They currently hold the advantage with a narrow 12-11 lead with plenty of events still left to play for including rugby union, hockey and basketball.

Uni’s 4-1 Winter Varsity victory gave them the perfect start to the annual competition and they pulled further ahead with a 26-10 win in the American football.

Hallam managed to pull some pride back with a narrow 24-20 rugby league victory which meant they were trailing 5-2 going into a busy Wednesday 5th March fixture list.

11 points were up for grabs on the hectic Wednesday and six went the improving Hallam with Uni winning an extra five to give them a 10-8 lead.

Uni picked up points in men and women’s tennis as well as climbing, a 4-1 win in the men’s canoe polo and a crushing 45.5-5.5 win in the tenpin bowling.

Hallam faired better with a 5-1 Golf win, a 2-0 win in the Women’s Canoe Polo as well as a victory in Swimming and Athletics.

Both mens and women’s football were won by Hallam in exciting matches.

The men’s football 1’s game ended 1-0 to Hallam after they scored a penalty against the run of play and their 3’s and 4’s won 3-2 and 2-1 in tight games.

Uni’s 2’s managed to grab some pride with a 2-0 victory but it wasn’t enough to save the Varsity point with Hallam 3-1 victors overall.

The women’s football was even tighter, Hallam won 1.5-0.5 overall after the Uni women 1’s lost 2-0 and the 2’s drew 2-2.

Hallam reduced the overall arrears by winning all three netball games on 6th March to gain one extra Varsity point.

But Uni won the Equestrian with a 40-30 dressage win and a 1-0 show jumping victory to retain Uni’s overall two point advantage.

Hallam once again reduced the score to within a point after a 40-22 trampoline win but Uni won the women’s cricket by a slender two wickets to extend their lead.

The men’s cricket 1’s and 2’s fixtures were both won by Hallam by 28 runs and two wickets respectively to reduce the gap to a one point lead for Uni at 12-11.

There is everything left to play for in a very tense and exciting Varsity 2008 with everyone left guessing which university will take home the title.

By James Leyfield

Tom Bellington scored Hallam’s controversial penalty which just managed to squirm through the out stretched arms of Uni ‘keeper Tom Hewitt.

Hewitt was alleged to have brought down the on rushing Hallam attacker which resulted in the penalty being awarded.

Hallam’s Chris Green was sent off after an hour for a two footed lunge but Uni were unable to capitalise on the advantage despite playing most of the second period in the Hallam half.

The first half will not live long in the memory as few chances were created and both sides look pleased to go in at 0-0.

Hallam nearly had the perfect start when the tricky Rhys Thomas hit the post after three minutes.

Thomas continued to impress throughout the half but Uni’s centre-back pairing of Andy Morgan and captain Dan O’Brian were solid.

Uni’s Chris Burns looked the most dangerous going forward and he was thwarted by Hallam ‘keeper Chris Anker who was forced to tip Burns’ shot over the bar with a few minutes remaining in the half.

The Bright Finance stadium proved to be a great venue for the match and the atmosphere was fantastic with plenty of banter on show.

Uni and Hallam fans sang loudly exchanging harsh words with each other and the two mascots, the Juice Strawberry and a Hallam Kangaroo, were heavily involved.

Uni began the second half with an attacking mentality but their efforts were in vain after the referee awarded a penalty to Hallam, against the run of play, which was duly dispatched.

The Uni fans and players were never disheartened and the players continued to press forward.

It looked as though their fortunes would change after Hallam were reduced to 10 men on the hour but despite intense goal mouth pressure, Uni could not find a way past Anker.

Thomas had less of an impact for Hallam in the second after he was pushed out wide following the sending off, but he remained their most impressive player.

Matt Thompson put the ball in the net for Uni with 20 minutes remaining but it was disallowed for offside much to the dejection of the Uni faithful.

Thompson was involved twice more in the latter stages but he could not find the back of the net, he and Burns failed to connect to a good ball in with 15 minutes left.

But the best chance of the game fell to both Thompson and substitute Jon Ogidi when the ball bobbled across the goal mouth but their attempts were charged down by Hallam’s Paul Winter.

Ogidi was impressive when he entered the fray, winning the ball and setting up attacks but Uni’s play in the final third was not good enough to warrant an equaliser and Hallam held on to win the match.

