Fencing: Season finale

The last week has been a bit of a mixed bag for the fencing club with cold weather resulting in yet more sessions being cancelled and difficulty in fielding a women’s team on Wednesday for the girls’ final league match of the season.

Unfortunately they couldn’t manage a victory against 2nd place team Durham, scoring just 67 points against 135, which put them at the bottom of the league in their inaugural season in the Premier League. Wednesday was a better day for the men’s 1st team, who managed a very respectable score of 135 in Sheffield.

Saturday brought the third match in seven days for the men’s 1st team and saw them fencing their final match of the season against Keele at home. After losing to Keele towards the end of last year the team knew that this was their chance to regain their place towards the top of the league. The first weapon up was sabre and vice captain Tom Jones appeared to struggle in the first fight against Keele’s Oliver Wakefield. The second fight went to Keele as British Team member Ben Lucas fought York’s Nathan Gibson to take the lead 10-7. Some skilled fencing from Harry Whitwell for York took the score to 15-14 followed by Gibson's win, which recaptured the lead from Keele, giving York a score of 20-17. Harry Whitwell stopped Ben Lucas taking the lead for Keele by holding the score at 30-25. Some strong sabre in the next two fights made sure York stayed ahead and with the final fight to go York were ahead with a score of 40-30. The strongest fencers in a weapon usually provide the most tense and exciting fight and both Jones and Lucas had been teasing each other about beating the other. Lucas did indeed give Jones a run for his money and, though the individual fight was 9-5 to Lucas, Jones kept his cool and York won the sabre 45-39 overall.

Foil was up next and Whitwell gave York a very strong start, conceding no hits to Stuart Mather. Team captain Tom Skingle struggled a little in the next fight but York stayed in the lead. Some skilled fencing from Ewan Chipping and Whitwell saw that Keele never got a hold over the York team and they never came within more than five points of catching up. Another tough fight for Skingle gave Keele their best chance but York remained ahead with a score of 35-24. Chipping and Whitwell finished off the foil to win 45-30, putting York in a strong position for the epee, needing just 24 points to win the entire match.

Epee being York’s strongest weapon was almost guaranteed to result in a win but this didn’t mean the team got distracted from their goal of 24 points. A strong start from Whitwell and Steven Bainbridge set Tom Skingle up for an excellently fenced 3rd fight that conceded no points to Keele and put York ahead with a score of 15-3. The 4th fight however proved tough for Bainbridge and took the opponents score up to 11 against York’s 25. Whitwell and Skingle kept the momentum against Keele with Whitwell taking the winning point amongst much jubilation from the York team and supporters. Substitute for Bainbridge Phil Sellars proved his skill in the 7th fight, conceding just two points, which kept York in a strong position, despite Skingle losing his next two fights. Keele’s Callum Gandolfi gave Whitwell a tough fight but Whitwell finished the fight and the match, winning the epee 45-33.

The match ended with a score of 135-102 to York, putting York 2nd in the league with all their matches complete. The team now await news on league cup matches in a few weeks time. With four defeats this season the men’s team have a few things to work on in the meantime but now that the season is over a few of team deserve a special mention. Some very strong foil from Nathan Gibson in the match against Lancaster saw the team take the crucial win against the red rose and puts the team in good spirits for Roses later in the year. Tom Jones, Harry Whitwell and Adrian Speakman also deserve mentions for the contribution to the sabre team this season which York has only conceded to their opponents once. And of course mention must go to Tom Skingle whose strong and confident leadership as team captain has meant that after last year’s promotion the York team has proved they are 1st league material. So it’s time to bring on the cup matches and Roses with hope that this success will continue.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.