Article contributed by Adrian Wallis & David Tattersall

Bright and early on Sunday 18th April sixteen bleary-eyed members of the club embarked on a 3-and-a-half hour journey to Oxford with a busy day’s hockey ahead of them, playing two matches.

The weather was beautiful and with the sun blazing overhead we arrived at Iffley Road sports ground (after a quick detour to get ice cream) which was to be our home-away-from-home for the day. Unfortunately our first opponent, Queen’s College, had to cancel at the last-minute. Instead, we opted to have an hour and a half’s training session before our second match.

Spirits were raised in the afternoon by the surprise last-minute arrival of ex-captain and Christ’s alumnus Charlie Ferguson before the main event of the day, our match against Lincoln College, Oxford.  Valerie Teh and Flo Wolfe volunteered to briefly sub in for Lincoln, as they were waiting on a couple of late arrivals, and the match began. The first half was tightly contested; David Tattersall, Mike Upton, Adrian Wallis, and Arun Dhanraj held the defence well. Then some good work from Simon Morris and Charlie Ferguson in the midfield allowed Topher Hockey to capitalise on a poor Lincoln clearance to open the scoring for Christ's.

Lincoln fought back and quickly levelled before adding a second a few minutes later. Christ's were unlucky and stepped up the pressure. With ten minutes remaining of the first half Charleen Chan Min Li and Emily Jones secured a penalty flick with some tricky play forcing a Lincoln mistake on the goal line. Men's Captain, Topher Hockey, comfortably converted the resulting penalty flick. The rest of the half saw some more solid possession from Christ's with Charlotte Jeffreys, on her debut in goal, making some fantastic saves in defence and Anna Brooke combining effectively with James Pearson down the right wing. Unfortunately we were unable to score again and at the end of the first half the score was level at 2-2.

The start of the second half was much more intense as both teams searched for the elusive winning goal. Valerie Teh, Emily McGregor and Flo Wolfe returned to the Christ's defence and held firm under pressure from numerous Lincoln short corners. Lincoln grabbed the lead mid way through the second half and Christ’s immediately poured forwards to try to restore parity. Sabrina Bezzaa and Women's Captain, Chloe Hole, were active through the centre. With Christ’s camped in the Lincoln half and the clock running down Lincoln broke and scored another with seconds left. The final score, 4-2 to Lincoln, was certainly and unlucky result and doesn’t reflect the quality of the hockey on display from the Christ’s team.

After the exhausting match the team headed for dinner at nearby pub before heading back to Cambridge for the start of Easter Term. Tour organiser, Chloe Hole, said: "It was a good result against a strong team and most importantly it was a fun game with some real flair moments from Christ's. It was lovely to have so many of us there from freshers to fourth years and I hope to organise something similar (if not more ambitious...) next year."

The Tour tops off a very successful year for Christ's Hockey. The Women's team have been promoted to the 2nd Division and had a good run in Cuppers, narrowly missing out in appearing in the final of the Plate. The Men's team remains strong in the third division. Many thanks go to Lincoln College, Oxford, for their hospitality and to Chloe Hole for organising a fantastic tour and a brilliant end to a great season for Christ's Hockey.

Christ’s College Hockey Club is open to players of all ability. Whether you’ve been playing for years or have never picked up a stick, we’d love to have you! The college hockey season runs in Michaelmas and Lent terms, however the college field mixed teams in tournaments during May Week. If you wish to find out more please get in contact with Topher Hockey (Men’s Captain, cch37) or Chloe Hole (Women's Captain, ch459). For more information please see our web site: www.christshockey.co.uk

Team Photo:  Back Row: Arun Dhanraj, David Tattersall, Mike Upton, Charlie Ferguson, Adrian Wallis, Simon Morris, James Pearson.

Middle Row: Emily Jones, Sabrina Bezzaa, Charlotte Jeffreys, Topher Hockey (c), Chloe Hole, Charleen Chan Min Li, Anna Brooke, Emily McGregor.

Front Row: Flo Wolfe, Valerie Teh.

For Photos -  Anna Brooke on the attack, Chloe Hole breaking through the Lincoln defence,  Simon Morris in the midfield and Topher Hockey taking a shot on goal.