By Joe Angove

A top notch display from Men’s Badminton 1sts ensured they breezed through to the quarter finals of the Northern Conference Cup following their 8-0 whitewash victory over Manchester 3^rds.

Manchester 3rds were positioned only one point behind UCLan in the league standings coming into the game, so it was expected to be a much closer encounter.

Perhaps the highlight of the afternoon was the opening doubles match in which Bruce Johnson and Dave Garnett partnered up to win in straight sets after a fantastic comeback from the pair.

Both sets were nail-bitingly close as the home partnership clawed back a number of times when it seemed all was lost to take the first set 25-23 and the second 28-26.

The second doubles match was once again very close with Manchester taking the first set 19-21, only for UCLan pairing Ben Dobbs and James Pickard to take the two following sets 21-18 and 21-17.

Graham Hollingsworth featured in the first singles game which he took in straight sets 21-19 and 21-14 – covering the court well.

The following singles encounter saw Matty Timms win the first set with ease 21-10, however his opponent turned up the heat in the second, which eventually Timms won 22-20 with an impressive comeback after it looked like the match would go the distance.

Doubles pair Garnett and Johnson then secured UCLan’s victory, despite going down in the first set 19-21 they fought back with some superb play to take the following sets 21-17 and 21-14.

Hollingsworth followed in similar fashion to his previous encounter, taking the game in two straight sets. This time however, the contest was much more even and may have gone the other way if it wasn’t for the hard work and determination from the UCLan performer.

Dobbs and Pickard made light work of their second match of the afternoon with a straight sets victory of 21-14 and 21-13 which showed their capabilities as a doubles pair.

The final match typified the team performance for UCLan as Timms put in a gutsy performance, using up every ounce of energy he had in him. He went down 14-21 in the first set before bouncing back – taking the remaining sets 21-15 and 21-16, to seal a huge victory for UCLan.

“Today went really well” said UCLan Captain, James Pickard.

“It’s one of the last rounds of the cup, so I’m really happy with the performance”, he added.

UCLan will now have two weeks off before they face Manchester 3rds once again, this time in the league away from home. Meanwhile they could face fellow team-mates UCLan 2nds in the next round of the cup depending on other results.

UCLan Team:

Doubles- Bruce Johnson & Dave Garnett

Doubles- Ben Dobbs & James Pickard

Singles- Graham Hollingsworth, Matty Timms

Men’s Fencing 1sts 1

Manchester 2nds 2

A brave fight was put up by the Men’s Fencing 1sts in a 2-1 defeat to the University of Manchester 2nds.

The 1sts fought fiercely with the final weapon having fallen behind with the sabre and foil.

Epee specialist Allan Makarenko showed great determination to step up with 14 consecutive hits in a bout when UCLan were all but beaten.

Makarenko had just three minutes to score 17 hits on Manchester’s Oscar Kennedy-Blundell, and the Event Management student made every second count for one final twist in the contest.

The first year has been fencing with the epee since he was eight years old, and he put Kennedy-Blundell to the sword with an outstanding 17-1 win.

UCLan captain Johannes Voges said: ‘He is awe-inspiring. I don’t know how he does it to be honest’.

The 1sts claimed a 45-41 victory with the epee after going down 45-27 with the sabre, and 45-31 with the foil.

More than a third of the team were absent through injury, and Voges was quick to praise the performance of newcomers Matthew Harker and Craig Richardson.

‘We had to use two very inexperienced fencers’, he said. ‘They tried their best and put in a very good effort for us’.

Voges also added: ‘The UCLan Fencing team is always looking to recruit more people. Come down and show us your stuff. You might be fencing sooner than you think.’

By Sam Gilliland

Women’s Hockey 2nds 1

Manchester 5ths 3

A game that was described as ‘Manchester dominated’ by captain Sian Holland, ended in another home defeat for the UCLan Women’s Hockey 2nds, this time going down 3-1 to Manchester 5ths.

