Sport

Young Lions Formula 1 Glory

A year on from A round-up of Hamilton’s
England U17s’ fifth world title at the
World Cup success Mexican Grand Prix

Points
shared
at Iffley
Blues held at home by Loughborough
Joseph Sibley the post. A great chance that should have who scored. A momentary switch off by Oli Cantrill that led to another Lough-
been converted. from Liew left a gaping hole that was The Blues defend borough breakthrough and the Blues
Oxford University’s football Blues Soon after, a great piece of skill from duly penetrated by a quick ball out from a free kick in once more looking at a one goal deficit.
dropped two points in what was ulti- Zachary Liew, whose link up play with the back which was soon passed on to the second half 15 minutes later, a great pass from Ox-
mately a frustrating 2-2 draw for a side Captain Leo Ackerman on the left hand Loughborough’s pacy number nine, who of their tense ford’s Pat Collins to Thelen led to a corner
that dominated large patches of the side troubled Loughborough for much would’ve struggled to miss from such game against ball for Oxford which Loughborough
Loughborough
match. of the first half, led to an incisive ball close range. struggled to defend, only managing to
(PHOTO:
Coming into the game on the back of that cut through the Loughborough The half-time whistle blew and Oxford Benjamin put the ball out of play for a corner on the
two consecutive wins, Oxford were hop- box, falling at the feet of Chris Caveney were left ruing their missed opportuni- Goldstein) opposite side of the pitch. Loughborough
ing to close the one point gap between whose shot was deflected out for a corner. ties in the first half, particularly as they again showed their difficulties defending
themselves and league leaders Not- Ackerman’s out swinging corner kick was only managed to test the keeper on one set-pieces as the ball found its way to
tingham firsts, and had a great chance decisively headed towards goal by Thelen occasion. an indecisive player in purple who was
to do so against Loughborough’s second but just missed the target. The Loughborough side came out of the muscled off the ball by a determined Ram
team. The Midlands side were sitting at Oxford’s dominance was really start- dressing room far more composed after Choudhury. The ball then found its way
the bottom of the Midlands 1A division ing to show now and, despite Thelen the first goal had relieved some pressure. back to Ackerman who provided the cross
having lost their opening three games. receiving a yellow card for an ill-judged The Blues were undeterred though, and for Oxford’s second headed goal, this
The Blues started the match well, complaint at a poor refereeing decision, less than ten minutes into the first half time from winger Caveney.
putting the Loughborough team under they showed no signs of relenting. a free-kick was given in Oxford’s favour. Two Oxford substitutions sought to in-
sustained pressure with their aerial The Blues bench were once more on Whipped in by Ackerman, the ball was ject some pace into the game, and Oxford
dominance and strong physical play. their feet just after the half hour mark met by an unchallenged Thelen head and nearly snuck a winning goal after a nice
This aggressive start paid dividends for when a great shot on goal from Caveney found its way into the back of the net, free kick routine caught Loughborough
the Blues, forcing errors from a Lough- drew an equally good save from the drawing Oxford level. unawares. The remaining ten minutes of
borough side that struggled to maintain Loughborough keeper, but again, the The game now evened out as Lough- the second half resulted in few chances as
possession. reward for Oxford’s supremacy proved borough responded well, showing a fight the teams largely nullified each other’s
The first chance of the game came the elusive. that had been almost entirely absent in threats and the final whistle blew, mean-
Blues way after a nice move resulted in The decisive moment came just before the first 45 minutes. The match became a ing Oxford had to settle for a solitary
Pat Barton playing the ball through to half-time and, despite their poor quality more closely contested affair and it was a point and regret not making more of
Dom Thelen whose shot dragged wide of in the first half, it was Loughborough foul on the edge of Oxford’s penalty area their first half dominance.