City Of York I picked up a vital Northern Hockey League premier division point at highly-fancied Durham University on Saturday.

York were without three key players due to injury and North East England representative commitments but still came away with a credible 2-2 draw.

Playing uphill in the first half, York created few chances early on and spent much of the time coming to terms with the students' extra sharpness.

The Uni side could have opened their account during this period but failed to hit the target, while York's best chances came down the right where Chris Wilson, in his best game this term, did well.

A minute before half-time, Durham, aided by some ineffective defence, forced their way into York's 'D' on the left. The ball was centred, sweeper Nick Carter failed to control it cleanly and a Durham forward slammed the ball home.

The students extended their lead from the spot at the start of the second half after a forward was upended by defender Karim Ramli.

Adopting a win or bust attitude, York turned the tables. They clawed a goal back when good work down the middle resulted in a scramble in Durham's 'D', the ball being turned in by Wilson.

York continued to press and were nearly rewarded when a perfect cross from Wilson found Jimmy Gilbert, who ghosted into the 'D' but failed to connect properly with a first time strike.

The equaliser came when Glyn Humphrey was felled in the area and Carter, who had missed his last penalty flick in the cup shoot-out two weeks ago, sent the ball hard and high into the net.

Durham were wobbling and Mark Little almost stole all three points when he picked up a loose ball but could not get in a clean strike.

Next week, York will try to extend their unbeaten run to four games at home to fellow promoted side Oxton, the only team to beat them last year.

York also face Mansfield in the fourth round of the National HEL Cup on Sunday. Both games start at 2pm at Huntington School.

City of York II were beaten 4-2 in a tough match at home to Gateshead.

City of York III lost 4-0 at an impressive Leeds University II side, but can be boosted by a good second-half display.

Short passing opened up the York defence for Leeds' first goal, and the second came from a straight strike at a short corner, the ball going in off 'keeper Matt Merrick's pads.

York tried to hold on but a slick three-pass move on a short corner brought Leeds' third counter, and their fourth came on the break when a lucky reverse stick effort which squirmed in.

Resolute defending after the break kept the score 4-0. Alex Burton got a yellow card early in the second half for a tackle in the 'D' which prevented a scoring

opportunity, but even with York down to ten men, Leeds couldn't break the defence down further.

City of York IV were unlucky to lose 3-2 against top-of-the-table Leeds University.

A defensive mix-up allowed Leeds to take the lead but Dennis Hooton levelled after a strong Chris Allerton run and City ended the half strongly.

The second half saw several chances at both ends, including a fine goal-line clearance by York's Jules Bellerby before Leeds made the breakthrough and went 3-1 up.

Hooton grabbed another but despite a lot of pressure York were unable to equalise.

Updated: 10:44 Tuesday, October 29, 2002