, prohibiting their opponents to chances that were few and far between. They opened the scoring through Blues forward Marcus Nielsen, who showed his class by scoring a real ‘peach’. Inside the Girton half, Nielsen nicked the ball off a Girton centre-back, before going on to lob the goalkeeper from all of 30 yards. Pembroke Captain Tom Ogier then completed the scoring when he found the net from a corner, ensuring Pembroke’s safe passage into the semi-final.

In the end it was not to be for Girton. They will look back with fondness at their slaying of St John’s, whilst their attentions will now firmly be set on the league and their promotion push, which looks set to go down to the wire with Long Road pushing them all the way. Pembroke remain on course for a third straight final; can they banish the demons of back-to-back Cuppers final defeats and lift that trophy for the first time in their history? St Catharine’s will have a say in that, in the semi-final.

 

St Catharine’s 1-1 (aet) Jesus (4-2 pens)

St Catharine’s: Crease

Jesus: OG

There is little doubt that this was the shock of the round. Of all of the quarter final encounters, this looked to be the foregone conclusion. St Catherine’s, struggling to find any kind of form in Division Two with three defeats on the spin, and teetering on the edge of back-to-back relegation faced a Jesus side who have led the top flight from the get-go. They have only lost once all season, and look odds-on favourites to lift the title. Yet somehow, St Catharine’s have pulled the rabbit out of the hat, and find themselves in the semi-finals.

The game was a tight affair. Naturally cagey for a game with so much riding on it, yet St Catharine’s evidently did not find themselves outclassed by their opponents. In the end, it would take spot-kicks to decide the result.

It would be the champions-elect who would open the scoring, benefiting from an early St Catz own goal. But St Catz quickly hit back through Falcons captain Jonny Crease, who when called upon, tucked away a penalty to level proceedings before half time.

The Second half was a different story, with St Catz beginning to assert themselves over the Jesuians. Numerous chances came and went, with superb displays by Ben Bolderson, Jonny Crease and Henry Hall. That is not to say Jesus didn’t have their own openings; Catz keeper Stuart Cummings was called upon on a number of occasions but was equal to it.

With the game remaining a tight affair, it would take penalties to separate the sides. St Catz kept their cool, and now find themselves in the semi-final against Pembroke. Jesus crash out, but the title hunt is still very much on for them.

 

Robinson P-P Selwyn