Over the last fortnight, the University of Sheffield took on Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield’s biggest university sporting event of the year.
Uni of sealed a comfortable victory at 52 points while Sheffield Hallam ended with 26.5 points by the end of the competition.
The highlight was the men’s football 1s. Despite tough competition from Sheffield Hallam, an overturned decision from the referee allowed the University of Sheffield to take home the point in a close match, which ended 3-2.
The best crowd of the competition goes to the Boxing event at the Octagon Arena. Sheffield Hallam stole the point, but the Black and Gold fans were given something to cheer about, as Uni of’s Esam Yahouni was awarded boxer of the evening.
Uni of had a very successful Sports Park Day on 23rd March, winning all but four events of the day.
Two of those four events included draws from the Women’s Footballs 2s and 3s. Women’s Football 2s were unlucky in their match after Hallam scored their last equaliser bringing the final score to 2-2.
The athletics saw mixed results, with the Women’s team taking home the point as the Men’s team left empty-handed. But with such a successful day at Hallam Sports Park, there was no damage to the overall Varsity scoreboard.
Monday 28th was the next big day in the number of events taking place on the same day. This time the excitement took place at the English Institute of Sport.
Once again, the University of Sheffield stormed away with the victory, winning 8 of the available 13 points.
Disappointment came from the Men’s and Women’s 1s Basketball teams.
An unexpected injury from Hallam’s Courtney Alexander in the second period of the Men’s match should have given Uni of an extra boost of confidence. However, Hallam’s competitive spirit allowed them to confirm their win at 68-57 as the final score.
Ice Hockey stole the show as the final competition of Varsity 2022.
Eight thousand spectators watched at the Utilitia Arena as both teams sought to end the overall competition with one final victory.
A scrappy first two periods saw the Black and Gold team take the lead with one goal scored by Charlie Saunders from close range.
Uni of seemed to be better at winning penalties than goals, a notable one in the first period given for having too many players on the ice.
These mistakes gave Hallam a chance to dominate the ice one too many times on the powerplay.
By the final period, Hallam worked out how to use these advantages and put four goals behind Uni of’s netminder, the last one being 10 seconds before the end from Joseph Colton, his second goal of the night.
A few disappointing results shouldn’t distract from the University of Sheffield’s overall varsity performance. Black and Gold fans should be proud of their landslide victory about two years away due to COVID-19.