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

Women’s Football 1sts 2

Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds 3

A brace from Mamz was not enough to lead Women’s Football 1sts to victory as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds.

Two goals in five second half minutes turned around the deficit of a single goal at the break, but UCLan let the lead slip and a late goal saw the visitors move level on points in the BUCS Northern division 1A table.

The home side dominated possession in the opening half, but found little reward and had to be continually wary of Leeds Mets’ lightning counter attacks.

The closest UCLan came to breaking the deadlock was their first chance on five minutes.  Rebecca Grocott’s lofted effort almost capitalised on a defence in disarray, but was cleared as it arched towards an unguarded goal.

The UCLan striker was a threat throughout and drove narrowly wide moments later as her side looked to press home their opening advantage.

However, their opponents’ quick strikers threatened to expose a high defensive line and, following a couple of early warnings, took the lead with a quarter of the match gone.

A defensive mix-up allowed the Leeds striker to scamper down the left wing and curl the ball over goalkeeper Laura Miller and into the far corner from the edge of the area.

The goal gave Leeds more of a foothold in the game, but Julie Spence’s spinning volley on 32 minutes could easily have levelled proceedings after Mamz’s cross found her free in the six yard box.

After a disjointed opening period, UCLan wasted no time in equalising inside two minutes of the second half.  Spence was quickest to react after a defensive error and freed Mamz to poke the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper.

The turnaround was complete seven minutes later.  The right winger Mamz once again found herself in space and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but opted for a lob.  The goalkeeper got a hand to it, but was unable to prevent the ball from going in off the post.

Following a sloppy start to the second half, the goal sparked Leeds in to life on the hour mark and it took two tremendous saves from Miller to keep the hard-fought lead intact.  The goalkeeper showed lightning reflexes to tip a shot around the post with a strong one-handed save before being equally alert to save with her feet from the resulting corner.

Miller could do little about the Leeds Met equaliser which arrived on 66 minutes.  Some slick passing in central midfield released the left winger who burst into the area before placing the ball into the far corner.

A share of the spoils would probably have been a fair result, but Leeds Met snatched victory five minutes from time.  A snap shot from the edge of the area left Miller motionless as it went in off the inside of the post to ensure the three points would be heading to Leeds.

By Liam Geraghty

UCLan Men’s 1sts 4

Edge Hill 1sts 48

UCLan Rugby League 1sts came unstuck against a well-organised Edge Hill 1sts side, going down to a 48-4 defeat at UCLan Sports Arena.

It was a case of effort but no end product for the UCLan team, who battled resiliently for 80 minutes, but lacked the finesse to cross the whitewash too often.

The first 20 minutes were positive for the home side, as Edge Hill were penned into their own half more often than not, but UCLan’s inability to score whilst mounting the pressure was a sign of things to come.

Twice, Edge Hill were pegged back into their in-goal area, but both times the visitors escaped.

Then, just as UCLan were beginning to look settled, Edge Hill scored in the corner; the UCLAN defence left scrambling.

But a close contest was not on the cards as Edge Hill touched down three more times in the opening 40 minutes to lead 22-0 at the break.

Unfortunately for UCLan, the second half started as the first had finished, with a try.

Edge Hill patiently played the ball along the line before diving under the sticks easily.

The conversion followed and the away side led 28-0.

But UCLan were not to be denied a try, and on the 50 minute mark, they bagged their first and only points of the afternoon.

UCLan had the ball at the scrum following an Edge Hill knock-on, and the ball was played across to the left wing where Zac McCluskey charged forward and grounded beside the flag.

The conversion was wayward, but the score was now 28-4.

Any hopes of a UCLan comeback were immediately dashed.

Barely three minutes after scoring, UCLan’s line failed to hold firm, and Edge Hill ran through to score, diminishing any UCLan optimism.

Edge Hill led 32-4 after 55 minutes, and they were in again right under the posts two minutes later.

This time, the conversion was spot-on and Edge Hill increased their lead to 38-4.

The final 20 minutes of the match were to prove futile for UCLan, who rather than gaining ground on the opponents, lost more.

A couple of tries and a conversion in the last 17 minutes, condemning the home side to a 48-4 loss.

UCLan’s Josh Rogerson said, “Key players were missing today, particularly in the forwards, such as John Rushen who we are probably too dependent on.

“But I believe we have the quality in this team to turn results around and get back to winning ways.”

By Callum Gormally

UCLan Men’s 1sts 14

Manchester 2nds 15

A first half, eleven-point lead wasn’t enough to prevent the Men’s Rugby Union 1sts from slipping to a disappointing home reverse against Manchester 2nds on Wednesday.

