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Photos: Tom Wooldridge
Halifax capped an excellent season’s work with a comprehensive victory over the Barbarians – a team comprised of players from all the other colleges.
Billed as the match which would help prove Halifax’s hockey superiority over all others, the team in white displayed devastating attacking flair as Barnaby Spink and Graeme Osborn both scored twice. They were, however, aided by star players from other colleges, such as Vanbrugh’s Jon Waghorne, as they struggled to field a full team so late in the term.
The Barbarians worked hard but maybe lacked the same cohesion as their opponents and, despite Declan Hall’s strike mid-way through the second half, they never threatened to upset the ‘Fax.
The result follows up on the all-Halifax College Hockey Cup Final last week, as the college have emphatically put the loss to James in the spring term league behind them.
Initially, the match was a frantic midfield scrap as neither side was especially composed in possession. On one occasion, McNeill and Mike Ward clattered heavily into each other, demonstrating that this was no ordinary friendly.
Soon, though, Halifax began to threaten the Barbarians’ goal, as Simon Varley was required to pull off an excellent stop from Joe Lancaster.
But after seven minutes, despite making another superb double stop, Varley was ruled to have blocked a Spink shot illegally as it hit his foot and a penalty goal was awarded to Halifax.
Three minutes later, Halifax doubled their lead. Jon Waghorne took a free hit but the Barbarians were lax in their marking and allowed Graeme Osborn the space to slot home from a yard out.
The ubiquitous Spink almost made it three following a brilliant passing move involving Sally Dolton and Cat Johnson, but he somehow fluffed his lines from close range.
The Barbarians were at odds with their nickname and were not ruthless enough going forward in the first period; Dave Washington’s scuffed free hit which trickled wide was their only meaningful attempt at goal.
However, at the beginning of the second half, they should have halved the deficit. Charlie Williams’ pin-point pass found Ward 10 yards out, but he fell over embarrassingly with the goal at his mercy.
Washington was becoming more influential in the midfield, orchestrating the Barbarian attacks as the team began to put pressure on Halifax.
The danger signs were still there at the back, though, as Waghorne slammed a speculative shot just wide from distance, before Spink made it 3-0 as he tapped in unmarked from a Waghorne free hit.
It was a huge blow to the Barbarians, who were looking much better after the restart, but they did not give up and scored a consolation goal with 10 minutes left.
In possibly the most aesthetically-pleasing move of the match, Katherine Bramwell fed Tom Sherwood on the right, who drove to the by-line and crossed for the waiting Declan Hall, who popped it in.
Halifax were given a wake-up call of their own and quickly made it 4-1, as Spink grabbed his second with a quick counter-attack when the Barbarians had committed players forward in search of an unlikely comeback.
The icing on the Halifax cake was added in the final minute, as the Barbarians again failed to mark successfully from a Spink free hit, allowing Johnson to square for Osborn who converted another simple finish.
Afterwards, Halifax captains Helen Marston and Hannah Boyne told Vision: “It’s great to have such enthusiasm from the players. College hockey has come on leaps and bounds this year and hopefully next year will be just as good.”
Vision MOTM: Barnaby Spink