It was a well deserved win for Men’s Hockey 1sts as they beat Liverpool 2nds 10-2 at UCLan Sports Arena in the BUCS Northern Conference Cup.

With UCLan a league above their opposition, hopes were high of a comfortable victory and so it proved to be as the hosts went 1-0 up inside 3 minutes through Will Lacey who slotted in at the near-post.

It was 2-0 five minutes later after captain Tom Dutoy crossed in from the edge of the area, for Tom Kendall to tap in at the far post.

The home side were in control by this stage and soon looked to have put the game out of sight as less than a minute after their second; the ball was in the net again to make it 3-0.

 A lone effort from Lacey gave Liverpool’s goalkeeper no chance; a dismal start to a torrid afternoon for the away custodian.

The visitors put up a brief resurgence and neat play by the two forwards sliced through the UCLan defence, allowing the visitors to grab a goal back with their first attack of the game.

The home side were not to be outdone and put up a strong reply straight from the restart.

Two goals in quick succession put UCLan firmly in command after only 18 minutes of the game gone.  

The haul became six on the 23^rd minute; a great through ball by John Edwards played Mike Holmes through one-on-one with the keeper, which was coolly dispatched by the UCLan forward.

It was 7-1 seconds later after Tom Davidson claimed the ball at the restart and put another past the ailing Liverpool goal-keeper.

Holmes then had a chance to make it eight goals, but he was unable to notch as his effort ricocheted off the upright. UCLan were not be denied an eighth goal though as Dutoy worked the ball well on the edge of the area to allow Tom Hughes to smash home for his second of the game.

The half ended 8-1 and with the momentum firmly in UCLan’s favour.

The second period started much the same as Lacey was brought down in the area after great pressure on the Liverpool defence, and were rewarded with a penalty flick.

Edward’s stepped up to take, and despite his solid performance throughout the afternoon, failed to convert the flick.

Two minutes later and UCLan made up for the miss with a terrific effort from Richard Wood on the edge of the ‘D’, beating Liverpool’s keeper at the near-post.

Careless defending on UCLan’s part again provided Liverpool with the chance to counter, and the score-line was narrowed somewhat to 9-2.

Despite becoming sloppy in possession, the home side did manage to grab another; Lacey once again hit the target as he tapped the tenth in from the near-post following a penalty corner.

After the terrific display, Dutoy was full of praise for his team:

“I really hope we can take this form into the league. We’ve been playing well as a team and have won the last two league matches so confidence is really high in the team”.

Men’s Hockey 1sts now play Chester 1sts at home, in their last game before Christmas.

By Stefan Mackley

A sublime hat-trick of tries from Alex Redfern helped Men’s Rugby Union 1^st team hold on to their 100% start to the season, as they eased past Liverpool 3^rds 66-15.

The home side started sluggish, with personal errors dominating the early stages and it was Liverpool who took the lead.

Their winger rampaged through the heart of the UCLan defence to open the scoring and the missed conversion attempt left the score 5-0 to the visitors.

The hosts replied immediately though when Daniel Scott blocked an attempted clearance and the ball was worked nicely down the line to Ben Mitchell, who scored in the corner to level the scores. Mitchell then stepped up to coolly convert and send UCLan into a 7-5 lead.

The home side could not hold the lead for long however as a build up in pressure inside the UCLan 22 led to the Liverpool centre intercepting a pass, allowing Liverpool to run through for a 10-7 lead.

UCLan looked dangerous on the attack throughout the game and it was the winger Alex Redfern who took advantage of sloppy defending to run through and swing the advantage in the hosts favour.

From then on UCLan, and Redfern in particular, took over control as the winger eased over the line for his second try.

Redfern then grabbed a third as great attacking play down the field from the hosts led to a superb finish in the corner as UCLan went in at half time leading 24-10.

The second half provided more of the same for the hosts. Adam Cooper battled his way over to score a try within minutes of the restart before Ben Mitchell finished emphatically for his second of the game which now looked beyond Liverpool’s reach at 36-10.

Midway through the second half, Paddy James finally got the try that his midfield effort deserved. After a short break from the pack he was able to stretch over to extend the lead to 43-10 while Phil Beard scored the best try of the game as he stretched his legs down the right hand side for a length of the field try.

Alex Zavallis-Roebuck then added two tries late on as UCLan rounded out worthy winners, 66-15.

After the game, captain for the day Brad Tuff said: “We showed what a good side we are today, winning well despite the performance. It’s a tough league but we have a team that could push to win it.”

By Andew Bunting

Women’s Hockey 1sts faced a tough test as they fell to a 5-0 defeat against former division 1A side Liverpool John Moore University at USA.

The majority of the first half saw UCLan on the back foot, as Liverpool dominated and took the lead through a penalty corner.

After a series of stoppages in play, UClan’s Gabs Gaynor began to make inroads down the right-hand side causing the Liverpool defence problems with her pace.  Unfortunately for the home side, it was not enough as Liverpool went 2-0 up against the run of play.

UCLan won their first penalty corner moments before the half-time whistle, which saw another break by Gaynor, flicking the ball to Kerry Madock-Jones who saw her shot saved by the goalkeeper.

In the second period, the home side regained possession more effectively, but failed to create many chances. However, UClan began to lack confidence as Liverpool stole the ball in midfield, and won two penalty corners in quick succession, which was defiantly defended with a save from goalkeeper Katie Radford.

The 3^rd goal was inevitable after Liverpool continued to sustain the pressure and won another penalty corner, which was struck into the UClan defence and followed up by the Liverpool attacker.

A lack of defensive pressure and failure to defend set pieces was starting to prove costly for the home side as they conceded another penalty moments after which was converted  in style from just inside the area for 4-0.

