Swansea Freshers had the superior history in the fixture, and the side were confident going into the game.

And coach Oliver Tarbard was pleased with how his side lived up to their expectations of the game.

“I was confident beforehand because the freshers have never lost a varsity match,” he said.

“However, we knew that there was a lot of pressure on the boys. But they took this in their stride and lived up to expectations taking all the chances
they were given.”

The first half opened tentatively, with no clear cut opportunities and lots of penalties being conceded by both sides in the middle of the pitch, and it was penalties that would dictate the first half.

First, after nine minutes, Swansea were awarded a penalty in a close, central position, and Liam Crandon put Swansea 3-0 ahead.

This lead lasted only three minutes, however, as a Cardiff penalty levelled the score.

But Swansea retook the lead through a fine effort from distance from Crandon, and went into half time 6-3 ahead.

Just two minutes into the second half, a magnificent counter-attack down the left gave Swansea men to spare and David Young went over for the first try of the game.

And seven minutes later, after great pressure in Cardiff territory, Swansea scored again when Oliver Young was able to find a gap in the defence to
extend Swansea’s lead to 16-3.

With a little over 20 minutes to go Cardiff found themselves with men over to score a try of their own, which they converted to bring themselves
back into the game at 16-10.

But the difference in class between the teams was evident, and the only further addition to the scoreline was through Crandon, who had missed both conversions but was successful with another penalty.

Tarbard was delighted with the quality of his side’s performance.

“The score was close at half-time but I said in the team talk to keep the pressure up and the aggression high.

“I knew we needed to keep our discipline as Cardiff were only entering our half when we conceded penalties. I was confident that we would run riot in the second half.

“The boys did the university’s rugby club proud and I think it took a few hours until the boys finally realised what they had achieved.”

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 19-10 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

Photo by Kate Sherwood

Swansea coach Nick Bowen admitted he was frustrated by his side’s sluggish start to the match.

“We were taking longer to get into the game than we should have today,” he said.

“Despite our slow first half performance, I thought we completely dominated the second half.

“I know the boys will learn from this experience and we will look to bounce back from the result next season.”

Cardiff’s tactic of playing a high-line forced an early mistake from the Swansea defence.

The mistake allowed Sam Trueman to find space and slot the ball into an empty net.

The goal seemed to galvanise the Swansea side and after they had half-hearted penalty appeals turned down, Matthew Barnard poked home to level the score.

The celebrations were cut short when Cardiff’s Nick Feely found himself in free inside the box to give Cardiff the lead once again via the crossbar.

Swansea started the second half well, earning themselves a penalty.

Jack McKenna coolly dispatched the penalty to equalise.

Swansea continued to pile the pressure onto the side from the capital but could not find a way through.

Unfortunately for Swansea, an incisive breakaway for Cardiff allowed Feely to score his second of the game in what was Cardiff’s only real attack of the second half.

Swansea again responded well and continued to mount pressure on the Cardiff goal.

But time was not on their side as the referee blew for full time and gave Cardiff their second varsity win in two years.

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 2-3 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

The men’s team pushed Cardiff all the way but the shooting prowess of Cons Ong proved too much for Swansea.

Prior to the match there were concerns over the fitness of Swansea’s captain Calum Sharma.

Having been cleared to play he put in an impressive performance as he commanded his team throughout.

Cardiff began well and led the match at the end of the first quarter.

Swansea came out for the second raring to go and managed to take the lead by the end of the second quarter.

Thanks to the efforts of Swansea’s Tomasz Mrozowski, Nate Osoria and Ajay Ajing, they were back in it and led after two quarters by four points.

Swansea’s Henry Sondo, Jordan Blake, Adam Kennedy and Marc Robson all put in strong performances in the final two quarters, but Cardiff’s Cons Ong, Hal Oreck and George Margaritopolous challenged the team’s defence.

With six minutes to go the teams were neck in neck.

Sharma continued to score points under pressure for Swansea, but Cardiff’s star player Ong proved the difference between the sides.

Cardiff’s captain Mike O’Keefe was impressed by the Swansea side following the match.

He said: “Swansea are such a great team.

