The Dean’s Cup Group Stages: Major Hits and Misses

JUSTIN EHIOGU

Some sides impressed while others fell well short of expectations in the just concluded Dean’s Cup group stages.

Hits

Religious Studies
The prestigious department of Religious Studies’ team went well beyond expectations in this first round. Captained by Israel ‘Omooba’ Owolabi, the hitherto underwhelming team won their first two group games, against Music and European Studies, and got away with a point against giants Philosophy. Religious Studies are currently an exciting team, with a lot of quality in their attack. The comeback win against European Studies was particularly scintillating, and if they are to go all the way, they can’t do much better than they are.

Philosophy
The side is currently the most successful in the faculty over the past decade. With a slew of medals and trophies to boast of, they have made their mark on the Dean’s Cup and the Faculty of Arts. Last season they were prevented from winning the trophy for the sixth time in a row when they were knocked out in the semifinals by Classics, and they have looked rather brittle more often than not in the past year. Sometimes, with the departure of hitman Chima, it has looked like the end of an era for them. So it’s a relief for them and for their fans to see them seeing off teams again. Though they were expected by many to beat Religious Studies and they didn’t, there remains a back-to-normality situation that the entire department will appreciate.

Linguistics
Stuffed into the group of death, Linguistics perhaps always knew that qualification from the group stages was not going to be a roller-coaster ride. Classics, Theatre Arts and English are all formidable sides. Heading into their last group fixture against English they needed at least a draw to qualify, and they got it. It’s a big hit for them.

Theatre Arts
Upon Classics’ disqualification from the tournament, Theatre Arts made the step up to second place over English based on superiority of goals scored (2:1). Now the Thespians will qualify for the knockout stages despite not winning a single group game. What a hit for them!

Misses

Classics
Last year’s runners-up topped the group of death, beating both Linguistics and English. They sat comfortably atop a group that was initially expected to be a difficult challenge for them, proving that their participation in last year’s final was not a fluke. They seemed set to go a long way again, perhaps even all the way this time, but unfortunately they ended their last match in blows, and now stand a big chance of being disqualified from the competition.

European Studies
European Studies showed a lot of promise last season, and were mooted to improve even more on their performances this season. However, they failed to make their mark in a group that wouldn’t have been very much different from what they would pick had they been allowed to choose their own opponents. Now they will sit and ponder, shaking their heads and wondering where it all went wrong for them. And as they are reminded of last season, they will be left reflecting on glories that might have been.

English
Dean’s Cup finalists three years ago and Super Four winners two years ago, English look a shadow of their former selves. Long are gone the days they proved a threat to any side. Now, they can barely score goals. With their last game against Linguistics being a must-win, they missed their opportunity to go second. They failed to make any real impact in the final third, and having scored only a single goal in three games, they will sit and watch Theatre Arts move on to the quarterfinals ahead of them in the aftermath of Classics’ drop-out.