Captain Elen Jones was pleased with Swansea’s ruthlessness in attack, but admitted there are still areas to be worked on for the side.
“We’re still settling into the new season,” she explained. “We lost to Cardiff last week, but we’ve changed format this season and we’re still adjusting.
“Today went well for us; I thought our offence outplayed their defence. Having said this, we need to work on our cross-court play, and tighten up our own defence.
“Even though the core of our team are returning players, our new players are fitting into the team well at the moment. We’re all so competitive, and I think we’ll do really well because of that this season.”
Swansea started the game at lightning pace, and went 3-0 up inside two minutes. Despite Glamorgan working their way into the game, after the first quarter Swansea led 9-3.
Swansea continued to dominate and excellent shooting saw them go 14-up after 20 minutes. However, Glamorgan began to get a foothold in the match and were able to reduce the deficit from 14-5 to 17-14 at half time.
The second half was much tighter than the first, and by the end of the third quarter there were still only three points in it, with the score at 23-20.
Glamorgan continued to turn the screw in the final quarter, and scored twice in the final three minutes to ensure a nervy finish for the home side.
However, Swansea held on for a win that, on balance, was probably deserved.

SWANSEA started the year strongly with many sports teams high up in their league tables.
One of the highlights of the first semester was Swansea’s women’s basketball firsts’ narrow but deserved 64-63 victory over rivals Cardiff University.
Another was men’s football firsts’ equally impressive 1-0 away win against Cardiff.
Men’s rugby firsts also started well, with a convincing victory over Bristol University 30-13.
Swansea surged up the BUCS rankings just before the Christmas break with success in both swimming and jitsu.
Swansea came third out of 44 in the BUCS short course swimming competition, with Emma Smithurst winning four medals, breaking two BUCS records in the process, and Ross Douglas and Adam Mallett both taking bronze.
Swansea’s jitsu team also experienced national success by winning the BUCS shield in Sheffield.
This would not be the only success jitsu captain David Townsend would have this year. After the BUCS shield victory Townsend declared the jitsu club had “established [itself] as a martial art, and as a sport within the athletics union.”

Fighting Champions: Holly Carey and Calum Spours take top honours

THE second semester brought even more fantastic moments for the University, with great success in martial arts and athletics.
The judo team won two medals at the Welsh Nationals; gold for Karina Young and bronze for David Townsend.
In February, Calum Spours continued the success as he was crowned the Welsh boxing champion at the 67kg division.
The jitsu team built on their earlier success with eight more medals at the Randori Nationals.
Swansea’s swimming team took third place finish at the BUCS long course event, matching their success in the shorter discipline back in November.
In March, Swansea’s martial arts continued to flourish with their taekwondo club winning nine medals at the ITF Student Championship.
The karate club also took four medals at the UK Open with karate captain, Holly Carey, leading by example and winning double gold. Carey described this success as capping off her “most successful year to date”.
Imelda Morrison rounded off a fine year after she achieved gold in the women’s long jump at the BUCS Indoor Athletics Championship.

Beaten But Not Bowed 

THE event of the year for Swansea’s sporting stars was as always the Welsh Varsity, against arch rivals Cardiff, which was hosted in the capital for the second year in a row.
Ultimately Swansea were well beaten in the rugby match despite a fine start with a try from fly-half Aled Lewis after 10 minutes.
Cardiff took control and moved out of sight with a lead of 23 points to six with only half an hour left.
Swansea battled back to score a converted try but it was not enough as Cardiff scored two more late on to seal the win 33-13. Coach Richard Lancaster was bullish despite the result. He said: “[The defeat was] something to store and use as fuel for next season.”
On the back of the defeat, Swansea are sure to come back stronger next year.
Overall Swansea suffered their worst Varsity in recent years with only five wins from 26 events. The wins for Swansea came in golf, men’s fencing, women’s squash, sailing and Intramural football.
Despite the disappointing finale Swansea can be proud of their teams.
Elsewhere, the men’s novice rowing team won their first ever race in Welsh Varsity history.

