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Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
University of Newcastle 3rds 35 - 29 York 2nds
York netball seconds suffered their first BUCS defeat of the season this Wednesday, at the hands of Newcastle 3rds who were assisted by what seemed to be an obviously biased umpire.
York went into the match knowing this would perhaps be their toughest league match of the term, but were still confident and maintained a positive mental attitude. They took an early lead in the first quarter by playing to their strengths, dominating the court as they seemingly set the pace for the match. However Newcastle quickly picked up their game and were ahead by 9 goals to 7 after the first fifteen minutes.
Playing well in the second quarter York fought back. Excellent defensive teamwork from Sarah Smith and Jo Brayshaw stopped Newcastle increasing their lead. This allowed York to work the ball down the court effectively and into their shooters. It was however, in the second quarter when a few of York’s players became slightly annoyed at what seemed to be unfair umpiring; a display of what can only be described as a basketball dribble from Newcastle’s Wing Defense went unnoticed, to the obvious shock of both teams on court. York recovered quickly and took the lead. By half time the score was 18-14 in York’s favour.
Once again Newcastle came back. They were playing well, but York continued to put up an excellent fight, showing their ever improving fitness and the unity of their squad as a whole. The work down the middle of the court was especially impressive; Lorna Davies-Colley displayed some wonderful feeds into the circle, allowing the shooters to keep York firmly in the game. However almost out of no-where Newcastle scored five or six goals in a row. This combined with the ever increasing amount of ominous umpiring decisions saw York’s confidence drop. By the final whistle Newcastle had taken a lead of six goals and the final score was 35-29.
The second team are now looking forward to the return visit from Newcastle 3rds, and hope to regain their morale next week when they take on bottom of their league Bradford 1sts at home.
Players: Jo Brayshaw, Sarah Smith, Becky Milne, Camilla Hampton (Captain), Lorna Davies-Colley, Sami Briggs, Sophia Sahin, Lauren Fisher.
Player of the match: Lorna Davies-Colley
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