The hosts made a superb start, hit Manchester hard in every tackle and got their first try of the afternoon after just five minutes.

A quick-ball from a UCLan lineout went through the backs and after working the opening, centre Johnny Hyde went over under the posts. Ben Marshall had the simple task of converting to give his side a 7-0 lead.

Manchester fought back strongly and began to put some heavy pressure on their hosts with a series of barnstorming runs and heavy tackles. It was only a matter of time before the visitors had points on the board and they did so through a Will Carter penalty on 13 minutes after UCLan were guilty of being off their feet.

The momentum was swinging one way then the other and Marshall hit the post with a penalty before UCLan extended their advantage on 19 minutes.

Manchester were pushing over the hosts’ 10-metre line and as they swung the ball out wide, home captain Daniel Scott intercepted the pass and ran the length of the field to score a wonderful solo try. Marshall added the extras to put UCLan into a commanding 14-3 lead.

Lying down was not going to be an option for the visitors and they struck back ten minutes later with a well-worked score.

After building up a head of steam down the right-hand side, Manchester moved the ball quickly and despite Scott’s try-saving tackle on one visiting player, Johnny Whittle was on hand to dot down and put his side back into the game. Carter dragged his conversion to the right of the posts but it was certainly game on at this stage.

Four minutes before half-time and Manchester managed to edge their noses in front thanks to a try that was more about brawn than it was about brain.

The visitors took in a lineout just five metres from the UCLan line and as the forwards powered over, Jack Dennison was the player receiving the congratulations from his teammates.

Carter knocked over a superb conversion from the touchline and it was the away side who held a one-point advantage at the interval.

The second half was a tight affair, just as the first had been, and it was UCLan who had the first scoring opportunity. The referee deemed that Manchester had entered the ruck at the side but from the resulting penalty, Marshall dragged his kick to the left of the posts.

Manchester began to have more of the ball in the home side’s territory and were looking for the score that would kill the game off.

UCLan weren’t going to give an inch and were terrific in defence as they kept the visitors out and put themselves in with a chance of stealing a result.

With only ten minutes left on the clock, Marshall had chance to redeem himself as UCLan were awarded another penalty after a Manchester flanker was caught not releasing the ball. This time the UCLan fly-half drifted his kick agonizingly to the right of the sticks as his teammates looked on.

Following that missed kick, the hosts couldn’t find the pivotal score that would have given them the result they craved and Manchester were left celebrating a vital victory away from home.

UCLan captain Daniel Scott said afterwards: “We started the game really well but, unfortunately, we just couldn’t continue that throughout the 80 minutes.

“We lost our mindset and our concentration a little bit and that has cost us in the end.

Our defensive play was terrific today but we’ll need to work on our communication in training this week before our tough cup game with Manchester 3rds next week.”

Deflation was visible on the faces of the Men’s Football 1sts after a 5-1 defeat to table-topping Sheffield Hallam 1sts at UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday.

The majority of the Hallam goals were scored in the first-half on a typically chilly afternoon as UCLan found themselves 4-0 down by the interval, despite competing well in the early stages of the game.

It was the visitors who created the first clear-cut chance with barely five minutes on the clock after their headed effort was cleared off the line by UCLan’s Daniel Morgan.

The hosts then came close on the ten-minute mark when Joe Shelmerdine struck a beautifully curling free kick, thumping the Hallam post before rolling out for a goal-kick.

The first of the goals came after Sheffield’s Callum Ward was brought down in the area – leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Striker Matt Wooley then converted to give the visitors the lead with 19 minutes of the game played.

UCLan came out battling from the restart with Sheffield having goalkeeper Liam Flynn to thank for keeping the score as it was after a superb half-volley by Jake Forshaw was tipped over the bar from 25 yards out. The resulting corner was once again saved by the Hallam keeper after a strong header from defender Will Monks.

Minutes later the hosts were ruing their missed chances after Hallam midfielder Zach Bayarch nodded in from close range after a well delivered corner kick to double his side’s lead.

UCLan heads then seemed to drop as the frustration crept in, however little could have been done to prevent the visitors third of the match. A floated corner found its way to Dan Fradley, who half-volleyed the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net from the edge of the area, leaving keeper Matthew Bell with no chance.

Attacks from the home side on the opposition goal were restricted to long shots in the remaining minutes of the first half as the visitors began to get a real hold on the game.

On the stroke of half-time the fourth Hallam goal arrived after a great first touch and strike by Wooley could only see Bell get fingertips to the ball as it bounced in off the post into the back of the net.

