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
The first weapon up was sabre and York got off to a promising start. with vice-captain Tom Jones taking the lead in a tough first fight. Adrian Speakman was up next and, although Nottingham managed to gain 6 points to York’s 5, York remained in the lead. Some fantastic fencing from newcomer Ryan Brown put York firmly back in the driving seat, which Speakman built on. The next fight, however, proved to be very tough for York’s Jones who, despite some very fierce and skilled fencing, couldn’t break Nottingham’s Julian Small and lost the lead for York, putting the score at 25-22. Even Brown struggled in the next fight, gaining just one point. Speakman fought very hard to narrow the lead, followed by an epic fight from Brown, putting the score at 39-40 with only one fight remaining. It was York’s Jones against Nottingham’s Charles and both teams were determined to win. Both fencers put up a fierce fight but it wasn’t quite enough for York as Nottingham won the Sabre 45-41.
The next weapon was Foil and Harry Whitwell got York off to a good start. The next fight against Small from Nottingham proved tough for team captain Tom Skingle and for a short while Nottingham took the lead. Ewan Chipping fenced very well for York in the 3rd fight, taking the score back to 15-13 in York’s favour. Skingle maintained the lead, followed by Whitwell, who conceded five points but kept a lead of five for the York team. Chipping increased this to ten and York sailed on, gaining point after point to increase the lead. With the score at 40-25 before the final fight, Whitwell fought very well against the anchor from Nottingham to win the Foil for York with a final score of 45-32.
Both teams still had everything to play for, with each team having victory in one weapon. York needed a total of 37 points in the epee, so even Nottingham took the epee, as long as York had scored 37 points, they would still win the match. The whole team had the crucial number of eight in their heads going in to the epee. As long as the team did not lose by more than eight points, victory was York’s and progression into the third round of the trophy was guaranteed.
However, York struggled getting started in the epee, with Nottingham taking the first fight 5-3. The second fight caused some controversy as Adrian Speakman, an internationally qualified referee, enforced a recent rule change that means if no hits have been scored within a minute then it is classified as non combativity or unwillingness to fight. In this case the match is moved on to the next fight, which put York behind Nottingham with a score of 6-3 and gave Tom Skingle a tough fight in the next bout as the score was to reach 15. Skingle fenced very well to make up for a disappointing start from York and took the score to 15-13, meaning that York still had every chance of gaining the crucial 37 points. Phil Sellars prevented Nottingham from charging ahead and Whitwell backed this up by coming from behind to further close the lead. It took a second fight from Skingle to regain control for York, gaining 8 points while only conceding one. The next fights proved tough for Sellars and Skingle but York remained in the lead and took the all too crucial 37th point, with great cheers from the team’s supporters. True to York’s style Harry Whitwell finished the epee off and gave York a final score of 45-40.
The match ended on a score of 131-117 and puts York through to the next round of the trophy next Wednesday when they will face a team from Aberdeen in York. If the team continue at the standard they have fenced for the rest of the season then it is hoped that they will progress all the way to the final.
Yesterday was not quite such a successful day for the other York teams as the Women's team were knocked out of the Women's Championship in Cambridge, with a score of 134-70. The Men's 2nds unfortunately got knocked out of the Northern Conference cup by Bradford, with a score of 125-98. However a special mention should go to this team as it was comprised mostly of freshers who only began fencing in October and they gave the Bradford team a very commendable fight in the Foil.
The club will now look ahead to the next round of the Trophy for the Men's team and the Premiership relegation playoffs for the women’s team.
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