Women’s Football 2nds let a two-goal lead slip as they were held to a 2-2 draw against Bangor 1sts at UCLan Sports Arena.

The Welsh side had inflicted UCLan’s only defeat of the season; a 6-1 demolition in the first meeting back in November.  Despite the skills of the opposition, a determined display by the home team saw a hard-fought draw that leaves the side still in the title hunt.

The early signs were ominous for UCLan as they were often outmanoeuvred in midfield and defence and struggled to retain the ball upfront.  A tenacious pressing strategy was the response and Danielle Veitch typified the display, although her tough tackling approach soon earned her a booking.

Both teams traded half-chances in a scrappy first period until UCLan drew first blood five minutes before the break.  Lucy Golding’s inswinging corner found the head of an unmarked Amy Eastham who glanced a simple header into the corner of the net.

The deficit triggered a response from Bangor and they should have drawn level, but a flying volley failed to capitalise on poor defensive work from the UCLan rearguard.

The match livened up significantly after the break, especially during a ten-minute purple patch that warranted three goals.

Golding sent a warning to the Bangor defence as she cut in from the right and fired a left-footed shot across goal that drifted just past the post.  Stacy Partridge was more successful moments later as she doubled the lead.  A wonderful curling strike from 30 yards gave the goalkeeper no chance as it nestled in the top corner of the net.  The central midfielder’s first goal of the season put UCLan in a commanding position, but their lead would be short-lived.

Complacent defending by the hosts allowed Bangor to hit back after a striker evaded her markers to tap-in from three yards.  The warning was not heeded and the rejuvenated visitors drew level with half an hour still to play.  A tame shot from just inside the area seemed to be in the goalkeeper’s grasp, but deceived her and UCLan’s lead was dissolved.

The turnaround saw Bangor in the ascendancy as a series of efforts continued to test UCLan’s resolve.  The best opportunity came on the stroke of full-time as the away side spurned a glorious opportunity.  A low cross found the striker and, the goal gaping, she fired the ball high over the bar to ensure the points would be shared.

Partridge played down her wonder-strike, but insisted; “I felt we should have won.”

By Liam Geraghty

A top of the table clash away at Bangor saw Tennis Men’s 1sts draw 6-6 with their rivals.

UCLan needed a win against their nemesis; the side who had inflicted the only black mark on their record with a 10-2 win back in October.  The return fixture offered a chance for the side to ensure their destiny was in their own hands with promotion at stake.

The opening doubles pair gave UCLan a dream start.  Mike Austin and James West saw the visitors take an early lead with a 6-3 6-4 straight sets victory that raised hopes of a title-deciding victory.

A sobering 3-6 0-6 defeat for the pairing of Jake Grinsill and Andy Jones ensured UCLan were swiftly brought back down to earth as the extent of their challenge was emphasised.

West and Austin put the away side in a dominant position as UCLan kicked off the singles with impressive poise and ensured that the momentum was with them.  West took his first set 6-1, but shrugged off sterner resistance in the second set to prevail 6-4.  Austin’s consistent 6-2 6-2 victory ensured that the side would return with at least a point and that they only required another win from the remaining singles matches to take all three.

Grinsill and Jones were unable to provide the necessary triumph in their singles games as both slipped to demoralising defeats.  A 0-6 2-6 loss for Grinsill ensured the pressure would be on Jones to deliver the deciding point.  He also failed to make any inroads as he was edged out 2-6 2-6, allowing Bangor to salvage a draw.

Grinsill described his side’s bemusement at their current position; “We are all disappointed that we have to rely on other results to gain promotion.

“It looks as though we will miss out again after being denied in the last game of last season.”

UCLan need to win all of their four remaining league matches to be in with any chance of promotion.  A trip to Manchester 3rds next time out could see the fate of the side’s promotion challenge decided.

By Jake Grinsill and Liam Geraghty

A strong second half performance gave UCLan Women’s Rugby Union team a 31-5 victory as they recorded just their second league win of the season, over Bangor at UCLan Sports Arena.

UCLan are currently fourth in their division having lost their last two games against Chester and Lancaster although they are in the quarter finals of the BUCS cup.

Due to injuries, Bangor were only able to field thirteen players and so the teams played thirteen a side for most of the game.

The home side started the game strongly attempting to get the ball into wide areas but a number of handling errors and penalties led to Bangor crossing over for the opening score. The visitors making good use of their pack’s obvious weight advantage made the game difficult for UCLan in the early going winning every ruck and scrum against the host’s lighter pack.

Soon, however the home side got on the front foot with good movement in the midfield, Katie Doney and Stacey Agnew made some good runs and almost broke through the defiant Bangor defence. Moments later and UCLan had broken through, a good burst of pace from Doney led to Amie Plant breaking through and levelling the scores at 5-5.

From that point on the home side gathered momentum and another  great piece of play from Doney and Agnew led to Doney sprinting forty yards before touching down under the posts to give the hosts a deserved lead. UCLan added the conversion to stretch their lead to a commanding 12-5.

As Bangor picked up more and more injuries to key players, UCLan became more and more confident as Alex Early picked up the ball at halfway and broke for a huge gain before being hauled down by the desperate visiting defender, Danielle Nash picked up where Early left off as she sprung through a number of tackles to touch down for the third try of the game and UCLan increased their lead to 17-5 at the interval.

As the second half kicked off it became clear that Bangor were keen to control possession with their strong, imposing forwards whilst looking vulnerable to any of UCLan’s quick counter-attacks. The visitors seemed unable to break down UCLan as the game slowed down as both sides became tired by the initial pace of the game.

