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
University of Huddersfield 1sts 5 - 5 University of York 3rds
Singles victories for Tom Freeman and Peter Strachan and a doubles victory for Strachan and Henry Ball were enough to earn York a 5 - 5 draw away to a strong Huddersfield side.
Freeman, making his debut for the university, partnered Sam Francis in the opening doubles match and the pair quickly broke serve to take the lead. However, Huddersfield soon hit back and settled into a rhythm that the York pair struggled to keep up with. Despite York’s best efforts Huddersfield took the win, and the first point of the match, 8 - 5.
In the other doubles, despite facing pressure on their early service games, Strachan and Ball managed to move into a 5 - 2 lead. Some slack play allowed Huddersfield back in, but the favour was returned when, trailing 6 - 5, Huddersfield dropped a service game from 40 - 0 up. York were able to capitalise on this and close out the rubber 8 - 6, leaving the scores all square going into the singles.
Francis, playing at number 1, went blow for blow with his opponent throughout the first set, but was eventually edged out 6 - 4. The Huddersfield player used the momentum from this victory to race through the second set with a barrage of ground strokes, winning it 6 - 1. York also struggled at number 4 where Ball, playing with a hand injury aggravated during the doubles, was helpless to prevent his opponent coming away with a 6 - 2, 6 - 0 win.
This meant York needed victories in the remaining two singles to take home anything from the match. Freeman played in a way that belied his inexperience at university level, prevailing in a tight first set through a tie-break. Similar to the Huddersfield number 1, this win provided the boost necessary to ease through the second set, and his 7 - 6, 6 - 2 victory kept York hopes of a draw alive. And indeed these hopes were realised as Strachan came through his match with little trouble to win 6 - 1, 6 - 1, securing a point that moves York up to fourth in the table.
Elsewhere, Paul Josse was the hero for the seconds as they recorded their first win of the season, at home against Durham thirds. With the tie poised at 4 - 4 Josse took the final rubber in three sets, completing a 6 - 4 victory. There was no such luck for the women’s team as they lost their unbeaten record, succumbing to Leeds seconds by the same scoreline. Meanwhile, the men’s firsts struggled against Leeds Met thirds, going down 9 – 1.
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