Glasgow University men’s 1sts succumbed to local rivals Glasgow City Men’s 1sts today in a close fought encounter at Garscube. It was a spirited performance from the University side in their first match of the season, however the experience of their opponents was evident as City ran out 16-12 winners in this pulsating clash.
It was the visitors who started the brighter of the two sides, winning possession from the face off and moving the ball nicely in the opening stages as they fashioned some good shooting opportunities without scoring. When the Uni managed to clear the ball upfield, their new look offence combined effectively to create some good looks in what was an exciting start to the game. Despite both offences looking sharp from the outset, it was a defensive error that lead to the opening goal for the visitors. Defender S Thain was the man at fault as his ambitious pass was easily picked off and dispatched by City’s attackman K Archer. In the blink of an eye the score was 3-0 as City twice won possession and moved down the field to score two more in quick succession and put some daylight between the sides. The Uni responded impressively though with two quick goals of their own as an entertaining opening quarter ended 2-3. To this point the weather had been abysmal, but a break in the wind and rain allowed both teams to warm to their task as the game continued to ebb and flow throughout the 2nd quarter. With offences on top, the goals continued to come at regular intervals and at half time, the crowd had been entertained by 12 goals split evenly with the score at 6-6.
At the beginning of the 3rd quarter the gale-force winds returned and the heavens opened once more, but the deteriorating weather conditions didn’t detract from the excitement as both teams picked up where they had left off. Glasgow’s energetic offence impressed with and without the ball, harrying City’s aging defence and winning the ball high up the field. The problems were at the other end however as City’s attackman continued to show ruthless accuracy in their shooting, leaving the University defence picking the ball out of their net with an alarming regularity. Despite this, it was an impressive performance from the stand in goalkeeper, A Gillespie, as he made several excellent stops and a goal saving interception. The Uni’s offence continued to impress and when vice-captain J Bawden beat his man with a dodge and set up C Bruce (5 goals, 3 assists) with a perfectly timed pass, the University side had the lead for the first time at 10-9. Back came City however and aided by some costly penalties from the Glasgow defence they retook the lead before the end of the 3rd quarter.
Glasgow conceded softly twice in quick succession at the beginning of the 4th and suddenly were chasing the game. The youthful exuberance that had served them so well for the preceding 3 quarters gave way to naivety as players began to take chances and were duly punished. As the game began to slip away from the Uni side, their pain was compounded by former GU captain M Hill who broke down the field to score after snaffling a loose pass. There was still time for veteran attackman T Mottram to add a goal to his 5 assists for the day with a brilliant solo effort, but the game was up and City held on to close out victory in the season’s curtain raiser.
Despite the defeat there were promising performances from many in the University’s line up, not least debutants B Taylor (6 goals, 2 assists) in attack and C Krueger in defence who both acquitted themselves admirably. Returning players J Bawden and A Gillespie were awarded the man of the match awards although there were many in the squad who shone in today’s defeat. Glasgow’s next game is away to Edinburgh University Men’s 2nds in BUCS 1A where they will hope that a similarly industrious performance can be rewarded with a victory.