May 2025 Newsletter

The Men’s Blues Boat Celebrate another victory on the Thames, photographed by Nordin Catic

President’s Introduction

Gentlemen Hawks,

I’m delighted to be writing to you with what I suspect will be my final newsletter. It’s been a huge privilege to lead the Club over the past 11 months or so, and to do so at a time when the Hawks’ Club has been so successful has been very satisfying.

We have enjoyed another busy Term, with 216 Resident Hawks and more on the way. The inevitable post varsity rush has created a bustling Clubhouse with many great evenings. The majority of clubs host their Varsity matches in the Lent term and I hope it hasn’t escaped your notice that the Light Blues have had a hugely successful year.

I’ve offered the captains the opportunity to write their own reports, and so we have a large section of sports reports; I hope you enjoy reading them. Some go into extravagant detail, so please feel free to disregard or regard as you see fit.

It’s worth mentioning that some of our most historic Blues sides: Rugby, Hockey, Football, Golf and Rowing all won, in what must be the first occurrence for several years (decades perhaps). It’s fair to say that Cambridge sport is in a pretty good place in comparison to our rivals in Dark Blue

I would like to draw your attention to 2 important features in this newsletter. First, there is a section in the Rugby Union report detailing a proposed development at the Grange Road pitch. This proposal would have a huge impact on Sport at Cambridge and so I think it’s important you are all aware of the proposals. Secondly, there is a brief section at the end of the newsletter relating to our use of data, do read this and get in touch if you have any questions.

You may remember some of my previous correspondence mentioning the Welsh Dinner and the visit from The Knights of the Campanile, both of these were massively successful, and I will attach some of the more appropriate photos to this newsletter.

Finally, as we look ahead to the Summer Sports, Cricket won their first T20 Varsity at Lords on Friday 9th May; and Athletics followed suit winning their Varsity Match on the 17th May, Tennis is also occurring this term. The term is then wrapped up with our Hawks’ and Ospreys’ Event, where I hand over the nuclear launch codes to the incoming president at Midnight over a cool glass of Toma or 10. The term’s sport finishes with the final 4 Day Cricket Varsity which is at Fenner’s from the 1st to 4th July.

Thank you for all your support this year, I’m delighted to have led the club during such a successful period. I look forward to reading future newsletters which no doubt will detail the immense successes of Hawks and wider Cambridge Sport.

 

GDBO,

Cameron Mitchell (Robinson, CUCC, CUGC)

Hawks’ Club President 2024-25

Sports Reports

Hockey

Men’s Hockey Blues celebrate a 3 nil victory

 

CUHC Blunderers 2-1 OUHC Sporadics

The second game of the day saw the Men’s 4s battle it out, coached by resident Hawks Luke Poulston and Freddie Arbuthnott. A penalty stroke before half time from Matt Vennard saw the Blundies go into halftime 1-0 up, before a well-taken winner late into the game from fresher Jamie Carruthers led the boys to their first varsity win since 2019. Captain Adam Harris was a rock in goal, not giving the Spos a chance, and a great team performance from all highlighted the strength of the club this year.

CUHC Squanderers 2-0 OUHC Infrequents

After a tough defeat last year at Iffley Road, the Squandies were seeking revenge. A tough training plan of breaking drinking ban and serial sharking had Finn Dovey’s boys in light blue ready and raring for the fixture. Fresher Ben James scored a wondergoal before the break, leaving it 1-0 to the good at half time. Midway through the second half, James McKinlay-Smith finished off a liquid team move after Will Rowlands bundled through the Oxford defence to make it 2-0, before the boys’ rock-solid defence held on to preserve the two goal advantage. The full-time whistle sent the crowd into delirium as the beloved Squandies reclaimed the Varsity title from the Is.

CUHC Wanderers 2-2 OUHC Occasionals (5-4 on shuffles)

Captain Connor Singleton led the boys out in the final match of BDotY, under the Wilby floodlights, in front of a packed crowd. A cagey affair saw the score at 0-0 at half time, having seen Freddie McElwaine-Johnn go close by crashing two drag flicks into the crossbar. The Os scored after the break, before Freddie finally put one away to bring the score level. Another Oxford goal required Callum Wolvers to neatly score from a penalty stroke with five minutes to go. To penalty shuffles it went. Heroics from goalkeeper Ossian Finch and some good finishes from the Wandies, including the winner from Andi Kapounek, saw the boys in light blue bring home the win and seal a 5-1 win for Cambridge on the day.