“They gave us a hard fight today.”

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 50-57 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

MacEwen led two games to one when the incident occurred, which appeared to throw him off his game for the remainder of the fourth.
Doran went on to seal victory, three games to two.

Men’s captain Russ Moralee played down the whole affair following the varsity event.

“There wasn’t much in it to be honest,” said Moralee. “When you’ve been on court for so long already and with the pressure of the crowd on your back; things like that can happen.

“It’s nothing to worry about; tempers just got a little bit flared.”

With their promotion in BUCS on the line, this year’s varsity match was set to be more important than ever for both sides.

In the opening game of the day, Swansea’s Jon Griffiths took on Jason Matthews.

The occasion threatened to get the best of the hard-hitting right hander who lost the opening game 11-1.

Griffiths returned for the second more composed and narrowly lost the second 11-9.

Matthews secured the first match point for Cardiff in the third game.

Next on court was Swansea captain Moralee, who faced Rees Herrod.

After being narrowly defeated in the opening game, Moralee turned it on the second to lead 10-8.

But despite some dramatic rallies went on to lose the game 13-11.

Herrod also won the third.

Club captain Brad Pletts was next on, facing Cardiff’s Charles Mamet.

Pletts fought bravely but could do nothing to stop the Cardiff onslaught, with Mamet securing a straight games victory.

The final match of the day saw Swansea veteran Phil Regan take on Elliot Brookes-Parry.

Cardiff’s number one seed took the opening game before the Swansea crowd inspired a comeback.

Regan came back to win the next three games (13-11, 11-8, 11-7) to secure a consolation point for Swansea.

Defeat meant Swansea would remain in the third tier of the BUCS competition for next season.

Moralee added: “I’m absolutely gutted that we lost. The score-line certainly doesn’t reflect the way our guys performed today.”

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 1-4 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

Captain Alicia Venables believes the team have learnt a lot from the experience and will be back stronger next year.

“We lost but I could see how much the team have improved,” she said.

“I’m hoping we can build on this season as we prepare for the next one.

“I know Cassie [Mason] and myself are definitely around next year, so we should remain positive ahead of next year.”

The opening match saw varsity debutant Emma Pursey take on Cardiff’s Amy Robbins.

Pursey got off to a great start leading 3-1 after four points before Robbins turned it on to win it 11-7.

Robbins won the following two games to seal the first win.

Third seed Mason took on Georgie Durell in the following match.

Despite a determined performance from Mason, Durell raced away and secured another win for Cardiff.

Number two seed Lily Lai took on Cardiff’s Jolanta Migdalska.

Lai produced some strong boast shots but was frequently made to chase around court by Migdalska.

Migdalska finished on top, winning the match 3-1.

Captain Venables was last on court as she took on Ursula Szegner.

The match was a tight one with both players playing some high octane squash.

Szegner went on to win 3-1.

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 0-4 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

Swansea manager Owain Harries was disappointed after the defeat.

“It was a very tough game, we had a few chances in the first twenty minutes, and if we’d capitalised it would have been a completely different game.’’

This game was Harries’ last involvement with intramural football as he leaves Swansea in the summer.

“A lot of the boys will be in their final year so will be leaving and trials will be taking place again so who knows what talent could be unearthed.

“Dan Newberry will be in charge of the league and it will be interesting to see what he does for the team.’’

The game was clearly one that neither side wanted to lose, and so was quiet and nervy for long spells.

Changes were made at half-time, and Harries was pleased with the substitutes’ impact.

“Heads dropped slightly in the second half but the subs got stuck in.”

However, Cardiff were confident enough to see out their victory.

SWANSEA INTRAMURAL XI 0-2 CARDIFF INTRAMURAL XI

The win shows just how far the Titans have come in recent years, avenging their last varsity defeat which saw them lose 57-0 at Sketty Lane in 2010.

It was a scrappy start to the game for both sides, with the offensive units under pressure to punt the ball clear on their first drive attempts.

Swansea’s running game appeared to be building momentum yet it was quarterback Simon George and wide-receiver Wyatt who combined to score the first points of the game.

