The college football season may be drawing to a close this Easter term, but there was still silverware on the line at Grange Road this past week.

Cambridge college football is divided into four competitions: Cuppers is the main tournament for 1st XIs; teams knocked out in the opening round of Cuppers are funnelled into the Plate competition, whereas 2nd XIs battle it out for the Vase, and 3rd XIs compete for the Shield.

The Plate, Shield and Vase finals were played across two days of finals action. Grange Road had the privilege of hosting the full spectrum of peak college football entertainment, from composed attacking moves to the occasional defensive calamity. Here are Varsity’s reports from all three finals.

Plate final: St John’s 1s 1-0 Trinity Hall 1s

Elliot Karaalp’s early goal proved decisive as St John’s became the first team on record to win back-to-back Plate titles. Their 1-0 scoreline was a repeat of last year’s result, with the Poulets holding off a strong Trinity Hall side in front of an excitable Grange Road crowd.

Trinity Hall in particular were looking to bounce back from their penalty shootout heartbreak against Jesus in last season’s Cuppers final. However, any potential bid to avenge last year’s defeat could not have got off to a worse start. Karaalp’s goal came in the 10th minute, latching onto a long defensive ball before lifting a composed finish over the onrushing keeper.

“John’s midfielder Teni Oluranti-Ahmed was key in neutralising Ozer in the centre of the park, ensuring his side saw the game out and secured a successive Plate title”

Trinity Hall did respond well to the setback, controlling large spells of the game through Blues captain Denis Ozer, who fashioned a variety of good chances. Goalkeeper Nathan Sweeney was influential in keeping Trinity Hall at bay, blocking out countless efforts on his goal and preserving the narrow lead.

John’s midfielder Teni Oluranti-Ahmed was also key in neutralising Ozer in the centre of the park, ensuring his side saw the game out and secured a successive Plate title.

Shield final: Fitzwilliam 3s 0-2 Homerton 3s

Goals from Oscar Canton and Dave Redman on either side of half-time ensured a comfortable 2-0 victory for Homerton 3s over Fitzwilliam 3s in the Shield final.

Homerton were worthy winners, having also narrowly beaten the competition holders, Caius 3s, in their semi-final.

The best first-half opportunities fell to Homerton, who played a level of football that was perhaps surprisingly high for Cambridge’s third-tier college football competition. Captain Narmeephan Arunthavarajah should have put his side ahead around the 30-minute mark, but was unable to find the far corner after the Fitz defence seemed to part in front of him.

Canton ensured Homerton weren’t left to rue their missed chances at the half-time team talk, later finding the far corner with a fantastic right-footed strike from just inside the box.

“Canton's pinpoint corner evaded all the orange shirts and met the head of Redman, sneaking it in at the back post to double Homerton’s advantage”

Canton was involved in the goals again after the break. His pinpoint corner evaded all the orange shirts and met the head of Redman, sneaking it in at the back post to double Homerton’s advantage and confirm their first piece of silverware out of a potential two on the night.

Vase final: Girton 2s 2-1 Homerton 2s

Matt Budd’s late header shattered Homerton’s dreams of double glory, securing a 2-1 victory and a first-ever victory in the Vase competition for Girton 2s.

Having had a somewhat disrupted run-in to the final, which saw their captain Jacob Davey being reduced to watching from the sidelines in crutches, Girton made the most of their pre-match Lego classes, rebuilding in some fashion under stand-in skipper Gereon Leckebusch’s guidance.

Nonetheless, it was his opposing captain, Malachy Stockdale, who stamped his mark on the game first, winning back possession inside his own half and looping a delightful ball over the top to talisman Alex Highland, who couldn’t quite find the finish. Highland was the focal point of a frenetic start, which Homerton dominated, forcing Alkis Papasavvas into early saves – his makeshift blue coat illuminated by the setting sun over Grange Road.

The game eventually settled into a scrappy midfield battle that more resembled the college football we all know and love. With few chances of note being produced, Oliver Rasch-Muprhy resorted to a speculative bicycle kick to end the stalemate. While perhaps not quite reminiscent of South Africa 2010, the Homerton faithful’s vuvuzela usage quickly became the centrepiece of the second half.

“The top-notch entertainment of the lower tiers acted as the perfect build up to the Cuppers finals, taking centre stage later that weekend”

Regardless, the deadlock was eventually broken on the stroke of half-time. Girton winger DJ Mentiply drilled home from the right-hand side after an aerial ball was flicked on in the penalty area.

Clearly still riding on the high of their opener, Girton left themselves vulnerable to an immediate equaliser, with Jacques Pressley miscuing his clearance backwards into Sam Fawcett, who was unable to make the most of his chance from close range.

Girton were deserving of their lead, with some excellent attacking play keeping the crowd entertained in the second half. Number nine Oscar Coyle served up some fantastic hold-up play and cleaning up where necessary with some tidy touches. He fed Mentiply down the right whose square ball played in Pressley, who could only find the side-netting.

Perhaps against the run of play, it was Homerton who scored the crucial second goal. Jim Hall expertly controlled an overcooked pass, bursting through the Girton defensive ranks and levelling the score.

Girton’s pre-match injury woes carried over into the final. With midfielder Noah Coombs forced off in the first half, Papasavvas was also caught in the head by a late challenge in the 79th minute. Substitute keeper Al Gotovtsev took his place, still donning the blue coat in tribute.

With the game delicately poised at 1-1 and the seconds quickly ticking away, Girton will certainly have been having flashbacks to their late collapse to St Catherine’s in last year’s final.

Any lingering nerves were quickly dispelled when Matt Budd headed home from Thomas McDonald’s corner. Whether or not he got the final touch remains unclear, but in a post-match interview, he insisted on his claim to the goal and described the “brilliant” feeling of netting the winner with just seven minutes left on the clock.

It could have got even better for Girton when Budd’s header was parried by the Homerton keeper into the path of Mentiply, whose celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag.

Overall, the top-notch entertainment of the lower tiers acted as the perfect build up to the Cuppers finals, taking centre stage later that weekend.