Despite the loss, captain Holland was convinced that they played a better game on Wednesday compared to the other matches so far. She added: “In comparison to previous weeks, it was a massive improvement, the defence played really well this week.”

An impressive display from goalkeeper Hannah Shore and the rest of the defence helped the score stay to a minimum, however UCLan still lie bottom of the Northern 4A league.

UCLan were on the back foot from the minute the whistle blew, with a great save coming in the second minute, as Manchester had a short corner which was kept out by Shore’s feet.

The home side only managed to get the ball in the opposition’s half three times during the first period, which shows the control that Manchester had on the game. Saves just kept coming from Shore as she rightfully kept a clean sheet for her fine efforts.

The second half started as it had ended, with Shore keeping Manchester out again with another great save. A minute later the post denied the away side the lead, but they were rewarded shortly after, as an easy tap in from a cross gave the game its first goal.

In a hectic 15 minutes after the goal, UCLan’s defence stood firm and denied a second goal for the visitors with two diving saves, a clearance off the line from Jemma McCleery and a shot that rebounded off the crossbar.

Just as Manchester looked like they would finally score another, UCLan stormed down the pitch in only their second attack of the half. Jess Woodhouse received the ball on the far side, crossing it in for Gemma Yates who tapped it in at the far post to tie the score.

A lucky second for Manchester minutes later gave them back their lead. The ball was played into UCLan’s D and a poor piece of control from the forward wrong-footed Shore and the home side had it all to do once again.

As UCLan pushed forward in the last moments of the game the result was wrapped up, as Manchester orchestrated a great one two move and finished it into the corner for their deserved victory.

By Chris Kynoch

A student has been left with a broken nose following a high speed bus crash.

The crash took place at approximately 10:15 on  Friday 11 November when a lorry hit the rear of a Sankeys ‘disco bus’ on the M61; taking out the generator and gear box.

Appropximately 50 students were on the bus when the crash happened.

The ‘disco bus’ was a complimentary trip organised by Funk Events and Sankeys following the students being left stranded at the nightblus earlier this year (see Pluto, issue 228).

Other students on the bus suffered spinal injuries, concussion, and abdominal pains, after the ‘disco bus,’ on its way to Sankeys nightclub in Manchester, was involved in the collision.

One of the students on the bus said: “I wouldn’t attend another event organised by Funk Events, I feel really let down by what they did to all of us by leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere.

“It’s the second time they’ve made us pay to get home. They were responsible for us on both nights out. they clearly didn’t care about our safety.”

A replacement bus arrived at 11:45 which took the remaining passengers to Bolton where the students were told to make their own way home, but many were left stranded with nobody to call.

Sankeys, the nightclub destination initially tried to help but no replacement bus was available at the time.

When asked, the club said they will reimburse all affected, however it remains to be seen how they will organise this.

A Sankeys spokesperson acknowledged that the crash took place but declined to comment further.

Students involved described the bus as going ‘wobbly’, complete with ‘a big smash’.

Several involved were taken to hospital to be checked over, with many being discharged a couple of hours later.

Carolina Faria, second year UCLan journalism student said: “We were on our way to Sankeys. We’d left Preston 30 minutes before the crash. According to the police we were halfway between Manchester and Preston.

“Both the police and paramedics said we were lucky that the coach didn’t tip over as it could have been a lot worse.”

Faria later added: “I was in shock. It all happened so quickly. Quite a lot of the girls were in tears and in shock too. I still can’t believe it happened.

“A friend of mine had a concussion as did a few others, one girl had a suspected spinal injury andanother was complaining of abdominal pain. I got back at around 3 as I had to stop off at Chorley hospital to pick up a friend.

“People were still waiting for taxis at quarter to 2 at the service station.

“No one has heard back from anyone yet. I was lucky I was with someone who I could call to pick us up, everyone else had to ring a friend or pay £60 for a taxi back, we were told that people may not get refunded.”

Amidst the accident, a Channel 4 documentary cameraman starting filming the aftermath of the crash.

