The University of Chester men’s basketball and women’s waterpolo teams have secured their places in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Northern Conference Cup final in York today (Wednesday).

This is the second time the basketball side has made it to the cup final in recent years and are hoping to avenge their previous loss.

Captain Niel Gillard said: "Several current team players and I were on the team that made it to the 2014 final at Durham University where we lost in agonising fashion. We do not want to experience that again."

Last month, Chester faced division rivals, University of Manchester, in the semi-finals of the BUCS Northern Conference Cup.

Chester raced into an early lead and won the game with a final score of 82-73.

Chester now faces Lancaster University in the BUCS final.

The University of Chester's men basketball team in a huddle

Niel said: "We are a division above our opponents, and have knocked the league leaders from the Northern Conferences, but Lancaster have also beaten tough teams to make it to the final and have had some outstanding results in their league campaign.

"I fully expect that they will be very tough competition."

The women's waterpolo team will also be competing against Lancaster at the finals.

This is the second time they have got through to the cup final, after being narrowly defeated last year by Leeds Beckett University.

In a very close game, Chester went into the last quarter with only one goal between them, but despite a heroic effort, Leeds Beckett won 16-13.

Michael Bonson, waterpolo captain, said: "This year, the girls team has come back stronger and are hungry to get the final underway.

The University of Chester women's waterpolo team will go for glory at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Northern Conference Cup final

"They have put in a lot of hard work to get here and made amazing improvements, as a third of the team only took waterpolo up this year."

Sarah Latham, student activity manager at Chester Students’ Union, said: "Chester Students' Union are really proud of the men's basketball and women's waterpolo achievements.

"Men's basketball are through to the BUCS Northern Conference Cup final for the second time in three years, which is fantastic, and women's waterpolo are looking to win the final this year after narrowly missing out last year.

"We will be heading to York on Wednesday to support basketball and women's waterpolo, and (hopefully) watching the teams bring back the BUCS Cup to Chester."

Niel added: “We have put everything into training and I hope it shows in the final. We want nothing more than to bring that cup home, for us, our coaches and the university!”