It was a mixed afternoon for Leeds University teams in BUCS competitions both at home and around the North of England on Wednesday, with hard fought victories coupled with disappointing defeats across the usual wide range of sports played in the country’s preeminent inter-university competition.
The Mens Football 1s saw out a 1-0 victory over York 1s, with George Mason netting the only goal of the contest, while the Womens 1s drew 2-2 with Chester to continue their unbeaten start to the season. The Basketball Mens 1s made it two wins in a row in seeing off Sheffield 1s at the Edge by 97 points to 81, while the Womens Volleyball 1s whitewashed Beckett 3-0 in a local derby. There were tries for Young, Hall, Simpson and Elliot as the Mens Rugby Union 1s dismissed Nottingham Trent 34-28, while the Womens 1s will get their campaign underway in a couple of weeks against York St John.
The Mens Badminton 1s ended up with their second consecutive draw as their match with Liverpool ended 4-4, the same scoreline as the tie with Manchester last week, meanwhile the Womens 1 were defeated 8-0 by Loughborough; again, the same result as their opening match against Birmingham seven days previously.
In Water Polo, both the Womens 1s and Mens 1s played away from home, at Manchester and Lancaster respectively. The women couldn’t replicate their form of their previous match against Sheffield, going down 16-3 to the Mancunians, but the Men did manage a second win of the season, with an 18-6 victory to add to their first win over Beckett last week. The netball team travelled to Newcastle to face the Northumbria 2s, a match which resulted in a 44-21 win for The Gryphons, but there was no such luck for the Mens Table Tennis, whose 17-0 drubbing by Manchester 2s meant they continue their winless run of now over a year.
In Lacrosse, it was worth the trip to Durham for the Womens 1s as they added three more points to their league tally with a 13-7 win, while Men were beaten 15-2 by visitors Northumbria. Five tries for the same university as they played the Leeds Mens Rugby League 1s saw them run away with that tie 30-0, but it was better news in the Mens Squash; the 1s triumphed 5-0 over Manchester and 2s saw off Northumbria 1s 3-2.
In the Womens Hockey the 1s drew 2-2 in their away match with Newcastle, while the 2s beat Sheffield Hallam 2-0 and a Lucy Daynes hat-trick accounted for half the goals in a 6-1 demolition of York. Finally in the Mens Tennis the 1s couldn’t replicate their 8-4 victory over Manchester on the opening day of the season, instead going down 10-2 to Leeds Beckett 3s. A contrasting afternoon then for Leeds Uni, and with most leagues now in only their second week, there’s much more to come.
John Gibby
Photo Credit: University of Leeds