Politics Staff vs Student football

Posted on 11 May 2017

Experience trumps youth in 2017 Staff vs Student match

staff student football may 2017

This year’s Department of Politics Staff vs Student football was a finely-balanced affair, with a late penalty separating the two teams.

The game kicked-off under warm sunshine and blue skies at Heslington East.

In the opening exchanges, the students had some early success attacking down the right. The first goal resulted from one of Rai’s penetrating runs down the wing. Having taken the ball to the by-line, Rai tidily picked out Reischert. A low drive from Reischert squeezed past Fisher’s near post, giving the students a deserved early lead.

Mid-way through the half, the student lead was doubled. With heavily-committed midfield contests dominating proceedings, the ball was worked forward by Barrie on the edge of the box. Barrie’s powerful run broke through the staff defence, and from a tight angle a crisp finish into the far corner left the score at 0-2.

The second half followed the pattern established in the first, with solid defence and good organisation limiting goal-scoring chances. Pena got one back for the staff team, his glancing header steering Booth’s targeted cross into the net. Soon after, a similar chance was made by Booth for Rogers, whose effort fell just wide of the goal.

The staff, though, didn’t have to wait long for their equaliser. Terrenas, who was industrious throughout, won a free-kick on the left. With staff queuing up in the box for a cross, Terrenas instead opted for an audacious lob. His looping effort sailed into the top corner, drawing the game level at 2-2.

As tiredness started to set in, space began to emerge for both teams. On a number of occasions, Fisher in the staff goal provided a useful last line of defence.

The winning goal came five minutes from time. Following another of his mazy dribbles, Terrenas laid off to Liam Clegg on the edge of the area. Clegg’s controlled shot came back off the bar. A partial clearance came back to Clegg, who moved the ball to the right to make space for another attempt. A clumsy challenge from Keunecke left Clegg on the floor, marring an otherwise solid performance from the student centre-back. Clegg converted the resulting penalty, calmly placing his spot-kick low to the keeper’s left.

The student team pushed hard for an equaliser in the final minutes, but were matched by a packed staff defence. The staff team held on to their lead, edging a 3-2 victory in a competitive 2017 Staff vs Student match.

Student squad: Barrie, Matt; Canevet, Josselin; Carruthers, Troy; Chaplin Dewey, Robert; Disken, Patrick; Gordon, Robert; Keunecke, Karl; Lansdell, Tom; Rai, Nikhil; Reeve, John; Reischert, Soren; Sharp, Callum.

Staff squad: Booth, Seb; Buller, Jim; Clegg, Chris; Clegg, Liam; Eriksson, Jacob; Fisher, Peter; Mellors, John; Ninh, Huang; Frowd, Philippe; Solar, Carlos; Pena, Alejandro; Terrenas, Joao.