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 Phil Walker
York opened the scoring early in the first quarter, top finisher Rich Ramsbottom showed great determination after the ball was knocked from his stick to scoop it back up and slot it past the keeper. York’s second goal came soon after and was calmly finished by vice-captain Jack Wakefield after the experienced Dave Mason made a superb interception and put his team-mate clean through on goal.
Soon enough the score became 3-0 as York continued to pile the pressure upon the Lancaster defence. This time Ed van der Byl-Knoefel, adding a previously unseen pirouette to his game, spun through the challenges and selflessly offloaded to the powerful Ed Jones who smashed it past the helpless keeper. York’s fourth was intricately worked, as Jones turned provider. His pass found the pocket rocket, Josh Whittingham in a crowded area. Whittingham’s quick stick skills had the ball in the back of the net before the defenders could even move.
It was a similar story in the second quarter with York again scoring another four goals. Dave Mason, who was part of everything good in the York attack, creating space for van der Byl-Knoefel to score from his trademark rocket. Jones and Ramsbottom, with another two, contributed the other scores of the quarter.
The third quarter began poorly, a rare lapse in concentration by the York defence allowed Lancaster to get off the mark, bringing the score to 8-1. Captain Boaz Luke Eli Eli immediately called a timeout to vent his frustration. He led by example when play resumed sprinting half the field and banging home a superb goal. The team then responded with van der Byl-Knoefel, Ramsbottom and Whittingham all scoring again and Jack Newnham scoring his debut first team goal in a replica of his mentor Jack Wakefield’s earlier strike.
The fourth quarter began in a similar fashion to the previous one. At 13-1, knowing victory was in the bag, York were beginning to cruise and poor defending allowed Lancaster to score a second. Despite lacking the intensity of previous quarters York still managed to put another three goals past the Lancaster keeper. Jones, Ramsbottom and van der Byl-Knoefel all finding it easier to dodge round the tiring Lancastrian defence and adding more goals to their tallies.
Whilst the attack and midfield received most of the plaudits, the defence dealt with most Lancastrian attacks solidly. The loss of the commanding Michael Leahy to English Universities North went almost unnoticed due to the quality of Harry Collins defensive performance. Chris Ready absolutely tyrannised the attacker he was marking, Joe Crosby performed some great stick checks to ruin many Lancastrian attacks and Collins was a wall in defence whilst still providing a constant counter attacking threat. Goalkeeper Ben Robinson had little to do but will be particularly proud of his body check which resulted in one of the Lancaster attackers having to leave the field injured.
Whilst it bodes well for the future that the majority of York’s lacrosse team will still be available to compete at next years Roses, the three players who put in the most impressive performances of the day were all guys who will be leaving us. Dave Mason, Ed van der Byl-Knoefel and Ed Jones hardly stopped running and were massively influential in York’s dominance, they will be sorely missed.
You must log in to submit a comment.