By James Leyfield
 

Table toppers Coventry Blaze took on the in form Sheffield Steelers, who sat in second place, in what would be the Elite League title decider.

In a tight match the Steelers mistakes proved costly as they missed the chance to close the gap and handed the Blaze their third league title in four years.

The fans had turned out in force for a game that had been rightly billed as Sheffield’s biggest of the season. And it didn’t disappoint.

It wasn’t long before the tremendous home support had something to shout about as an early power play gave the Steelers an quick advantage through Jeff Legue’s fantastic top corner effort.

The goal gave Sheffield confidence and they pressed forward in numbers.

However the Blaze pulled level towards the end of the first period when ace marksman Adam Calder hit the puck home to set things up nicely going into the second.

Despite conceding the Steelers dominated through a mixture of incisive attacking and commanding defending.

The Steelers couldn’t break the deadlock and soon paid for missing a succession of power plays as the Elite League’s top scorer Calder netted to give Coventry the lead.

After a drab period – one that resulted in the missus pleading for us to leave - the third certainly didn’t disappoint and even got her on her feet.

A mere two minutes into the final period a quick fire double from the Blaze seemingly wrapped up the game and the title.

A power play by Sylvain Cloutier followed by an even-handed goal from Danny Stewart caught the Steelers napping to give the on fire Blaze a healthy lead.

Coventry almost went further ahead seeing a speculative effort rebound off the bar before the Steelers raced forward to give themselves a lifeline.

Doug Sheppard’s controversial goal brought his side back into it after he upended Canadian keeper Trevor Koenig before placing the puck home to set-up a nail-biting finale.

However whilst the Steelers goal was being analysed by my esteemed colleagues at Sky Sports behind me, Coventry broke forward and Calder scored once again with a five-hole for his 50th of the season.

The Steelers seemed dead and buried at 5-2 with just nine minutes left on the clock but their fans soon burst into life once more as a KC Timmins own goal and an absolute belter by Steve Munn gave them a lifeline.

Sheffield Arena was bouncing as the fans pushed the Steelers on to find the elusive equaliser that would take the game to sudden death.

Despite a valiant effort the Steelers the seconds ran down and the final buzzer signalled the end of a tough game along with any remaining title ambitions.

“The Blaze are six points clear now and pretty much have the title now” said Dave Simms, the Steelers press officer and Sky Sports commentator, after the game.

“We’ve done outstandingly well to comeback into the race for the league, winning 14 out of the last 15 games, but those two quick goals at the start of third period really hurt us.

“I couldn’t fault our work ethic but the difference really was the power plays.

“Credit to Coventry they have been top of the league since September and now we must focus fully on the playoffs.”

After a great game of ice hockey, which even the missus eventually enjoyed, the intrepid Steelers finally lost out in both the match and the league to a Blaze side who proved too hot to handle.

By Simon Peach

“It is the best Winter Varsity I have been to so far and great to see us come back so well after the ice hockey defeat,” said Sheffield University Sports Officer Mark Foster, who has only missed the first Winter Varsity.

Uni won both the Ski and Snowboard slalom events 2-1, the Slopestyle Ski and Snowboard events and the Big Air Ski and Snowboard final to complete a 100% record on the slopes.

The Uni snowboard team also won the Border X demonstration event to further embarrass Sheffield Hallam.

The Border X event, which consists of four snowboarders going down a slope and doing tricks, is set to take the place of the Snowboard Slalom in next year’s Winter Varsity.

Hallam’s one Winter Varsity point came in their 9-2 ice hockey victory which was attended by around 850 and 900 people.

“It was great to see so many people there and it created a really good atmosphere,” Mark said.

By James Leyfield

The boxing event, which was due to take place on Monday 3rd March, would have had other boxing teams from around the country, including Leeds and Coventry, competing with only a few Uni and Hallam boxers.

The organisers at Sheffield University did not believe the event was worthwhile because there would be so few Uni and Hallam boxers facing each other.

They felt unable to justify spending money on the event for two or three boxers from Uni or Hallam who could have fixtures against boxers from Leeds or Coventry rather than a Varsity fixture.

