February 26, 2015, by Lee Chrimes

BUCS round-up 25 February 2015

The fixture list comprised both league and cup action this week, and our teams built upon their recent good form with the exact same return as last Wednesday: 26 wins and 5 draws at a rate of 51%.

The Men’s Football 2^nd XI have been outstanding all season and continued their run of victories by thrashing Northampton 2^nd 4-0 at Highfields. The 3^rd XI also made of the most of their home advantage in a 1-0 win over Lincoln 1^st, whilst the 4^th team made the long trip to Cambridge 2^nd for a top of the table clash. Their crucial 2-0 victory propels them back to the summit of Midlands 4B and sets the season up for a nerve-racking finale. Overall, it was clean sweep for the men this Wednesday, with all three teams keeping clean sheets too.

With league deadlines drawing ever closer, the Netball club know that they have a matter of weeks to save their season. The 2^nd team responded in fine style, producing a fantastic display to defeat second place (and title contenders) Birmingham 2^nd 30-27 at University Park. Away from home, the 3^rd team pulled off an upset by beating Leicester 1^st 39-21. Both teams have moved off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation places in Midlands 2A and 2B respectively with survival looking likely. Elsewhere, the 4^th team beat Trent 33-43.

The Men’s Rugby Union 1^st XV built on last week’s huge win by overturning Newcastle 24-21 in a nail-biting affair. It has been a strong end to the season for the young side who have maintained their status as a Premier North A side. The 3^rd XV ran in six tries during a bonus point win 36-17 away at Bedfordshire (Bedford) 1^st and have moved top of Midlands 2B in the process. They willbe assured of promotion with a win against bottom side Anglia Ruskin in the final round of games in week 16.

Returning to league action were cup favourites and league winners Women’s Basketball 1^st. They yet again produced the goods in a 30-98 win at Aston, and will take confidence going into their Conference Cup semi-final next week. The Men’s 1^st team also turned on the heat by beating Northampton 1^st 83-69 in the 4pm game at Jubilee Sports Centre, moving up to 3^rd in Midlands 1A in the process.

It was a great day for Men’s Hockey, with the  2^nd XI beating Lincoln 1^st 6-1 to secure promotion from Midlands 2A and the 4^th XI’s 7-1 drubbing of Birmingham City 1^st means their clash with Trent at University Park in two weeks’ time will be a winner takes all clash for promotion from Midlands 4A. In the Championship Cup, the Men’s 1^st XI progressed to the semi-final after a momentous performance against Premier South winners Bath 1^st, coming out 3-2 victors. They will face fellow Premier North outfit Durham in the next round.

That wasn’t the end of the Championship Cup success, as five other team booked their places in the semi-finals. The Women’s Badminton 1^st  will face Premier North table toppers Loughborough 1^st after a 5-3 win over Brighton 1^st, and the Men’s Lacrosse 1^st team battered Bristol 1^st 22-6 at the Riverside Sports Complex to set up a tie with Oxford 1^st. The Women’s Table Tennis 1^st team will go away to Scottish 1A winners Strathclyde after thumping Sussex 4-0 and the Women’s Squash 1^st team comfortably beat Kings College London 1^st 4-0 in the evening game at University Park, to confirm their fixture with Cardiff Met.

Turning to the Trophy Cup, the Women’s Fencing 1^st team will fancy their chances against a Stirling 1^st side who did not win a league game this year in their semi-final on the 11^th March, thanks to a 135-79 defeat of Cambridge 1^st at Sutton Bonington. Likewise, the Men’s Rugby League 1^st team beat Manchester 24-14 and face Northern 1A Champions Leeds 1^st at Highfields in the semi-final, whereas the Men’s Futsal 2^nd team face Nottingham 1^st in an intra-club quarter-final at LE12 after snatching a 4-3 victory against Loughborough last Sunday.

Another return above 50% has maintained our place at 3^rd in the overall BUCS standings, with 1720 league points and 511 cup points increasing our total to 2493.

Position and points accurate at time of press

BUCS weekly report by Sebastian Chmielinski

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