Field Trophy final

Cambridge narrowly lose the 2004 Varsity Match

Report by Matthew Richardson

After the epic Varsity Match of 2002, the fixture took a bit of breather in 2003, but this year the match returned to sparkling form as the teams could be separated by only a wafer thin 2 game margin after a weekend of thrilling tennis.

First up on the Friday the Cambridge first pair of David Woodman & Charlie Billington stamped their authority on the fixture with a straight sets win over Tom Dunbar & David Hill. Whilst the hordes of Cambridge supporters were expecting a convincing victory Oxford put up spirited resistance but ultimately Woodman & Billington were too good for the Oxford team. As Woodman set about his annual dash to win the squash Varsity Match for Cambridge at the RAC, the second string doubles pairs battled it out. John Evans & James Willis showed marvellous consistency and whilst the Cambridge pair of Matthew Richardson & Neil Roxborough played some promising tennis they made too many mistakes to trouble the experienced Oxford team, who won in straight sets to establish parity after the opening skirmishes.

After a fantastic dinner on Friday evening the galleries swelled for the second days play to see if Cambridge could defy the odds as Oxford started as favourites in three of the four remaining matches. David Hill of Oxford beat Neil Roxborough, whose rapid progress saw him promoted to The Blues after playing on the 2nd team but a fortnight ago. Both players showed fine technique and enjoyed a high quality match, with Roxborough showing particular aptitude when it came to landing the ball flush against the back wall off the penthouse, but Hill's experience gave him the edge as Oxford took a well-deserved lead. In the next match Charlie Billington of Cambridge was swept aside 6-1 6-1 by John Evans in a devastating display of controlled tennis to take the score to 3-1 on Oxford's favour. With Cambridge teetering on the brink of defeat Matthew Richardson needed to beat James Willis to keep the match alive. After some tense opening exchanges the Cambridge number 2 edged the first set 6-4, and looked to have the match sewn up at 4-1 in the second before Willis fired back with some excellent serving and blistering retrieving to keep his opponent stranded at the hazard end. Richardson eventually scrambled back to the service end and after 2 particularly laughable attempts finally managed to secure the win on his third match point. David Woodman, who ran Nicholas Victoir so close in this match last year, faced an equally formidable opponent in the tenacious Tom Dunbar, who, in spite of conceding a considerable handicap deficit, had a brace of set points in the first set, and ran Woodman right down to the wire before the Cambridge number 1 was able to level the tie at 3-3.

With the scores level the match would be decided by a 3 set doubles playoff between Dunbar & Willis and Woodman & Roxborough. The Oxford pair played a fantastic first set, controlling the service end and missing the tambour to keep the ball away from the Cambridge number 1. Cambridge levelled in the second set but Oxford's consistency earned them an extremely hard fought victory 6-4 in the final set. As Dunbar and Woodman staggered exhausted from the court after back-to-back matches it seemed fitting that such an exciting Varsity match was determined by such a slim margin.

Club Night