“I am absolutely gutted it had to be postponed,” Sheffield University’s Sports Officer Mark Foster said.

“We put a lot of effort in to make it a big event so it is a big shame that it didn’t happen.

“It has been such a short term so people didn’t start training so that they could fight at the weights they wanted and some did not have a medical card which they needed to fight.

“We will be looking for a date after Easter and then we can hold it as a stand alone event and that would be much easier than labelling it as a Varsity event.

“It is difficult to organise because you don’t want to have someone who has had 10 fights against someone who hasn’t had any.”

It is the first year that boxing has been a full club at both Sheffield Uni and Hallam after it had previously been a developing sport over the last few years.

“What we have put in place behind the scenes will hopefully allow the sport to grow and grow at the university in the years to come,” Mark said.

“After the first year of competing and people watching it, it should encourage more to get involved.”

By James Leyfield

The male and female teams both won gold in their competitions despite the female team trailing Sheffield Hallam University after the first day.

Sheffield Uni took 10 students to the nine game event which is the only BUSA competition of the year for the bowling club and the only chance for them to win points.

“I was really proud of everyone,” said club captain Cath Todd.

“I couldn’t wait to get back and tell the sports officer that we had won 46 Varsity points and it is such a big achievement because we cannot get points any other time.”

Todd, who also captain’s the BUSA England women’s squad, headed the women’s line up, alongside Cat Chesney, Hui Yiang Tay and Nadine Keefe competed in the individual event.

Tom Slatter was in the male team that won BUSA gold. It was his first BUSA gold in 10 competitions after notching up 10 years at Uni. He has previously won seven bronze and two silver medals.

He was joined in the male team alongside Andy Giddings, Craig Harmon, Alex Higgins, Jez Knight and Tom Millington.

Both male and female sides were in second place after the first day of bowling but they recorded memorable comebacks on the second day.

The impressive Todd put the female team ahead of Hallam by 13 pins after they had been trailing by 40. And the female team went ahead by 60 pins with one event remaining which proved to be an unassailable lead.

Their final opponents were bitter local rivals Sheffield Hallam, who have only had a bowling team for the last two years, and will face Uni in Varsity on Wednesday 5th March.

“It was like a mini Varsity in the competition because we were up against Hallam for gold,” Todd said.

“It was nice though because we train with Hallam and there was a lot of banter. It really pushed us to win it because nobody wants to lose to their local rivals.

Hallam began well and reduced the arrears to 49 pins but Uni held on and retained their title with a 55 pin victory.

The male side moved to the top of the table with victory over Brunel University after good bowling by Slatter, Higgins and Millington.

Knight, Harmon and Slatter notched up notable scores of more than 200 to secure gold for the men in their final game against Manchester.

Harmon won an individual bronze medal for the tournament with an average score of 205 and five Uni players were selected to represent their country in the BUSA England squads.

Todd will captain the Women’s BUSA England side for the second year running and she is joined by fellow Sheffield Uni students, Hui Yiang Tay, Cat Chesney, Tom Slatter and Craig Harmon.

There are 10 men and 10 women who make up the 20 strong squad for England and nearly half are representing Sheffield with five bowlers from Uni and three from Hallam.

But Varsity is the next big event for the Uni and Hallam bowlers and Todd was very optimistic that Uni can triumph as they did last year in a 16-5 win.

Todd, who sits on the sports committee, joked: “I’m going to get killed if we don’t win it!

“We have got a strong team going out on Wednesday so we should win.”

The Sheffield University Bowling Club are competing in Varsity on Wednesday 5th March 2008 at the AMF Firth Park Bowling Centre between 2:00pm and 5:00pm. The event is free to watch.

By James Leyfield

After 114 minutes of end-to-end football at the Cauldron of Quiet – otherwise known as the Riverside – it was the Premiership outfit side that eventually progressed to the quarter-finals.

The only goal of the game of the fifth round replay came courtesy of a large slice of luck after the out of shape Mido’s effort was turned over the line by Kenny, after his effort had rebounded off the upright.

It did however prove just reward for Boro who had dominated the affair from the off. Downing shone down the left side whilst new signing Afonso Alves showed glimpses of what is in store for Boro fans.

Despite the lack of vocal home support the host’s quality was apparent as they played a high-tempo brand of slick and quick football.

