St Mary’s Wins West London Varsity

St Mary’s University, Twickenham won the 2018 West London Varsity in dramatic fashion over Brunel University on Wednesday.

The destination of the trophy came down to the final match of the day, women’s futsal, which St Mary’s won 9-5 to regain the title of West London Varsity Champions with an overall score of 19-18.

St Mary’s, who hosted this year’s annual tournament, made a strong start to the day and raced into a 10-4 lead with some strong performances in rugby league, football, cricket, weightlifting and fencing.

Brunel pulled it back to 10-10 with wins in basketball, netball, rowing and tennis before St Mary’s regained and stretched their lead with a shock win in the men’s tennis and victories in rugby union, hockey and football.

A hard-fought win in the men’s futsal, which was unexpected with Brunel a division higher, put St Mary’s within one win from victory before Brunel set up a grand finale with successes in volleyball and ultimate frisbee.

The women’s futsal finished at 7.28pm, capping a near 12-hour marathon of sports, and St Mary’s victory ensured a third straight home triumph in the West London Varsity.

Vice-President of Sports and Societies at St Mary’s Students’ Union Jess Carey said, “From the staff to spectators, to players, to volunteers, it’s because of each of them that we were able to bring the cup home yesterday. I couldn’t be more proud of every single person involved and the fact it went down to the very last game is a credit to Brunel and showcases what a fantastic sporting event the West London Varsity is.”

Director of Sport at St Mary’s Andrew Reid-Smith said, “A huge congratulations to every Simmie who competed to win such a hard-fought and creditable Varsity against Brunel. The standard of performance from both universities was excellent and all those who contributed to such a wonderful sporting event should be very proud.”