MMU Sports teams shine in week 4 of BUCS

Manchester Metropolitan University’s sports teams were on winning form again in the fourth week of BUCS competitions. 

This week saw the first round of cup fixtures for a number of our sport teams, with the MMU Match of the Day being the Men’s Hockey fixture cup against the University of Worcester. 

MMU Men’s Hockey 1s saw off the University of Worcester with ease and ran out 7-2 winners.

Jonnie Lord, Men’s Hockey Chairman, “After a short spell of defeats the team came out today and began to show that the training and hard work they’d been putting in had paid off.

“More efficient play an early 2-0 lead was established that then continued into the second half. Overall the opposition struggled to come back into the game and we left with a 7-2 win going into the next round of the cup,” he said.

Sophie Binder, MMU Sport Activities Officer, was at the Match of the Day on Wednesday afternoon.

“After a promotion last season and merge, MMU men’s 1st team have unsurprisingly faced a difficult start to the season. But with a great team mentality and will power they faced a big task when taking on their first cup game,” she said.

“They took it in their stride. With some incredible team work and a fantastic work rate throughout the boys managed to pull through with east and grab a 7-2 win.

“They worked as a team and gave 100% throughout the game and it was a great game to be watching on the sideline.”

Out of the other cup games played today, highlights include MMU Women’s Football 1s who raced to 7-1 lead at half-time against the University of Chester. The game was subsequently abandoned due to injuries to opposition players. 

Vicky Griffiths, Women’s Football Captain, “we dominated the game for the first 45 minutes, at time playing some wonderful football.

“Chester getting a good goal to bring it level at 1-1, although it was enough as 6 more goals were scored by MMU before the game was abandoned,” she said.

MMU Men’s Football 2s faced University College of Football Business, who are ahead in the Northern 4A league, at Platt Lane. Men’s Football 2s won the game 3-0 and advanced into the next round.

Captain Luke Sands said “the whole team we’re outstanding all game, some boys made the set up to the 2s and impressed all of us massively.

“The performance today showed me that we have the technical ability to go very far in the cup. Not many teams would’ve beaten us today,” he said.

On the road today were Men’s Badminton 2s who headed to Teesside University and returned back to MMU 5-3 winners.

Both of the MMU Men’s Rugby Union teams played away too. The 1st team travelled to Keele as they looked to add to their unbeaten league season. In the closest game this season so far MMU overcame Keele to win 30-17. A try from Sport Scholar Connor Wilkinson was one of four on the day. 

MMU Men’s Rugby Union 2s travelled to UCLan for their second fixture in the Northern 4A league. For the second game in a row they shutout their opponents, with the game finishing 55-0 in favour of MMU.

Vice chairman and 2nd team Captain Owen Jones said, “our MMU 2s travelled to UCLan after an impressive display against Salford.The first half was frustrating for MMU as they dominated the game but only scored three tries.

“Some tactical changes and clever use of substitutions saw MMU run in 55-0 winners. This is particularly pleasing as MMU 2’s have yet to concede a point despite giving several 3rd team players debuts.

Men’s Lacrosse continued with their 100% winning season with a 14-5 win over Keele. Men’s Table Tennis, a team also on a winning streak at the moment, beat UCLan 12-5 as they record their third consecutive win and sit comfortably at the top of Northern 3A.

MMU Netball had mixed success this week with both the 1s and 2s travelling to Newcastle to play away games. The 1st team drew 41-41 with Northumbria 2s whilst the 2nd team lost 56-24 against a strong Newcastle 2s team. However, the 3rd team added another win to their season after they beat Cumbria 62-20 to progress to the next round of the cup.

One of MMU Sport’s spotlight teams, Men’s Basketball, recorded another victory this week too. The 1st team maintained their strong start to the season with a 100-73 win over Huddersfield as they look to consolidate their position early on in the season at the top of Northern 1A.

The 2nd team narrowly lost in the cup away at Durham, with the score finishing 67-60 to Durham 3s.

MMU Women’s Tennis, who had the longest away trip this week, faced Aberdeen for the first time in the cup. Unfortunately, they lost 7-6 following a close match that was decided via a tie-break shoot-out.

And finally, after a tricky start to their inaugural season in Premier North MMU Rugby League slumped to a third consecutive defeat at the hands of Leeds Beckett. Next week will see Rugby League's first home game of the season at Platt Lane.