Before the match, Luke Rees (Men’s 1st Captain), alongside Captain of the Men’s 2nd Team, Sam Ewart, expressed their hope that the first 2 matches (Epee and Sabre) would be in Lancaster’s favour. “In this match we are expecting the first 2 matches to go our way and the 3 rd one we will try and win, but we will see what happens.” Turns out his predictions were correct. Lancaster won overall, winning 2 out of the 3 matches after the Epee match and a stellar performance from teammate Paul Ashcroft the score was a close 45/44 to Lancaster. Following that, the Sabre match had it’s fair share of trials and tribulations ending in a whopping defeat dealt to York and a 16 point lead to Lancaster with a final score of 29/45! Finally, the Foil round was where York took the victory and ended up with a significant lead on Lancaster with a final score of 45/31 points to York.
After talking again to Captain Sam Ewart, with regards to Lancaster’s performance in Roses, Ewart said that “Lancaster’s team is better overall, but York have the better defences.” This was definitely an important factor in the weekend’s matches as many a time was there a skirmish due to York’s quick responses. Clearly York’s defences were strongest in the final round of the Foil. For the first few sets, Lancaster had a strong lead until York’s teammate, Ming, came in to change the game and give York the lead which continued until the end of the game.
An admirable performance from both sides and a great way for me to kickstart my Roses experience!
