Massey prevail in rugby, netball clash with Lincoln

Massey agriculture teams recorded wins in both the netball and rugby clashes against Lincoln University for the first time on Saturday.

A large crowd of students, staff and alumni attended the fixture, hosted this year at the Manawatü campus.

Both games were extremely competitive. The netball, locked up at 28-all at fulltime after the Massey agriculture team fought back in the fourth quarter, was won 36-34 in extra time.

In the rugby, Massey's 11-7 win was its third since 2005. It was fierce encounter, with several players leaving the field injured, but, like the netball, played in excellent spirit.

Massey Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey officiated over the netball game in the morning. The Enid Hills Memorial Trophy, awarded for the first time, commemorates Massey's first woman student who died in June, aged 99. Mrs Hills' daughter, Diana Bevins, presented Massey with a copy of her mother's Certificate in Poultry Farming – the framed 1933 scroll being historic as the first Massey qualification awarded to a woman.

After the rugby Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Anderson hosted a function in the Sport and Rugby Institute.

Lincoln students, staff and supporters did not leave the day empty-handed. Although they lost the main sporting events and a debate held during a reception at the Masonic Hotel on Friday night, the supporters won the men's tug of war held as entertainment at halftime in the rugby. In the women's tug of war, Massey prevailed again.

The annual fixture, hosted alternately, has growing popularity and is now linked in with a Young Farmers Club exchange between the two universities. The LA Brooks Cup was contested from 1952-66 and revived after a 39-year hiatus. Netball was added last year. Students participating must be studying an agriculture qualification and must not be representative players.