Sports Day 2006



This year's Sports day was on Tuesday the 6th of June 2006 at Shenley Sports ground, and had the best turnout in memory, thank you to all that participated! The cricket match was won by the Students, see the match report below.

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This year's pictures were taken by Davy Adriens and James Wilton-Ely, we hope you find some you like. As you can see, this year we managed to successfully organise events aside from cricket!

You can also find out what happened last year.


Sports Day 2006 Report
by Simon King


On a glorious day in June, a 70-strong group from UCL Chemistry Department descended upon Shenley to attend what was billed as the most ambitious sportsday on record. On this day some of the finest scientific minds in the capital swapped pens for willow, lab coats for trainers, safety-specs for sun shades, to compete in a plethora of sporting activities. The itinerary was completed by the promise of a barbecue, fully-licenced bar and live set from rock new-comers Thirdlight.

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The premier event of the day was the traditional Staff vs. Students cricket match. With both sides having recorded 3 victories each in the past 6 years, matters could not have been more evenly poised as the Staff elected to bat first in a 25-over affair.

Surprisingly, it was the Students who took the early initiative on a relatively slow and unlively wicket. In only the second over seamer Sunny Sidhu (1-23) found the outside-edge of Price (1) and wicketkeeper Fitzmaurice coolly took a routine catch. The next breakthrough came just three balls later when Bailey (1-18) claimed the off-stump of Sankar (6), the highlight of an impressive opening spell. In a similar fashion King (1-27) rattled the off-stump of Binions (4) as the Staff stumbled to 18-3 after just 5 overs.

Fortunes were soon to change, however, with the arrival of Hogarth and Wilton-Ely at the crease. In an innings reminiscent to that of Gary Kirsten, Hogarth restored stability by patiently advancing to 25 n.o., manoeuvring the strike and dispatching the occasional long-hop. Meanwhile Wilton-Ely made a quick-fire 24 runs, before playing around a straight-delivery by Savio (1-17). With his eye now set, Hogarth accelerated to an unbeaten 45 before retiring, whilst retaining considerably more hair than his prodigy.

At 90-4, the pendulum swung further in favour of the Staff as the middle order of Parkin, Rowley, and Lewis added a flurry of runs late on. Woefully, Parkin was dropped twice early on in his hit-and-giggle innings of 47 (retired n.o.). At the other end, Rowley was run out for only 4, before Lewis chipped in with a cultured 11 (retired n.o.), helping advance the total to 158-5 after 23 overs.

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With the Staff looking to press home their advantage in the final stages, attempts to add significantly to the total were thwarted as Barnes and Vickers were both dismissed without troubling the scorers, the latter a deserved wicket for captain Sharma (1-30). After 25 overs the Staff posted a respectable 168-8, leaving the students a target of 169 to win (6.76 per over).

On a sun-baked afternoon, and with an exciting run-chase in prospect, Students’ opening pairing of Fitzmaurice and Scott made for the middle. However, it soon became apparent that a close and tense finale would not materialise as the Students piled on runs from the offset.

Fitzmaurice began the account by dispatching Branford to the boundary for two fours and a six in the first four deliveries of the innings. Similar blows followed, Kaltsoyannis and Champion the unfortunate victims, as the Students raced to 61-0 after only 6 overs. A tight spell by Sankar (0-23) provided some respite for the Staff as man-of-the-match Fitzmaurice raced onto an unbeaten 51 (retired n.o.), showing huge contempt towards running between the wicket (46 runs came through boundaries).

Fitzmaurice was promptly replaced by Bisson, and the onslaught continued. Nothing short of a UN sanction could have stopped the missiles leaving the bat of Bisson who rapidly made 40 (retired n.o.). Meanwhile Scott played a Boycott-esque innings scoring 19 (retired n.o.), receiving little of the strike as the score reached a towering 120-0 off only 13 overs.

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With just 59 required from 72 balls the Students proceeded with steady knocks by Sidhu (11 retired n.o.) and Sharma (15 retired n.o.), impressively reaching 153-0 after 20 overs, without the loss of a single wicket.

The first breakthrough came in the 21st over when Parkin (1-13) clean-bowled Thomas without scoring. There then followed a burst of activity as Binions (2-9) captured the wickets of Bailey and King in successive balls, capping a fine spell, to leave the Staff sniffing a small scent of a potential miraculous victory. However, the Students also sniffed a scent of matters far more urgent, specifically the impending barbecue, with the score at 159-4 after 22 overs.

With renewed purpose Taroni and Hamed entered the arena. First Taroni hammered a four off of Parkin, followed by some sharply-taken singles to advance the score to 167-4. For the final act, the stage was set for cricket-debutant Hamed to finish the match in style, and he duly obliged with a blow through mid-wicket of which Flintoff would have been proud. Although the Students won by 6 wickets, howls of delight and celebration were also heard from the Staff upon leaving the field, heading directly towards the pavilion bar.

The winners’ trophy and runner-up presentations were made by Prof. Richard Catlow.

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Refreshed and re-fuelled following the barbecue, UCL Chemistry’s (prime athletes) headed for the soccer pitches to contest a six-a-side tournament. The format was simple: One league, five teams, four 10-minutes matches to be played by each; A year of justified bragging for the winners. With Sven Goran-Eriksson monitoring events from a helicopter above, scouting for potential World Cup squad inclusions, the tournament proceeded as officiated by Graham Hogarth and Paul Barnes.

After an hour of gruelling action the Postgrads emerged as victors, unbeaten in all of their fixtures. Thus far, claims of an illegal ‘tapping-up’ of top-scoring Italian striker T(ar)oni remain unsubstantiated. With the Staff and 2ndyears’ ‘Useless’ tied in second place each with four points, it was the Staff who claimed runners-up after a penalty shoot-out, despite the heroics of the Useless goalkeeper.

The final standings of the soccer tournament are shown below:
Pos Team W D L GF GA Pts
1 Postgrads 3 1 0 3 0 7
2 Staff 1 2 1 2 1 4
3 Useless 0 4 0 1 1 4
4 Cupid Stunts 0 3 0 2 3 3
5 Caddick Team 0 2 0 1 4 2

As the sun began to set on a glorious summer evening, one final opportunity to enter the Departmental hall of fame/shame (delete as appropriate) remained. The tug-of-war was contested between the 1st years and the Post Grads, amazingly so, as by this time many members of the former team struggled to align in a straight line along the rope. Final score: 2-3 to the Postgrads.

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As a fitting climax to a fun day, 4-man rock-band Thirdlight played an hour long set in the Pavilion. Opening with the sublime U2-esque ‘Feeling High’, and future hits ‘Boxed In’ and the England World Cup prelude ‘You’ve Got It All To Lose’, it is surely only a matter of time before these London lads are nominated for the Mercury Prize. To download Thirdlight tracks visit their website: www.myspace.com/thirdlight.