March 5, 2015, by Lee Chrimes
BUCS round-up 4 March 2015
As the University heads into the home straight of the BUCS competition, 20 wins from 39 matches kept alive the cup dreams for a number of clubs and meant Nottingham remain on course for a top three finish in the overall BUCS table.
There will be plenty on show for UoN Sport at the 2015 Conference Cup finals in Leicester on the 18th March as four teams progressed into the finals. The ‘conference wide’ competition takes into account everyone in the wider Midlands, and reaching the final is no mean feat for the sides after fixtures against teams in higher tiers. The Women’s Basketball 1st team and Men’s Football 2nd XI have drawn the plaudits all season and look firm favourites in two weeks’ time thanks to wins against Leicester 1st, 106-28 and 1-0 respectively. At University Park, the Men’s 2nd team beat Midlands 2A Champions Loughborough 2nd 3-2 and the Women’s Table Tennis 2nd team also beat Loughborough, putting in a fantastic display by overcoming their 1st team 3-2.
The Men’s Rugby Union 1st XV have not looked back since their momentous victory against Northumbria two weeks ago and made it three from their last three by beating Swansea 1st XV 38-24 in the Vase Cup game at Highfields. They will travel to Cyncoed next week for an evening semi-final clash against Cardiff Met 1st. With all the teams in the competition finishing between 5th and 7th in the Premier Leagues, the 1st XV will fancy their chances of winning some silverware considering the form they are in.
Away from the cup, the Men’s Badminton 3rd team are now three points clear of relegation with one game to go in Midlands 3B following an invaluable 4-4 draw with fellow strugglers Derby 1st. They face bottom side Oxford next Wednesday in a fixture that could end with either team going down.
The Fencing and Volleyball clubs continued the week 16 theme of beating Loughborough, as the Men’s Fencing 1st team and the Women’s Volleyball 2nd team won 131-97 and 3-0 correspondingly to both condemn their opponents to relegation from Midlands 1A in the process. Likewise, the Men’s Volleyball 1st team eased past Loughborough 1st 3-0 in the early kick off at the Jubilee Sports Centre to move three points clear in Midlands 1A, knowing that a win next week will be sufficient to win the title. The Women’s 3rd team were the icing on the cake as their 3-0 win over Northampton 1st ensured a clean sweep for the club.
After a nail-biting 7-6 defeat to the Men’s 1st team last Sunday, the Men’s Futsal 2nd team beat Coventry 1st 12-4 to storm to the Midlands 1B title. In doing so, they maintained their unbeaten league run and finished with a goal difference of +21.
At the other end of the table, the Men’s Tennis 3rd team won a crucial relegation battle against Lincoln 1st 8-4 at Nottingham Tennis Centre to confirm their status as a Midlands 2B for next season. Overall, it was an unbeaten day for the club as the Men’s 1st team cemented their place in the Midlands 1A play-off spot after a 6-6 draw against Warwick 1st, and the Men’s 4th and Women’s 2nd team both recorded10-2 victories
The Men’s Table Tennis 2nd team finished their season off with a bang by beating Trent 2nd 12-5 in their showdown at University Park, and then, in the evening, the Netball 1st team also rounded off BUCS proceedings by upsetting league winners Birmingham 1st 38-33 in a classic encounter.
Good luck to our six Championship Cup semi-finalists next Wednesday in their bid to be crowned the best student team in the country and our four Trophy Cup semi-finalists who are aiming to reach the finals at Loughborough on the 24th March.
Another Wednesday of winning over half the fixtures means the University can sit back and relax in third position in the overall standings, with a total tally of 2605.5.
Position and points accurate at time of press
BUCS weekly report by Sebastian Chmielinski
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