WOMEN'S WATERPOLO - Varsity Match 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
On Saturday 19th February 2011, the Cambridge women’s water polo team achieved a clean, analytical win over Oxford at Parkside pool. Despite having conceded 8-3 to Oxford only three weeks earlier in the first round of BUCS, the light Blues came back to secure a confident victory.
The game was played in quarters of 8 minutes with a stopped clock and thirty second shot clock. Cambridge began attacking the shallow end and scoring was opened only minutes into the first quarter, when a well-timed shot from Sophie Clarke was helped into the goal by Josie Faulkner in pit. Cambridge kept their focus following this early success, putting Oxford under heavy pressure and contesting every pass. Their continued hard work was reward in the last minutes of the quarter when Lizzy Day took the Cambridge team up 2-0 lead.
Despite Oxford taking up the attacking advantage towards the shallow end goal in the second quarter, Cambridge were determined not to let the focus drop. Setting up a well formed arc around the deep end goal allowed ex-captain, Josie Faulkner, to be fed the ball in pit: a great backhand shot pushed the light blue’s lead up to 3-0 just seconds into the quarter. However, Oxford began to challenge Cambridge’s defence: two goals from players number four and twelve brought the score to 3-2. The light blues kept their nerve, moving the ball around safely and adopting effective formations in both attack and defence. Their discipline paid off and Sarah Hopkins was able to secure a 4-2 lead for Cambridge at the end of the first half of play.
Oxford began the third quarter with determination, demanding a high level of play from the Cambridge side. The Light Blues adopted a 2-3 drop to focus on Oxford’s strong left-handed centre-forward and captain, player number 7. Despite some fantastic saves from goalie Liane Grant, a defensive lapse in concentration allowed Oxford’s number eleven to bring the score to 4-3. The depth of ability in the Cambridge team became clear from the number of players who presented a credible threat to the goal. Josie Faulkner in pit worked hard at drawing the defence: the tactic paid off when captain Polly Checkland Harding secured a clean shot from the top of the arc to re-establish a two goal lead at 5-3. The dominant play continued to the end of the quarter, which ended on 6-4 to Cambridge after Sarah Hopkins scored her second goal.
The final quarter remained tense: both teams fought hard in what was proving to be a close match.
Oxford challenged the Light Blues defence at the start of the final stretch, gaining momentum from two goals to equalize at 6-6 three minutes in. Cambridge remained calm, re-establishing their dominance despite a number of major fouls from the opposition. During a man-up formation resulting from one of these kick-outs, Cambridge’s Rebecca Voorhees scored a strong shot from the top of the formation. Faulkner stretched the lead even further to 9-6 with only two minutes left on the clock. Oxford had the last say with a goal in the closing seconds of the game, but having maintained the lead throughout the play it was clear that the Cambridge side had earned their win.
Cambridge 9 : 7 Oxford
