The Men’s Blues Hockey team take on the Great Britain Women’s team on Monday afternoon. This friendly match takes place at Iffley Road, and will be very useful for the Blues in their preparation for the Varsity Match against Cambridge at Southgate Hockey Club, on Sunday the 9th of March.
The Blues, fresh from a triumphant title-winning campaign, will be looking for the likes of captain Rupert Allison and goalkeeper Michael Fernando to continue what has been scintillating form against the best female players this island can offer.
The last month or so has been tumultuous for the GB women, with a training camp in the USA seeing the team draw with the US team, and they then won one and lost one over an evenly matched two games against New Zealand. The end of January also saw two high-profile retirements from the GB ranks, with Anne Panter and Natalie Seymour both hanging up their sticks. Between them the two players had amassed 182 international caps, so it will be a new look GB team taking on the Blues.
Following the match, the two teams will participate in a penalty shuttles contest, which will give Oxford’s players to practice in case the Varsity Match finishes in a draw. It is a great privilege to host the GB Hockey squad, and is sure to be a stern test of the Blues technical ability. No one is quite sure of what the result will be, but it is sure to be a great afternoon for OUHC.
Push-back is at 5pm.
The Blues team will likely be comprised of:
Michael Fernando
Oliver Sugg
Matt Wood
Paul Bennett
Jamie Parkinson
Sam Mallinson
Richard Barlow
Jon Appleby
James Arch
Rupert Allison
Duncan Graves
Oliver Lobo
Gus Kennedy
Tom Jackson
Sam Greenbank
Tom Chadwick
Cameron Deans
Alex Stobbart