Unbeaten until today, the men’s first fencing team faced their toughest foes of the season against York’s finest. With Lancaster trailing far behind on Roses points before the day even began it was hoped that the men’s success would continue and regain at least some of the ten fencing points available, but it was not to be.
Despite all teams being fairly evenly matched it was a disappointing day for fencing all round as the men’s 2nd and women’s team also lost their matches.
In the women’s match the girls started well, taking early leads with all three weapons – epee, sabre and foil – but slipped towards the end, eventually losing 45-38 in sabre and 40-39 in foil. However, they won in epee 45-43, losing overall by just six points.
‘They were evenly fought matches, all very close,’ said Sarah Lamb, Captain of the women’s team. ‘We gave it a good shot and really enjoyed it even though we didn’t win.’
The men’s 2nd results were almost as close; they lost 45-27 in foil and 45-38 in epee but won in sabre with a total of 45-26.
James Titterton, the team captain, said ‘I’m not disappointed with the way we fought. We played a really good match and it could have gone either way, so well done to York.’
Despite their excellent form in the run-up to Roses, team captain Aaron Gardner refused to be complacent, saying he wasn’t sure about the team’s chances.
However, they made a good start, winning the epee 45-41. The foil was another closely fought match, eventually going to York 45-34. It came down to the sabre to decide and it was then that York unleashed their secret weapon, a player named Pavel Guzamiovs who fences internationally for Latvia. With Guzamiovs’ help the York team won the sabre 45-43, giving them a final total of 131-112.
