UNIVERSITY of York avoided too much Hallowe’en fright as they enjoyed a largely successful week in both league and cup clashes, writes Dan Holland.

The premier fixtures came in the hockey, where both the men’s and women’s first teams began their British Universities and Colleges Sport Cup campaigns.

George Richards’ men’s side were comfortable in their 6-0 demolition of lowly opposition in the form of the University of Sheffield’s fourth string.

Goals from Laurie Torrington, Dougie McAteer, Leo Watton, Phil Ratliff and a double from Kris Siva ensured the White Rose had a simple path into the next round.

From the moment York opened the scoring, the outcome was never in doubt and they could have widened the margin of victory.

The match developed into an exhibition exercise for the home side, never more evident than when Watton danced his way through the defence and rounded the goalkeeper to score the fourth goal.

For the women’s side, though, the task was far more difficult. Faced with tough opposition from Durham, they needed to come from two goals down to ultimately prevail on penalty flicks.

The visitors raced into a 2-0 lead midway through the first half, and York looked like they might be facing an early cup exit until Izzie Hutchinson pulled one back on the stroke of half-time.

Emma Beresford then equalised in the second half, forcing the game to penalties after neither side could find a winner in normal or extra time.

Goalkeeper Abbie Craig produced three fine stops, with captain Sally Dolton striking home what proved to be the winning flick for her side, earning their first win of the season.

It was a bumper day for the lacrosse club as well, both of their sides securing big victories.

The women graced the new 3G pitch at the York Sport Village and ran out 26-2 winners against Varsity rivals Hull.

Then, the men’s first team racked up a convincing 42-0 win at Leeds for a hugely successful afternoon.

The netball club’s positive start to the season continued too, as they began their cup campaign with a 32-19 defeat of Sunderland.

However, the news was not so bright for one of the University’s most successful sides.

The women’s fencing squad were beaten at home by Manchester. Eight of the nine bouts in the opening sabre round went in favour of the visitors.

Despite admirable performances in both the foil and the epeé, York were unable to claw back the deficit, the visitors heading back home with a 214-109 win.

There were contrasting fortunes for the volleyball sides, the women beating their opposition from Sheffield Hallam University 3-0, while the men were on the wrong end of a whitewash from Huddersfield despite a feisty show.

Away from home, the men’s rugby firsts continued their impressive start to the season with a convincing 38-17 win in Leeds, while the men’s football team grabbed their first BUCS win of the season, making the next round of the cup after a 2-0 win at Northumbria.