Oxford have defeated Cambridge 2-0 to emerge victorious in the 136th Men’s Varsity Football Match, and to do the double over the Light Blues following the 3-0 win in the Women’s Match earlier this afternoon.

Following the commemoration of former OUAFC coach Mickey Lewis, the two men’s teams kicked off just after 3:15pm. It was nearly impossible to identify the better team throughout the first half as both had chances, while neither dominated possession in what turned out to be a physical, scrappy 45 minutes of football. Cambridge’s right back Max Stacey had a difficult time in dealing with Oxford’s Chris Coveney, who successfully ran in behind on several occasions throughout the half.

Despite this, Cambridge’s forwards Ryan Hoffman and George Pugh also caused problems for Oxford, with Hoffman forcing a great save from Harry Way, and Pugh’s goal ruled out for offside. 10 minutes before half time, however, the ball fell kindly for Oxford’s Chris Coveney who, deep inside the Cambridge box, kept his cool to slot the ball past the onrushing Tim Wallace. Just before the half time whistle, Cambridge frustrations manifested themselves in a short tussle between Ryan Hoffman and Alex Rickett.

The rest of the game was played relatively safely, with the only exception being Ryan Hoffman’s yellow-card-worthy tackle on Finlay Ryan Phillips. The second half was about as even as the first, but Oxford doubled their lead just before the hour mark, with a dangerous cross delivered from a free kick on the left deceiving goalkeeper Tim Wallace, who was beaten to it by the head of Alfie Cicale.

From this point onwards, Cambridge, refusing to panic, pressed harder and harder, with substitute Fortina Oshasha causing a lot of problems for Oxford’s right-back Kaiyang Song. The need to get a goal back left Cambridge open at the back and Oxford threatened to capitalise through counter-attacking on several occasions. The last 10 minutes of the game were marked by a flurry of Cambridge crosses, both from corners and from open play, however no one was able to connect and Oxford stood strong. After a generous period of added time, Premier League referee David Coote blew his whistle for full time with the score reading Oxford 2-0 Cambridge.

This marks Oxford’s 54th overall win in the fixture, with Cambridge four behind on 50.

Squads

Oxford XI: Harry Way, Kaiyang Song, Alex Rickett, Ben Putland (C), Daniel Clifford, Jake Duxbury, Alfie Cicale, Finlay Right-Phillips, Oscar Guy, Luke Smith, Chris Coveney

Oxford Subs: Charlie Peters, Ryan Clark, Fidan Suljik, Jeremy Ratcliff, Joseph Hickey

Cambridge XI: Tim Wallace, Max Stacey, Patrick Mortimer, Ben Adam, Alex Bull (C) Brody Wooding, Callum Thomson, Ryan Hoffman, Ellis Birch, Jason Costapas, George Pugh

Cambridge Subs: Nick Gallagher, Lumi Kanwei, Louie Roberts, Fortina Oshasha, Ujjal Sunuwar

Varsity’s Man of the Match: Fortina Oshasha (Cambridge)