The first match weekend of the term lies behind us – how did the Ustinov teams do?
Well done to everyone who represented our college in various sports this week! We are particularly proud of Men’s Football B for their impressive victory (photos from the match further down in this post), Men’s Hockey for beating Aidan’s in an exciting match (report below!), and Volleyball for winning their first ever league match in a confident manner.
It is furthermore very exciting that our Women’s Football team beat Hild Bede A on Sunday, because they are meeting the same team again this Wednesday from 8.15pm for the Women’s Football Floodlit Quarter Finals. That match will is course our featured match of the week – come and join me to watch them!
And now for our first match report of 2019 – a victorious story brought to you by the Hockey Club (UCHC) President Miles Hudson!
Men’s Hockey Topples the Tops
Ustinov’s men’s hockey team played St Aidan’s on Saturday afternoon and won a very close match. With Aidan’s flying high in Men’s Division 1, and Ustinov second from the bottom of the league, this was never going to be an easy game for UCHC.
The task was made more difficult as the match was scheduled immediately after one that half the Ustinov team were playing in for Durham City Hockey Club. A quick energy drink and a change of shirt, and the players were back into action.
Laura Seddon in her debut for the men’s team put Ustinov ahead with a nice finish for the first goal of the game.
In the second half, both teams pressed the other well, with a number of pieces of goalmouth action. And both scored fairly routine goals to make it 2-1 to Ustinov as the match entered the final few minutes.
With both team benches looking nervously at their watches, there was a big scramble in the Ustinov goalmouth, keeper on the floor, defenders facing six different directions, nobody sure where the ball was, until finally it ended up in the goal. However, after the umpires consulted for what seemed like an eternity, they finally deemed that Aidan’s had never touched the ball inside the shooting circle and so there was no goal. The entire scramble had been Ustinov tackling each other repeatedly!
Final score: Ustinov 2 – Aidan’s 1
Thanks for another very entertaining report, Miles! I’m so proud of our hockey team for winning against all odds, well done guys and girls! In case anyone was wondering, yes, women are allowed to play on the men’s hockey team but men cannot play on the women’s team.
For our second match report this week we are going to hear from our cricket team for the first time! Let’s hear what captain James Contreras thought about the team’s first match of the season:
Indoor Cricket Carnage
We had our first game against a very strong Hatfield A Team. After I lost the toss we were put into bat. Considering this was for a few players their first experience of the carnage that is indoor Cricket (me included) we batted extremely well. The flashing blades of Dan Rutter, Philip Waite and Saidur Ranju steered us to a respectable total of 93. This was a particularly impressive total considering that I managed to run out half the team.
Onto the bowling, which arguably is our stronger suit. Starting proceedings, we had Phil who bowled a nagging spell, taking an important early wicket. At the other end Phil was given superb support by Jamie Graham who bowled with pace and variation, the sharp catch taken at point by Saidur of Jamie’s bowling was the highlight of the game for me. However, our total proved 15 or so runs light, despite a tidy effort by Dan behind the stumps.
After a great first performance by Ustinov I expect wins to follow in the coming weeks, with out next matchup on Sunday (at Durham School sports hall if anyone wants to come and support).
Thank you for the report, James! I personally don’t know anything about cricket, so I’ll definitely make sure to go and watch a match some time, so that maybe I’ll understand what’s going on. I can however tell from the final score of 93:96 that it was a very close match – well fought, everyone!
So what matches do we get to see this week?
Calendar week 3 is definitely packed for the Ustinov teams! It’s a bit alarming that women’s hockey have three matches scheduled this week, but hopefully some will be moved – keep an eye on the Team Durham website for changes! Pool matches take place at the colleges of the home team, as listed. Cricket plays at Durham School. All other matches are carried out at Maiden Castle. Find out how to reach Maiden Castle and the precise locations of pitches here: https://ustinovgcr.com/sports-facilities/#mc.
This week’s featured match is the Women’s Football Floodlit Quarter Final: Ustinov A vs Hild Bede A! Check out the Facebook event and please join me! The Hild Bede event has 60 people saying that they are interested or going, so please don’t let me face all those undergrads by myself…
Side note: If you plan to visit a match, it is always a good idea to double-check the fixture on the Team Durham website: https://www.teamdurham.com/collegesport/sport/. Matches can occasionally be rescheduled, though usually no more than 48 hours before they are supposed to start.
And that’s it for this week! Please don’t forget to give the Team Ustinov Facebook and Instagram (@team_ustinov) a like and show our teams some support. If you take any photos of our clubs and socs, please don’t hesitate to email them to cs.ustinovgcr(at)durham.ac.uk for a chance to be featured in these weekly updates!
~ Vera, Clubs & Socs Officer
GRADUATE COMMON ROOM 