FENCING - Varsity Match 2011
Saturday 26 February 2011
The 2011 Fencing Varsity Match is the highlight of the fencing year, and, as usual, proved to be a nail-biting contest between the two universities. With international calibre fencers competing for both sides, this was always going to be an exciting event. Held in the Cambridge Exam Halls, the Light Blues had the home advantage, but this wasn’t going to intimidate the Oxford team.
The Women’s Firsts team were excited, nervous but confident. As favourites, the girls handled the pressure and performed beautifully to get off to a strong start. In the foil, thanks to the skill and precision of Lara Kerrison, not to mention the aggression and determination of Agi Fögelin, Cambridge secured a 45-27 lead. In Sabre, Oxford were shaking in their boots. Annabel Church showed the Dark Blue girls a thing or two and gained some crucial points for the team, but surprisingly Cambridge were beaten back by some handy fencing, losing the Sabre 40-45 to Oxford. The Epee girls needed to gain a further 32 points in order to secure the overall victory. With minimal effort and maximum effect Danielle Henderson, Ellie Wigham and Captain Sophie St. Clair Jones picked off the Oxford team one by one, securing a 45-23 victory in the Epee. This gave the Light Blue Women’s Firsts team victory, with a final score of 130-95.
There were a lot of fresh new faces in the Men’s Seconds team this year. The match started with their weakest weapon, Sabre. The Cambridge boys put up a good show, only losing by 32-45. Next up was Epée, in which the Light Blues had greater strength. Despite some excellent fencing from Jonny Tham, the team couldn't hold off the Dark Blue Men and scored 36 to Oxford’s 40. The Cambridge side were on the back foot going into the foil and started badly, but recovered near the end and clawed their way back to 36-45. This gave Oxford overall victory for the Men’s Seconds 104-130, leaving Cambridge plenty to train for next year.
The Women's Firsts’ result was never going to be an easy act to follow, but the Cambridge Women’s Seconds were going to give it their best shot. Oxford had a strong team with many returning Blues. In the Epee, Oxford took no prisoners, despite a good start from both Fay Sandford and Emma Burrows, with the score going 45-22 to Oxford. Foil was slightly more successful with some really strong performances from Emma Burrows, although the weight of experience on Oxford’s team won the weapon 45-27 to Oxford. Sabre was the final weapon and Oxford's strongest one. This went 45-34 to Oxford, with Cambridge giving the Dark Blues a run for their money. The match was won by the Oxford Women’s Seconds 135-83, but with some more training and experience Cambridge will be ready to face Oxford next year.
Having lost all but two of its 2009/10 members, 2010/11 has been a rebuilding year for the Cambridge Men's Firsts. Their match started well, with Cambridge drawing first blood to win the Epee 45-43. David Burnside's first bout set the tone for the match with a resounding 5-2 win over Satya Gunput, and despite Oxford attempting to make up the ground against Nicolas de Juniac, Pascal Reiß and Captain Valentin Dalibard, the lead never changed. The situation, however, was reversed dramatically during the Sabre, with Cambridge's Paul Galaway, Matt Tointon, Oli Kim and Simon Whitaker facing an Oxford team that included two international level fencers and a Cambridge alumnus, Chris Jones. The traffic seemed largely one way, with Oxford recording a 21-45 win. The foil team of Niccolo Zanchi, Dom O'Mahony, Rich Morris and Cameron Miles then took to the piste faced with the daunting task of keeping Oxford to 23 hits to win. The final foil result was a Cambridge victory, but with a scoreline of 45 - 35, it was not enough to carry the day. Overall, the Cambridge Men’s Firsts team managed to mount a strong challenge to its Oxford counterpart, defeated by only 12 hits, 111-123.
Despite these narrow defeats, the Cambridge Fencers are looking towards the 2012 Varsity Match with increased confidence. Oxford stand to lose a large proportion of their squad to graduation, whereas the Cambridge team will be largely undiminished going into the 2011/12 season. With training, experience and determination, the Light Blues look forward to journeying to The Other Place to take back what is rightfully theirs – and exact a little retribution along the way.
Women's
1st: Cambridge 130 : 95 Oxford
2nd: Cambridge 83 : 135 Oxford
Men's
1st: Cambridge 111 : 123 Oxford
