UNSW win Gold at Eastern University Games

UNSW Mens and Womens Football both win Silver

The 2009 Eastern University Games was the first major inter-university sporting competition of the year. 1600 participants from 14 universities travelled to Bathurst for the three day event. UNSW had a team of 200 athletes competing in 8 of the 10 sports scheduled. It is the first time in three years that the Games have been held in a regional town.

Setting the foundations for strong competition at the Australian University Games in September, UNSW dominated on the courts and fields.

The UNSW mens volleyball team went in to the Games as defending champions with many other teams out to beat them. They played strong throughout the rounds and into the finals winning gold convincingly 3-0 against University of Sydney Cumberland.

The UNSW womens volleyball team had great success despite being one player short for the first day.  Many new rookies stepped up to the challenge and in the end they won gold 3-1 against University of Sydney Cumberland.

The mens and womens Touch teams dominated the touch fields,playing through the fog and frost each morning. The womens team beat the tournament favourites, Charles Sturt University Bathurst to win gold, whilst the mens team remained undefeated throughout the competition to win gold.

Another combined UNSW mens and womens team effort saw both Football teams finish the competition with silver.  The women went down 1-0 and so too did the men with the lucky goal scored in the final minutes sealing their fate.

On the basketball court the UNSW women were beaten by one point in overtime to place fourth going down to University of Sydney Cumberland. The men went in to the finals as favourites having beaten UTS in the round games but were defeated in a close physical match having to settle for silver.

Out on the Hockey fields UNSW Men worked hard to secure a place in the Bronze Medal game whilst team mate Mathew Webb underwent emergency dental work on his front teeth after a close encounter with a hockey stick.  The mens hockey team went on the win the Bronze in a convincing game against the Australian National University.  Unfortunately the womens hockey team was unable to replicate the success of the mens team finishing a distant 9th.

UNSW was strongly represented on the Bowling Greens by the Lawn Bowls team.  Leading the charge was team captain Andrew Collins who rolled many tight ends with the team finishing an unlucky 7th overall.

Just down the road on the tennis courts the UNSW Men were serving and vollying up a storm to earn themselves a birth in the bronze medal game.  In a tight game UNSW was beaten by arch rivals Sydney Uni for the medal.

Back on campus a the Ultimate Frisbee competition was being contested with great sportsmanship and fierce rivalry.  The UNSW Ultimate team comprised many rookies and had never played together prior to their first match at the games.  However the team had some close losses finishing 6th in a tough competition.

The overall tally of results was exceptionallly close with UNSW narrowly missing out on the overall trophy by 10.5 points to CSU.  The foundations have been laid, the gauntlet has been thrown and all eyes are now firmly fixed on what is set to be a fierce competition on the Gold Coast for the Australian University Games in September.