Day: 26 April 2012

Way out south in the gloomy dearth of deepest Wythenshawe, propped up alongside the M60 you’ll find a collection of football pitches which play host to some of the university’s finest footballing talent every Wednesday, and most Saturdays. Incorporating teams from subject areas, halls of residence, and all things University of Manchester, the Inter Society Soccer League (ISSL) plays host to fifty teams across five divisions, and saw the final day of league action on Wednesday gone.
Created over half a century ago, the league went from strength to strength under the stewardship of former Manchester City right back Roy Little. Taking over at the Wythenshawe Sports Ground in 1967, Little worked tirelessly until his retirement in 1994. His fine work is memorialised in the form of the Roy Little Cup, this year claimed by AC Medics, defeating their counterparts Dynamo Medics 3-1 after extra time. The other knockout tournament bears the name of John Hadwin, the former league chairman, which saw Allen Hall face a team of Maths Old Boys on Saturday.

As is true to most campus sports leagues, year in year out the Manchester Medics exercised their monopoly over the top division. The Medics are renowned for their domination of all things ISSL, with this year being no different, as the first team were once more crowned the champions of the Premier League, whilst AC Medics, found themselves finishing third, behind Oak House FC.

Away from the much lauded medical students, a glance at the five league tables will, if nothing else, provide you with some sniggers at the variety of team names on show, with ‘Pamela Anderlecht’ and ‘Remember the Titus Bramble’ being some of the highlights.

By far and away the most hotly contested league this year has been Division 1, with many permutations still possible on the eve of the last game of the season. Any two of the top five still held a mathematical chance of being promoted to the Premier League, and with second-placed Chemical Engineering playing host to Atletico Hulme in third, there were sure to be some twists and turns. In spite of a hard fought 1-0 victory, Hulme were undone by a miraculous seven goal swing, with Owens Park FC coming out 9-1 victors over Dynamo Medics, to take second place by one goal, and join their fellow campus residents, Owens Park Wanderers, in gaining promotion to the top division.

Below the nail-biting second tier, Oak House Rangers were runaway victors in Division 2, amassing an imperious goal difference of +60, and went up along with Chemistry FC. MUPS FC held out to gain promotion from Division 3 along with ISOC’cer United, just ahead of Sporting CS. It also went down to the last game of the season in Division 4, with Fallowfield FC defeating Courts United in the second-place showdown, to join Pamela Anderlecht in moving up.

Special mention must go to Andy Ellison who, along with the help of current dental student Tom Hampson, so diligently carries out all preparation for the league, including the booking of referees, acquiring of equipment, organisation of fixture lists, amongst many other tasks the five-hundred – or more players – take for granted every week.

The Presentation evening for all league and cup winners and runners-up will be held on May 9th, with a fine selection of silverware being awarded to the victors.

Any students are welcome to enter a team and registration for next seasons league opened last week. All teams can register via the online store http://www.sport.manchester.ac.uk/iss-eleven-a-side-football-league , the cost is £370 per team for the season. For more information please contact [email protected]

