End-Of-Season Reports

As their season comes to an end and handovers are scheduled, each of our captains have compiled one final report.

Blundies:

This season has arguably marked the Blundies’ best season to date, securing promotion to Div 2 (having only come up to Div 3 last season) and a fantastic away BDOTY victory for the first time in the team’s history. The season started strongly and only grew stronger, reaching the Christmas break with only 1 loss on the board and sitting at the top of East Leagues Div 3. Form continued into the second half of the season, before a few pre-BDOTY nerves led to a couple of tight losses. The result against the Sp*s was never really in doubt however, as the guys put in a huge shift to perfect our game leading up to the big day. Goals from Tingle, Vennard and Forrest ensured a comfortable 3-1 victory to kick-start an action-packed BDOTY. The Blundies finished the season in strong fashion, securing promotion with 2 games to spare. 

The positives go way beyond the hockey, including a massive increase in social attendance and the fantastic squad depth that has been shown, with over 30 club members representing the Blundies this year. The team integration has also been fantastic with older members providing great role models for the freshers. Thank you in particular to those Blundies graduating this year for your service to CUHC - your contributions have been immense. Thank you as well to Lottie, Fenella and Harry for all their help and support throughout the season - the successes of this year would not have been possible without you. It has been an absolute honour and I look forward to monitoring the progress of the mighty Blunderers from abroad next year.

Rovers:

This year has been a memorable one for the Rovers.  

It's fair to say the season didn't start at full tilt. The first few weeks were spent finding our feet and figuring out exactly who we were as a team. But the arrival of our new freshers gave us exactly the injection of morale and technical quality we needed, and from there things really started to click. We strung together back-to-back wins and steadily climbed the league table. 

January brought a new energy with it, and with BDoTY on the horizon, the motivation shifted up a gear. Selecting the squad for that was no easy task, but we came together brilliantly, put in two really strong final weeks of preparation, and arrived in Oxf*rd ready. 

On the day itself, Umbrella got the blood pumping before we even took to the pitch, and once we did, we were electric. A tense, brilliant game unfolded, including some nail-biting final short corners from the Rens, but we held our nerve and came home with a 2-1 win. A result that will go down in Rovers history. 

The final stretch of the season saw us a little depleted in numbers, but never in spirit. We closed out the year in a solid 5th place, five spots higher than last season, and left the pitch already excited about what 2026-27 might bring, particularly with Lou and Leah stepping up to take the skipper's armband. 

Thank you to every single Rover for making this season as fun as it was successful. And for bringing home that win against Oxf*rd. 

Squandies;

The 2025-2026 season for the mighty Squanderers was the epitome of East League hockey. The results of the previous season resulted in high expectations for this year, following a BDotY win and promotion to Division 2 NW under Dovey’s tenure, but by some miracle we surpassed these. A tense 4-3 thriller going down to the last minute against the I’s ended up going our way (credit to Ollie West for his hat trick - a pretty good way to score your first goals for CUHC), and finishing the season in 10th meant that demotion was avoided and we will continue next season in Div 2 again. Some friendly competition against the Blundies to look forward to there! The matches during the season consisted of a lot of 6-2 results, both for and against us. Particular highlights include a late Friday night away game to Wisbech, moments of 8v8 play due to flurries of green and yellow cards, and playing through a snowstorm in mid February. 

Overall, the Squanderers this year have had a fantastic season, with a particularly strong intake of freshers. After losing some core members of the team at the end of last season, our varsity squad ended up with 12/16 members not having played varsity for the Squanderers, with 7 out of those 12 being freshers. The results of the season and improvement of the whole squad is a testament to our coaches, Lucy and Wilf, and how hard they worked every session, making sure that everyone was performing at their highest standard. I look forward to seeing how we perform in the next couple years with such a strong squad continuing from this year to next!

Beds:

The Beds have, as always, had an extremely fun year. We started out in preseason with a huge amount of turnover - most of the Beds who played in the 24/25 season either graduated or moved up a team (or two!). In fact, this year at varsity, we only had 4 returning CUHC players - the other 12 were new to the club! Naturally, we took a little time to settle into the league. However, the Beds adjusted and, particularly after Christmas, started raking in the points in our Saturday games. We even drew to the top of the league in our last game of the season, which is a testament to our growth this season. We closed the league out at a very respectable 6th place and I’m sure that, now all of our many freshers have a year in the east leagues under their belts, there is potentially for an even higher scoring season next year. 

In our Varsity game, we had a hard fought battle. The game was a rollercoaster with us level at half time. Two unfortunate late goals, including a penalty stroke, saw us down 3-2 at the end of the game. Whilst it was not the result we were looking for, we were immensely proud of all the hard work that the players put in on the day and in preparation. We would like to thank our amazing coaches, Cass, Henry, and Ciara, without whom this season would not have been anywhere near as successful. They made such an impact week on week and generously gave up so much of their time - we are so grateful to them and hope they know how much we appreciate them. We really have had a fantastic season captaining the Beds and can’t wait to see how the team flourishes next year!

