Blunderers Season Report 2023/24

Following promotion in our inaugural season last year, the Blunderers weren’t sure what to expect from our new division, and so entered the season with cautious high hopes. Unfortunately, the season schedule got the better of us at the beginning of the season, and so due to the games being outside of term time, we were forced to concede our first two games, therefore starting us off on the back foot.

We began our season soon after with an opening win of 6-0 with goals from returning Blunderers and fresh faces alike, giving hope for a very strong season ahead. After a few more wins, we then faced Wisbech Town 3s, the other team who were promoted with us last year who we had never been able to play due to scheduling errors. A very close game unfortunately ended in a 2-1 loss, so from that point we knew this season would not be as easy as last year. However, we followed this up with a last-minute winner for a 2-1 result against Cambridge South 4s, who had previously won all their games. However, our toughest game came after Christmas, on a Wednesday evening, we travelled to play Ely City 2s, who managed to beat us convincingly, at which point we knew it would be an uphill battle to fight for back-to-back promotion.

We then found our stride, winning all our league matches including those against Wisbech Town and Cambridge South. Then coming into the final stretch of the season, we were forced to rely upon some results going our way in other games to have a chance at promotion, and luckily they did, setting up a final day showdown with Ely City 2s, with the winner of that game earning promotion and the other being left disappointed. It was a close and back and forth game in the beginning with 4 goals in the first 10 minutes to have the game at 2-2. But Ely City managed to find the next goal to make it 3-2 and then capitalised as we let our heads drop and so the game finished 5-2 and so were unable to attain promotion, despite a very successful season that we are all still very proud of.

Luke Boniface – Captain

It was an early and wet start for the Blunderers as we opened the day with the first of six Varsity Matches to be played on the so-called Best Day of the Year. The supporters began to arrive along with the sun, ready for pushback, and we got off to a nice conservative start. We knew the importance of the game, but we weren’t going to let that affect us. Eventually the game sprung into motion as we had our first burst of attacking, and the ball found its way into the net off of Josh Clark’s stick. The goal was originally given by the near side umpire. However, it was overruled by the second umpire, who had seen a deflection of a Cambridge foot, so still at 0-0, we continued.

The Sporadics then had a chance to attack where they managed to win a penalty corner, a clear goal scoring chance. They got a shot off, however it was stopped on the line by a Cambridge body, so a penalty stroke was awarded. The Sporadics’ captain stepped up against our goalkeeper Ossian Finch, who managed to push the ball onto the post and keep us in the game.

Some back and forth hockey then ensued, with both teams now having clear cut chances denied. However, after a quickly taken free hit allowed Oxford to capitalise on a Blunderers defence that had not yet set, and although the first shot was saved once again by Ossian Finch, the rebound fell to an Oxford player who was able to put it away right before half time, and Oxford lead 1-0.

At the half time team talk, the message from our coaches Nick Power and Luke Poulston was clear: keep playing the simple hockey that was working so well at the beginning of the match. So going into the second half needing a goal to bring it back to even, we managed to dominate possession in midfield, but we couldn’t quite convert it into shots or goals. The spirit of the game wasn’t lost on anyone and there was no love lost between the Light and Dark Blues. Throughout the second half the Sporadics’ attacks were routinely stopped in their tracks by Ben Little, a performance that rightfully earned him Man of the Match honours. Then as we came to the end of the game, the Blunderers pulled our goalkeeper in favour of an extra attacker. However, we still weren’t able to find that final touch and so the game ended with an Oxford victory 1-0.

Luke Boniface