 

CUHC Men’s Blues 3-0 OUHC Men’s Blues

Having lost 1-0 in a narrow contest last year and witnessed the WBlues lose on penalty shuffles earlier in the afternoon, captain Will Laird (Hawks’ Committee 24/25) led his team out for revenge in the Southgate sun. A team of only four returning blues was excited to play against some quality opposition, having spent their Saturdays trouncing farmers in the England Hockey East Leagues. Theo Flanagan (Hawks’ Committee 24/25) opened the scoring in the second quarter for the boys with a fantastic reverse into the roof of the net, before fresher Joe Conway put away a tidy deflection to double the lead before half time. Player of the match Calum Brown ran half the pitch and scored a tomahawk (reverse hit) into the far corner to seal a dominant performance for the boys in light blue to complete the 4-peat for the Men’s sides.

Hockey Blues Celebrate a goal

– Will Stubbs, CUHC Social Media Officeer

Squash

It was the one hundredth year that CUSRC prepared to face off against Oxford, and this centenary match did not disappoint. As our Light Blues graced the courts of the Royal Automobile Club in London, the hundreds of spectators knew they were in for a treat.

In the Men’s match, the path ahead was by no means straightforward. With a questionable seeding from Oxford (including their “#2″ being their self-proclaimed number 1 squash player on LinkedIn), the odds were against CUSRC. Despite our #1 player triple-bagelling his opponent in an act of sheer dominance, some extremely narrow losses for the rest of the team meant Oxford clinched the victory. Cambridge 2-3 Oxford.”

– Anant Gupta, CURSC President

Ice Hockey

The men’s blues ice hockey team lost a hard-fought match 3-2, ending their streak of six consecutive varsity match wins. The match ended in controversial fashion, as Oxford was awarded a penalty shot with 0 seconds remaining in overtime. Charlie Baar (Emmanuel) and Scott Partington (Queens’) scored for Cambridge, captained by Martin Limback-Stokin (St. John’s).

– Scott Partington and Ivan Grega, Co-Presidents

 

Rugby Union

Men’s Blues by Nordin Catic

The LXs captain, Sam Brookes, gave his overview of the game. “After a season of hard graft and some great results, the LXs went and took the fight to O*ford in their own back yard. Despite going down early, the lads never gave up, never took their foot off the pedal, and bit by bit managed to claw their way back to within a single score. Ultimately, the LXs would just miss out on the victory, with the final score reading O*ford 32 – Cambridge 27. There were heroic performances all round, but special mention goes to POTM Charlie Cross for lighting up the back line.”

Centurions captain, Xavier Cooke, wrote “The Centurions match was a difficult one. We faced a well-drilled and physical Whippets side, and unfortunately it proved not to be our day at Iffley Road. We managed to get over the line a couple times in the second half but that was not enough to answer the tries they scored in the first. Final score 50-12 Whippets.”

Photo by Nordin Catic

Following on from last year’s record victory, CURUFC Men’s Blues entered this year’s game with high hopes. This was to be a tighter affair, though and the result was a 35 – 28 victory in a dramatic comeback during the last 10 minutes. Fergus Hughes, Captain (St Edmunds, CURUFC, CUCC) recalled that it was the “4th time this year we had come from behind in the last ten minutes”. He described a genuine belief amongst the group that whatever the situation they were going to get over the line, with a focus on results as much as performance throughout the year. This makes it 3 years on the bounce that the Blues have won the varsity match, a remarkable achievement!

– Fergus Hughes and Eoin Finn

Matt Riddington (left) with our Junior Treasurer Charles Kantolinna (right) celebrate a hard fought victory, photographed by Nordin Catic

Grange Road Project

I think it is worth drawing your attention to a project at Grange Road. The existing arrangement of both men’s and women’s teams sharing the grass pitch for both matches and training is unsustainable. CUAFC also share ownership of the ground with CURUFC, and at present no football can be played on the ground. With this in mind, the rugby and football clubs have set out to fundraise in order to build a 3G pitch. The clubs hope to complete the building work this summer, subject to their own fundraising efforts.

