A depleted Cambridge team braved freezing conditions to face the Dark Blues in Oxford this weekend, and were unlucky not to come away with a win. Beginning the first quarter with enthusiasm and fight, exemplified by the typically aggressive attacking of centre Jeremy Sharman combined with clever cuts and well-timed runs from the straight attackers, Cambridge gained the upper hand, playing with confidence whilst the Dark Blues appeared to be unable to cope with the pace of the game.

The second quarter saw much of the same attacking flair from Cambridge, but Oxford began to fight back. Solid defending from Cambridge’s Emily Binning, Ellen Heddle and Andy Wiggett slowed down the Oxford attackers but couldn’t prevent some powerful shots, from the Oxford men in particular, narrowing the lead to a single goal by half time.

A few mistakes during the third quarter by the Cambridge team overshadowed several excellent passages of play, including a superb goal by newcomer Jacob Lam. The drama of the match intensified when, with only two minutes left of the quarter, a wayward centre draw from Cambridge captain Chloe Colliver made contact with an Oxford player’s face, resulting in an injury and a yellow card, despite the innocuous nature of the incident.

Confusion reigned at the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Dark Blues, capitalising all too easily on the fact that Cambridge were temporarily down to 11 players, appeared to have an extra player on the pitch. After a heated discussion, it was agreed to begin the fourth quarter again with player parity restored. However the distractions worked in Oxford’s favour, and Cambridge found themselves trailing by a goal. Despite a spirited effort to break through the Oxford defence, the Dark Blues’ tactic of merely keeping possession for the final few minutes allowed CUMLC no opportunity to level the score in this no-tackling match, and Oxford ran out as winners.

The 10-9 scoreline was hugely disappointing but all in all, this was a very promising start to the term. The defeat has inspired sheer determination in every member of the Cambridge team to reverse the result on February 23rd, when Cambridge will host the Varsity match. GDBO.