The team, wore “Get well Leo” t-shirts in the warm-up in hope of a quick and full recovery for club president Leo Gould, were cheered on by a large and loud Swansea support.

Swansea started well, moving the ball quickly and shooting well, and held a narrow 16-15 lead going into the second quarter.

But as in the intensity of the game began to increase, this lead was overturned by Cardiff who found themselves 34-31 up at half time.

In the third quarter, Swansea’s shooting began to falter and Cardiff’s excellent ball retention allowed them  to capitalise and extend their lead to 53-41 with just 10 minutes to play.

Some good shooting from both sides in the closing stages made for a thrilling final quarter.

But the tiring Swansea side were never able to get within less than six points of Cardiff, whose late flurry of baskets added some gloss to the scoreline.

Swansea captain Daniel Buttifant was pleased with his team’s start, but admitted the pace of the game had got to his players.

“I thought we started off quickly and strongly, but we tired towards the end of the game, lost a bit of heart and our heads dropped.”

Cardiff’s captain Anthony Olowo was pleased with the result, but was full of praise for Swansea’s efforts.

“Swansea battled really hard and it was a really good game to play in,” he said.

“I just think in the second half we found our range with our shooting.”

Swansea University 1sts 60-76 Cardiff University 1sts

Her Swansea side were convincingly beaten by a strong Cardiff team at Varsity.

Swansea took a while to get into the game, but by the end of the first quarter, Cardiff led 26-8 despite a brief flurry of Swansea baskets.

Half-time the lead had been extended to 47-17.

Swansea improved second half but Cardiff were always dangerous on the break.

Cardiff captain Becky Roberts praised her side’s clinical shooting.

“We were out to avenge our defeats earlier in the season, and I think our three-pointers won it for us today,” she explained.

Dzaro bemoaned a lack of preparation with her current squad.

“I think we did well, the girls put all their efforts in,” she said.

“It was a really tough game.

“Cardiff’s side have been playing together for years whereas we have only been together for months.

“I think if we had had more time together as a side we could have been much better.”

Swansea University 1sts 37-79 Cardiff University 1sts

He is hopeful they can learn from this and take a new found belief into Wednesday’s Varsity game.

Swansea women’s season started brightly with two quick victories over their rivals Cardiff before the winter break.

But their form took a turn for the worse after Christmas as the side lost two important foreign exchange players, and could not recover the form they once had.

But Williams has remained positive and will continue to work hard with the squad before the big game at the Welsh Institute of Sport.

Williams said: “Despite relegation, there has been rapid improvement recently.

“And returning to the division below will be a lot more balanced and competitive for the returning players next year.”

Despite the strong victories over Cardiff at the start of the season, Williams believes the Varsity game will be a tough match for the team.

He said: “It is always intimidating playing Cardiff, as they are a very experienced side.

“Despite this, at last year’s Varsity we managed to pull off a shock victory.

“The result was unprecedented, coming from behind to secure a fantastic 65-53 victory.

“We can also take confidence from our two victories over Cardiff already this season.

“However, it will be very tough for us this year.

“Cardiff will be confident coming into the game despite these early season victories for us.

“One advantage of having played them three times already this year is that we know how they play and we are focusing on this in training.

“We have to remain composed and disciplined when under pressure if we are to break up their play and prevent needless fouls.”

Williams believes the crowd will help to spur the Swansea girls on ahead of the game.

He added: “The girls will be very nervous ahead of the game, support from the Swansea fans will help massively to build their confidence.

“Varsity will be a great experience to build upon for next season.”

The side went unbeaten in the Bucs league securing promotion, to the Western 1A division, and are hopeful for a Varsity win to add to their success.

“This year we’re definitely going into Varsity with far more momentum and confidence than last year,” said Buttifant.

“We’ve been a very strong shooting side, however, ultimately I think it will come down to the side that plays the better defence and looks after their possession that will win.”

Buttifant believes the crowd will play a big part in which way the result could go.

He added: “The crowd is obviously going to be a big factor.

