"You never know if a team is going to capatialise on the mistakes so don't make them" was one of the musings from coach Ian Coombe on the sidelines early in his teams match on Tuesday.

The CQU Men's Rugby team shook off an early scare from Queensland University to prevail by a 31-14 score in the Tuesday morning round of the 2002 DrinkSmart Northern Conference University games on the Gold Coast. After reckless ball handling led to an early Queensland University try, the CQU squad regrouped with Daniel Cochran leading the way to put the game away by the half leading 24-7. The blitz continued with a quick try after the half to end any threats. Queensland University scored a meaningless try late in the match.

Fortunes were not as good in the afternoon match with CQU losing to a tough QUT outfit 20-5. Coach Ian Coombe felt his team "lost some intensity after watching QUT play to a draw with a weaker Bond University outfit", before their early match. Daniel Cochran with strong support from Jordan Massey and Joel Johnston provided the impetus for the team through the day and were singled out by Coombe as "the best players for us throughout the day". The team enters Wednesday's round needing a win from one of its two matches against the University of New England (Armidale) and Griffith University to go into the semi final round of the carnival.

Round Games.

July 8 CQU 29 - Southern Cross University (Lismore) 10; CQU 29 - Griffith - Gold Coast 7.

July 9 CQU 31 - University of Queensland 14; QUT 20 - CQU 5.

July 10 CQU vs. University of New England (Armidale); CQU vs. Griffith University.

The Women's Touch team had mixed fortunes for the second day in a row winning an early try fest 10-6, over Griffith University before losing a close one by a 4-2 count, to the Griffith Gold Coast team. Team coach Rosalie Tennent set a strong on field example for her team with ample support from Nissa Evans and Danae Logan. Last night Tennent felt the team was "ready to go down fighting to make the semifinal round" in Wednesday's match against James Cook University.

Touch Results.

July 8 CQU 8 - University of New England (Armidale) 3; QUT 7 - CQU 1.

July 9 CQU 10 - Griffith University 6; Griffith (Gold Coast) 4 - CQU 2.

July 10 CQU vs. James Cook.

The Ladies Rugby squad was thrilled with their victory over Griffith University 26-0 yesterday. Helen Smith simply screamed, "We did it, finally" when summing up her teams fortunes. The team has played valiantly in early losses and though the team lost another hard fought match for the second time in the rounds to the University of Queensland 15-0 in their late game spirits are high with Smith, Mamele Aioalii, Elisa McKell, Neta Vaai, and the remainder of the squad putting forth superb effort in their games.

Ladies Rugby Results.

July 8 University of Queensland 17 - CQU 5; Southern Cross University (Lismore) 24 - CQU 0.

July 9 CQU 26 - Griffith University 0; Queensland University 15 - CQU 0.

July 10 CQU vs. Southern Cross University (Lismore); CQU vs. Griffith University.

Strong performances in defense by Natalie Corrie and Melanie Fletcher could not help the Central Queensland University Netball team yesterday as they were defeated by Griffith (Gold Coast) 42 - 7 in the morning and lost 42 - 8 to the University of Queensland in round matches. Kelli Johnston was also a bright spot in the centre, with Melissa Tootell showing steady improvement though her games. The Mixed Netball team won by forfeit over Griffith (Gold Coast) on Tuesday and will play Australian Catholic University and the University of Southern Queensland Wednesday in their quest to reach the semi finals later in the week.

Women's Netball Results.

July 9 Griffith (Gold Coast) 42 - CQU 7; University of Queensland 42 - CQU 8.

July 10 CQU vs. Griffith (Gold Coast) 3; CQU vs. Northern Territory University.

Mixed Netball Results.

July 9 CQU won by forfeit vs. Griffith (Gold Coast).

July 10 CQU vs. Australian Catholic University; CQU vs. University of Southern Queensland.

Volleyball.

The CQU volleyball teams are dominating their pools at the moment with the Men's team having only lost any opening game in their first match before sweeping their way through the draw thus far. Tuesday was relatively easy with victories over Griffith University 3-0 and University Queensland (Gatton) 3-0. The Lady's team has been nearly as impressive by not losing since their opening match including Tuesday's 3-1 win over the University of Queensland and a 3-0 victory over University of Southern Cross(Lismore).

Men's Volleyball Results.

July 8 CQU 3 - Bond University 1' CQU 3 - University of New England (Armidale) 0.

July 9 CQU 3 - Griffith University 0; CQU 3 - Queensland University (Gatton) 0.

July 10 CQU vs. Queensland University.

Women's Volleyball Results.

July 8 Griffith University 3 - CQU 0; CQU 3 - University Queensland (Gatton) 1.

July 9: CQU 3 - University of Queensland 1; CQU 3 - University of Southern Cross (Lismore) 0.

Squash.

The CQU Squash team is on top of the table after day two of the competition following strong showings against the University of Queensland and the University of New England Tuesday. Wednesday matches with the University of Southern Queensland and Griffith University will decide the teams' placement for the games.

Squash Results.

July 9 Match versus Griffith University. No. 1 Nick Grillmeier lost 1-3; No. 2 Kevin Kidd won 3-1; No. 3 Cameron Lynch won 3-1; No. 4 Simon Griffin won 3-0.

July 10: Match versus University of Queensland. No. 1 Nick Grillmeier lost 0-3; No. 2 Kevin Kidd won 3-1; No. 3 Cameron Lynch won 3-; No. 4 Simon Lynch won 3-1.

Match versus University of New England (Armidale).No. 1 Nick Grillmeier won 3-0; No. 2 Kevin Kidd won 3-0; No. 3 Cameron Lynch won 3-0; No. 4 Simon Griffin won 3-0.

July 10 CQU vs. University of Southern Queensland; CQU vs. Griffith University.

Soccer.

The Central Queensland University Soccer team suffered two losses on Tuesday after opening the competition on fire on Monday. In the early match the team was beaten 2-0 by University of Queensland and suffered a 3-1 defeat to University of Southern Queensland in the days final match. Wednesday the team faces the University of Southern Cross needing a win to go into the semi finals.

Soccer Results.

July 8 CQU 3 - QUT 1; CQU 0 - Griffith (Gold Coast) 0, draw.

July 9 University of Queensland 2 - CQU 0; University of Southern Queensland 3 - CQU.

Story and Photos by Chuck Ellis CQU Newspaper Club