Wandies:

The GOTW have had a remarkably successful season. Supported by our new coaches, Eric Van Kesteren and Will Laird, alongside an injection of fresh talent — and Freddie MJ's trademark laser-like flicks — the Wandies were on an absolute roll, playing some unbelievable hockey that would make the Dutch national team proud. Not only did we travel to Ox*ord and secure a coveted away BDOTY win, but we did so in convincing style — demolishing the O's 3–0. On top of this, we secured promotion from our BUCS league and a winning streak of 21 games — only for that streak to come to an abrupt end on a marsh-like pitch in Kettering. We finished 4th in East Leagues Div 1 North, narrowly missing out on promotion after a difficult run of form towards the end of the season.

Regardless, the season has been one of the best in CUHC memory — in both standard of hockey and enjoyment off the pitch. Huge thanks must go to our coaches and the GOTW for the time and effort they've put in this year, to MJ for simply being the best, and to Josh Cressall for always making the rest of us look like decent human beings. We also say a fond — if regretful — farewell to CUHC legend Sam Pritchard, who departs the team this year (yes, we know, he's still very much here).

TOAFS, IFLTW 

Ossian Finch and Callum Wolvers — 2025–26 Wanderers' Captains

Nomads:

Having been promoted to the East England Premier Division One and Midlands Tier One BUCS, this season was inevitably going to be tough for the Nomads. However, unsurprisingly, spirits remained high as every member of the squad relished the challenge. It has been fantastic to watch everyone develop both individually and as a team. I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made which was seen through much closer results in the second half of the season with us finishing on a well-deserved win! A huge thank you to our wonderful coaches Jack and Joe, whose commitment and support has been invaluable to us. I am delighted to be leaving the team in the capable hands of Abi and Jenna who I know will be fabulous co-captains. It has been an absolute privilege to captain the Nomads this season and a special thank you must go to Rowan for being an incredible vice and club captain.

Mblues:

Highlights:

• Beating title contenders Ipswich 5-2 at Wilby after losing 2-0 first game of the season

• Blues preseason tour to Lille

• Narrow 5-4 defeat to BUCS Premier South winners Exeter 2s at home

Having had a largely successful season in 2024/25, the Men’s Blues returned to the East Premier Division this year, to play some slightly more competitive hockey. Despite never quite challenging for promotion, we had a strong showing on Saturdays, with some good wins outnumbering the tough losses. We finished the season in sixth place, with a record of 11W, 1D, 10L. In BUCS, we didn’t quite find the quality of the previous year, losing many close games to leave us one place from bottom at the end of the season (we still battered Reading). However, thanks to Bath showing some grit in an away shuffles win at Newcastle, the Blues will stay in Premier South for next season. The Varsity Match was a close affair, coming down to the final few minutes, but unfortunately fell out of our favour in a 3-2 loss. Overall, the team showed excellent commitment through some difficult injuries, and I am proud of the way we approached the year. I have no doubt that the light blues will come back firing in 2026/27.

Wblues:

The 2025/2026 Women’s blues season, has seen a competitive set of results in both National League and BUCs.

In National League the WBlues have had a mixed bag of results, with a very close set of league results (up until the last week there was 7 point between 9th and first!), and a significant number of last minute 1-1 draws the Wblues sat around mid-table at Christmas. After a few losses and interesting results across the board, big wins against Birmingham 2s and Cam City took points off the top teams in the league, resulting in a safe 7th place finish.

In BUCS we started as we mean to go on with a win over O*ford, and ultimately resulting in winning the league after some long trips to Wales (x3) and Bournemouth (x1). BUCS promotion didn’t ultimately go our way but saw two very competitive matches against some good teams.

The Varsity match ended in a 0-0, as it did last year and resulted in an unfortunate loss on shuffles:(

It has been great fun captaining this team, and I could not be more proud of everyone who has been a part of this squad… looking forward to next season!!

Varsity Match Reports

Women's Varsity Match Report

0-0 D (4-3 L on shuffles)

The 126th Women’s Varsity Match may have been without any goals but it was a highly interesting and competitive match regardless. With the rain pelting it down both teams (and a few loyal supporters) battled it out at Southgate. Oxford had a strong team with lots attacking pressure however our defence was very strong and we knew nothing was going past CJ. In attack we had a good few chances notably ET’s pick up on the baseline that was just saved by the oxford keeper. The teams were pretty well matched with a significant proportion of the game played in the middle of the pitch and both teams having to work hard both on and off the ball. 

In the shuffles we improved significantly on last year, going into the 4th set of shuffles 3-2 up, after a CJ held there player to 8 seconds and goals from Lottie, Caragh & Tabby. Unfortunately after hitting the post and some clinical shuffles from Oxford the trophy did not come home with us.

Men's Varsity Match Report

3-2 loss

The 126th Men’s Varsity Match was very much a back-and-forth occurrence, with Oxford in the driver’s seat for the majority of the match. Having conceded in the first quarter, we equalised early in the second, through Cambridge Player of the Match Wilf Stokhuyzen, and the game remained equal until halftime. A timeless CBan team talk at the break had us looking to take control as we started the second half. Unfortunately, the game remained level until the final quarter, when Oxford went ahead for a second time 2-1. Undeterred, we opened the PCA textbook and pulled out a Will Stubbs deflection to level the game with less than five minutes to play. The final minutes were frantic, and in this chaos, a dark blue broke into our D unmarked before sliding the ball across for an easy deflection to put the other side 3-2 up. Despite our efforts all the way to the final whistle, they held on to the narrow margin, resulting in a 3-2 loss for Cambridge.