Soon enough Swansea scored again as Ollie Runswick punched the ball into the end-zone to stretch the lead to two scores.

Cardiff answered immediately. Their pass first approach began to pay off with a couple of big gains and a successful aerial touchdown.

The Cobras added another soon after following a 67-yard breakaway to give Cardiff a narrow 16-14 lead.

Their lead did not last for long as Wyatt found the gap and sprinted away to score his second touchdown of the day and Swansea the lead at the break.

The second half began with Swansea pushing for another but found a resolute Cardiff defensive line ahead of them.

But Swansea found a way through thanks to the combination of George and Wyatt once again to give their side a 30-14 lead, which included a two point conversion from full-back Josh Hughes.

Cardiff were running out of time and faced a very solid Swansea defence led by captain Steve Donaldson-Ellison.

With no way through Swansea continued to pile the pressure on, missing two potential touchdowns due to two late fumbles.

The final score of the game came from the two danger men, George and Wyatt, and confirmed the shift in power between the sides from South Wales.

SWANSEA TITANS 36-14 CARDIFF COBRAS

The team produced an accomplished display as they beat Cardiff by 128 points to 111.

And Club President Madelaine Swift was delighted with their performance.

“The Men’s team competed superbly for their win. As we fence three weapons (foil, epee and sabre) they needed a great amount of versatility for the different skills needed in each weapon.

“In foil the men bagged a 14-point lead, in sabre a 15-point lead and that just left epee to get over 20 points, which was achieved in fantastic style.”

It was a less successful day for Swansea’s women fencers, but their captain Ruth Bowley was pleased with the side’s efforts.

“The women’s team did really well considering the Cardiff women are in the league above us.

“The final score was 135:65 to Cardiff but we fenced out of our skins to get the points we did. We’re really pleased with the results.

“I’d like to thank the crowd who came to watch us, it was much bigger than last year and really helped to push on our performance.”

Both Swift and Bowley are now looking forward to what next year has to offer for the club.

“Unfortunately a lot of the fencers in varsity were in their last year,” Swift explained. “So we really need those supporters to come and actually have a go.

“Their first session is free so they have no excuse not to.”

“We’re also looking forward to building stronger links with the Cardiff team,” said Bowley. “We’re planning some events with them so there’s lots to look forward to in the future.”

Photo by Sophie Wiggins

Swansea narrowly lost 5-3 last year at the Welsh Institute of Sport and returned this year looking for revenge.

The higher ranked Cardiff went into the contest as favourites, currently playing in the top tier of the BUCS badminton competition.

But a resolute Swansea side left victorious thanks to a majority of the previous varsity squad returning to action once again this year.

Swansea captain Palmer faced off against Cardiff’s number one seed Ursula Szegner in the opening match.

Varsity veteran Palmer maintained her confidence throughout the match despite a determined performance from Szegner.

As her opponent tired Palmer seized her opportunity and secured the point for her side with a win.

Doubles pair Izzy O’Hagan and Rebeca Thomas were also supremely successful, winning both of their doubles matches against both the first and second seeds.

O’Hagan and Thomas moved swiftly and tactically throughout to secures the points.

Also competing at this year’s varsity fixture for women’s badminton were: Penny Scott, Sophie Ttophi and Pippa Rogers.

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 5-3 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

Their varsity defeat follows a difficult league season that ended in relegation to the third tier of the BUCS basketball competition.

Captain Talbutt admitted Cardiff were a “very strong team” to come up against but praised her team’s efforts despite the defeat.

“The team worked extremely hard throughout the match,” she said. “We kept going till the end, working to stay tall and restrict their shots.

“But they are a very strong team to play.”

After a slow start and missed opportunities, Swansea fought back in the final two quarters.

The combination of players such as Raquel Martin, Paula Martinez and Brenna Newell allowed Swansea a way back into the game.

But despite Swansea’s best efforts, Cardiff maintained their dominance throughout the final minutes thanks to key players such as Marina Kolb, Regina Lanot-Manuel and Kate Gale.

Swansea will now have the summer to rebuild in preparation for the new season.

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY 29-80 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY