As the season draws nearer to a close, it remains all to play for at the top of the two leading CUAFL divisions. Indeed, this weekend’s results have thrown both title races wide open. With five teams well and truly in the mix in the Premier League, and four battling it out for the title in Division Two, it’s anyone’s for the taking.

The Premier League witnessed the end of two season-spanning unbeaten runs. First, Jesus lost out to Downing, ending their 100 per cent record in the division, and rounding off a terrible couple of weeks for the penalty-fearing college. Downing move top, and are now currently the only side to remain unbeaten in the top flight. Not really seen as contenders from the outset, they’ve managed to put themselves in a remarkable position three points clear, and who knows, they could well top the table in a few weeks’ time. Elsewhere, Selwyn’s unbeaten form was crushed by Fitzwilliam, whilst in a warm up game for Friday’s Cuppers final, St John’s were thumped 5-2 by Pembroke, who move joint top as a result. Will we see a similar result on Friday? We’ll have to wait and see.

In the second division, the closely fought race for promotion took another twist this weekend with struggling Christ's earning their second win of the season, this time with a comfortable victory over high-flying Darwin, who were previously unbeaten. Churchill were able to take advantage with a win over Homerton, whilst the other two promotion hopefuls, Girton and Queens’, met in a huge game, but in the end had to settle for a draw. Churchill are in the driving seat, but it’s very much all still to play for.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

 

Fitzwilliam 3-0 Selwyn

FITZ: Rutzler, Whiting, Own Goal

Shock win as Selwyn, the previous league leaders, slumped to concede defeat against Fitzwilliam, who record only their second win of the season. Goals from Matt Whiting (an excellent header from an early set piece) and Peter Rutzler (another clinical scissor kick volley), both of whom netted last time out against St Catz, in addition to an unfortunate own goal, were enough to seal the deal at Oxford Road. Its 100 per cent for Fitzwilliam so far in Lent, and this win brings them further clear of trouble. Selwyn suffer their first defeat in the league this season, and although this may be a blow, they are certainly not out of it yet with fixtures against Jesus, Johns and current league leaders Downing all to play in their last three remaining games.

 

Gonville & Caius 3-1 St Catharine’s

Things look very bleak for St Catz after their latest defeat. With two games left to play for them, without any points and with the teams around them all having games in hand, the last nail is nearly in the coffin as second division football beckons. Back to back wins for Caius gives them a chance of potentially challenging for the top four.

 

Downing 2-1 Jesus

DOWNING: Burley, Brodie

It’s been a terrible couple of weeks for Jesus, dumped out of the cup last week thanks to their impotency from the spot, and over the weekend they saw their 100 per cent league record disappear too. Downing are now the only remaining unbeaten side in the league and solid defensive display was enough to secure victory and to send them top of the league with three games to spare. Despite Jesus controlling much of the game and taking an early lead, Downing fought back and held on with goals from Burley, netting a Harry Kane-esque header, and Brodie with a spectacular effort from range doing the damage. Jesus aren’t out of the title race yet, but they need to pick themselves up quickly to get back amongst the front runners. Can Downing lift the title? Only Selwyn, St Catharine’s and Caius now stand in their way.

 

Pembroke 5-2 St Johns

Pembroke will be hoping to repeat this result on Friday when the two sides meet again in the Cuppers final. A superb win against the favourites for the title sees them move to within three points of Downing, but they do have a game in hand over them. Last year’s two promoted sides have really adapted to life in the top flight well, and Pembroke will be pleased to bounce back in such a manner after a demoralising 5-1 defeat to fellow title rival Selwyn two weeks before.  St John’s remain in and amongst the contenders, but they will need to put this result behind them, as after two back to back defeats, the title could well be slipping away.

Team	Games Played	Goal Difference	Points
DOWNING	6	+7	16
PEMBROKE	7	+9	13
SELWYN	6	+9	13
ST JOHN’S	7	+4	13
JESUS	5	+10	12
CAIUS	6	+2	10
FITZWILLIAM	6	+1	6
TRINITY HALL	5	-3	4
KING’S	5	-15	0
ST CATHARINE’S	7	-24	0

 

 

DIVISION TWO

 

Christ’s 4-1 Darwin

Christ’s: Baron, Duffy, Gordon Armstrong

Darwin: Wake

 

Girton 1-1 Queens’

Girton: Jaewon Yon

Queens’: Salama

 

Trinity 4-1 Emma

Trinity: Bowlby (x3) Rawson

 

Churchill 4-1 Homerton

Churchill: Goddard Pantic (x2), Rolph (x2)

Homerton: Goulbourne

 

 

Team	Games Played	Goal Difference	Points
CHURCHILL	6	+9	16
QUEENS’	7	+9	13
GIRTON	7	+9	13
DARWIN	6	+7	13
TRINITY	6	+1	10
EMMA	6	+2	7
HOMERTON	7	-8	7
LONG ROAD	7	-6	6
CHRIST’S	7	-9	6
CLARE	5	-14	0