The following passage is an excerpt from Mark Brian – the new director of sport, formerly director of sport for Durham University:

“ I am particularly delighted to see the University and its Development Office supporting CURUFC and CUAFC in the redevelopment of their sports ground at Grange Road. It is inspiring to see everyone working together to transform the Ground into a thriving year-round venue that will not only support more rugby being played and football returning to the Ground but other sports as well, including rugby league, Australian rules, American football and lacrosse. It will also support College sports, the University’s Active Students Programme and the local community. The Ground is home to many cherished sporting memories and the University, which has made a significant contribution to the project, funded the planning process and helped CURUFC maintain the Ground. We’re fully supportive of the Clubs’ ambitions to build on this heritage and ensure that as many students as possible experience the life-enhancing benefits of sporting activity.”

I feel as members of the sporting community it is right that Hawks’ are made aware of significant plans for Cambridge sport and I am happy to put anyone with any further questions in touch with the relevant parties.

 

Volleyball:

The hard work of all four CUVC teams throughout the year culminated in an exhilarating volleyball Varsity. The Men’s Blues ended the day with an unforgettable match. They won the opening set 38-36, a score that most people will see once in their lifetime. After an intense fight, Blues Men ended the 2025 volleyball Varsity with a 3-2 victory.

Varsity was a testament to the hard work, commitment, and passion of all players, coaches, and supporters. Winning three out of four matches is an astounding achievement, and it would not be possible without the effort, teamwork, and spirit everyone brought to the court.

– 2025 CUVC Committee

Basketball

The men’s Varsity match in 2025 was scrappy, loud, and an enormous amount of fun. We started off the game as well as we’d played all season, implementing effective back door cuts and precise passing, to go along with a healthy dose of outside jumpers. It felt like we were very much in the driver’s seat for the first quarter, having come out with a lot of energy and intensity.

Oxford, however, would not be pushed over. They put up an enormously successful fight to claim the lead in the second quarter.

Unfortunately, Oxford came out swinging with the energy we had started the game with and we struggled to match it. Feeding off a rowdy crowd, Oxford maintained a quick-paced momentum for the entirety of the second half. This was the story for much of the second half, whilst we scored in clusters it felt as if we had to work a lot harder than them to get the ball in the basket. In the end, they won convincingly, but we held our heads high knowing that we had put in a solid effort we could be proud of. It’s always hard to win a Varsity game on the road and our hope now is that we can make it equally difficult for Oxford next year – bring it on!

– Alex Ramsay

 

Gymnastics

We travelled to Oxford on the 2nd March for a highly anticipated Varsity match. Fuelled with disappointment from last year and some bright new faces, we expected a close match up. We spent the day competing on all the different apparatus, with all Cambridge and Oxford teams looking very evenly matched. Our Men’s and Women’s B teams unfortunately suffered narrow losses to their counterparts. However, Cambridge secured 1st and 2nd in the Women’s B individual all around, and a 3rd in the Men’s B individual all around.

Both Men’s and Women’s A teams came out victorious to the delight of all those in light blue. Both teams saw light blue take the top and 3rd spot of the individual all-around with our Men’s A winner over 10 points clear of second place. It was fantastic to bring both the Men’s and Women’s trophies back home to Cambridge, where appropriate celebrations ensued.

– Will Chapman

 

Football

4-1 the Men’s Blues after an emphatic night at Abbey Stadium, by Dik Ng

Kestrels 3-0 Oxford Colts Goals: Ben Cohen x2, Joe Tait, Assists: Ebo Aneju, Josh Taylor, MOTM: Ben Cohen, A truly remarkable inaugural BUCS season for the kestrels had all been leading up to this: Super Sunday. Hoping to break a miserable 5 year streak of varsity losses, the intentions of this kestrels side, brimming with confidence, was made evident from the opening whistle. The counter-pressing masterclass that had been unlocked under manager Abhi Sundaram’s 3-back system was in full flow and the Oxford Colts seemed to be unable to offer up any sort of response. 5 minutes in and a stray pass was gobbled up by Ben Cohen, who, as defenders across the midlands will testify to, is not a man you want to surrender the ball to in your own final third. However, before he could treat us to one of his iconic weaving runs, a desperate, recovering Oxford midfielder cynically brought him to ground. 25 yards out. Prime Cohen territory. Surely he can’t. Can he? Of course he does! With an absolute peach. 1-0 Kestrels and the day only gets better from here.