UCLan came out after the break in a far more attacking fashion; closing down players quicker and using the wings much more productively to create chances.

On 50 minutes a strong penalty claim was turned down by the referee after stand out performer for the hosts, Joe Lolley, made a darting run into the area and looked to have been dragged down by a Hallam defender.

The game saw a lot of the ball in the middle of the park for a large remainder of the second half as UCLan began to break up the Sheffield attacks, with both keepers at each end having little to deal with. A neat finish from right back, Daniel Dasololu, on 75 minutes reduced the scoreline to 1-4 after a well delivered corner kick; giving the hosts a chance of making a game of it.

The home side were unlucky to not grab a second five minutes later after some last ditch defending prevented them from hitting the back of the net as they entered their best spell of the game.

Cruelly, it was Sheffield who grabbed the sixth and final goal of the match, as the result of another corner kick. This time the set-piece was headed home by defender Sam Dave, to seal the victory for the away side.

UCLan captain, Matthew Bell said afterwards, “We gave them too much respect”.

“We were much better in the second half, but we really need to concentrate on conceding less and today we just weren’t good enough”.

By Joe Angove

UCLan 3rd’s followed up their embarrassing loss to the 4th team last week with another defeat, this time at the hands of Salford in the Conference Cup.

Salford are in the division below UCLan and goals from Matthew Collum and Craig O’Neil looked to have given the home side an expected win. But a late Salford equaliser ensured that it went the distance with the underdogs winning on penalties, despite being reduced to 10 men in extra time.

Despite the near perfect playing conditions the game began in a very scrappy manner with neither side being able to get a foot on the ball. UCLan skipper James Makki looked to be the biggest threat, the pacey winger getting in behind the Salford back line on a few occasions.

Inevitably it was Makki who had the first sighting of goal in the match on 20 minutes. A long ball forward from right back Steve Yates saw Makki baring down on goal, only for his shot to be blocked by a heroic Salford centre back.

Salford posed very little threat in the first half, resorting to long range efforts which UCLan goalkeeper Tom Massey had little trouble in dealing with. As the first half progressed UCLan began to gain control with wingers Makki and Ross Dennison causing the visitors’ defence problems.

On 26 minutes Dennison’s well struck 25-yard free kick whistled just over the bar with the keeper beaten as the home side looked to make their superiority pay.

 UCLan’s pressure finally told ten minutes before the half time whistle. Striker Matthew Collum showed how clinical he can be after being fairly anonymous until this point. After latching on to a ball played into the right channel he skipped inside the Salford left back before unleashing a ferocious drive across the stranded goalkeeper into the far corner of the net.

It was nearly 2-0 seconds before the break after the increasingly influential Dennison striking the woodwork with a looping free kick.

With a goal lead at half time and Salford looking toothless in attack, a place in the next round looked assured.

Salford came out in the second half with a renewed vigour and needed just a minute to get back on level terms. Out of nothing, midfielder Matthew McDermott found himself through on goal, needing no second invitation to slot past Massey to stun a previously redundant UCLan defence.

It went from bad to worse for UCLan a minute later when adamant penalty appeals were turned away by the referee despite it looking as though Collum had been felled in the area.

Salford’s revival continued as they continued to look more dangerous. Their big striker found himself through on goal on 53 minutes, only to muster a weak shot on goal which Massey easily fielded.

After a lively start to the second half the game began to resume its scrappy nature with several passes from both sides going astray.

The next action of note came on 70 minutes when goalscorer Collum was found by the dangerous Dennison in space. He surprised everyone by shooting early on his unfavoured left foot. The striker was incredibly unlucky to see his effort come back off the post with the keeper left grasping at thin air.

Salford failed to heed this warning and were made to pay a minute later.

On 71 minutes the ball broke to substitute Craig O’Neil who lashed the ball left footed past the Salford keeper’s despairing dive from just outside the box.

This looked to have won it for the home side until three minutes from time. The UCLan defence finally caved in to a barrage of Salford pressure when they failed to deal with a long ball in to the box. It fell kindly to striker Loris who poked the ball into the top corner to force 30 minutes of extra time.

The extra time period only brought about one incident of note but it was a big one. After a contentious offside decision was given against his team, a Salford centre back went too far in his dissent, being shown a straight red card for foul and abusive language.

UCLan failed to make the man advantage count meaning that the tie went all the way to penalties.

In a cruel twist of fate, man of the match Ross Dennison saw the first penalty of the shoot out saved as the keeper got down well to block his well struck effort.

The Salford penalties were all well placed, leaving Massey no chance before UCLan’s 4th penalty was skied by the centre back. This gave Salford savour Loris a chance to enhance his hero status by scoring the winning penalty which he took with aplomb, sending Massey the wrong way.

