The Edinburgh Eagles crush the Saint Andrews Typhoons (while also beating them in hockey)
The first thing that hits you when you get off the team bus to the Wookey Derby is the smell of piss and an arena straight from the Eastern Block — the Fife Ice Arena is a cement behemoth from a foregone era. Across the street stands a hockey equipment shop called Gloves Off, quietly foreshadowing what the night would bring. Compared to the rough exterior, the inside is surprisingly hospitable and many students line up to buy beers and snacks at the concession stands. St Andrews fans fill the arena in droves while the smaller Edinburgh stand is confined to the far corner.
Before the game, the jumbotron shows a touching tribute to the memory of Jonny Wookey — the name behind the varsity game. We hear his friends and family describe him as a positive and energetic young man who cared for others as much as he was passionate about hockey. Jonny Wookey studied International Relations at St Andrews, but sadly passed away just before his graduation. The screens then show a montage of his life as his favourite song Loch Lomond echoes across the arena.
The lights dim and the teams are presented in front of a roaring crowd as sparks shoot up from the ice. Everyone’s expectations are sky high, and the arena becomes a pressure cooker of anticipation. Unfortunately, the pressure is allowed to hiss out — the referees were under the impression that the first face off was at 9:00 instead of 7:30 and are late to their own game. When everyone is finally in place and all is ready, both sides are clearly raring to go.
From the get-go, discipline is not on the agenda for either team, and the high number of penalties mean the first period lacked any real 5v5 hockey. Edinburgh scored three important goals, but it was their goalie who stood for the most dominant display. He also happened to have his own supporter section in the Edinburgh crowd and a loud guttural “Danny!” rang out after every minor and major save.
I had been told ahead of the game that the Wookey Derby is the only fixture of the year where protective visors on helmets are replaced with full cages. There had been incidents in the past of items being thrown onto the ice from the intoxicated crowd. Naively, I dismissed the warnings as hyperbole.
A few minutes into the second period a full portion of chips was catapulted from the St Andrews crowd and hit an Eagles player sitting out a penalty. The flimsy styrofoam box exploded and sent chips and condiments flying onto the ice and covering the player. Many players and fans who noticed the projectile potatoes tried to get the referee’s attention, but play was allowed to continue, and the Typhoons scored their second goal of the game a few seconds later.
A short break was called to let a snow shoveller momentarily become a chip shoveler and for the furious Eagle number 23 to try to get as much ketchup and mustard off his kit as possible. According to the player, the chips were covered with a suspiciously large amount of condiment — ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this amount of mustard suggests premeditation. A chip-throw of the first degree.
The second period continued with the same aggression as the first and players left and right were penalised for dangerous play, slashing, and high sticks. Although the Typhoons put some pressure on the Eagles and at one stage only trailed by one point, the Edinburgh side soon restored the original power balance and went into the third period with a 6-3 lead.
After the Zamboni gave the ice its final coating and as the beer snake on the St Andrews side kept on growing, the decisive third period got underway. The Eagles were relentless in the final period, skating past the Typhoons with ease and scoring five more goals to make the score 11-3. A few minutes into the period, four drunk St Andrews supporters crossed the arena to sit in the Edinburgh section, right behind the Eagles substitutes. They then begin to heckle the players and coaches, commenting on badly tied ties, cheap suits, and bad hairdos. The Edinburgh crowd is enraged and try to get these intruders with a death wish to leave immediately and go back to their side. When the unwelcome guests stubbornly refuse and continue their heckling, the result is less peaceful. A man from the Eagles bench dives up with a superman punch and the following scuffle sees the four boys get escorted out of the arena by security, their Ralph Lauren shirts torn and their neatly combed hair now ruffled.
Back on the ice, the Typhoons lose all hope for a possible comeback and try to find other ways to get under the skin of their opponents. The fights continue throughout the period and when a Typhoons player skates behind Danny the goalkeeper and slams his stick into the goalie’s back, all hell breaks loose. The fight involves everyone on the ice, and it takes several minutes for the referees to separate the players from each other.
Meanwhile, tension rises yet again in the crowd. One older man in the St Andrews section eventually sees red after some taunting and charges towards the Edinburgh stand, shrugging off family and friends trying to hold him back. Luckily, the man runs out of steam before he can barrel into a family with two small kids and is dragged towards the exits by a team of friends and strangers.
When hockey finally returned to the Fife Ice Arena, it continued for about three more minutes before yet another fight broke out in the middle of the rink. An Eagles player’s shirt was ripped off and helmets went flying — credit to whoever was in control of the music, as the iconic Gonna Fly Now from the Rocky movies started blasting from the loudspeakers mid-fight. Seeing the direction the game was going, the referees ended it with slightly over two minutes left on the clock — a kindness to the Typhoons.
The Edinburgh Eagles were crowned champions in the 2026 Wookey Derby and continued their incredible season. Soon after the final whistle, Edinburgh supporters took to the ice to celebrate with the victors, as the Typhoons and the St Andrews fans headed for the exits. Left on the ice to lift the trophy were an ecstatic, exhausted, and ketchup-stained Edinburgh Eagles. The National Championship awaits them next week in Sheffield, and the Eagles seem determined to lick their wounds and win it all.
Photos by Derek Young @derekyoungsportsphotography