On the 3rd February 2019 the Cambridge University Handball Club travelled to Faringdon to play the sixth annual Varsity Match against Oxford. The men’s match took place first at 12:30pm followed by the women’s match at 2:30pm. Read on to find out how both teams fared!
Men’s Match
Before this match even started, Oxford were already at a disadvantage as their subs bench had far fewer people compared to Cambridge’s bench. Therefore, the tactic for this game was to keep it fast moving and to tire the opposition out as rolling subs meant tired Cambridge players could take and break to recover if needed.
This fast-paced match saw many fast breaks scored by the Cambridge team. There was also a large reduction in the silly passes which lead to us losing the ball, as had happened in the UCL rematch the week before. The Cambridge team quickly established a comfortable lead and by the end of the first half, the score was 13-6 to Cambridge.
The second half was lower scoring than the first half, with only two goals scored by the Oxford team. This is due to a combination of the Oxford team getting tired and the Cambridge team remaining strong in both defence and goalkeeping. The Cambridge team scored ten more goals in this half, resulting in a final score of 23-8 to Cambridge.
Final Score: 23-8
Most valuable player: Sebastian Horstmann
Photo taken by Eleonore Poli
Women’s Match
Both teams knew it would be a tiring match as Oxford had zero substitutes and Cambridge only had two.
The first half of the match saw very few goals scored by either team. The first goal was scored by the Oxford team and throughout the first half of the match they maintained a narrow lead. During this half both teams demonstrated excellent defence and the half time score was 8-5 to Oxford.
In the second half, the Cambridge team changed to a five-one defence in order to prevent further goals from the Oxford back court players. Many more goals were scored in this half by both teams as everyone started to feel more tired due to the lack of subs. As Oxford crept further into the lead the Cambridge team changed their tactic and went one on one on their two best players in defence.
With just minutes to go and Oxford having secured a clear lead by this point, every Cambridge player went one on one in defence against every Oxford player. Unfortunately, this was not enough to close the gap between the two teams and Oxford won 25-15.
Final Score: 15-25
Most valuable player: Georgia Roussou
Photo taken by Else Ellerman
Both teams had a really fun day and are really excited for the next round of Uni Champs on the 16th and 17th February!
Thank you to everyone who came and supported us and cheered us on. That created an incredible atmosphere for both matches. Also thanks to the referee, who refereed both matches alone.