The result sees Salford march on to the next round while UCLan 3rds must stop the rot by avoiding a 3rd successive defeat next week.

By Will Rivers

Women’s Football 2nds were on the wrong end of a 5-1 score-line against an impressive Edge Hill Women’s 1sts in the Northern Conference Cup at the UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday, despite battling hard for the duration of the game.

Edge Hill looked to push forward straight from the kick-off with some impressive passing moves to put the home defence under immediate pressure which they dealt with well.

However, on the ten minute mark UCLan found themselves 1-0 down after a well distributed ball over the top from the Edge Hill midfield found striker Lauren Horsefield;  putting her clean through on goal, striking the ball just to the right of keeper Laura Miller and giving the visitors an early advantage.

UCLan picked themselves up and started to play some impressive football which questioned the Edge Hill defence. Captain Stacy Partridge came close with a delightful curling free-kick just outside the box, edging just wide of the post on 22 minutes.

The hosts maintained the pressure and tested the Edge Hill keeper for the first time with an impressive effort from Mel Metcalfe after the number eight’s great run down the right wing.

The game began to feel quite edgy as both teams battled for possession just after the mid-point of the first half with a lot of the play in the middle of the park. But it was Edge Hill who began to produce the clear cut-chances, most notably Harriet Goon; who found herself with the goal at her mercy after a long shot had been parried by the home keeper into her path but the striker fired just wide.

On 40 minutes Edge Hill extended their lead after a free kick from just inside the UCLan half was delivered into the area falling to the feet of Anna Quintaid who made no mistake, powering the ball into the right hand corner to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

Edge Hill once again began the second half in an attacking fashion, producing some swift passing up and down the flanks and this created all sorts of problems for the UCLan defence. A majestic ball from captain Harriet Lewis found Chelsea Goon who steadied herself to rifle the ball into the far left of the goal, increasing the score-line to 3-0.

UCLan immediately hit straight back on 57 minutes after a well delivered free kick just left of the penalty area resulted in a messy clearance at the back which kindly fell to Stacy Partridge who finished well to lift give her side a chance of producing a  comeback.

Minutes later chances of a UCLan comeback were struck down after a superb long range strike from Edge Hill’s stand-out performer, Harriet Lewis, struck the inside of the post on its way into the back of the net.

UCLan continued to battle bravely into the latter stages of the game before Goon got her second of the game for Edge Hill on 82 minutes, sliding the ball past the oncoming Laura Miller just inside the penalty area to make it 5-1 to the visitors.

Captain for UCLan Woman’s 2nd Stacy Partridge said she was “happy with the work rate of her team”.

She added: “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, they are a league above us and we had a few players out, but it just wasn’t our day again”.

By Joe Angove

Goal scorers – UCLan- Stacy Partridge

Edge Hill – Lauren Horsefield, Anna Quintaid, Chelsea Goon (2), Harriet Lewis

Men’s Tennis 2nds put in an impressive performance as they walloped the Manchester Met 1sts in a 12-0 win at the South Ribble Sports Centre.

James Silson starred in a five-star showing as there were just six games dropped between the side.

Doubles partners Silson and Ryan Forrest started the rout by smashing the Met’s Spencer Bailey and Shu Sim 6-0, 6-1. That was matched by George Tilford and Matt Maloney, who recorded their own 6-0, 6-1 win against a lacklustre James Rogers and Robert Johnson.

Hard-hitting Maloney returned to court right after to dispatch of Sim 6-0, 6-0, with an awesome display of power and precision. And teammate Tilford on the court beside breezed past Johnson with a comfortable 6-2, 6-0 triumph.

There was also a win for UCLan captain Adam Goble, who beat the Met’s Bailey 6-1, 6-1. However, Silson stole the show in the final singles match with some superb serving in a relentless 6-0, 6-0 battering of Rogers.

Goble praised the performance from Silson, who hit more than a dozen aces during the day. He said: “He came through a tough match, against one of their better players, so he did very well.

Silson reluctantly agreed with the comments of his captain.

“I think I played well. I hit some decent forehands and I did not have to hit many backhands. I hit some aces off of my second serve. I would say it is because of much practice over the years”.

The 2nds next opposition is Liverpool Hope University on November 16th, who Goble believes will be their toughest match of the year. “We are joint second and they are top so it is going to be a tough one”, he said.

By Sam Gilliland

A single strike from Ashley Cranston was enough for Women’s Hockey 1sts to defeat Lancaster 2nds 1-0 and progress to the second round of the BUCS Cup.