United struggled to break down the Boro side as only a mix of the defensive heroics and a goalkeeping master class by Paddy Kenny kept the scoreline goalless at half time.

The Blades’ raucous travelling support roared on their side as they held their Premiership opponents at arm’s length in the early stages of the second half.

With the defence looking strong United pushed to break the deadlock but the issue was the service to the front men.

However, things started to look up for United in the 64th minute when the hapless Michael Tonge got his first pass on target.

It was a shame it didn’t last as the most overrated player on the field continued in his recent vein of form – disappointing Bladesmen everywhere.

Whilst Tonge faltered, youngster Stephen Quinn shone but the experienced Gary Speed struggled. Probably the most pertinent force from midfield was the makeshift right-winger Jonathan Stead, who, for some reason, was taken off midway through the second half to be replaced by the fragile Lee Martin.

As the game moved nearer to extra time Middlesbrough’s continental style of football became more and more apparent – that of falling over… a lot.

Some call it diving, others simulation, but the likes of Mido, Rochemback and Tuncay have certainly perfected the art.

As normal time began to draw to a close United pushed forward in numbers.

The strikers call for some decent service was finally answered in the dying moments as James Beattie – who had been a peripheral figure throughout the game – got a foot in ahead of Schwarzer to toe-poke the ball agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock.

That proved to be the last action of normal time as the game deteriorated in extra time into a second-rate affair as the first half came and went.

As the game went on penalties seemed to be on the cards – that was until the bizarre Kenny own goal gave Boro something to shout about.

The Blades reacted well to conceding, pushed forward in numbers and should have had at least two penalties if it wasn’t for some ineffective, maybe criminal, officiating.

Despite a frantic finish, and the blatant penalty calls, the game ended 1-0 to Boro after two games and 210 minutes of football.

Perhaps Middlesbrough just shaded it but the Blades fans gave it their all – as did the players, which has been a rare site this season.

Middlesbrough

Schwarzer 6
Young 6
Hines 5
Pogatetz 6
Grounds 5
Boateng 7
Arca 6
Rochemback 6
Downing 8
Alves 7
Mido 6
Subs:
Tuncay 6
O’Neil 6
Johnson 7
Booked: Hines, Pogatetz, Downing.
Goals: Kenny 114 (og)

Sheffield United

Kenny 7 – Fantastic performance that kept the Blades in the game until unfortunate own goal
Geary 6 – Worked his socks off but Downing had the better of him
Morgan 7 – Led the side by example and kept Boro’s strikers at bay
Kilgallon 7 – Worked hard and shone in the second half of normal time
Naysmith 6 – Played well but struggled against the pace of substitute Johnson
Stead 6 – Played well but short of the yard of pace required to play right wing
Quinn 6 – Good performance but marred by a lack of concentration in extra time
Speed 5 – Seemed out-of-sorts tonight
Tonge 4 – Lack of imagination and drive
Beattie 5 – Came close to scoring but lacked any real service
Sharp 6 – Worked hard but never looked like scoring
Subs:
Martin 5 – Too many fancy flicks not enough substance
Hulse 5 – Lack of service starved him but was poor in the air
Shelton 4 – Pitiable positioning and dire crossing let him down
Booked: Naysmith, Morgan, Geary, Quinn.

Attendance: 28,108
Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) 3 – Poor game and too easily swayed by the (quiet) home support

By Simon Peach

A big crowd gathered at Ice Sheffield to see the thrilling game and the flag bearing Uni supporters were lifted seven minutes in to the first period when Burbeary was sent off.

A terrible charging tackle meant the Hallam skipper had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines but he was far from happy with the decision.

He threw his gloves off and marched down the tunnel only to come back and bang on the Perspex, mouthing something towards the referee, clearly incensed.

The incident gave Uni a lift and the underdogs deservedly broke the deadlock four minutes later.

Mike Szollosky gave Uni the lead with an assist from Geoff Hunter after a large amount of pressure.

Hallam eventually found their feet and the Uni lead was pegged back four minutes from the end of the first period.

Hallam’s man of the match, Matt Jeffcock, equalised with an assist from Dan Stanton and last years 4-0 winners were playing the better ice hockey as the first period drew to a close.

