Cup competitions this weekend saw fewer games played across the colleges, but by no means were there any fewer goals to enjoy or any less excitement across the many quarter-finals and semi-finals played.

Starting with Cuppers, Queens I stormed into the semis after a thumping 10-2 victory over Division 2 side Jesus I. With a hattrick from captain Luke Masom and four goals scored by the illustrious Nick Hope there can be no doubt that, despite their recent poor league form, this Queens side have a strong chance of going all the way this season to secure the Cuppers title for the first time in almost a decade. Queens will face the winners of the game between Division 1’s Churchill and underdogs Clare this weekend.

The other quarter-final to be played this weekend saw Division 1 strugglers Sidney Sussex I comfortably win 6-0 away at Kings I. Sidney’s rampant attack was on full display with some impressive goals and a man of the match performance from attacking midfielder and CUAFC regular Iliya Stoev. The pick of the goals came from an unlikely source with centre back Leo Penrose netting a screamer from outside the box to score Sidney’s sixth.

Sidney Sussex’s cup run will be a welcome distraction from their fight for survival in the top division, and they will be taking on the winner of Fitzwilliam I vs Gonville and Caius I in the second semi-final in two weeks time. 

Three out of four Shield quarter-finals were also played over the weekend with the best viewing coming in Homerton II’s 8-1 victory over St Catherines II, knocking out a Catz side who had already claimed the scalp of 2019 winners Queens. The other two quarter-finals were all Division 4 clashes; promotion chasers Emma II lost 3-1 to Girton II whilst Pembroke II emphatically beat Downing II 5-1.

The only match to be played in the Vase was the semi-final between last year’s champions Fitzwilliam III and Caius III. It was a close contest which resulted in the closest result of the weekend as Caius came out on top to win 2-1 and set up a final against Jesus III.

The only other action of note that took place over the weekend was the Division 1 clash between Churchill and Downing. Going into the game Churchill knew that a win would put them level on points with top side Fitzwilliam and they kept their fine form going with a comfortable 3-0 victory. With some impressive passing football on display it was midway through the first half when man of the match James Burdock was brought down in the penalty area and Edward Furlong calmly dispatched the spot kick.

In the second half Ed Wicken rifled home a scorching effort followed by a close-range finish from centre back Andreas Economou to secure the three points. Both Fitzwilliam and Churchill are neck and neck on 16 points after six matches and are due to play each other in the second last game week of the season which promises to be a crucial fixture.

Full tables, fixtures and results can be found here.