The following 6 minutes can be described as nothing short of football heaven. Firstly, a sweeping move from back to front sees Ebo Aneju, uncharacteristically selflessly, knock the ball back across goal for Ben Cohen (again!) who expertly guides his looping header into the opposite corner. Pure, unfiltered bedlam. Then, without giving the CUAFC faithful a minute’s rest from this round of celebrations, the kestrels delivered the final sucker punch to Oxford with a move that would have made Pep Guardiola shed a proud tear. A combination that saw almost every player in light blue get a touch culminated in the ball finding Noah Read’s feet. A cheeky nutmeg into the path of Josh Taylor to drill a ball across the 6 yard box to an expectant Joe Tait, saw Oxford’s net bulge for the 3rd time in the opening 11 minutes. Complete pandemonium amongst the home supporters! Almost as staggering as the scoreline is the fact that this calmly guided volley into the bottom corner was Joe Tait’s first goal for CUAFC. What a time to do it!

A reminder to keep our heads and stay composed from captain Alex McDonald defined much of the remaining 79 minutes. Cool, calm, measured football saw this kestrels squad not give Oxford so much as a sniff of goal until the final whistle. An incredibly professional performance from all involved, contrasting perfectly with the brilliantly unprofessional celebrations that followed. UTFK

CUAFC past and present celebrate a Blues varsity win, by Dik Ng

 

The Falcons game was a real game for a neutral. With many new players joining the falcs this year, nerves where high in the changing rooms and on the pitch for the first 5. The experience of the rest of the changing room helped bring us back to normality but not before we conceded a goal. We started playing our free flowing ‘Carl ball’ and getting up the pitch through our wingers Thomas Musie and Harry Benton. Within 10 minutes, we level the score through a darting run from Max Cowan who pulled it back for a top bins finish from George Clark. Oxford then showed some quality and scored a 40 yards worldie to take us down 2-1 at halftime.

The team talk was hefty with the whole squad chipping their thoughts in to how we can turn the game around and win it so we went out with high hopes for the second half.

We continued our football and dominated for the start of the second half. Oxford won a questionable free kick against the flow of the game and scored to make it 3-1 from a dangerous ball into the box. The falcs stayed believing though and a penalty was awarded for our efforts. George Clark stepped up to tuck it away and spark some fire into the game again.

Throughout our endless pressure we seemed to not be able to find a way through. Worse so, Oxford score again from a counter to put us 4-2 down. Manager Carl brought on attacking minded subs with a clear goal to get back into the game and they did just that. With Roddy Simpson combining with Tom Craddock down the right and getting a ball in towards Teni Oluranti- Ahmed who got himself on the score sheet and brought it close once again. We proceeded to throw the kitchen sink at the Oxford goal with hope of equalising but on the day it was not meant to be. Oxford score a last minute goal from a counter as we had committed forward to finish off the game 5-3.

A tough loss for the Falcs as we know we are the better team, but such is football. Some inspiring words from senior players in the changing room brought spirits up as we appreciated the quality of the event and how much it meant to play in-front of all of our family and friends. After the match we bounced back and won the league, showing the true fight in each an every one of the players. It has been an honour to walk out on the pitch with these lads all year and I wish them the best in their footballing careers.

Cai La Trobe-Roberts scores from the spot, photographed by Dik Ng

 

Save the best till last, the Blues match finished CUAFC 4 – 1 OUAFC!!! A dominant performance at the Abbey Stadium against Oxf*rd saw the Men’s Blues lift the trophy for the first time in 6 years, following on from the Women’s Blues earlier that night to complete the double on home turf! A truly unforgettable night for CUAFC!!!

Men’s Blues celebrate an emphatic win, photographed by Dik Ng

– Jake Parish, Ross Harrison and Reece Linney

Boat Races

It was a great weekend on the Thames for CUBC. After a season beset by controversies off the water the club responded in style with wins in every race against Oxford. The lightweights destroyed their dark blue counterparts with a completely new crew, ably brought together by their President Gianluca Maffi. An overpowered Goldie with 4 returning blues dispatched the Isis crew with ease, and the Blue Boat won by 5 1/2 lengths over an Oxford crew packed with Olympic talent – the largest margin in a decade. The future looks bright for light blue rowing!

The victorious Goldie Crew, photographed by Nordin Catic

Golf

For the first time since 2018, Cambridge University Golf Club (CUGC) emerged victorious in the University Match. On Saturday 29th March at Royal North Devon Golf Club, Cambridge secured a resounding 11.5-3.5 win in the 136th edition of this historic event bringing the total tally to 66 – 62 to Cambridge, with eight halves.

The week began with a bang as the Stymies claimed a 10-5 victory over the Divots. Not to be outdone, the dinner match pair of Andrew McLarnon and Archie Smith secured a flawless 3-0 record on Thursday with dominant wins of 6&5 in the morning foursomes and 6&5 and 7&6 in the singles in the afternoon. The Cambridge Ladies team put up a valiant fight but narrowly missed out, falling 4-5 in a closely contested encounter.

The Stymies pictured in their classically hideous outfits.

The Blues’ impressive performance was showcased over two days of competition, culminating in a dominant finish. After the opening foursomes on day one, Cambridge held a slight edge, leading 3.5-1.5. All the drama occurred in the last hour however, as CUGC’s pair three won four of the last seven holes to secure a half on 18 as ex-captain and veteran Matt Roberts holed two clutch putts on 17 and 18 to keep the game alive. Meanwhile, in the two games behind, both CUGC pairs were all square on the 15th tee. Winning both 15 and 16 respectively, the Mezger & Chumas and Balch & Pinnell pairings brought home 2&1 wins to give Cambridge the two point lead heading into singles.

This momentum carried into the Saturday singles, where the team won an outstanding 8 matches out of 10, sealing an emphatic overall win of 11.5-3.5. Special mention must go to Chloë Royston on winning her captain’s singles 6&5, becoming the first woman to win her singles in the University Match and also continuing the now nine-year streak of CUGC captains going unbeaten in their Varsity singles.

George Webster capped off his four-year CUGC career in style with an incredible comeback. After being four down, he fought back to win the match on the final hole, sinking a clutch 10-foot putt to secure a 1-up victory. Matt Roberts and Jonathan Pinnell are also to be commended, rounding out their Cambridge golf careers with singles victories, and 6.5/8 and 5/6 records respectively.

– Chloe Royston

Lacrosse

Picture this.

It’s March 2011. The Arab Spring has just begun. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys have just won the prestigious ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration’ at the Grammys for ‘Empire State of Mind’. And the Cambridge University Lacrosse Club have won the Men’s Lacrosse Varsity for the second consecutive year.

What then followed was 13 years of hurt: year after year of Varsity losses (or draws), culminating in a 17-3 stomping in 2024. But that never stopped us dreaming.

An early 2-0 Oxford lead brought the squad back down to Earth – they play in the division above us, after all. But we still believed we were the better team. Once we found our rhythm, so did everybody else.

Man of the match Khalig Howard set the tone, spinning defenders and sniping corners. Not one to be outdone, star attacker Jake Bernstein showed off some outrageous trick shots. New recruit Jasper Bates levelled some huge hits against key Oxford players, while CULC veteran Ed Wakefield put his old bones on the line to fight for face offs.

We took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back.

FINAL SCORE: Cambridge 15-5 Oxford

Men’s Lacrosse celebrate their Varsity Win

– Jacob Powell and Menan Loganathan 

 

News from around the Hawks

Last week Ed Smith was announced as the next president of the MCC, he will take over the hugely prestigious role and one of the highest profile in the Cricketing World. We’ve sent Ed our best wishes for his term which begins in October. It was great to be able to host Ed for a talk in the Clubhouse in November, and we look forward to yet another Hawk holding a high position in the world of sport.