Comical chants were exchanged between the two sides at the beginning of the second period, and throughout, and a great atmosphere complimented the highly skilled ice hockey on show.

Hallam began the second period as they had ended the first and Uni’s man of the match, James Zeller, in net, pulled off a string of fine saves.

Nick Manning hit the post for Hallam before the inevitable happened when Jeffcock grabbed his second of the game.

He squeezed a shot in at Zeller’s near post with an assist by Ben Davis to put Hallam in front with 12 minutes to go in the second period.

Hallam were then on top of the game for the rest of the period and Zeller stopped a one-on-one before three Hallam goals in four minutes effectively ended the game.

Jeffcock was once again involved, providing the assist for Stephen Carr to grab a third for and Jeffcock completed his hat trick a minute later with a strike in to the top corner thanks to good work by Scott Parkin.

Parkin got himself on the score sheet shortly afterwards when a goal mouth scramble led to the referees deliberating whether to award a goal or not, but they did, and a battered Uni side went in 5-1 down at the end of the second period.

The third period did not begin any better and Uni made a terrible start, conceding two in the first two and a half minutes.

Ben Davis hit a long range shot which somehow found its way in and Nick Manning scored after an assist by Matt Johnson to make it 7-1 to Hallam.

The game turned after a Uni time out and an altercation between Sacha Sewhdat for Uni and Dan Stanton for Hallam.

The Hallam fans were making the most noise and bouncing up and down in their usual ‘Embrace on a Wednesday night’ fashion, but Uni sprung in to life and created some great chances.

Jake Matthews for Uni showed some sublimecontrol and had a shot but he was foiled by Andy Bagshaw in the Hallam net.

Bagshaw kept out Ed Plenty’s shot after his mazy run Uni were playing their best hockey since the first period.

First period hero, Mike Szollosky threatened to grab his and Uni’s second of the game but he was also denied by an in form Bagshaw.

Uni’s impressive number 10 and captain, Tim Cocksworth, went on a dazzling run in a desperate attempt to claw back some pride for his team, but he was foiled by Bagshaw.

Against the run of play Hallam spoiled the Uni pressure and showed their class with two goals within 40 seconds of each other.

Kat Wiggins was on hand to flick the ball in to the net with Zeller lying on the floor at full stretch after pulling off a great save, with Manning grabbing the assist.

And Wiggins and Manning combined again to extend the lead to 9-1 and remind Uni who was the more clinical.

The earlier altercation between Sewhdat and Stanton flared up once more, this time helmets flew off with punches at the ready but the referees were quickly on the scene and both were sent off.

Sewhdat began enticing the Hallam fans as he walked down the tunnel and they seemed to love the drama.

The biggest cheer of the game came from the Uni fans less than two minutes from time when Chris Bamber scored a consolation for Uni with an assist by Hunter.

The Uni fans were amazing throughout despite the scoreline which could have been very different if Uni had bene more clinical in front of goal but the player’s effort could not be questioned.

It was a very enjoyable game and both sets of fans witnessing a fantastic hour’s entertainment.

 By James Leyfield

The fourth Winter Varsity starts on Saturday 23 February with a match between Sheffield Uni and Sheffield Hallam Ice Hockey teams.

Their sides are largely made up of the Sheffield Universities Bears squad which makes the match more interesting because many players will be playing against their usual team mates.

This tie has been finely balanced over the past four years. Hallam and Uni have won one each and the first match ended a tie.

Whoever wins will the give their University the lead in Winter Varsity.

And after a 4-0 drubbing last year, Sheffield Uni will be out for revenge in this year’s final as they look to kick start their Varsity campaign.

Hallam and Uni will also be taking to the slopes as they contest Ski and Snowboard competitions at the Ski Village.

The Ski and Snowboard competitions were crucial for Uni last year as they turned around their Winter Varsity fortunes and ran out 3-2 winners in the competition overall.

The Ski Village will host the Ski and Snowboard competitions at 6:00pm on Saturday 23 February 2008, tickets are £6 and available from the Sheffield Uni and Sheffield Hallam Student Union Box Offices.

The Ice Hockey is free and based at Ice Sheffield, starting at 1:30pm on Saturday 23 February.

By James Leyfield