Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
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James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Illness and injury were no barrier to the success of the women’s rugby team last week when they took on defending league champions Hull.
Due to a number of injuries and illnesses, UYWRUFC were only able to take a squad of sixteen players to Hull last week. Hopes for a win were not high before the match, particularly as key player vice-captain Rachel Clarke was out with a broken nose and hooker Jess Raphael was forced to play with severe tonsillitis because there was no forwards sub. On top of this, the team were aware that last year’s loss to the league winners was mainly due to the dominance of their strong pack.
However, the York side went out fighting and the first few minutes of the game showed, for the second time this year, that they are a side to be reckoned with. The forwards dominated the obviously uncomfortable Hull side and some quick rucking got the ball out to the backs for Ruth Laybourn’s first try of the match. The home team were evidently not used to being challenged and floundered when they occasionally got their hands on the ball, spending more time running back on themselves than anything else.
The Hull defence were helpless when faced with the phenomenal speed of the York backs, but put in a valiant effort. After a poor lineout from York, the Hull forwards managed to retain possession of the ball and hammer the York try-line until some sloppy tackles let the experienced Hull inside centre put some points on the board. However, Hull weren’t in with a chance as Emma Cooper, Katie Croft and Ruth Laybourn won more points for York.
The second half was more of a struggle for York, as Raphael eventually had to go off, requiring Jiff Higman to make an impromptu debut in the forwards as flanker while Kate Fullilove came onto the wing. The situation got worse as second row Karen Barber temporarily dislocated her knee but valiantly agreed to play on rather than forfeit the game by moving to uncontested scrums.
Hull pulled themselves together and took advantage of York’s weakened pack to strengthen their attack. Despite spending much of the last 40 minutes in their own half, the York defence held up and Hull were only able to put another five points on the board due to a missed kick by a winded Laybourn.
York fought hard for this win but are confident that future success won’t be so hard to come by. After the match, captain Kath Stokes said: "We don’t usually struggle for numbers. It was just circumstances that lead to such a tough match". Vice-captain Clarke added: "We’ve got an excellent set of freshers this year which helps. We still won by a lot."
Although most teams in the BUSA league are tied on points, York have already faced what they expected to be the toughest opposition and have set their sights on the top spot this year.
Starting team: 1 Chelsey Sprong, 2 Jess Raphael, 3 Beth Robertson, 4 Kirsty Wheeler, 5 Karen Barber, 6 Val Middleton, 7 Katie Croft, 8 Ice Asare, 9 Emma Hodgson, 10 Chrissie Leahy, 11 Jiff Higman, 12 Ruth Laybourn, 13 Emma Cooper, 14 Rachel de Quidt, 15 Kath Stokes Sub: Kate Fullilove
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