Magdalene-Magdalen Sports Day 2022

Year-in-year-out (pandemic permitting) the Magdalene-Magdalen Sports Day rears its braggadocious head, dragging even the most sports-loathing students with it.

With last year’s big day cancelled due to Covid-19, Cambridge had the pleasure of hosting this year, and O! what a pleasure it was. Over three hundred people, including Master Sir Christopher Greenwood, descended onto St John’s Playing Fields last Saturday to see what the long-standing Cambridge-Oxford rivalry was all about.

The day started incredibly well for Magdalene, Cambridge with an undefeated run of comfortable victories in ladies’ netball (16-6), badminton (9-0), mixed hockey (8-4), football (4-2) and mixed netball. I’d love to share the final score of the mixed netball, but as anyone in attendance could testify, this is something we may never know – dirty cheats. The match was all plain sailing until the end of the third quarter when umpires from both teams came to agree the score. Magdalen Oxford claimed to be winning 9-7 while we were certain it was 11-9 to us, having been ahead all match thanks to 6”8 goal-scoring wonder, Stanley Hinton. Here ensued a 15-minute interlude in the match as negotiations began and supporters swarmed the court in protest. The stately Sir Christopher stood sentinel and watched on as Magdalene students tried their hand at diplomacy in his image. Our proposition of a clean break was finally settled upon, and the scoreboard was reset. Fuelled by the injustice and an incredible home crowd, Magdalene of course went on, once again, to take the lead and win the sudden death final quarter 6-2.

As some of you may know, Magdalene AFC have had a magnificent season chasing promotion and entertaining us all with their match reports. The Sports Day was no different and their report makes for a very cheery read. The football really highlighted what it means to be Magdalene. We may not have two deer parks, we may not be the biggest college, but we have spirit and we have it in abundance. Students took it upon themselves to set up a commentators’ desk complete with megaphones and a sound system, that would give Gary Lineker a run for his money. Witty commentary left Oxford quaking and spurred Magdalene onto a glorious win. There was astounding play all-round, but MOTM went to Joseph Dalton for his glorious first-half hat trick. Oxford never really stood a chance once the home crowd began a series of chants, banner-waving and even a song adapted specially for the big day by our magnanimous JCR President, Harry Fishlock.

Another special mention goes to the badminton team who truly trounced O*ford, in a 9-0 victory. Nothing more need be said.

The afternoon wasn’t quite as successful for the mighty Magdalene with losses in tennis doubles (0-4), squash (2-3), and the heavily anticipated rugby (15-20). We didn’t let this sway us and a great time was had by all on the courts and touchline, where the commentators rousing proselytising began again to rally the troops.

After a fantastic start to the year, Magdalene Lawn Tennis Club were sadly put to the sword by the Magdalen Oxford. Despite sardonic calls that they did not want it, it turned out they really did. Some great tennis was played all around. The doubles partners of Alina and James, Aidan and Lauren, Elizabeth and Justine, and Tom and Ewan all had their moments in the face of an opposition who tried far too hard. Stories of their rigorous training programme, tendency to break strings during matches and susceptibility to taunts from a fantastically supportive crowd all evidence our opposition’s need to relax a bit. Although this did culminate in a 4-0 whitewash, a special thanks must go to Tim Tian for his tireless efforts to support the Club this year and Tom Carlton for stepping into Tim’s shoes and leading a valiant team on the day.

Felix Matheson played a blinder in the squash taking Oxford University’s top seed to a full seven set match after captaining a full 90 minutes in the football. Truly stunning. Anna Knight, a stalwart of Magdalene sports, narrowly lost (11-9,15-13,16-14) but can hold her head high given she’d only returned from covid-isolation that morning. Captain Tom Carlton gave Oxford a thrashing, winning in straight sets.

Despite the loss, the rugby was arguably the highlight of the day. It all went pear-shaped when a cheeky send-off for a minor facial assault, resulted in us conceding. Heads turned for Isaac Fernandes, cementing him as the fan favourite and MOTM for his incredible tenacity.

The Magdalene Sitting Dragons “held the vast might of Magdalen Oxford to a heroic draw” as Ed Murray, college sport extraordinaire and lacrosse captain, commented after the match. Many of the lacrosse team are new to the sport, having never played before Cambridge or even the Sports Day. That didn’t matter to the Sitting Dragons as excellent captaincy from Ed and Florence Gelsthorpe and a team spirit second to none, carried the underdogs to an incredible draw.

The sporting day drew to a close with a free-for-all in the three-legged and sack races, harking back to the good old days of primary school. Now these may seem like trifling events to some of you more seasoned sporting types, but let me tell you, the sack race isn’t a laughing matter. To anyone who participated, I sincerely hope your quads have recovered.

Later in the evening, the JCR and Games Room hosted darts, pool, and table football. Darts was truly a triumph with Magdalene winning in straight sets and a glorious final dart from captain Jake Keisner, thwarting Oxford’s comeback dreams. Never before has the bar seen such drama. The pool and table football were equally victorious and served as an excellent finale to the day. We hope our Oxonian counterparts had a pleasant jaunt down to Cambridge and aren’t too shamefaced returning to the dreaming spires with their tails between their legs.

Up the blue and lavender! Garde Ta Foy!

Author
Miss Francesca Ozog (2020)
Sports Day Organiser

Results
Ladies Netball: Cambridge 16-6
Badminton: Cambridge 9-0
Mixed Hockey: Cambridge 8-4
Football: Cambridge 4-2
Mixed Netball: Cambridge 6-2
Tennis Doubles: Oxford 4-2
Squash: Oxford 3-2
Rugby: Oxford 20-15
Lawn Tennis: Oxford: 4-0
Lacrosse: Draw