What an event Varsity was this year. The day, the players and the supporters were fantastic and I’m sure will live long in the memories for everyone.
What an event Varsity was this year. The day, the players and the supporters were fantastic and I’m sure will live long in the memories for everyone. For anyone who is wondering what Varsity is, it is an event that is held once a year giving our teams the opportunity to compete against their counterparts from the University of Roehampton. The university that wins the most points during the event will be crowned the winners and awarded the Roebuck Trophy to display until we next meet.
Saturday 10 February | BNU Dance
Going into the day, BNU were up 2.5 to Roey’s 1.5. The first point was secured at the Southampton Dance Comp on Saturday 10 February, where BNU Dance scored a higher average score of 67 over Roehampton’s 66. With a special mention going to Tap, choreographed by Jess Bradbury, our Vice President Achievement and Belonging here at the Students’ Union, who were the only team on the day to place.
Sunday 10 March | Men's FC 4s and Hockey
Men’s Football 4s securing half a point with a hard-fought 1-1 draw. Taking the lead thanks to a brilliantly taken finish into the near post top corner by Cotter Sedhev. Unlucky to then concede, in what was traditionally a game where the Men’s 4th team struggle, the team dug in to secure a well-earned half point in which keeper Scott Bedford made a fantastic save.
Men’s Hockey then romped to a 5-0 win with an incredible performance. James Upson scored a hattrick in this game which included an outstanding goal, starting from our own half, James weaved his way through numerous Roehampton players before striking an ariel shot from the top of the D straight over the keeper. This was followed by Ladies Hockey who narrowly lost 2-1 in the torrential rain.
Wednesday 13 March | Game Day
Heading into the final day, the score stood at 2.5 BNU to 1.5 Roey. In the Events Hall, Badminton started and at the same time as Men’s Football 3’s kicked off at the Rye. Badminton lost 7-1. To tie up the score, Men’s football 3’s drew 1-1 to secure another half point in a match that included two missed penalties by Roey. Netball 2’s started at 12.30pm in Kingsmead and went down 42-4. Women’s Football kicked off at 1pm and smashed it with a 3-0 win. The highlight of this game was a dribble by Ashleigh Henry Dell nutmegging a Roey player before cutting in and firing in the shot with the crowd cheering the whole way. Shortly after Netball 1’s started at Kingsmead, an exceptional performance by our team throughout but special mention to our Player of the Day Holly Spittles who was consistent and on the mark nearly every time she took a shot. They secured a 38-26 win, bringing the overall score to 5-4 to BNU.
Men’s Football 2’s kicked off and half an hour later Women’s Volleyball started in the Events Hall. Men’s Football 2’s lost their game 6-0 while Women’s Volleyball played through to the 4th set, with the score being locked in with them 2-1 up and the 4th set score at 15-6…. more on this later. The last game on the Rye was Men’s Football 1’s, our Varsity Captain Reece Newey’s team. They had a flying start scoring two in the first five minutes, with clinical precision, including a long-range effort from outside of the box scored by Toby Nnadozie. They went on to win 3-1. Men’s Volleyball lost in straight sets and that left the overall score at 6-6 going into the headline fixtures of Rugby and Basketball.
Rugby kicked off at Marlow which included our other Varsity Captain Chris Ntoni, who had a phenomenal performance, showing his turn of speed and stopping two Roehampton tries from being scored. BNU conceded early and the team were down 0-14 but before we knew it, it was back level at 14-14 with an interception by Chik Bunting, backing himself to make it from his own try line to score. At the same time Men’s Basketball were flying, at half time the score was 48-20 to us. The sporting spectacle continued with Captain Aidan Kelly scoring with a half-court at the end of the 1st quarter, ball floating in the air as the buzzer went off. A moment that will bring goosebumps. As the evening was going on, news was trickling through that Rugby had taken the lead 19-14. Suspense and tension was building on a momentous day. In the final ten minutes, Roehampton scored a try and the score levelled at 19-19 which is where it finished, sealing half a point from their match. Men’s Basketball continued their fluid match to secure a convincing point with an 82-40 win.
After an amazing day, Jess Bradbury, Vice President Achievement and Belonging, commented “Helping to organise Varsity 2024 has been a real privilege. Having the honour to work with such incredible students not only during the Varsity season but the whole year has made my final year as Vice President amazing. Everyone over the three days worked so hard and showed the Bucks spirit whether that was through playing or spectating. I cannot express in words how appreciative I am of all those involved. For one last time… DA DA DA DA BUCKS NEW UNI!”.
Final Varsity Score
So at the end of the day, the score was 7.5 Bucks - 6.5 Roey. However, due to the conclusion of the Women’s Volleyball match not being completed, it has meant the final decision is still in the balance. This will be determined early in the next term.
We would like to thank all players, for their unwavering dedication and to all of the spectators for their wonderful support.