3/5/13
Victoria Edmonson
Intra-Mural Round-Up
IM HALLS
Encouraged by elected Sports Reps, every year halls students are given the opportunity to compete and earn points towards the Shield and Plate leagues. The halls programme kicked off in October, with the Mixed RUSH Hockey tournament. 12 teams competed in two group stages to secure their place in the final and gain those all important league points. Charles Morris delivered a strong performance in the group stages to defeat rivals Lyddon 16 – 5 in the final on Friday November 9, as the hall finished with an incredible 83 points overall.
With Charles Morris storming ahead in the league table, the pressure was on for the other halls as they entered the second tournament of the programme. Starting on Tuesday November 27, the Women’s Netball tournament saw some fierce action from Devonshire, Henry Price, James Baillie, Montague Burton and Oxley. James Baillie secured five victories, including an 8 – 3 win over Montague Burton in the decider, moving up from the bottom of the league table. The second group stage saw seven teams take part. With the fantastic atmosphere created by Ellerslie’s enthusiastic supporters, competition grew more intense, but their overwhelming support for the team wasn’t enough to prevent a final defeat to a strong Central Village side.
The final, held on Friday January 25, saw James Baillie face Central Village. Central Village took an early lead in the first quarter, but James Baillie fought back to deliver a fairly even game throughout the match. In the end a triumphant Central Village celebrated a 29 – 25 victory and an additional 60 points for their hall, moving them into second place in the league table.
Faced with bitter conditions, seven teams competed in the Men’s Football tournament held at Weetwood on Sunday March 10. Kicking off at midday, group one saw Oxley A and James Baillie take the lead, reaching a 0 – 0 stalemate in their final fixture against each other. In group two, Liberty Dock triumphed achieving a fantastic 30 points. Oxley B finished closely behind, with 23 points. After strong performances in the group stages, Oxley A reached the final and faced James Baillie in a tense match. In a surprising turn of events, James Baillie secured a 1 – 0 victory and their place in this year’s IM Varsity.
With students given the opportunity to try new and diverse sports, March’s fast-paced Dodgeball tournament was a popular event. On Tuesday March 5, Tannery, Leodis, James Baillie and Charles Morris competed. A strong Tannery team swiftly took the lead, securing two wins against Leodis.
The games got increasingly competitive throughout the evening, with the referees forced to make some difficult decisions. Facing James Baillie, Leodis secured two further wins. With victory in their grasp, Leodis beat Charles Morris and secured 18 points. On Tuesday March 12, Oxley, Central Village, Lyddon and Devonshire competed with Central Village taking a convincing lead. Lyddon provided a tough competitor, forcing Central Village to concede one game. Recovering from their loss, the hall secured two further wins over Devonshire and 18 points.
With just one more tournament to go, James Baillie are at the top of league table with 197 points.
IM LEAGUES
This year’s leagues saw over 3,500 staff and students take part in our IM Leagues programme, competing across 11-a-side Football, Rugby, Men and Women’s 5-a-side Football, Netball, RUSH Hockey and Squash.
As one of the biggest IM 11-a-side football programmes in the country, this year saw 40 teams participate across Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday leagues. Throughout semester one, teams battled against their oppositions and the elements to try and top their division. Division two winners, Football 5s, Dynamo Kebab and Law grasped secured promotion, ready for semester two.
Wednesday December 5 saw Maths, French and FOBSOC (the division one winners from each league day) compete for the title of semester one winners. After some closely fought matches, Maths secured overall victory and progressed to play against another intra mural team from the University of Manchester, successfully beating them 2 – 0.
As the season comes to a close, semester two playoffs taking place this week will see Maths competing for victory in semester two. They face strong competition from Medics & Dentists, Regents Park and LUBS. The teams have all to play for to see who will be crowned the overall 2012/13 winners and go on to help the university defend its title in the annual IM Varsity on Wednesday May 8.
Not to be overshadowed by the 11-a-side leagues, 5-a-side football engaged 160 teams across indoor and outdoor men’s and women’s leagues. Topping the women’s league in semester one were LUUWAFC Development A, winning seven of their eight games, while semester two saw LUUWAFC 3s secure the top spot. In the men’s league, all 18 winning teams came together on Thursday 24th January to compete for the prestigious title of semester winners, with The Boiz stealing the show.
Growing to accommodate 20 teams, the 7-a-side netball leagues saw plenty of fancy footwork and epic shooting across both leagues. Semester one league winners, Netball 9s and Netball 7s, competed against each other for the overall semester one title and, after 40 minutes of end to end play, Netball 9s rose victorious. The semester two playoffs promise the same excitement, as Netball 9s and Netball 7s top their leagues for the second time, preparing to compete for the coveted place of representing the university in the forthcoming IM Varsity.
In the IM Rugby leagues, 11 teams participated over the course of the season with teams new to the league growing in confidence and experience week by week. The final, held on Sunday April 21, saw Law Soc and FOBSOC give it their all, with Law Soc securing a 39 – 5 victory.
After an action packed year, attention now turns to IM Varsity on Wednesday May 8 to see if the University of Leeds can retain their title.