Faria remarked: “He was simply pointing his camera in people’s faces asking what had happened. He tried to get on the coach where people were being treated to as it was still pouring down.

“Me and another girl protested so he backed off, called someone and went away with the police officers he came with.”

Ed Roberts, manager of Funk Events said: “No-one phoned me, basically the police’s main priority was to get them off the site of the accident; we tried our best to provide an alternative coach, but nothing was available.

“Sankeys are currently talking to insurance and I’m 90 per cent sure they will reimburse all involved.”

Anyone wishing to claim a refund on their travel costs back to Preston is asked to ring 0161 236 5444 or talk to the Students’ Union’s (SU) Advice Centre on the ground floor of the SU or by e-mailing suadvice@uclan.ac.uk.

Women’s Hockey 1sts managed to get their first win of the season, at the same time breaking their winless run after losing their two opening games. UCLan saw off Manchester Metropolitan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Georgina Ivens despite being without their captain Stacey Bell, who was missing through injury.

Even though UCLan had a good opportunity to open the score in the first minute, it was the visitors who scored the opening goal. In the third minute they got a penalty corner which got scored by Manchester’s Anne-Fleur van der Vloet.

But after the early disappointment, UCLan started to press more which caused a lot of trouble for the opposition’s defence and the hosts were unlucky that the Manchester goalie was in the way more often than not.

Chances were scarce in the first half, as Manchester tried to sit back and let UCLan force the issue whilst the home side tried to fashion chances by showing some good field play.

A lot of the UCLan danger came from Georgina Ivens who was much faster than her direct opponent and some inspiration from her almost caused and equalizer in the 23rd minute but Ashley Cranston missed the tap-in.

In the 26^th minute, it was Ivens who missed a chance after she couldn’t keep control on a pass by Laura Bury. Bury showed great vision to set up the opportunity as she passed the ball through two Manchester defenders.

UCLan had put in a pretty good display during the first half but it got even better in the second. Manchester couldn’t really cope with the UCLan dominance but came close to a goal themselves when the ball went past keeper Katie Redford but she got assisted by Natasha Hale who managed to get the ball off the line.

In the 55^th minute UCLan finally got the goal they had been looking for. In the end it was Ivens who managed to find her way past the Manchester goalkeeper and just six minutes later it was Ivens again who put the gloss on her individual display by putting UCLan in front.

It was a lead UCLan managed to maintain thanks to Redford. The UCLan keeper was in the right place at the right time when Manchester got three penalty corners in a row and managed to confirm their first win of the season.

Top-scorer Georgina Ivens was happy with her display but also praised the team effort.

Injured captain Stacey Bell was really happy with the first win even though she didn’t play.

“I was really anxious because I couldn’t play myself, but it was a really good effort and the only way is up now.  We still have some key players injured but when they come back we will be even better.”

By Derk Lucas

Manchester University’s 3^rd team handed UCLan Badminton Men’s 1^st team their second successive defeat of the season as they lost 6-2 at Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre on Wednesday.

UCLan had started the season well with a home victory over Lancaster before an 8-0 crushing away defeat last week in Bangor. Their opponents on the other hand had only picked up one point so far this season having failed to win their first two games.

The hosts started well against Manchester as well with Graham Hollingsworth and James Pickard both taking the first games of their singles matches. Hollingsworth then closed out his match in convincing fashion winning 21-12, 21-15. However, Pickard lost his close second game 20-22 and then failed to win the decider as the visitors levelled the scores.

The doubles partnership of Ben Dobbs and David Garnett were next up and they started well taking the opener 23-21 before their opponents came back to win the next two games  17-21, 18-21.

The frustration after this result was clear to see as the hosts sensed a missed opportunity to take control of the tie. The second doubles partnership of Bob Li and Nikolai Dimitrov fared no better as they were soundly beaten in straight games 15-21, 13-21 to give Manchester a 3-1 lead halfway through the tie.

In the second round of matches, Li and Dimitrov fell to another defeat losing 13-21, 11-21 to put UCLan even further behind. Captain James Pickard then showed great determination to come from a game behind to win his singles match and give the hosts a glimpse of hope.

