Turbulent term for the Fencing Club

The first term has been a busy one for the fencing club. It started off with the first University of York Open organised by two club members, Harry Whitwell and Louise Highton. This was a very successful event that had 72 entrants over four categories and raised an impressive £700 for the club funds. There was some excellent fencing and Club President Becky Ellis deserves a special mention for finishing 2nd in the Women’s Epee.

The first week of the season saw both of the club’s first teams struggling in their matches. The Women’s team fought Birmingham at home but unfortunately couldn’t manage to defeat them without their captain Highton and lost by only one point. Meanwhile the Men’s first team weren’t quite so lucky against Lancaster, with the white rose losing 134-110. The next week proved to be better for the girl’s team as, with their captain back, they defeated Manchester at home with a convincing score of 123-107. Unfortunately for the men’s team things weren’t quite as good as they lost in their 2nd away match of the season to Newcastle.

The next few weeks were quiet for the women’s team but the men’s team were still in action. In their 3rd match of the season the team proved why they deserved to be promoted last season, winning against the team from Leeds in a match which showed off York’s strengths, ending with a score of 131-86.

Keele proved to be tough opponents in week 5 when the men’s team unfortunately lost another match away from York. Week 6 proved to be more successful for the men with yet another convincing win at home against Sheffield, ending on a score of 135-92 and giving the team another three points to move them closer to the top of the league. The women however didn’t share in this good fortune as without the two best fencers on the team they faced a very strong team in Durham, losing 135 – 75.

Problems with fixtures saw the York fencers play twice in four days. The women’s team fenced against reigning Northern Premier League champions Edinburgh in one of the toughest matches they will have to fence this season. It was a match full of twists and turns with York managing to win their strongest weapon epee but unfortunately failing to defeat the Scottish team. The margin of Edinburgh’s victory was smaller than had been expected however, with York only losing by 14 points and a final score of 118 – 104.

The next week saw the red rose travel to York for the second match between these teams. In some incredible fencing, particularly in the sabre from Tom Jones, Harry Whitwell and new addition to the team this year Adrian Speakman, the white rose showed that with a full team at their disposal they are more than capable of dominating over the red rose. The match at some points seemed to resemble a mild version of the War of the Roses as both teams fought with everything they had to get the crucial three points for winning the match. A special mention goes to Nathan Gibson for some spectacular foil fencing that secured York the match with a final score of 135-98. Gibson, Speakman, Jones and Whitwell showed how putting in the hard work really pays off and helped propel York to 2nd place in the league behind Keele, who they hope to beat next term.

Once again it was not such a good week for the girl’s team who, without Katharine Gracey, their second-best fencer, they lost away to Birmingham. It seems that life in the Premier League may be short lived for the women’s team as, with a trainee teacher in their strongest line-up, they try to juggle match fixtures to give themselves the best chance.

As with many sports this term the snow has caused many problems for the fencing club, not just with fixtures being cancelled but also with a lack of training time. However in their final match of this term the men’s team didn’t let this get in the way of them fighting for every point they could get against the team in Leeds. It proved to be a match that was incredibly close but York took the victory to remain 2nd in the league with 3 matches left to play. Next terms matches could prove difficult for the team though as due to fixtures being rearranged they may not be able to field their best team, particularly in the sabre against Newcastle without the support of one of their strongest sabreurs, Adrian Speakman. The team hope to defeat the team from Keele when they visit York as, with enough points, this could move them to the top of the league and able to vie for promotion.

The girl’s team in contrast will have everything crossed that the weather won’t interrupt their visit to Edinburgh as their last match of the season against Manchester did not go quite as planned. A yet-again weakened team lost against Manchester which means they are now in the difficult position of fighting to escape the relegation zone with 2 matches left.

It has proved to be an exciting term for the fencing club who hope to keep their performances at the highest level for the remaining weeks of the season in preparation for Roses later on in the year.

WOMEN’S TEAM Louise Highton (Captain), Katharine Gracey, Becky Ellis, Kate Horner, Miranda Smith, Stacie Sachs, Lizzie Smith

MEN’S TEAM Tom Skingle (Captain), Tom Jones, Harry Whitwell, Adrian Speakman, Nathan Gibson, Phil Sellars, Steven Bainbridge, Paul Goddard

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