“Our games are usually played out in front of a small crowd so Varsity is a completely different environment to our normal season games.

“Our players will be nervous, but this year we have been a very confident team so I don’t think this should become too much of a factor in our performance.”

The draw also keeps them on course to complete an unbeaten league season.

“This season we’ve focused on using our width and moving the ball as quickly as possible,” said Parsons.

“We’ve been a lot more confident and have been happy to attack other sides all season.”

But he admitted the game did not go exactly to plan against the 3rds.

“It was a really tight game today, and we weren’t able to get the win we were aiming for, but we did well to get the point and that was always the most important thing,” Parsons added.

“It was a passionate match, and I can’t stress enough that the 3rds really did themselves proud today.”

Despite conceding four minutes from time, 3rds captain Gavin Belcher was also pleased with his side’s performance.

“The 0-0 score line at half time reflected how well the teams were matched,” he said.

“We scored early in the second half which boosted our spirits, whereas I think the 2nds’ heads dropped slightly.

“It was disappointing to concede at such a late stage in the game.

“Congratulations to the 2nds for  getting promoted as champions.”

The first half was a tight affair with few clear-cut chances but the 3rds took the lead with the first real action of the second half when a penalty corner was only half-cleared and Alex Trew slid the ball low into the corner.

A spell of 2nds pressure followed as they failed to make the most of two penalty corners in as many minutes.

The second half was a more heated affair than the first as the game neared its conclusion.

And just as the 2nds began to believe it might not be their day, Parsons controlled a loose ball in the area, turned and drove home the equaliser, sparking celebrations from the newly-crowned champions.

While the 3rds are out of contention for the league, the victory has enabled Swansea 2nds to leapfrog Gloucestershire into top spot.

“It was the best finish to a game I’ve played,” said Martin.

“We knew we had a chance to get something out of the game in the second half, which forced us to produce some of the best hockey we’ve played all season.

“With regard to my goal, it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time and being fortunate that it came to me.”

Swansea could not have made a worse start to the match conceding a goal after just 43 seconds.

Gloucestershire’s Toby Devine intercepted a sloppy pass in the Swansea area and put his side in front.

But Swansea came back at the visitors immediately applying pressure and were rewarded in the 17th minute with the equaliser.

A scramble in the Gloucestershire area resulted in the ball rebounding off the post.

And keeper Tom Gill failed to clear the rebound, instead sliced the ball into the net.

And soon after Swansea took the lead when Tom Skirrow struck the ball fiercely from distance into the top corner.

Despite Swansea’s dominance, they were pegged back right on the stroke of half-time, when they failed to clear the ball.

Gloucestershire’s Matt Stillman had time and space and struck low to make  it 2-2.

The second half saw chances for both sides but Swansea’s pressure intensified and eventually told in the final minute of the game.

Great work down the right flank allowed the ball to be cut across goal and Martin turned the ball home for the winner.

His yellow card for removing his shirt while celebrating meant Swansea finished with 10 men but held on.

Swansea 3rds produced a fine display a week later in which they took a point off champions Swansea 2nds.

They will now look towards next season.

Swansea had two impressive performers in the gentleman compound tournament as Phill Dunn finished third with 31 gold shots and David Leach finished fifth with 26 gold shots.

Alex Tappenden finished ninth out of 29 in the gentleman barebow.

Swansea’s experienced women top performer was Victoria Moore whom finished 23rd out of 63 with 11 gold shots in the recurve competition.

The novice category saw Swansea’s archers record an 18th place finish out of a possible 36.

Mark Evans came 23rd out of 93 with 10 gold shots in the gentleman recurve, Alaba Baju finished ninth out of 22 in the gentleman barebow, while Anna Lawrence was fifth in the nine-person lady barebow event.

In the experienced category, Swansea finished 24th out of 43 competing universities.

Jason Yiu won the three-person gentleman compound event with a gold shot total of 21.

Novice archer Yiu praised the team’s performance over the weekend.

“It was a great weekend and the team achieved some fantastic results,” he said.