Varsity 2025: UCL Football Victorious on Both Fronts
UCL Women’s Football Relish Their Hard Fought Victory, Photo Courtesy of UCL Women’s Football via Instagram.
On a cool spring evening in West London’s Hayes SkyEx Community Stadium, the UCL Women’s football team achieved a cutthroat 2-1 victory, and most importantly bragging rights, in the long-awaited Varsity match against KCL.
With the crowd filling the stands and, to everyone’s relief, a refreshments bar onsite, the atmosphere was buzzing in anticipation of the decades-old rivals battling it out.
Straight from the whistle, UCL gained control of the game with constant pressure on KCL’s backline and each player seamlessly distributing the ball around the pitch. Capitalising on this early momentum, UCL saw endless opportunities in and around the box, most notably, a cross in the 24th minute whichnarrowly missed.
As the half continued, KCL’s defence stood strong with their goalkeeper commanding the box and working tirelessly to keep her team in the game. As the first 45 minutes came to a close with the score 0-0, tensions on the pitch rose and a yellow card was given.
However, in the last minutes of the half, UCL’s pressure was rewarded at last. From a perfectly placed corner, Maeve Barve touched the ball down comfortably and powered it into her opponent’s net. As the whistle blew moments later, the UCL fans roared as they celebrated the team’s impressive performance and the safety of going into the next half one goal ahead.
During the half time break we were able to get a few insightful comments from the UCL women’s football team’s social secretary, Isabelle Lenton:
[On the game so far] “we had a lot of the possession…our striker, Ava was a bit alone sometimes, so …when we were attacking, it was just really hard to clear it in.”
[Going into the second half] “they need to just work on the wing and maintaining possession… and not just lay low and do nothing. They just need to keep up the momentum.”
Starting the second half well, UCL had two good opportunities in the first five minutes, , gaining the front foot once again and showing their opponent they were not going to sit back. However, after a mistake from UCL’s backline, KCL suddenly broke away and fired the ball past the keeper – but as luck would have it, it was disallowed, achieving a cheer from the crowd in response.
Nevertheless, in the 80th minute, UCL flooded the opposite box and produced a bomardment of shots that KCL repeatedly repelled until midfielder Gabby Halpin controlled the ball and drove it into the left bottom corner, giving her team a more comfortable lead.
As the final whistle approached, the two teams continued to battle, both producing a steady stream of attacks, when in the final moments of the game a KCL player was left unmarked on the edge of the box and slipped the ball past the keeper, upping the score to 2-1.
Despite this, for KCL it was too little too late and when the final whistle blew, the score stood 2-1 to UCL!
UCL and KCL Men’s Football Line Up Ceremoniously
A few moments after, with the UCL fans on a high, the men marched out for the second game of the night. As both stands filled back up, drinks freshly replenished, the tension heightened.
Setting the precedent for the game in the first minute, a simple pass into a dangerous position led Aidan McAvoy to fire the ball just past the keeper, catapulting UCL into the lead.
Keeping this early momentum, UCL dominated the possession, with the midfielders always first to the ball and the forwards producing an endless flurry of opportunities which KCL did well to keep at bay. Then, just 17 minutes after the first goal, a cross floated over the King’s defence where Aiden McAvoy was left unmarked, and he lifted the ball into the top left corner with ease.
With a secure 2-0 lead the UCL fans grew in confidence, and as the half went on numerous different chants filled the stadium. Some personal favourites were, “I’d rather go to SOAS than to Kings!” and “Is this a library, is this a library?” in mocking reference to KCL fans’ silent response.
In the 40th minute, midfielder Zohair Irtiza Ali surpassed multiple KCL defenders, landing just outside the box, where he confidently struck a shot past the keeper, awarding his team another goal and putting them three ahead going into the second half.
As the whistle blew for the second half, KCL noticeably increased their intensity, becoming more persistent in challenging their opponent’s backline, and, unfortunately, in the 64th minute KCL’s speedy winger drove into the box and slid the ball into the bottom left corner.
After this unexpected goal, both teams were on the offensive and they battled back and forth. UCL tried to regain the front foot with a long distance opportunity from a free kick around the 75th minute which was parried away by the keeper.
Finally, with less than ten minutes to go, a cross pierced the UCL box and a King’s player drove the ball into the net, reducing the goal difference to one. The stadium quietened, with all the fans watching on apprehensively, and the two teams attacked and defended tirelessly, with opportunity after opportunity miraculously saved or defended.
But at last, the final whistle blew, marking the end of the most important game of the year with the score line 3-2 in UCL’s favour. The stadium erupted with cheers and chants for UCL as after 180 minutes of football, all the players had displayed a flawless showcase of skill and teamwork, and confirmed what we all knew: ‘London bleeds purple!”