Graham Hollingsworth then lost his match in straight games 19-21, 17-21 to confirm the victory for Manchester whilst Dobbs and Garnett lost their final doubles match 21-23, 16-21 in the dead rubber.

After the match, Captain James Pickard said “I think we played well, there are a few changes that we need to make for the next week, and we’re going to change the team a bit. This is only our third game playing together so we need to gel a bit more. Our aims for the rest of the season are to stay in the league we’re in, we’re currently third so we’re doing ok.”

UCLan’s next opponents are Edge Hill in the BUCS Cup at Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre next week.

By Andrew Bunting

UCLan Men’s Rugby Union 1sts secured their second win of the season and kept their 100% per cent record with a comfortable 27-3 victory over Manchester 3rds at UCLan Sports Arena.

In a dominant display by the home side, winger Jack Thomas put UCLan ahead after just five minutes with a well-worked try.
The ball was moved quickly through the backs and Thomas was on hand to go over in the corner to give his side the perfect start. Alex Zavallis-Roebuck was unlucky as his conversion attempt came back off the post.

The hosts extended their lead through a Zavallis-Roebuck penalty after Manchester were guilty of not rolling away after making a tackle.

Then the combination that brought about the opening try was at work again as fly-half Zavallis-Roebuck’s superb cross-field kick found Thomas out wide and the winger controlled the ball well and scored in the corner once again. Zavallis-Roebuck added the extra two points to put UCLan in complete control.

Manchester then put a decent amount of pressure on the home side shortly before half-time and had opportunities to score a try of their own. They couldn’t find the elusive score and only came away with one successful penalty which left UCLan with a commanding 15-3 lead at the interval.

The home side built up some good phases of play early in the second half and when the ball came to Connor Murphy, he made no mistake and powered through the Manchester defence to score. Zavallis-Roebuck pulled the conversion attempt wide but UCLan had still hit the 20-point mark.

The game was finished as a contest when Andy Smith went over for UCLan’s fourth try of the match. As the ball came out from a scrum, Smith was on hand to race down the wing and score the best try of the afternoon. Scrum-half Josh Purnell was successful with the conversion to give UCLan a 27-3 lead.

Chances were then at a premium for both sides as Manchester pushed to grab a consolation try but were not clinical enough to threaten the UCLan line. The hosts saw out the remaining minutes to ease to a 27-3 win and seal their second win in as many games.

This was a solid performance from a side that is still a work in progress and they will be hoping to make it three wins from three when they visit MMU Cheshire on October 26.

By Ashley Lambell

A University of Central Lancashire student who died in Ibiza last week has been described as a “kind hearted and considerate gentleman”.

Sam McCaughey, 23, from Middleton in Manchester, was studying Building Services and Sustainable Engineering part-time at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

He died after falling 30ft from a third floor balcony in San Antonio on the west coast of the resort.

Speaking about Sam, his father, Paul McCaughey, 49, said: “He was a very caring and considerate person.

“You would not find a person with a single bad word to say about him. He was very well loved and liked with many friends.”

Tributes have also been pouring in on Facebook, with more than 550 people joining a page dedicated to Sam.

They were led by his younger brother Joel who wrote: “R.I.P big bruv, stayin strong cos I know its what you want. You don’t understand how much I love you and will miss you.

“Not only was you my big brother but you were my friend and I’m proud to say that.”

Friend Holly Younge wrote: “All I know is that me and all my family have had the privilage of having you as part of our lives!!!!

“The most kind hearted and considerate gentleman that i have been blessed to have known.”

The parliamentary Civil Guard in Ibiza have launched an investigation into why he fell from the balcony.

A university spokesman said: “We are all saddened by this tragic news.  Sam was a promising student who was popular and well liked amongst his peers and staff at the University.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

Sam’s body is due to be flown home next week with the funeral taking place in Manchester.