Another shot saw Keeper Radford caught by the stick of the attacker causing a break in play for a much needed team talk.

UClan began to tire in the closing minutes, but they summoned a new lease of life after further encouragement from coach Emma Noakes. The home side quickly regaining possession and won a penalty corner, but succeeded only in hitting the post as their wait to open their duck continued.

But it was Liverpool who rubbed salt into the wounds of the home side as they converted a re-bounded effort 30 seconds from time to finish the match five goals to the good.

Noakes believes the team are still building and it was a lack of self-belief that saw the team slumber to a 5-0 defeat.

“It was a disappointing result for us, but I’m not too disappointed with our performance,” said the coach.

“It’s likely to be the hardest game we play all season, so I will look to focus on quicker passing and more commitment in the middle of the park for next week”

Team captain Anna Ramli also shared the coach’s view and focussed on picking the team up from the result;

“It’s disappointing but we can work on what went wrong today.

“I thought the girls played well and will look forward to playing University of Liverpool next week.”

By Laura Howard

UCLan 219-7

Liverpool  104 all out

UCLan win by 115 runs

A half-century from Dan Craven lead to a resounding 115 run victory for UCLan Cricket 1sts over Liverpool 2nds.

Three wickets in four balls from Elliot Woodage also played a key part in the win.

“I was delighted with such a big victory,” said Captain Andy Roberts

UCLan were first to bat and made a steady start, aided by some untidy bowling.

The bowling improved in the sixth over as a huge LBW claim was turned down by the umpire.  This proved a false dawn as the first four was struck down the ground on the next delivery.  The opening batsmen then tore into the attack; sweeping and hooking the bowlers in a four-over purple patch that yielded 24 runs.

The first wicket fell in the 14^th over as the introduction of spin saw Dan Allen dismissed by a brilliant catch from the bowler whilst on 29.

UCLan’s batting order continued the work of the openers, adding 17 before Jamie Pilling was caught LBW, once again by the spinner, on 11.

Matthew West added 27 to the total before being bowled, leaving UCLan on 132 for 3.  This almost proved decisive as a collapse threatened to ensue when Gibson was bowled in the next over.

Roberts steadied the innings with a quick-fire, masterful 34.  The highlight of his rapid knock was a glorious six that sailed over the bowler’s head.  He was caught out on the next ball trying an identical shot.

An over earlier, Craven had also been dismissed for 52 after he had anchored the UCLan innings for 36 of the 40 overs.

Useful knocks from Liam Bedford, 28, and Elliot Woodage, 6, lead the home side to an excellent total of 219-7.

UCLan made an early breakthrough in the seventh over, reducing Liverpool to 18-1.  The visitors were already on the back foot and struggling to keep up with the run rate.  This set the tone for the innings as UCLan ensured that Liverpool never threatened.

Two wickets for Craven and Roberts helped to decimate the Liverpool line-up with further wickets taken by Jimmy Dixon and Tom Cummings

The highlight of the bowling performance came from Woodage who came within a ball of a hat-trick. 

The spinner had a batsmen caught on 22, bowled a man for a golden duck and then produced another duck that left UCLan on the brink of victory before Tim Hall sealed victory in the next over.

By Liam Geraghty

Photos by David Stubbings

UCLan 5-0 Liverpool

Nailing Liverpool 3rds ended a fantastic season for UCLan Squash Club finishing second in the BUCS Northern Conference.

The 5-0 landslide saw a scintillating performance from the home side.

Utilising their experience, raw talent and pride has given UCLan great stature this season.

Chairman James Bryne has taken the team from strength to strength.

Craig Smithies began the onslaught winning 3-0. He slammed home an easy victory to take away the initial pressure.

Next on for UCLan was Craig Biccy, ready for his second start of the season.

Biccy lavishly opened up space on centre court. Neatly tucking away delicate drop shots, cementing another 3-0 win.

Mark Campbell, a new edition to UClan squash, started the game hard; smashing the ball into the nick with utter conviction. Pin point serves helped provide a third win on the bounce 3-0.

Bryne, had to give a little added extra to continue UCLan’s clean sweep.

Both players put in some screaming shots. Liverpool’s best performance so far, but Bryne charmed his way to a landslide 3-0 deficit.

Afterwards he said: “I had it covered, but I am never going to the gym again!”

Matt Davies delivered a textbook display, making it a famous five whitewash. Delivering in stone that UCLan squash are on the map and a force to be reckoned with.

By Will Vickers

THE WEATHER didn’t help matters making for a slippy and greasy surface in the first match of the season for the Men’s UCLan Gaelic Football team.

It took just one minute in a fast and, at times, bad tempered affair for Liverpool to open the scoring – starting the game as they meant to go on – exerting the maximum amount of pressure on the UCLan defence as possible, with the least effort (and, sadly, generally succeeding).

Losing 6 first team members to the initial starting line-up did not help the team as Liverpool dominated throughout the match.

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UCLan’s men’s 3rd hockey team were comprehensively beaten 8-1 in their opening game of the new season at home to the University of Liverpool’s men’s 3rd team.

With the majority of the team playing their first game for UCLan, there was expectedly a low level of match-sharpness and at times moments of indecisiveness.

However it was fair to say that the Merseyside team outplayed UCLan for the majority of the game.

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It’s no secret that there is great rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool: the shipping canal, Coronation Street versus Brookside, Manchester United against Liverpool F.C, Oasis and The Beatles. But tonight they united for a passion they share in dearly – music. Continue Reading

UCLan Men’s Hockey 2nd team played away at Liverpool this Wednesday, it was the biggest test of the season so far. Yet they snatched an important victory on the way to the league title.

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It was back to business for UCLan’s football 1^st team as they managed a slightly edgy 3-1 win against a strong Liverpool 1^st team Continue Reading