In truth, the final score line rather flattered the Lancaster second string as UCLan dominated the contest throughout against a team three divisions below them.

They could already have been comfortably ahead by the time Cranston scored in the ninth minute, but the anticipated opening of the floodgates never materialised.

Instead UCLan’s finishing left a lot to be desired as they, despite having a total of 20 attempts on the Lancaster net, could not find a second goal, an inspired performance from the visiting goalkeeper pulling off a number of cracking saves.

With such a slender lead, there was always the chance of Lancaster grabbing an equaliser.

But despite late pressure and a couple of penalty corner’s in the final few minutes, they held on comfortably enough, while an anxious captain Stacey Bell watching from the sidelines as she continues her recovery from injury.

“It was a bit nerve-racking, especially against Lancaster 2nds, but we held it together,” She said afterwards.

Cranston could have opening the scoring inside the first minute, but scuffed her shot when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Georgina Ivens had scored twice in the 2-1 league win over Manchester Met 1sts the previous week and saw a shot blocked.

Siobhan Docksey also had two chances and the second brought the decisive strike.  Her effort was cleared only as far as Ivens, with Cranston was on-hand to flick her pass into the net.

Ivens continued to use her pace and power to get through the defence, only to be denied another five times before the break alone; first by a great block on the goal line, and then by the keeper on four separate occasions.

UCLan keeper Katie Radford had almost been a spectator for the first half, with just a single save to make from a rare Lancaster break.

The pattern of play continued in the second period as Gabrielle Gaynor and Ivens forced an outstanding treble save from the visitors’ keeper and Gaynor also shot wide from a penalty corner.

As the match entered the last quarter, the visitors sensed a chance to take advantage of UCLan’s inability to extend the lead and grab a goal of their own that would have taken the tie into extra time.

They forced a couple of penalty corners, but the home defence held firm with Radford dealing comfortably with the two attempts she had to deal with.

A final chance came and went, with a shot blocked in the final seconds as UCLan secured their place in round two.

UCLan team: Katie Radford, Taya Milman, Gabrielle Gaynor, Natasha Hale, Natasha Hynes, Georgina Ivens, Anna Mcintosh, Ashley Cranston, Laura Bury, Kate Gregory.

By Ciaran Thomas

It was a match of complete domination as the Netball 2nds thrashed Cumbria 2nds 55-19 at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre.

Goal shooter Jen Winters opened up the scoring after a through pass from Wing Attack Lily Thistle found centre Verity Scholes in acres of space.

Despite the initial fight back from the away side, UCLan defended in numbers with Thistle and goal keeper Vanessa Woods who put in a shift at the back.

UCLan continued on the attack soon after with Thistle the pick of the performers, goal attack Hayley Butterworth applied the finish for 8-3.

As the first quarter drew to a close, the battle between Winters and the strong opposing goal keeper was becoming apparent. Numerous decisions were directed in the way of the away side, to the bemusement of the bench. Despite this, UCLan ended the first quarter 14-6 ahead.

As the second quarter got under way, the home side began to show their total dominance. Thistle with the pivotal pass which found Winters who finished for 17-6.

Soon after it was Thistle’s pass again which this time found substitute goal attack Rebecca Shaw. UCLan’s tails were up as they went on to score six goals in a row. The away side failed to score a single point until the closing stages due to a tight defensive partnership between Woods and goal defence Hayley Vincent.

The heated battle between UCLan’s Winters and the opposing goalkeeper was due to get a whole lot more intense which sparked a discussion about her misconduct at the break. The home side lead 28-8 after a shot from Winters rubbed more salt into the away side’s wounds.

The whitewash continued as we entered the third quarter, wing defence Sophie Pilkington found substitute centre Zoe Astin who had a solid 15 minutes. She then set up Winters again who finished accordingly.

Defensive training appeared to have paid off after the home side could only draw against Keele 2^nd’s two weeks ago, and as a result, they kept Cumbria at bay, allowing them to only score four throughout the entire quarter. Goalkeeper Woods, again intercepted the pass and put Astin well on her way to set up Butterworth, who finished the quarter 45-12.

The final quarter saw the away side pick up the pace for the first time in the match. The shooters showed good agility to work the ball around the goalkeeper for Butterworth to finish. At 50-15, the home side were in an astounding position and with 5 minutes to go, Butterworth was given a foul for contact again by the keeper and finished 55-19 at the final whistle.

Speaking after the game, captain Verity Scholes said “We played well, I thought Jen handled the pressure from their goalkeeper very well.

“She held her ground and that is all we can expect her to do.”

By Laura Howard