Credit: Nick Hubbard
Writer
There was no shortage of excitement at Garscube where Strathclyde snatched the win for both Men’s and Women’s Hockey in the Glasgow Taxis Cup 2017 much to the disappointment of Glasgow. Despite winning their games against Glasgow Caledonian, both the men’s and women’s clubs from Glasgow had tough matches against Strathclyde and didn’t quite manage to claim the victory they hoped for.
Things looked bleak for Glasgow’s Women before they had even begun as they watched Strathclyde brush aside the hapless GCU team to start the day with a dominant 8-2 win. The win proved to be a sign of things to come as Strathclyde. Facing the unenviable task of stopping them, Glasgow put in a battling performance as they narrowly fell 1-2. In an end-to-end match, Strathclyde got their first goal just a few minutes into the first half, and Glasgow failed to win it back when their best opportunity to score hit the post. Strathclyde extended their lead with another goal at the start of the second half. The Glasgow girls’ heads went down and it was clear they were starting to panic. A missed penalty corner was another disappointment, but they finally got a goal consolation goal just as the final whistle reached the referee’s lips. Ultimately, Strathclyde had been a class above and deserved to take the title home. Glasgow later secured the consolation of second place with a 6-2 victory over GCU.
Their male counterparts didn’t fair much better as they too were put to the sword by a dominant maroon. After both teams cruised to victory over GCU, Strathclyde by 12 goals to 0, the stage was set for a mouthwatering decider. After their match with GCU, Men’s Captain Stuart Nickerson acknowledged that “the first game was good. First half was very good, we all came out hard and we were all pretty up for it. The second half dropped off a bit, but I think that was to be expected. We knew Caley were in the league below us so we weren’t too sure how good they were going to be, but they had a couple of good players so yeah, we were impressed by them.” Throughout the game between Strathclyde and GCU, the tension was clearly bubbling on the GU sideline. It was clear their next match was going to be tough.
Living up to all expectations in a very close game, Strathclyde managed to snatch the 1-0 win in the end. Overall, victory was sweet for Strathclyde, who claimed the title for both the Men’s and Women’s events, with GU in second place and GCU finishing in third.
However, the day was not without controversy, with the Strathclyde Women’s team sending out an inflammatory tweet against both of their opponents following their heated win. The tweet, which remains online as of going to print and was also liked by the Strathclyde Union, said, “I’d 8-2 be Caley right now…#glasgowcup #fuckGU”. It remains to be seen whether or not they will punished for this by the Strathclyde.
