Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
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
Written by Chrissie Leahy
Having had difficulty finding a full 15 who could take the day off for the away trip to Sheffield, captain Kath Stokes was forced to push back the coach departure time so that enough players were able to make the match. After a series of wrong turns and confusing directions from the AU office, the minibus, and car following behind, arrived at 2.15 for a 2.00 kick off.
The Sheffield Hallam girls waited for York to arrive, but understandably didn’t want to wait a further 30 minutes for the girls to do a proper warm up. The York girls got changed on the side lines and ran onto the pitch just in time for the whistle to go, feeling particularly stiff and cold, and in completely the wrong frame of mind.
Fortunately, York had an extremely strong team, and despite several players being completely out of position York went straight into attack mode, ploughing into the opposition, and offloading the ball, keeping play in constant motion. This tactic worked extremely well in the first half and three tries were scored as a result of the ongoing onslaught, with particularly good runs from the York wingers and centres.
By the end of the first half York had scored 17 points from three hard earned tries all right at the edges of the pitch. This made them difficult to convert, however Ruth Laybourn, with superior kicking skill managed to convert the most challenging of the three from a couple of feet from the sideline.
After a quick break, the second half began, and despite using the first half as a warm up, the lack of preparation for the match started to take its toll, especially in the face of a newly determined hard-hitting Hallam. Despite their best efforts York’s precision was waning, and stiffening muscles led to a few fumbled passes, and a slower pace as York found themselves suddenly on the defence.
Sheffield Hallam had an extremely power oriented team and both tackled and took tackles with great force, continually buffing and bruising the already in pain York girls, who suffered a few minor injuries, before playing on.
Hallam continued to push, and the exhausted York team could only hold them off for so long. After several successful tackles the Hallam team managed to make just enough ground in the corner of the pitch to score their first try.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the last, York and Hallam scored another try each in the first section of the first half, and despite York’s try being converted, their lead was beginning to look a lot less secure and after a further try from the Hallam backs York was getting increasingly frustrated.
Sensing the end of the game, York’s Vice Captain Rachel Clarke and captain Kath Stokes, rallied the team to push through the muscle cramp for the last 20 minutes, and the last ounce of effort paid off.. After spending most of the last section of the game in Hallam’s half of the pitch, Laybourn managed a further two tries, converting one.
When the whistle finally blew York were relieved, used being on top form, the players found the game frustrating and were lucky that after a rocky beginning to the second half they were able to win back a comfortable lead. Thankfully the Hallam girls had no hard feelings and treated York to chip butties and pints for the man of the match awards. York crawled home, exhausted, but still well on their way to the top of the league.
University of York: 31 Sunderland: 0
York Women’s rugby 1sts faced off against Sunderland, after a previous attempt at a matched was cut short due to injury. After an intense and extremely competitive game from both sides, the wait for the re-match left both teams to stew, and after Sunderland objected to a heated match report posted on The Yorker, the rivalry grew into a rift between the two teams.
When the much awaited day rolled around, York had put together an extremely strong side, but was prepared for a more challenging match than the last, as Sunderland appeared on good form with a full 15 and ample subs. The two teams eyed each other during the warm up, and each prepared themselves for a possibly aggressive and adrenaline fuelled match.
The first half of the match saw no points on the board, but was in no way uneventful. Sunderland played an extremely forward oriented game, and York found themselves defending for much of the first half, with the Sunderland forwards consistently taking the ball back into contact into a mass of York forwards. The York defence held up though, and despite lack of possession held the opposition at bay through an unending series of tackles, rucks and mauls.
Tensions between the two teams were still running high, and the frustration from both teams from the lack of points threatened to increase the ill feeling. However, relations seemed to improve after a badly positioned scrum thrust one of York’s second rows into the crotch of Sunderland’s loose head prop, allowing both teams to take a breather from the bad blood to joke about the amusing positioning. After the icebreaker, team relations seemed to improve, and York were able to concentrate on tactics and skill, rather than a battle for pride.
However, the York backs were still feeling the frustration, with such a forward heavy game, there was very little opportunity for the backs to gain possession, test their tactics or gain any ground, and when the whistle blew at half time with a 0-0 score York felt by no means secure.
Having lost York’s Vice-Captain Rachel Clarke to a face injury, and with skilled subs eager to play, York had a major rearrangement of positions and discussed ways in which to utilise the speed and pace of the York backs.
The hard work paid off minutes into the first half, after the forwards released the ball straight from a ruck to the backs, who passed the ball to Ruth Laybourn, who dodged and sprinted her way to York’s first try.
After this confidence boost, York got their second wind, and were able to relieve the exhausted forwards slightly, handing possession over to the backs who finally had a chance to play out their well practiced manoeuvres, resulting in two further York tries from Laybourn.
Sunderland fought back and thorough defence managed to close down the York backs more efficiently. The York forwards, exhausted but still battling on, ploughed through the Sunderland defence gradually gaining ground until Kirsty Wheeler, burst through the Sunderland defence, and despite several defenders attached to her shirt, left a trail of fallen Sunderland players on the ground behind before off loading the ball to Laybourn for the try.
The time ticking down, Sunderland’s defence began kicking the ball into touch, to face York for lineouts. After the departure of Jenny Bell, York’s jumper, the two lifters turned to lift thin air before realising their mistake. Thankfully, winger, Jiff Higman, quickly stepped in to form a working lineout and York was back in business,
From there, the last section of play was disjointed, with a series of fumbles and breakdowns. From an unfortunate York knock on, a Sunderland scrum was formed, but with a big drive and a successful hook from Chelsey Sprong, the ball was turned over, where Ann Dokubo, stormed her way through the defence, backed up by Laybourn for the final try.
The much anticipated match, ended in a well-deserved, but hard fought victory for York that has been a long time coming and despite a couple of confrontational incidents, the teams put aside their difference for a thoroughly skilled and well-played match.
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