After a brief but effective preseason, the student season got underway in early October against old foes Kings Medicals. After a disjointed first half the medics ran out comfortable winners by 55-6.

Any illusions of grandeur prompted by such an emphatic start were quickly shattered in the next two fixtures. The first of these came away at RUMS. The medics underperformed and were fortunate to escape with a narrow victory. Apart from a dominant scrum and the ever reliable boot of Dan Neville, Imperial were second best. Next the medics clashed against intercollegiate rivals Imperial College at the wind tunnel that is Harlington. Few words can describe what happened next. The medics were drained, crushed and humiliated...... And that was just during Pete Halsall’s warm up.

Defeat prompted an early season rethink. In the subsequent weeks momentum was gathered. Convincing wins against the likes of St. Mary’s Twickenham, and Chichester created a renewed confidence. The squad began to fall into place. Fresher talent was barren, but the first team was bolstered by the additions of Masters, Cole and Nzekwue all of whom impressed in the early weeks of the season.

Evidence of how much the medics had improved came in the return fixtures against RUMs. This was a side that the medics had struggled to beat only weeks earlier, but on this occasion the difference in quality was vast. The game was the most complete performance of the season to date with the medics forwards dominating the opposition pack. The back line too excelled, with Ben Davies and Rory Hutchinson catching the eye.

The final game before the Christmas break saw the medics make heavy work of a mediocre Buckinghamshire side. With Imperial College slipping up on the same day the medics displaced their arch rivals at the top of BUCs SE1.

After Christmas the objective was clear. Win the remaining five games and promotion would be secured. The task began with a tough away trip to St. Mary’s Twickenham who had beaten Imperial College on their last outing. The game was the most ill-tempered of the season, the medics held strong and came away with the win.

This set things up perfectly for the reverse fixture against Imperial College. The importance of victory was obvious to all. So much so that the medics became over heated in the early exchanges and only succeeded in committing numerous handling and disciplinary errors which allowed the college to build a ten point lead. As the game progressed the medics held their composure and began to secure better field position and possession. They eventually breached the Imperial College defence for the first time with tries from Mowat and Maynard to draw the game (15-15). Much credit must go to the experienced half back pairing of Tom Maynard and Guy Martin who stood out on the day. The result meant that the medics still had their destiny in their own hands leading into the remaining three fixtures of the season.

Buckinghamshire and Chicester were quickly dispatched. This left only one task. Beat Portsmouth and promotion would be secured. In theory this was no walkover as they had run us close in the away fixture.

No contest. The medics were in no mood to let this game come down to the wire. From the kick off they showed their intent and were quickly into the lead with a piercing dart from Johnny Fisher-Black. The second half saw the medics break free and tear Portsmouth to shreds. James Sharples showed that, despite not being the best rugby player in his family, he was still a cut above the Portsmouth side, running in four tries to take his tally for the season to an incredible 15 in the 14 regular season games.

Promotion was secured and the revelries went long into the night. However, once the dust had settled and vicious personal attacks over the incident known as “Bartsgate”, has ceased the club knew that the season was far from over.

UH final status was emphatically secured with victory over RUMS. The win was soured by the loss of one of the team’s most loyal servants Ben Allin with a knee injury. It would be a full fortnight before Ben would finally admit that a medial meniscus tear, full MCL rupture and partial ACL tear would need more than a bit of ice and strapping to get him onto the field for both varsity and UH.

UH cup final once again saw us pitted against GKT. The game began at a ferocious pace with the early exchanges being evenly matched. Both sides showed their intent to play fast running rugby and were separated by a single point at half time. The second half saw medicals reach another gear which GKT simply could not live with. Backs and forwards combined in a fast offloading game producing eight tries to win, 50-33, in one of the best finals in recent memory. Praise must go to Dan Neville who sparked an electric performance from the backs and Graham Corin who used a combination of encouragement and coercion to make himself available when all avenues seemed closed.

The student contingent on the side had little time for recovery and reflection as varsity fell only three days later. By this point in the season the medics were in no mood for excuses. Once again the early exchanges were evenly matched and the medics found themselves narrowly behind at half time (10-8). After some sterling half time words from Peter Halsall and Dinger the medics came out rejuvenated. Further tries from James Sharples, and a superb individual effort from Craig Nightingale followed. This should have signalled the end of the game as a contest. However things are rarely simple with this side and the medics contrived to lose two players to the sinbin in close succession. This sparked one of the bravest periods of play of the season as the medics not only matched Imperial College with thirteen players but managed to retain possession and territory and score a further try to win the game (29-13).