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University of York Female 1sts 123 - 84 Newcastle University Female 1sts
This season has been a somewhat charmed one for the York 1sts female fencing team. Following an initial very close match against Leeds in October the team has gone from strength to strength; defeating all six teams in their league and defeating Liverpool and Loughborough to reach their final match of the year against Newcastle. By defeating this team, York has secured a place in the premier league for next season, and relegated Newcastle to the league below.
With so much to play for on both sides the match was going to be tense. So when at 2pm with the York team ready and raring to go, Newcastle were no where to be seen, the girls started to joking about a hopeful walkover. Of course this was not to be - instead with many members of the fencing club there to cheer, and York Sport President, Emily Scott, supporting the girls for much of the match as well; the team got ready to fence their hearts out.
Sabre was up first and it was clear from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be an easy fight for the York team. After the first 2 fights Newcastle were ahead with a score of 10-7. The third fight saw Katharine Gracey for York gain a score of 8-1 against Newcastle’s Prescott to regain the lead for York. The following fights were very tense as in each fight the other team fought to gain the lead. Some fantastic fencing was seen from both sides but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough for York who lost the sabre with a final score of 45-41 to Newcastle.
With two weapons to go including York’s best weapon of epee it was still everything to play for and neither team were going to give in. Foil came next and York took an early lead gaining point after point to give a score of 15-7 after only 3 fights. With some fantastic fencing from Kate Horner and Gracey York gained a score of 25-13. The next fights were rather drawn out and all went to time as both sides fought their hardest to gain every point possible eventually leaving a final score of 37-23 to York; putting them ahead by 10 points overall in the match.
The final weapon was epee and with a victory still to play for both teams prepared themselves for a hard final weapon. Lousie Highton took an early lead for York and after only 3 fights the score was 15-5. This continued throughout the epee with Newcastle struggling to gain points against some stylish fencing of the York team. By the seventh bout it was obvious that the Newcastle team had given up hope, allowing York’s Rebecca Ellis to time out rather than concede hits. It was evident that York’s girls only needed to be patient. The final score for epee was 45-16 to York but even before the end it was clear that York has gained enough points to win the match.
The overall score was 123-84 and gives York a place in the BUCS Premiership league next season. This is an immense achievement and makes the Women’s fencing team the only York Sport team to be in a premiership league. Captain Kat Chzhen commented that she was “immensely proud of her team” and this was supported by next year’s Captain Louise Highton who said that “it was a great victory” and “it is hoped that this success will continue next year” where York face some of the best university teams in the North.
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