After over seven months off, college football returned to Cambridge this weekend and was as exciting as ever, with plenty of big wins throughout the divisions. Despite various colleges having to postpone games due to team members in isolation – something that might well become very common this year – there were still 15 games, producing a staggering 121 goals.

The first of the two Division One games to be played under new COVID safety regulations saw newly promoted Corpus Christi host Robinson, a side who narrowly avoided relegation last season, in what promised to be a close affair. The visitors, however, came out firing, romping home to a 4-0 win and playing some slick football in the process. While the score line flattered the away side slightly, Corpus put up a fighting performance, however the newly-promoted team were ultimately unpicked by the better side, with a curling effort from Vissarion Christodoulou being the pick of the goals. Being one of the smallest colleges in Cambridge and only having one college side, Corpus have already defied the odds by making it to Division One and they will be hoping for a change of fortune next week when they play Downing if they are to build up some momentum in this difficult league.

The other Division One game saw another 4-0 victory, as Caius beat last season’s Division Two champions, Pembroke. Caius managed four scrappy goals; a rebound off the goalkeeper, a penalty, a deflected header and an own goal. Whilst none of these will be running for this season’s Puskas Award, they will be more than happy with their well-earned clean sheet – topped off with a man of the match showing from Sam Odu. With Caius and Robinson both getting off to winning starts to their campaigns, last season’s joint champions Churchill and Fitzwilliam will be eager to get some points on the board next weekend when they are due to face Homerton and Pembroke respectively.

It was not the weekend for promoted sides as Division Two’s Kings slumped to a 13-0 defeat to a ruthless Trinity Hall side. The cheekiest goal came from Alex Bull, who wrong footed the goalkeeper by diverting a goal bound shot into the opposite corner for his second. Bull was accompanied by Will Bunker and George Liang, who both also scored braces, but these were soon overshadowed, as Fred Spence came off the bench to net five. After three years away from the top division, Trinity Hall will be eyeing up promotion and could not have wished for a better start to the season. Elsewhere in Division Two, a goal and a man of the match performance from powerful striker Fortina Oshasha inspired Jesus’s 3-0 win over recently relegated Trinity.

35 goals in four Division Three games showed that as you descend down the leagues you find no less excitement. After a disappointing season last year, resulting in relegation from the league above, Fitzwilliam II hit the ground running with an emphatic 8-1 win over Jesus II. Vice-captain Caolan McConnaughay netted twice, with Tom Randall catching the eye as he scored once and pulled strings all game in an expansive attacking performance. Both Darwin I and Christ’s II won by a more unusual 7-3 margin against Magdalene I and CCCC respectively – with Christ’s Cameron Bicknell scoring an impressive brace, capping an all-round classy display. Darwin will feel that they could have scored more, and if it was not for some tidy goalkeeping from Magdalene’s Qingyun Chen, they surely would have done. The other game in the division saw Homerton II beat Caius II 4-2.

The pick of the games in Division Four saw newly promoted Peterhouse come back from 2-0 down to lead Pembroke II 5-2, only to concede two goals in a late scare which left the visitors with a narrow winning margin of 5-4. Downing II also secured an impressive 7-2 victory over a Churchill II side who seem to still be rebuilding after failing to register a single point last year, as stellar performances from Shaw and Lammin saw them share four goals between the two of them. The other side to be relegated from Division Three last season, Trinity II, had better luck, beating Emma II 2-1 in one of the lower scoring games from this week.

The highest scoring game this week was to be found in Division Five where St Catherine’s II won 13-5 against Caius III. A whopping four hattricks were seen in all from captain Bruno Dyjas, Dan Hill, Michael Clesham and Aran Agrawal (who scored four). Sidney Sussex II were not shy of goals either, thumping Jesus III 9-2 with a standout performance from Alasdair Cunningham. Christ’s II matched their first team’s score line, beating Clare II 7-3, and the only draw of the weekend saw Trinity III and Fitzwilliam III finish 1-1.

With Division Six kicking off next weekend and the first round of Cuppers the weekend after there is still plenty of football to look forward to this term.