Intramural Football - First hurdle fall for cup champions

By Intramural Reporters Owain Harries and Rupert Williams

The first round of the Swansea Student Events cup lived up to its expectations with high scoring games and a few shock results along the way.  One thing is guaranteed, there will be a new name on the cup this year as reigning champions Team Sloth were knocked out to underdogs SPR whilst Ajax Treesdown, a team featuring many of the TITS players from last year’s final, surpassed the test of Photosynthesis Grasshoppers yet again.  Both uni teams will have their names in the hat for the second round, knocking out Hardly Athletic and Geography FC, two teams who were tipped to cause a stir in the first round.  Balls Deep could also be a team to watch, beating the ever improving History Boys 3-1 while the unpredictable Climax FC, who hold the record for this season’s biggest loss of 6-0, beat Blazin’ Bonville Bulldogs by the same score.  Team Armadillo will be hoping for better fortunes next season, after losing their debut cup match 4-2 to Sub Standard Liege.  With the cup waiting all teams are already looking forward to the next draw, which takes place in JC’s soon after the Christmas holidays and exams.

 

FC Climax 6-0 BBB

 Climax started on the front foot and made early pressure count with goals from Joe Bulpin and long range effort from Liam Coughlan.  BBB then had a spell of pressure, but it came to nothing with the Climax defence coping with what was thrown at them. 

BBB’s motivational half-time teamtalk was to no avail as Climax increased their lead straight from the kick off, Bulpin grabbing his second from a long ball over the top. 

Climax then re-established their  stronghold on the game and put the game beyond doubt with goals from Alex Pritchard and Jonny Whittle, and a last minute goal from Nic O'Brien again from a long ball, to cap a fine all-round performance from Climax.

 

Geography 0-2 Uni 6th’s

 In a game that could have gone either way from the start, the 6th’s can go into the Christmas break knowing that their name will be in the hat for the second round draw. 

 In a tense game with some good   passing football from the 6th’s, Geography did threaten and nearly made the most of some long throws, only to be stopped by the 6th’s defence. 

 Twenty five minutes in the deadlock was broken as Jack Evans scored a half volley from the edge of the box.  With settled nerves the 6th’s got more confident and they soon doubled their lead early in the second half as Paul Gregson scored a similar goal in the opposite box. 

With a good foot hold on the game, Geography struggled to find the net and waved goodbye to their season’s cup hopes. 

Speaking to 6th’s captain David Mitchell, he was glad to go through, saying ‘It’s always nice to know your potentially only 3 games away from some silverware, plus everyone is dying to play in the final, have the big day of it and perform in front of a big crowd’.

 

Armadillo 2-4 Sub Standard

 Both teams started the game strongly but Armadillo had the better chances and hit the bar early on. They did go on to take the lead mid-way through the half thanks to Simon Frost, and some good saves by the Armadillo keeper meant their lead stayed intact going into half time.                                                                                                                                               

The second half was a different story and Sub Standard Liege came out fighting, scoring almost immediately with a well taken goal by striker Charlie Bridgewater. Armadillo then took the lead after a fantastic volley from the edge of the area by Niall Dent which looped over the keeper.  Approaching the hour mark Sub Standard made it 3-1 ahead thanks to another good goal from Charlie, this time beating a couple of defenders and rounding the goalkeeper. He completed his hat trick not long after with another well taken shot from the edge of the area.                                                                                                                                              

Armadillo did threaten a comeback when they scored a late goal through James Elderton but it proved to be no more than a consolation.

 

Singleton Park Rangers 1-0 Team Sloth

Singleton Park caused the biggest upset of the day down at Ash Road as reigning champions Team Sloth were embarrassingly knocked out at the first round by a team they beat 6-1 two weeks earlier. 

In an end to end game Sloth could of taken the lead early in the first half, hitting the woodwork several times and even finding the goal first but Tariq Mattar’s header was disallowed as the throw-in that created it was deemed a foul throw and thrower Jack Taylor even admitted his foot was over the line. 

SPR capitalized on their only chance of their half as a through ball from inside SPR’s half found striker Tony Idris one on one and nearly tearing a gap in the net with a fiery shot from the edge of the box, to rapturous applause from the SPR bench. 

With a goal to their name, SPR turned to classic tactics and shut up shop from the Sloth kick off.  Every ball was won and their desire meant Sloth just couldn’t break through for an opportunity. 

The second half was the same story, with SPR not giving Sloth any space to play in any part of the pitch, making the half a long one to watch for any Sloth spectator.  Whenever SPR had the ball, they found the corners and held the game up well and tempers flared towards the end as frustration was getting the better of last season’s champions. 

With all games finished and half the league watching, the roar from SPR’s bench could be heard from the other side of the Mumbles as the full time whistle went.  If SPR can keep their performance up from the first round, they could be the team to watch in this season’s Swansea Student Events cup.  

 

Swansea Student Events Cup 1st Round Results

 University 6th’s 2-0 Geography

University 7th’s 4-2 Hardly Athletic

Singleton Park Rangers 1-0 Team Sloth

Ajax Treesdown 2-0 Photosynthesis

Sketty Bolognese 4-0 Urine Trouble

FC Climax 6-0 Blazin’ Bonville Bulldogs

Sub-Standard Liege 4-2 Team Armadillo

Balls Deep 3-1 History Boys