Fortunately, UCLan were able to use their replacements whereas Bangor was forced to struggle through with the same players. The hosts soon became reenergised and once again terrorised the visiting defence with some scintillating backs play.

Scrum half Joey Edwards sprinted down the flank to score under the posts after some poor defensive play from Bangor, Stacey Agnew kicked the conversion to further UCLan’s lead to 24-5.

Minutes later Edwards was involved in another try, this time passing the ball off to replacement Kate Stothert who sprung down the left touchline easily outrunning the defence before finishing the move wonderfully. The hosts once again completed the conversion sailing into a 31-5 lead.

Bangor attempted a number of times to break down UCLan’s stubborn defence but found themselves unable to make their pack count when it mattered and the hosts held on for a well deserved 31-5 win.

After the game captain Jess Lane said “We were a bit shaky in the first half but when we played a backs game it was a hundred times better. If we play like this there is no reason why we can’t win the cup.”

UCLan Rugby Union Women’s next game is against Manchester Metropolitan in the quarter finals of the BUCs Cup.

Should they progress, they will face the likes of Lancaster or a rematch with Bangor.

 By Andrew Bunting

Mens Hockey 2nds captain Sean Barrett defiantly vowed that his team will avoid relegation, despite having not won all season.

Speaking after his side’s latest defeat, 7-1 against Bangor 1sts, Barrett was still upbeat: “We had some good players out there and can take confidence from the way we played today.

“We’ve not won a game yet, but there is a few coming up that we could easily win if we play like we did today.

“We won’t go down.”

The Welsh side looked a class above throughout the match, showing why they are challenging at the top of the table. Only some wayward finishing preventing Bangor from reaching double figures against the hapless hosts’ defence.

Straight from the start, UCLan were on the back foot, and could hold out for only nine minutes before the deadlock was broken, a second coming three minutes later.

Despite having been under pressure for most of the opening exchanges, the hosts halved the deficit after 16 minutes. A penalty corner was teed up for Tom Hughes, whose shot deflected up off the keeper, but just had enough power to bounce in.

It was as good as it got for the home side, as Bangor’s two goal cushion was restored five minutes later, although a great save from the UCLan goalkeeper Lindsay Beck, from a penalty flick after Michael Vernon had blocked a goal-bound shot with his body, prevented the visitors from extending their lead.

A fourth did follow before half time, and when Bangor added another two goals within the first six minutes of the second half, UCLan thoughts could have been turning to the previous week’s twenty-goal thrashing by Keele 1sts.

However, instead of crumbling, UCLan had their best period of the game, Vernon unfortunate to see his shot blocked on the line after the keeper had been drawn out.

Despite putting the Bangor defence under pressure, the hosts failed to find another goal, and instead the visitors completed the scoring, with a seventh goal ten minutes from time.

The team are still looking for a first point of the season, with only four games remaining. But with two games against Liverpool 2nds and a trip to Manchester 2nds, the two teams directly above UCLan in the table, still to come, there is still hope that they can turn things around and escape the drop.

By Ciaran Thomas

The Men’s tennis 1^sts lost out to Bangor 10-2 in their second match of the season.

After an impressive 12-0 win in the opener, UCLan seemed to struggle without regular Number two James West.

The scoreline did not tell the full story as UCLan put up a brave fight, taking three of the five rubbers to three sets.  

The number one doubles pairing of Mike Austin and Dave Steers narrowly lost out in the opening match of the tie 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

Jake Grinsill and Andy Jones went down to the other Bangor doubles pairing 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).

Team talisman Austin notched up the only points for the side as he eased to a 6-4, 6-2 victory which never looked in doubt. This brought the score to 4-2 with the other three singles still in play.

Grinsill was defeated at number two despite a promising start as he took the first set 6-4. A comeback from his Bangor counterpart soon extinguished any hope as he rallied to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-2.

It was a similar story at number three for the UCLan team with Jones taking the first set 6-3. Jones looked to be playing well and had the better of the opening exchanges, but was then pegged back in the second set losing it 6-1. Jones’ opponent proved too strong in the end, taking the final set 6-1 to guarantee the Welsh side victory.

Steers stepped up to make his first-team debut at number four with West absent. Steers put in a brave effort but went down 6-2,6-0 in the end.

Captain Austin will be keen to welcome back West for the next match in an attempt to get the season back on track.

UCLan second team continued their impressive start to the campaign with a 10-2 victory over Keele University.

Captain Andrew Hoskins led by example cruising to a 6-1, 6-4 victory with Matt Maloney following in similar fashion with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Ash Phillips lost out at number three 6-4, 6-1 giving Keele the only two points they gained in the match.

Tom Allen came through a tough match winning in the third set 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 while Hoskins teamed up with Maloney and Phillips with Allen to wrap up the doubles and the points for the second team.

By Jake Grinsill

UCLAN Men’s Football 3rds kicked off their season with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Bangor 1sts.

The home side had the majority of the chances; however they were unable to put any of them away, while a standout performance from Rob Woodcock, and the rest of the defence, snuffed out any threat Bangor provided. Continue Reading

UCLan 4ths move second in their league after a hard fought victory over Bangor 2nds. The game started slowly, with the majority of the play being in midfield. The first chance fell to Bangor on 15 minutes after good work down the visitors left resulted in a deflected shot being well saved by Jonny Syraid in the UCLan goal. Continue Reading

Promotion hopefuls UCLan Men’s Rugby Union 1sts took on the newly promoted Bangor outfit at home looking to get their season off to a winning start and send out a message to their potential league rivals. Continue Reading

UCLan’s badminton teams kicked off their season on Wednesday with mixed results. Continue Reading