Fitzwilliam left it late to turn it around in their Cuppers final, crushing Selwyn dreams of a fairytale triumph with a narrow 2-1 victory. A tap-in from Bashir Juwara and a screamer from Jack Lynch was enough to secure Fitzwilliam their 17th Cuppers title, overtaking Christ’s in the all-time rankings.

It’s rare to find a bigger mismatch in college football. On one side, Fitzwilliam: unbeaten in all competitions, already crowned champions of the Premier League, and a side that, before their semi-final exit in 2024, hadn’t lost a Cuppers match for seven years - only denied seven official titles by a global pandemic.

On the other hand, Selwyn, who sit second in division three and haven’t set foot in even the quarter-final of Cuppers (losing 1-0 to Trinity in the 2013-14 season) since before Fitz’s remarkable unbeaten run began. Their last Cuppers title came in 1987.

If Selwyn were to pull off the heist of the century, Oscar Reeves would no doubt be at the centre of it. His 15 goals this season, including a brace in their semi-final victory over Clare and the winner against Queens in the quarterfinals, were impossible to ignore.

Fitz looked nervous out of the blocks. Meanwhile Selwyn, boasting much of the support on the sidelines, were firing on all cylinders, escaping Fitz’s press through quick passing from the back. Fitz implemented a very fluid 4-3-3 system, with Jack Lynch and Hugo Dalley rotating between central midfield and left back in the early stages.

“Any chance for Selwyn seemed most likely to originate from a Fitz mistake”

The first warning sign of Fitz’s firepower came in the 11th minute. striker Patrick Brownlow flicked on a loopy Cam Kerr free kick to find Josh Hood in behind, only to be denied by the offside flag. Kerr then stung the palms of Jai Patel, firing straight down the keeper’s throat from 25 yards out.

Fitz had the ball in the back of the net soon after, with Hood and Brownlow involved once more from a Kerr set piece. Brownlow tapped in from close range, but the referee deemed Hood to have illegally poked the ball out of the keeper’s hands in the build-up, with another goal to be ruled out.

Despite the differences between the two sides, by the 35th minute mark, the game remained delicately poised with not much to split the two teams. Fitz’s primary threat came from set pieces, but Selwyn’s defence, commanded by captain Lucas Clarke, held the fort down well.

Any chance for Selwyn seemed most likely to originate from a Fitz mistake. Goalkeeper Sam Larcombe Tee had a few shaky moments advancing off his goal line. Rushing out to deal with a loose ball, he mishit his clearance straight to Alex West, whose shot on an open goal was charged down well by a light-blue shirt.

Larcombe Tee and West were at the centre of the biggest moment of the first half, and perhaps the biggest moment in the last 40 years of football at Selwyn College. The midfielder found himself bearing down on goal with three minutes remaining in the first half. With the keeper onrushing, he kept his composure, feinting to the left and being caught by Larcombe Tee’s trailing leg just inside the penalty area; referee Noah Read had no doubts in pointing to the spot.

A single kick from 12 yards could now send the underdogs into a half-time lead over the 16-time champions. Lucas Clarke would ensure he wrote his own team talk, stepping up confidently and sending the keeper the wrong way, sparking wild celebrations on the touchline.

“The Selwyn fans were loving absolutely every minute of this potential upset”

The breakthrough was a much-needed wake-up call for Fitz, who, despite plenty possession, were still yet to produce a chance of genuine quality to challenge Patel in the Selwyn goalmouth.

Kerr kept his half-time chat short; his players were back out after just two minutes and awkwardly waited over 10 minutes on the Grange Road turf before they were joined by their opponents.

The Selwyn fans were loving absolutely every minute of this potential upset, loud in voice on the terraces above the pavilion and making sure the Fitz players were more than aware of their presence.

Their noise seemed to propel their own team forward too, as it was Selwyn who started the second half brightest. Midfielder Marco Faria, who had so far run the midfield alongside Alessandro Mandolini, squandered a golden opportunity to double the advantage. Reeves was sent sprinting down the left by Max Rich’s reverse pass, before delightfully cutting it back for Faria, who completely scuffed his left-footed shot with the goal gaping.

This miss seemed to be the turning point for Fitz, who, at last, started playing like a team of champions. Harry Adams came devastatingly close twice, striking the side netting and impossibly heading over from 5 yards after Toby Stewart served it on a plate for him.

Fitz made the most of their substitutes throughout the game, and it eventually bore fruit. Having been brought on just nine minutes before, Bashir Juwara danced round the goalkeeper, once again being tripped on his way goalward and earning his side a penalty which almost exactly matched the one West had won for Selwyn in the first half.

“Selwyn refused to declare themselves dead and buried”

Patrick Brownlow assumed responsibility but crumbled under the pressure. He dragged his penalty wide of the left post and kept Selwyn’s miracle alive.

Or at least for 90 seconds more. Brownlow immediately made amends for his spot kick miss, forcing an error out of the Selwyn backline, jabbing it beyond the stranded Patel and into the path of Juwara who simply could not miss from two yards out. Fitz were in the ascendency now and Selwyn’s lack of fitness was catching up to them. Things went from bad to worse when Clarke was forced off through injury, with Zac Conway given the unenviable task of filling his void in the back four.

Nonetheless, there was absolutely no stopping what happened next. With the equaliser releasing some of the pressure, Fitz started playing some stunning football. Backheel after backheel, from Hugo Dalley to Patrick Brownlow and then into Jack Lynch, who rocketed the ball beyond Patel and into the roof of the net from outside the box. Quite the stage upon which to grab your first Fitz goal and quite the way to complete a hit-and-run turnaround which saw Fitz well on their way to yet another Cuppers title.

With under five minutes to go, Selwyn refused to declare themselves dead and buried. And they must have thought they were dreaming when Oscar Reeves charged down Josh Hood’s clearance, and, out of absolutely nothing, found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Selwyn could not have hoped for the ball to fall to anyone else. But it was Larcombe Tee who emerged as the hero, scurrying off his line to smother Reeves’ dink and spare Hood’s blushes.

Selwyn didn’t look like overturning the deficit after then and Stewart’s two speculative efforts from a combined 70 yards were perhaps indicative of the decaying state of affairs.

Fitz were comfortable – they had done this all before. Perhaps this explains their slightly muted celebrations at the full-time whistle. A record 17th Cuppers title, an eighth in just ten years and a return to Cuppers glory after a two-year hiatus.

Speaking to Varsity after the game, Cam Kerr praised his team’s resolve after coming from behind: “A real squad effort. Obviously, there were quite a few uni players, so throughout the season there’s been a fair bit of chopping and changing, and [we have] probably used about 22 players on this Cuppers run. It shows the depth of Fitz football and credit to them.”

For Selwyn, from the brink of a famous upset to crushing disappointment. A performance to be proud of, where few would have had them leading at the 70-minute mark and going toe-to-toe with these college football titans.