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 York 5 – 0 University of Sheffield 2nds
A dominant display of exemplary squash from the York 1sts was more than enough to see off a very weak Sheffield side that were totally outclassed from start to finish. York never looked in any kind of trouble. Club President Matthew Brennan was ecstatic with the 5 – 0 victory saying “With our team at full strength, we fancy ourselves against anyone”. This display certainly justified his confident attitude.
The match started with Brennan in a 3 – 1 individual victory. Overall, Brennan’s superior fitness and determination was enough to see him through with little alarm. After losing the opening game 9 – 11, Brennan lifted his game dramatically and produced some solid squash making very few errors in a very one-sided affair.
After Brennan’s winning start, it was up to Tom Lee to continue the York momentum. Lee came through with very little trouble, winning the match 3 – 0. However, it did initially look tricky for Lee on first seeing his Sheffield opponent: a very tall player, who could have caused some serious problems.
Fortunately, he lacked the skill and flexibility to be competitive. Lee was sensible, playing very consistent shots and waiting for mistakes by the Sheffield player, of which there proved to be many. It was an impressive performance by Lee who is now unbeaten in his last 4 matches.
Next up was Paul Atkinson who had the chance to seal the overall win for York and take them through to the second round of the BUCS cup, a chance he seized with both hands. Atkinson struggled in the first game of his match, falling behind before fighting back heroically to take it 17 -15. After that however, there was very little to report, with Atkinson cruising to victory with his usual confidence and flair.
With the overall victory assured, Matt Pollen stepped onto the court to claim another 3 – 0 victory. Although Pollen was a late call-up because of postponed rugby match, he must’ve been confident, having lost just one game in the last two years. And he was at his consistent best as his superior levels of skill and fitness prevailed.
With a crushing victory in the bag for York, Calum Fraser wrapped up proceedings with a somewhat inevitable 3 – 0 victory, which was very straight forward for the talented top seed. Despite this, the York captain will be a tad disappointed with his performance, a display full of errors and uncharacteristic, sloppy play. Fortunately, his Sheffield opponent was somewhat overweight and struggled to keep up with the intensity Fraser employed.
Speaking after the match, Fraser said, "I’m a bit annoyed with myself – my performance was nowhere near good enough. But saying that, a win’s a win, and the team performed brilliantly!" A decent summary, but Fraser should give himself a tad more credit; he seems to be leading a very talented group of players who thoroughly enjoy playing together.
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