THE University of York’s netball firsts booked their place in the last 16 of the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Cup with a 51-31 victory at Northumbria.

York took a while to get going, but began to inject some fluidity into their play in the third quarter.

The girls in black and gold overturned three Northumbria centres and opened up a lead which they then extended in the final quarter to ensure an ultimately comfortable victory.

The second string were, however, unable to join the firsts in the last 16. They fell 49-30 to Hull’s first team, who are several divisions above them in the northern leagues.

Back at home, the football seconds fought through torrid conditions to draw 2-2 with Sunderland.

The home side got off to the worst of starts after conceding early from a quick free-kick, but managed to overturn the deficit by the end of the first half thanks to two goals from Matt Mawdesley.

The first was a penalty, won by James Offord, which the midfielder tucked into the bottom corner, and the second was a well-struck curling effort from the edge of the area after Gio Pilides found him with an excellent raking ball.

Sunderland hit back, however, equalising with a deft lob early in the second half, and despite both sides’ best efforts, neither could go on to grab all three points.

Also at home, the men’s rugby second team picked up their first win of the season – 3-0 against Sheffield. The men’s hockey seconds were defeated 3-1 by a strong Leeds side, leaving them dangerously close to the foot of their division.

The tennis thirds fared no better against the same university.

They ended up on the receiving end of a depressing 12-0 thrashing.

The University of York currently sit 52nd in the nationwide BUCS League, just ahead of Oxford Brookes, with fencing their top points scorer.

The swordsmen and women have racked up an impressive 71 points out of the university’s 379.5-point total.