So that was the term that was... - Cherwell, 8/06/12

After eight issues that’s it for us at Cherwell Sport for the term, so we’re feeling quite elegiac.  With emotion running through the Choffices it’s time to take a look back at our favourite bits of the sporting term.

The obvious  repeated theme of our reporting all term, the rain has been the big non-negotiable when we think about this Trinity. It’s affected everything, making some sports unplayable, raising fears of cancellation for some marquee events like Summer Eights. Sodden matches of croquet aren’t what we’re used to, and the hail really changed hockey matches. Despite some people’s best (actually quite shoddy) efforts to debate to the contrary in these very pages, the deluge has to some extent marred this term’s sporting endeavours. For that, and in honour of every journeyman county cricketer who spent all Easter bathing his Duncan Fearnley in linseed oil, the rain is our villain of the term.



An unlikely candidate for one of our favourite moments would be the previously unheralded Freshfields Rugby 7s tournament early on at Iffley Road. Played in the perfect spirit, the rugby on offer veered from the sublime to the absurd. The stand - which reverberated with the sounds  of an impressive number of fans - was a happy place due to the combination of free beers and free hog roast. It was, quite simply, glorious.

Still, the true highlight of the term has to have been 5th week. Casting all thoughts of 5th week blues into the (previously rain-filled) gutter, it was a beautiful week. As the sun first peeked out on the Monday, and then burst into full flame on Tuesday, it watched over an eclectic mix of sports. The cycling road race Varsity was something very different, as St. Giles was appropriated by Halfords and a voluble commentator, and though the Dark Blues were trounced it was a good day out nonetheless. The real twin peaks of the week though were Summer Eights, which turned even the most ardent anti-rower into a blissful boatie (for Saturday at least), and the Varsity Twenty20 cricket match. Both were enormously well-attended by boozey crowds grateful for the excuse for a day out in the sun, and turned fifth week from good to great.  

College sport, when it could take place, was as ever a joy to behold and participate in, the real reason most of us got involved with this in the first place. It’s been emotional, but we bid you farewell.