His death came just six days after 25-year-old Jodie Taylor was killed falling from a balcony at the same resort.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in San Antonio, Ibiza, on July 29. Consular assistance is being provided to the family.”

Do you have any tributes or memories of Sam? Leave them in the comment section below.

The Men’s Badminton 1sts got their league form back on track after a comprehensive 6 – 2 away win against fellow relegation contenders Manchester University 2nds.

The result never really looked in doubt and it was a much-needed win for UCLan.

Captain Adam Spence opted to change the partnerships in hope it would inspire his team to victory and it seemed to work. Mike Hubbard and new partner Graham Hollingsworth comfortably won their first doubles game 21 – 8, 21 – 5, whilst Adam Spence and Adam Rowan consolidated the good start with a 21 – 14, 21 – 15 win.

James Pickard and Jamie Allen were now UCLan’s singles players and they had two tough encounters. Firstly, Pickard lost 16 – 21, 18 – 21 after a hard-fought match; whilst Allen came from a game down to win in three games, 15 – 21, 21 – 18, 21 – 12.

As the matches turned around, Hubbard and Hollingsworth picked up where they left off dispatching their opponents 21 – 17, 21 – 17 in a slightly closer affair. Spence and Rowan also made it two out of two winning 21 – 14, 21 – 18. By this time, the score read 5 – 1 in favour of UCLan.

Pickard and Allen re-took to the court with nothing to lose. Pickard made up for his earlier defeat by winning in straight games. The first game went right down to the wire with the UCLan man prevailing 22 – 20 after some long rallies, but come the second game, Pickard had tired his opponent and managed to win easily 21 – 7. Allen, on the other hand, couldn’t get past the other Manchester singles player losing 15 – 21, 13 – 21, clearly suffering after a gruelling first match.

It didn’t matter though as UCLan ran out deserved winners, 6 – 2 the overall score. This result now lifts the side out of the relegation zone and captain Spence was all smiles at the end of the game:

“It was a good all round team performance and re-arranging the team seem to pay off.

“Hopefully this will put us back on winning form.”

UCLan next entertain Lancaster University at Foster Sports Centre on Wednesday where they will look to build on this impressive win.

By Jamie Allen

Men’s Hockey 1st’s remarkable cup form continued as they ran riot with an impressive 11-0 win against University of Manchester’s 4th’s at USA.

After high-scoring wins in the last two rounds of the competition, winning 10-0 and 10-2 respectively, UCLan produced another virtuoso performance against a disorientated Manchester, that sees them progress to the quarter-finals of the BUCS North Cup.

“It’s nice to progress to the quarter-finals, and to score so many,” John Edwards said after the game. “Hopefully, our Cup form can continue”.

Despite an hours’ delay to the game, UCLan were ahead in a flash after the kick-off, courtesy of Will Lacey, and were soon two up after Edwards’ deflection from the top of the ‘D’.

Two goals in two minutes by Tom Davidson, the first after a run by Rob Taylor, put UCLan in cruising mode before Manchester even had time to settle into the game.  Their lack of control and organisation was antithetical to UCLan’s own performance as the home side dominated all areas of the pitch.

After twenty minutes, Mike Holmes scored the fifth goal with a near post finish, and Lacey scored his second fifteen minutes later, coolly rounding the keeper after a penetrating pass through the defence by Preet Rayat. 

Seconds later and Sam Ross scored UCLan’s seventh, also rounding a beleaguered keeper to close out the first half.

The second half was now a case of saving face for a sorry looking Manchester side, and they did start to look like posing some threat to a confident home side. However, with just over ten minutes gone into the half, Tom Kendall put pay to any resistance from the visitors, hammering home a close range finish. Seconds later, Ross scored his second to add to UCLan’s flurry of goal-scoring action.

Taylor got a well-deserved goal towards the end of the game with a powerful shot from the top of the ‘D’, and Holmes scored his second of the game with an exquisite reverse shot from a close angle to round out an impressive win for UCLan, albeit against poor opposition.

 By Edward Connolly