It was Sunday 5th May, it felt like we had been in Lancaster for ages, and I had only been there since Saturday morning! After a delightful night’s sleep in a college common room, the remaining Vision team were ready for one final day of match reporting!
As it was confirmed on Saturday night that Lancaster were going to win Roses for a third year, you could be forgiven for thinking that the teams from both sides would not go into Day 3 with much energy. But the opposite was true, there was still scores to settle, vengeance to be had and teams wanting to continue representing their team with pride.
Sunday morning started off with Canoe Polo in the swimming pool with the Women and then the Open formats featuring intense kayaking and football-esq scores, and Lancaster dominated both fixtures to get another eight points in the pool.
There were day long competitions taking place in Dancing, Ballroom Dancing and Debating, which is a sentence that only usually appears when referring to family viewings of Strictly. And outside the archery was taking place, in which spoils were shared five-apiece in terms of Roses Points.
In the afternoon, things were beginning to wind-down. The women’s and men’s rugby drew enormous crowds as the sun appeared. The York women held on for a 5-17 victory, however the Lancaster men bulldozed their York opponents to take the victory in the final outdoor fixture of the day. Back inside the sports centre large passionate crowds witnessed the Netball 2nds, where York picked up two final points with a conformable 35-48 win, in the last fixture of Roses 2024.
The final Roses tally was 217.5-126.5 as everyone packed up and headed for home (or the club). Just before everyone left, York Sports President TJ, who’s voice was hoarse from a weekend of yelling for York, shared how proud she was of everyone’s efforts, despite the sad result for York:
“It’s been a great weekend of sport, I think that’s what Roses is about, about competition, about bringing two universities together. It’s been a great weekend, I am very tired… I am very hopeful for next year, I’m gonna turn it around and hopefully next year Roses will be white.”
That’s it for Roses 2024! To read more check out Vision’s Roses print across campus on Thursday May 9th, with online coverage continuing this week.