Men’s Football 1sts slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to Leeds Metropolitan 1sts as they failed to follow up their thrilling opening day victory.

After triumphing 4-3 away in Liverpool the previous week, UCLan rarely threatened to open their account in this fixture as they limped to a dour loss.

Two first half goals killed off any threat from the home side, who rallied after the break but made little impression.

Leeds Met took the lead on ten minutes from the penalty spot. The referee had underlined his authority in the opening minutes and took a hardline approach to shirtpulling and dissent.

UCLan’s Spanish defender Nacho did not heed the warnings and was penalised for shirtpulling from a corner. The Leeds Met player cooly slotted the ball in the opposite corner to goalkeeper Matthew Bell’s dive to give his side a lead they would rarely look like surrendering.

The goal highlighted Leeds Mets’ early dominance as they dominated midfield and isolated the UCLan attack of Joe Shelmerdine and Joe Lolley.

The wiry duo were often outmuscled and had little chance to use their pace against the strong defence. The frustration got to Shelmerdine and the UCLan man squared up to a defender off the ball, but escaped punishment.

Problems in defence also haunted the home side and their small full-backs struggled to compete with the Leeds outfit’s powerful wingers. Despite a reshuffle, the problem saw UCLan fall further behind.

On the stroke of half-time, a free-kick was struck towards the back post where right-back Ashley Brierley was caught in a mismatch of height and the Leeds winger had the simple task of heading into the far corner to leave UCLan 45 minutes to save themselves.

The hosts improved their play in an even second period, but rarely threatened to wrestle control of the scoreline from the visitors.

The highlight of a chance-shy half came five minutes from time when UCLan’s Seamus Kelleher rattled the bar with a ferocious speculative effort, but there were few other creditable attempts at altering the scoreline.

A trip to York St Johns next week will offer the chance to get back on track as the Football 1sts aim to challenge for the BUCS 1A title.

By Liam Geraghty

Women’s Leeds Met Carnegie 1st’s outplayed their UCLan counterparts in a largely one-sided game at UCLan Sports Arena, triumphing 3-0.

UCLan, playing their first season in the BUCS North Premier Division after being promoted last campaign, have so far struggled with the demands of the league and the competition, partly due to losing several key players from last year’s impressive side.

Nonetheless, UCLan put in a brave effort against better opponents, and for a while when at 1-0 down, had high hopes of drawing level.

“We thought we could come back into the game,” Captain Amy Foxcroft said after the game, “but our fitness levels started to make a difference.”

Leeds threatened from the beginning of the game.  Combining composure with control on the ball, they always looked like the superior team against the home side. The visitors constantly exploited UCLan’s wings throughout the first half often gave UCLan’s Ann-Marie Atherton and Mel Bartley headaches in the process, and alongside a virtuoso performance from their number four, highlighted Leeds dominance throughout.

The build-up for Leeds’ opener started in their own half as the visitors effortlessly passed the ball up the pitch with a series of one-touch passes.  Once put through by the midfield, the striker was one-on-one with UCLan goalkeeper Danielle Gibbons. Nonetheless, despite scuffing her shot badly, the ball was bundled across the goal line by her teammate.

UCLan continued to hang on in the game, though could have conceded more was it not thanks to Gibbon’s saves or the Leeds number two shaving the left post with her shot after a good turn in the box. Regardless, UCLan became more comfortable as the game went on, in spite of the sustained pressure Leeds placed on the home team.

Their second goal, scored in the 54^th minute, was inevitable and perhaps typical of the game itself. Following on from a good save by Gibbons once more from a shot just inside the penalty area, the Leeds striker was quicker to the ball than UCLan’s defence, and with help from the left post, swept her shot into the net.

Fourteen minutes later and Leeds struck again as the number eight placed the ball into the top corner of the goal from the edge of the box.

UCLan will now be looking towards the last four games of the season as they aim to avoid relegation.

“They are big games, and we need and want results”, Foxcroft said. “We had a good team performance today. Now we need good team spirit.”

Edward Connolly

Universities are being forced to make cuts because of funding problems and pressure to save money.

With the government cutting spending wherever it can, British universities are suffering.

The University of Leeds is one of the worst affected, facing prospects of making compulsory staff redundancies. Despite being an elite university, with the second largest UK campus, it has major funding problems.

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It was a successful weekend for UCLan’s Trampolining Club, winning eight medals as they hosted their first ever national event.

The Rose Cup was also won by UCLan, who saw off the competition from Bradford, Manchester, Leeds and Lancaster to take the trophy, finishing 12.5 points ahead of second placed Lancaster.

UCLan scored two first and second places in two events; Ashley Rodgers and Rosie Cockett taking gold and silver places respectively in the Novice event and Simone Cavell and Sorrell Walsh also winning gold and silver in the InterAdvanced event.

Helena Boryslawskyj also won gold in the Elite category, Cassandra Waugh and Jonathon Wort both took silver at the Intermediate level while Natalie Nash won bronze in the Advanced category.

Chair Helena Boryslawskyj was pleased with the team’s performance.

“It’s given us high hopes for the BUCS regional qualifiers that take place in Edinburgh this weekend (February 13),” she said.

“Hopefully if the standard of performance seen at the rose cup is anything to go by, we will be taking a great selection of bouncers to the BUCS National Championships in March.”

Boryslawskyj also expressed her delight at the success of the event saying: “The whole club pulled together to help stage the competition which was successful and fun!

“There was a great sense of achievement in the club afterwards, which was enhanced when we won our own cup!”

By David Stubbings

Sports Editor

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 The University of Leeds’s Student Union has become the first in Britain to achieve a gold standard by the Student Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI).

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