Lucky Saints break Wadham hearts
In what should really have been the final, the two best college teams in town contested a cracking semi-final. The pre-tournament favourites St Anne's met a Wadham side desperate to make the final, having been losing semi-finalists for the last two years.
A lively adrenalin-fuelled opening saw Wadham begin the brighter with Claire Hawcroft causing havoc down the left and it was a Hawcroft break which led to Wadham taking an early lead. Hawcroft provided the centre and Susan Bartlett was on hand to knock home and put Wadham one up.
St Anne's levelled when Cathy Hurst powered home an unstoppable drive from the edge of the area and were soon 2-1 ahead when Hurst capitalised on an unfortunate collision in Wadham's defence to run through and clinically finish. St Anne's scored their third when a scuffed clearance fell to Murphy who supplied the required run and finish St Anne's went in 3-1 ahead at half time and looking comfortable.
The second half though was a very different story as, roared on by their vociferous support, Wadham roared back and gave St Anne's a 45 minute battering. The attacking triumvirate of Ruth Baker, Sarah Day and Sophie Weller took the game by the scruff of the neck and it was St Anne's who were now on the back foot. One of Weller's runs resulted in the game's most controversial moment. Weller found space in the box and crossed to the far post where Hawcroft struck the ball against what appeared to be the stanchion inside the post and inside the goal. The referee didn't seem to be at all aware of what was going on and waved play on but the reaction of the players and spectators suggested Wadham had been hard done by.
It was soon 3-2 after a corner from Baker fell to Hawcroft and this time there was no room for the referee to have any influence as the net bulged. The rest of the game saw Wadham go all out for an equaliser and St Anne's become increasingly ragged but brave goalkeeping from Natalia Chan kept Wadham at bay.
The final whistle saw St Anne's jubilant but relieved while Wadham were left to rue their luck. Captain Potter said: "We were robbed but I'm incredibly proud of my team. Good luck to St Anne's and now we'll just go and win the league instead".
19th Feb 2004