For most, the University sporting season comes to an end in April, when attention turns abruptly to the exam season. However, for the University of Manchester Cricket Club, this is when the season begins. Dissertation deadlines and the exam timetable are a huge hindrance on student cricketers but this fails to dampen the tremendous enthusiasm for the sport. The club boasts over 120 members, 7 playing sides and a first team that compete in the Northern Premier league taking on University cricket heavyweights such as Loughborough and Leeds. It is most definitely a club on the rise after being granted tier one status by the AU at the beginning of the year.
The 1st team’s season kicked off last with a Twenty20 tournament at Liverpool for the Christie Cup. A few early morning alarms not being set due to heavy downpours the night before were replaced by phone calls from the skipper convinced that play was possible. The team arrived at a sodden Sefton Park ground, where the groundsman insisted that Liverpool hadn’t seen any rain whilst players avoided a minefield of puddles in the car park. It was a miserable looking changing room when skipper Adil Dewan lost the toss and the UMCC were sent out to field in a drizzly nine degrees. After underlayers and extra jumpers were dug out of the kit bags, the umpires decided to reduce the game to a 15 over match due to the rain.
In the first game, Liverpool got off to a flyer scoring 10 runs an over, but thanks to the disciplined bowling of Phil Murgatroyd and Matt Spells their score was limited to 119 from their 15. Jobson and Wilson opened the batting, showing no respect to the opening bowlers with boundaries dispatched all around the field. The arrival of Liverpool’s spin attack could not stop them with the openers taking 35 from one over with two sixes and a four from Wilson and two fours and a six from Jobson as the bowler’s confidence collapsed in a flurry of no balls. With their partnership of 80 from 47 balls providing the majority of the runs, Jack Langley and Skipper Dewan brought the game home solidly.
The second game was against a far stronger outfit in the form of Leeds University. The toss was won and Jobson and Wilson went back out to the crease. More sixes and fours were hit as they flew to 50 from 5 overs before Wilson lost his off stump. Jobson, however, went into overdrive smashing a quick fire 69 whilst Dewan played a useful role at the other end. With the help of an explosive final over from Matt Spells, the UMCC finished on a massive 140 from 15 overs. Despite a few scares in the field, the victory was relatively comfortable thanks to a disciplined spell from Tom Ward and James Popplewell. Manchester won by 20 runs to secure the Cricket element of the Christie Cup.
The league season got under way when the 1st team faced they travelled to Bishop Auckland to face Northumbria last Tuesday. Manchester posted a competitive score of 217 from their 50 overs. Skipper Dewan led the way with a composed 60, ably supported by Ben Watkin who went agonisingly close to a half century, scoring 49. In the opposition innings, Watkin was again effective alongside Wilson and Indraneel who claimed two wickets apiece. However it proved to be in vain as Northumbria hit the winning runs off the final ball. Despite many positives coming from the game indiscipline with the bat and ball proved frustrating for the 1st XI. Future fixtures however will allow them to address these issues in future matches as they look to succeed in their short but exciting season.

A popular journeyman of the Premier League era, Benito Carbone’s career was defined by one memorable performance against Leeds United back in January 2000. In a televised fifth-round FA Cup tie, Carbone almost single-handedly guided Aston Villa to a 3-2 victory, scoring all three goals as he tormented Michael Duberry and Jonathan Woodgate, two of the finest centre-backs in the country at that time.

The performance was capped by one particularly memorable moment. With Villa trailing 2-1 midway through the second half, a routine clearance fell to the feet of Alan Wright on the left wing, who laid the ball on to Carbone, standing 35 yards from the Leeds goal. The little Italian looked up, and, seeing that goalkeeper Nigel Martyn had strayed slightly away from his near post, briefly assessed his options before unleashing an extraordinary, curling effort right into the top left-hand corner.

To an impressionable six year-old, watching at home on television, the goal was audacious enough, but it was the celebration that was most captivating – the confident demeanour, head down, arms raised aloft, an expression of complete control as he gnawed away furiously on his chewing gum. It never occurred to me that this self-indulgent, ‘look at me’ attitude may have been perceived as being arrogant; I was simply in awe of his belief that a 35-yard screamer deserved to be celebrated with an effortless swagger, rather than the customary mindless sprint. Watching it back now, it reminds me of that classic Eric Cantona pose after his chip against Sunderland; composed, self-righteous, seemingly baffled by the euphoria of the crowd.

Once touted as one of the leading youngsters in Italian football, Carbone never really fulfilled his potential. Spells at Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford, Derby and Middlesbrough did little to enhance his international prospects, yet affirmed his cult-hero status among many English fans. He eventually returned to play in Italy, before completing an unsuccessful stint as manager of Varese, where he was sacked after less than three months in charge.

A likeable and charismatic professional, Carbone’s tale is, in many ways, a typical story of hard luck and missed opportunities. Perhaps he might take some solace in knowing that, despite never having graced the biggest stages of the European game, there is still one nostalgia-junkie out there who remembers scoring in the playground and raising his arms aloft, bowing his head and chewing away on his imaginary gum in celebration.