URN

In the buildup to the their season-closing fixture versus Trent at Varsity, Gaffers and Simon managed to interview Lucy Sheeran, Sinead King and Amy Leicester from Nottingham University Women's Football Club. The ladies have endured a tough season so far, finishing bottom of the BUCS Premier North Division, and as they told the guys it's made them all the more determined to prevail on Thursday at Meadow Lane.

However, in spite of Lucy's eagerness to brand Trent as a second-tier side (we appreciated the Millwall comparison - certainly representative of their fans so far in the Varsity Series!) Sinead warned that they would be facing a Trent team who are champions of the BUCS Midlands 1A Division and have no shortage of confidence or quality.

With a win for Uni last year and a Trent win on penalties the year before, this fixture has always been one of the most open and fiercely contested on the Varsity calendar. As Sinead emphasised, there really is everything to play for!

This Thursday Patrick and Barney jointly took the reins, as they were joined by Chris, Dave and Gaffers to get stuck in to the week's sporting news. They began by tackling the the controversial decision by Super League bosses to host a weekly Twitter debate in which rugby league's elite referees would discuss their decisions and officiating of games. The team were sceptical as to whether the move amounted to more than just a publicity stunt by the people running the game. Next, they discussed Ronnie O'Sullivan's announcement that his recent snooker comeback would be coming to an end as soon as he completed his contractual obligations, as he had only returned to the sport 'for the money' - a move unlikely to win the enigmatic champion many fans.

Audley Harrison's decision to retire from boxing was next in the lads' sights, a move which they proclaimed as well overdue. Continuing with the boxing theme, they also addressed rumours suggesting Amir Khan may be teeing up for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr, questioning both the likelihood of such a fight, and Khan's long-term fighting career prospects.

This weekend saw one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar, the annual NFL Draft, take place in New York. To mark this momentous event in the girdiron calendar, the Sport Show's two American football gurus, Sachin and Luke, joined Gaffers to give a rundown of what the Draft is all about, and the big signings to look out for.

The boys began with a brief rundown of how the purpose of the Draft, the reasons why the NFL regulates youth player recruitment in this way, and how the actual Draft-day events take place.

Sachin and Luke then ran through the recent history of the Draft, explaining which players would be in most demand, and how the Draft could normally be expected to unfold.

However, this year has proven exceptional, with an unusual focus from all the teams on power and devensive players over their more skilled counterparts. The guys explained why this was the case this season, and how this had repurcussions for the coveted early picks of the Draft's first round.

The Thursday Sport Show returned after a month-long holiday absence to set the world of sport to rights, and the chaps certainly pulled no punches. Gaffers was joined by Sam, Rob, Sachin and Jack to look forward to a great summer of sport awaiting us at the university, including the remaining clashes of the Varsity Series. We also gave a big mention to NU2Sport, the university organisation promoting involvement in sport at all levels, who are encouraging everyone to get out in the sunshine and make the most of the fantastic sports facilities that UoN has to offer. Then discussion turned to tonight's NFL Draft, one of the biggest events on the world sporting calendar, and we speculated on how the fates would shine on 2 British contenders for franchise contracts; Lawrence Okoye and Menelik Watson.

Next up, our attentions turned to the absolutely flabbergasting batting performance put in by Chris Gayle of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL earlier in the week. Gayle's superlative performance, in which he achieved a century in a record-breaking mere 30 balls, left the panel in raptures. We then switched our focus to the Champions League, and another incredible individual performance, this time from Borussia Dortmund number 9 Robert Lewandowski whose 4 goals saw the boys from the Rhine valley smash the galacticos of Real Madrid.

Varsity Super Wednesday kicked off with Netball at the Sports Centre on University Park campus, with a crowd of over 100 people there to enjoy the spectacle. Before the game, Nottingham University led the series 6-2 and what followed was a fantastic, very tense game which saw Nottingham Uni triumph 54-34. This Uni victory put them within just 1 point of overall Varsity victory at 7-2 and gave them a chance to retain the trophy with a win in the Lacrosse later the same day.

The 1st quarter was a edgy affair with both teams trying to work out and counter the other’s game tactics. Trent scored first in the opening minute but their lead didn’t last for long. Nottingham Uni’s goal shooter Rochelle Powell, who’s all of 6ft 4in tall, equalising and it was clear to see from the outset that Uni’s tactic revolved around get the ball as quickly as they could to Powell who towered over Trent’s goal keeper. The rest of the quarter saw Powell score 11 of Uni’s 13 baskets with Rule gaining the other 2 baskets. Trent, despite being very wasteful in possession at times and struggling to mark Powell, remained in the game at the end of the 1st quarter with the score 13-10 in the hosts' favour.